Covid Requirements

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Comments

  • edited March 2023

    I had a similar experience. We did Machu Picchu and the Gapalagos in September 2021 and everyone on the tour was very careful and masked. No one came down with COVID and we were tested pre-tour, prior to boarding the ship (mid tour) and at the end of the tour so that we could go back to the US.

    In 2022 we did two cruises and masking was essentially eliminated (except for the crew). On both cruises there were quite a number of COVID cases. On the last cruise, there were people who were obviously sick, most likely with COVID, but they didn't report their sickness, probably because they didn't want to be quarantined and miss excursions in ports. I don't know if they masked on the buses.

    I realize that anecdote is not evidence, and only offer my experience.

  • terrilynn thank you for that information.
    I would like to add that it is time not only Covid but Healthy Traveling in general be a part of the travel discussion. How should discussing HEALTH while traveling be less important than what to wear in Italy.
    I'm sure no travel company wants to be in the health business. They prefer to stay in the vacation business. If you look on their Health page, they state they have our health in mind, but there is really no information.
    It's time to address the elephant in the room.

  • OK. I will offer one last tidbit. On our last Tauck trip we were three couples. We ate together many times and traveled together. One couple wore masks all the time except when eating. Four of us never wore masks except on one tram where they were required. The mask wearing couple got covid, and the other four of us did not. Using BKMD logic, you would have to conclude that masks ‘cause’ covid. (;-)

  • It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
    Mark Twain

  • I’m beyond getting into too much about Covid and masks anymore because it’s one of those things you can’t change peoples minds about. However, like Terrilyn I am also a trained nurse and she would agree one more thing with me and that is that many people who wear masks are not wearing them adequate or correctly. You have to pinch the metal nose bridge tightly over your nose and fit the mask tightly round you face and under your chin, that can make a huge difference. Otherwise you are just wearing what we call a token mask.
    Next time you find yourself in surgery, you will, I hope, be so glad you have theater staff who are dedicated and protecting you from their germs and viruses while they plunge that endo-tracheal tube down your widely open mouth to keep you breathing whether they like you or not. Thank you Terrilyn for your information. I hate to say it but the Mark Twain comment made my day. Yes, I too have said many things people don’t like here, am I learning, maybe a little bit.
    Thank goodness we can travel and Tauck, well for the remainder of the year anyway, states that if you want to wear a a mask, it is nobody else’s business. Every man for himself, thanks Charlie Darwin!

  • Surgical masks are notoriously leaky, even if you do pinch the nose. As a cataract surgeon, I operated through a microscope. I had to put a piece of tape on the upper edge of the mask and tape it to my nose and cheeks to prevent the oculars in the operating microscope from fogging up.

  • The masks are a lightening rod. You can only control what you do and the others will do what they will. I had dinner with a friend the other night. I chose not to wear my mask. She is a non mask, non vaccine believer although she did have one shot because she went to visit her sick mother in France and it was required. She went kicking and screaming all the way and she is still regretting getting the one shot (J&J).

    She told me that a friend of hers died recently. She had 2 vaccines and 2 boosters as did this woman's husband and then she developed bone cancer and died within 6 months--all because of those darn vaccines. The husband now says he will never get another shot. I sat there speechless because you cannot argue with people who have those beliefs. Otherwise, she is a lovely intelligent woman who I've been friends with for 25 years.

    In 3 hours, the car service will pick me up to go to the airport. I will wear my mask--though I'll probably take it off once I'm settled in my Qatar business class quad seat. Not a Tauck trip but one of the other competitors in that class. And there's another topic of no agreement. Some will never do anything but Tauck and eschew the others. I look at the itinerary and make my choice according to that.

    Happy travels! 😀

  • edited March 2023

    A study is just that...a study. I have read that study in its entirety and in the Danish language. The authors made it very clear that their findings were inconclusive. Moreover, the participants only had to wear or not wear masks for at least three (3) hours outside daily. There were no controls or guidance for what they did the remaining twenty-one (21) hours each day although they supposedly were to remain inside. It's important to understand the parameters of studies before jumping to conclusions prematurely.

    I am not here to push any political agenda, but I do recall how certain social media sites and other "news" outlets published redacted findings to suit their own agenda.

    At this point and because of our ages, my husband and I will certainly wear masks when and where we deem it to be necessary to protect ourselves. It is our decision and one that should not be ridiculed.

  • Tauck is a for profit company. I am their customer. I spend a great deal of my money on their trips. Their product is definitely worth the cost. However, I am not concerned with being rude for mentioning another company. Their product stands on its own. If there is another company that offers something I want that they don’t, they are “big boys”. I’m sure they can deal with it without being insulted. If they can’t deal with it, so be it.

  • edited March 2023

    It is more about how I feel than how Tauck feels. I am loyal and ethical. I was taught you don't carry a jc penneys bag into a Macy's store. It is not a matter of right and wrong. It is a matter of principle.

    I'm not much of a shopper, but if I buy something at one store in a mall, I carry that bag into the next store I go into. I've never once considered it disloyal or unethical.

    [Added note: It would be very inconvenient to take the bag back to my car so I didn't show it in the next store.]

  • When I go shopping it is usually to one of the major malls in Tucson. If I buy something at one store I certainly don't go back to my car and will go into other stores carrying my bag or bags. I consider myself to be very ethical. It just doesn't make sense to me to go back and forth to my car. Also, I have now travelled with Tauck many times and I am about to begin one of my four trips with them this year but I also have three trips with Silversea booked for 2024. Why can't we discuss other companies on Tauck forum doesn't make any sense to me. Actually, I would love it if someone wanted to discuss other companies as it would be wonderful to hear their experiences.

  • For those who don’t like going off topic, what has this got to do with Covid?

  • edited March 2023

    Ah, Cathy deleted her post. So these messages don’t make sense

  • Currently on a Tauck tour. The COVID statement we signed on our two 2022 Tauck tours is gone. The only mention of masks was due to smoke, not COVID. All are unmasked and all are fine. Very few people we’ve seen, except staff in some hotels, are wearing masks. Our COVID vaccination card has been required by both countries we’ve entered.

  • Just received an email from Tauck…probably sent to everyone for 2024 trips they are revising COVID rules, no more need for vaccine cards/ vaccinations.

  • Perhaps SAdivr and Maria526 have finished this discussion for us ….

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