I know we all think our vacation plans are important. But really!! The latest death toll is 73. Try relaxing and be grateful you're not part of the 73.
My love and prayers are being sent to the areas effected by this devastating earthquake. There is no disrespect in asking the Earthquake question in regards to travel. I too, would like to know the status, I'd even go over there and help, but we have a lot of moving parts to our trip and the need to know is quite vital, it has nothing to do with how broken we feel about what is taking place in Italy. Godspeed
But it's also not reasonable to expect anyone on this forum to have an answer this close to the event happening. Tauck doesn't use the forum as a primary means to communicate information of this type and they are the only ones who would know the answer.
Back to my original recommendation, relax. Give Tauck a chance to assess the situation then contact them directly. If you have an answer and wish to share it with the forum that would be fine and helpful to others wondering.
ITALY UPDATE
Our hearts go out to the people of Italy, and to those impacted by the recent earthquake there. As we keep the Italian people in our thoughts and prayers – and as we look to how we might assist in their recovery – we’d like to also advise any of our guests scheduled to travel to Italy that our tours there continue to operate normally. (Our itineraries do not travel to the areas affected by the earthquake.)
Dottie, it was lovely of you to post the Tauck statement on the forum because I took a look at the front page of the website just now and could not see it.
Claudia, my condolences that you have trodden the path that if I had been around today would have taken. No matter that you have posted many many wonderfully helpful replies on this forum. And I hope you continue to do so, when I eventually take a river cruise, I hope I can remember every word you have written to help me.
Samrossi and Txgigi, these forums are monitored, but when you require 'urgent' information of ithis nature, it is always best to call Tauck. Or failing that, your travel agent and leave it to them to find out. I can guess that their phones have been ringing off the hook today with inquires because Italy is such a popular destination, but that also means that maybe the usual people who monitor the forum are helping out on the phones instead. Tauck are constantly dealing with terrible situations all over the world and have a 'crisis management' type team in full employment as far as I am aware to deal with these things. They also have a plane they have on standby to get out their customers from disaster or terrorism situations. If they did not, then they would not have such a loyal following of repeat customers like myself, who so far have had very little to complain about. It's easy for us to be selfish at these times, I know, but we are so privileged, we expect answers that do take time to convey. Italy, such a beautiful country, steeped in history, but also one of many counties that experiences earthquakes on a pretty regular basis.
Concur that it was very helpful of Dottie to post the warning - Red banner at the top of the webpage which seems to show up on some views and not on others.
I think some relatively new forum members think Tauck's staff monitors the forum ready to answer questions, but those of us who have been on it awhile know that we're lucky if they have someone to delete the scam fake document posts. 99.9% of answers come from customers experience not Tauck. Even knowing the itinerary doesn't totally help as we might not be aware of some ripple affects - kind of like when the weather at our airport is fine but the plane is stuck on the ground somewhere else.
And I apologize about popping off too quickly. Had just watched the news and gotten a WP update on the casualties. So sad.
My apologies for offending anyone with my inquiry, I simply did not realize that this was a traveler only message board. Of course I am simpathetic to the earthquake victims, my husband's family are from Abruzzo and even if they weren't this is a terrible tragedy. Thanks to Dottie D for the updated information and to British for the indepth post explaining more about Tauck and how to obtain 'urgent' information when needed. To Claudia Sails: no apologies necessary. These tragedies affect us all differently as we are inundated with so many sad news stories from around the world while we stand by feeling helpless. Unfortunately for me I have become an anxious traveler.
Nope, I needed to apologize. I too am a worrier. We're on the Seine cruise next Jun and I worried when they flooded this year. I have to remind myself often to take a deep breath and remember that most problems will work out fine. The more I learn about Tauck the less I worry about details. They are great at solving problems.
Keep coming back to the forum Samrossi. There is a wealth of experience and information here.
It is easy to miss the "Italy Update" alert banner/link here in the forums. It should appear at the top of each Tauck website screen (at least the US version), however it doesn't remain visible on some of them, e.g. it scrolls off the top of the screen when you scroll down on the forum pages. I didn't check all of them, but as far as I could tell the alert is the same for all Italy tours.
Comments
Back to my original recommendation, relax. Give Tauck a chance to assess the situation then contact them directly. If you have an answer and wish to share it with the forum that would be fine and helpful to others wondering.
ITALY UPDATE
Our hearts go out to the people of Italy, and to those impacted by the recent earthquake there. As we keep the Italian people in our thoughts and prayers – and as we look to how we might assist in their recovery – we’d like to also advise any of our guests scheduled to travel to Italy that our tours there continue to operate normally. (Our itineraries do not travel to the areas affected by the earthquake.)
Claudia, my condolences that you have trodden the path that if I had been around today would have taken. No matter that you have posted many many wonderfully helpful replies on this forum. And I hope you continue to do so, when I eventually take a river cruise, I hope I can remember every word you have written to help me.
Samrossi and Txgigi, these forums are monitored, but when you require 'urgent' information of ithis nature, it is always best to call Tauck. Or failing that, your travel agent and leave it to them to find out. I can guess that their phones have been ringing off the hook today with inquires because Italy is such a popular destination, but that also means that maybe the usual people who monitor the forum are helping out on the phones instead. Tauck are constantly dealing with terrible situations all over the world and have a 'crisis management' type team in full employment as far as I am aware to deal with these things. They also have a plane they have on standby to get out their customers from disaster or terrorism situations. If they did not, then they would not have such a loyal following of repeat customers like myself, who so far have had very little to complain about. It's easy for us to be selfish at these times, I know, but we are so privileged, we expect answers that do take time to convey. Italy, such a beautiful country, steeped in history, but also one of many counties that experiences earthquakes on a pretty regular basis.
I think some relatively new forum members think Tauck's staff monitors the forum ready to answer questions, but those of us who have been on it awhile know that we're lucky if they have someone to delete the scam fake document posts. 99.9% of answers come from customers experience not Tauck. Even knowing the itinerary doesn't totally help as we might not be aware of some ripple affects - kind of like when the weather at our airport is fine but the plane is stuck on the ground somewhere else.
And I apologize about popping off too quickly. Had just watched the news and gotten a WP update on the casualties. So sad.
Keep coming back to the forum Samrossi. There is a wealth of experience and information here.
Screen capture in Thunderbird: