Showing posts with label Tauck River Cruise. Show all posts

4.26.2021

vaccination — your ticket to ride

E.U. Set to Let Vaccinated U.S. Tourists Visit This Summer .

It's been way too long. I was last in Europe in the autumn of 2019 when we took a Baltic cruise on Windstar, a luxury small ship cruise line that can get into smaller ports that cannot accommodate the large ships. We loved the cruise and enjoyed out-of-the-way destinations as well as highlights like Gdansk, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. We finished up our tour by flying to Paris (my favorite city in the world) for a few days before flying home.

A lot has happened since 2019. Covid-19 struck with a vengeance in March 2020, forcing me to cancel a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii to see the brand new Mauna Lani as well as inspect the new room product at Four Seasons Hualalai. I held out hope that things would settle down by April, letting us visit Amsterdam during tulip season, then board our Tauck River Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland ... but little did any of us know 13 months ago. Covid sadly necessitated the cancellation of that trip.

But Europe promises to be back this summer for vaccinated U.S. tourists. Anticipating its reopening, I was able to rebook my Tauck River Cruise three months ago and was able to score a pair of business class "Saver" award tickets on United. I received my second Pfizer vaccine on Feb. 19th, and Claire got hers on April 5th, so we're all set to go.

Getting vaccinated is your ticket to ride. I can't offer medical advice because I'm not a M.D., but if you're feeling a strong desire to travel the world again, vaccines offer the path forward to satisfy your wanderlust. If you're curious about the remarkable scientific advances that enabled the development of RNA-based vaccines, I highly recommend Walter Isaacson's recent book, The Code Breaker. A well-told story and a good read, the book provides an accessible introduction to the technology that led to the creation of the highly effective Pfizer and Modern vaccines.

Click here to sign up for the Ourisman Travel Newsletter.

2.03.2021

why you should plan that trip to Europe NOW!

itinerary of Tauck's river cruise The Rhine and Moselle

Now is the time to plan your next trip to Europe. Though most of Europe is currently closed to travelers from the USA, just as the US is currently closed to travelers from the EU, that's going to change. Here's why you should make your plans now.

COVID vaccines. I received my first Pfizer shot earlier this week, with an appointment set for my second shot on February 19. Within several months, vaccines should be available to everyone who wants them in the US, the EU, and the UK. Inexpensive, at-home COVID tests are also promised. Once a critical mass of people have been vaccinated, the travel floodgates should open up wide.

Hotel availability. With hotels are showing plenty of availability at reasonable room rates, you should take advantage. Once travel opens up, those rooms will quickly sell ... and as inventory goes down, prices will rise. If you can get a cancellable reservation with just a credit card guarantee, grab it! (You can even do it yourself on the Virtuoso booking engine for reservations with Virtuoso amenities — free breakfasts and $100 hotel credits).

High demand for cruises and tours. I just rebooked the Tauck river cruise I had originally planned to take last April, The Rhine and Moselle. Eight of the nine cruises in 2021 were already sold out, but I was able to secure a cabin on the one available sailing. I'm so excited to be flying to Amsterdam in October and experiencing Tauck's all-inclusive luxury river cruise to Basel.

Award flights. Before COVID struck, it was practically impossible to get "Saver Awards," but it can be done if you act now. I speak from experience. As soon as I booked my Tauck river cruise, I researched flights using miles in United Business Class from AVL-AMS and ZRH-AVL. I just had to make one small change to find Saver Award availability (departing for Amsterdam one day earlier). There were two available Saver Award seats for the flights I wanted, so I grabbed them!

I recommend planning travel to Europe this fall. Now's the time to contact your travel advisor while she or he has lots of time to work with you.

Click here to sign up for the Ourisman Travel Newsletter.

3.02.2020

7 travel strategies in an age of coronavirus

To live is to travel, and for those of us for whom travel is our greatest passion, the coronavirus poses unwelcome questions. Here are three items that recently have come across my desk.

Hoping to enjoy the breathtaking seascapes at Six Senses Yao Noi, an Australian client became concerned about her trip to Thailand. She asked me for ideas about alternate warm-weather destinations in the South Pacific. Instead of Phuket, they are traveling to Fiji.
Las Vegas has gaming and entertainment that never stops, but the hotels are SO large. There are thousands of hotel guests with even larger crowds milling through the casinos, all in an environment with sealed windows and forced air ventilation. My client was worried and chose to cancel her reservation.
What could be more fascinating than Japan in May? Late spring is the perfect time of the year to explore Japan, before the summer brings heat and crowds. My client is taking a wait-and-see approach, seeing how the situation looks at the end of March before making any decisions.

So what should you do about your existing and future travel plans? Here are some thoughts.

#1 — It's your decision, and ultimately you have to be personally comfortable with what you decide to do. Neither I, nor anyone else, can tell you what your decision should be.

#2 — Get the facts. Here's a very useful map maintained by Johns Hopkins University showing the number of reported incidences around the world. The CDC regularly updates their website with a Coronavirus Situation Summary. The State Department maintains this page of travel advisories.

#3 — Use common sense. Avoid crowded places — large museums, movie theaters, casinos, and indoor sporting events.

#4 — Take normal hygienic precautions. Wash your hands regularly, and carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Cough into your elbow and avoid anyone who is coughing and sneezing.

#5 — Wait-and-see. As long as you're outside the cancel deadline of your hotel or resort, you have the luxury of time, of waiting to see how things turn out in your destination. If a week out from your trip, there are reports of vacationers contracting COVID-19 and being quarantined, yes, of course I would cancel.

#6 — Develop a Plan B. Feeling nervous about Asia or Italy? You can have an incredible vacation at home in the United States. Explore a Hawaiian island where you've never been. Or relax at one of dozens of Virtuoso resorts in secluded, uncrowded destinations — ranches in the American West; seaside resorts in Georgia, South Carolina, or California; or luxurious getaways in Vermont, upstate New York, Tennessee, or Wine Country.

#7 — Consider Medjet Assist. If the need comes up, your Medjet policy will provide medical evacuation to the hospital of your choice back home. I've had a policy for my wife and myself for years, and fortunately I've never used it.

What am I doing about my own travel? I have several upcoming trips — going to the Big Island in 20 days ... and to Amsterdam in 6 weeks with my wife to enjoy a Tauck River Cruise to Basel. I am very much looking forward to both trips and have every intention of taking them ... unless the situation deteriorates dramatically. I think I have a greater risk of contracting COVID-19 on a plane rather than on the ground, but I'm not a doctor and do not take this as medical advice. I'm not going to stop traveling. Travel is my greatest pleasure in life and, as they say, I'm not getting younger.

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

2.13.2020

seeing the Mona Lisa after hours

by Werner Willmann - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1145981

What if you could get up close and personal with the Mona Lisa? What a different experience it would be to visit the Louvre after hours, avoiding the mob scene you see in the photo above...

What if you could visit Giverny before it opens to the public? Imagine how enjoyable it would be to explore his gardens, photograph the bridge over the lily pond, and walk through Claude Monet's house without the crowds of tourists...

What if you could enjoy these exclusive experiences without paying thousands of euros for the privilege?

Here's the secret: these experiences are included if you book a cabin on Tauck River Cruises' Impressions from the Seine: Paris to Normandy. Just ask your travel advisor to find a date that features the after-hours Louvre visit (as the Louvre is closed on Monday). All-inclusive fares for this eight-day river cruise start at $4,390 per person, and they include virtually everything.

And if that were not enough, Tauck is offering great round-trip air fares from select US and Canadian gateways to Europe through the end of February... for trips through the end of August, 2020. I've put the fine print below*, but this is a great value!

business class - $2990 pp
premium economy - $1690 pp
economy - $790 pp

I'll be taking my first Tauck River Cruise in April, traveling from Amsterdam to Basel, and we are really looking forward to the experience.

*The Fine Print: Take Off With Tauck is valid on trips departing March 1 through August 31, 2020 as indicated: valid on all Tauck Europe land trips, European river cruises, Tauck Bridges Europe trips, and Europe small ship cruises (Note: Venice & the Dalmatian Coast small ship cruises departing March 1 through September 30, 2020). Above trips must be booked January 9 through February 29, 2020. Tauck’s air package is available to all guests departing from select US and Canadian gateways to Europe; available for new bookings only (subject to availability). Air must be booked with Tauck, and a deposit is required at the time you make your booking. Air is refundable up to 60 days before departure. Premium Economy cabin is offered on trans-Atlantic flights and select carriers only. Not combinable with other offers.

Links