July 2010 Costa Rica...Tauck or ABD participants

[Techtravler]

Techtravler (or anyone else traveling with Tauck) did you purchase Tauck's travel insurance? The price per person isn't bad, but if I buy it directly from the insurance company (or insuremytrip.com) my son is free, so the cost is less than half as much so similar coverage.

I did buy insurance from Tauck, it was $500.00 for the 3 of us. The biggest reason I bought it from Tauck was their cancellation policy. You can cancel the trip up to the day before without any penalty for any reason if you have the insurance. It does not have to be a covered reason. The only non-refundable part would be the insurance. The agent said you can even get a credit for the insurance amount to be used on on a future trip.

 

[HappyGrumpy]

ETA again: Apparently Cox Communications, who previously owned the Travel Channel, retained the other 40%. No Disney ownership.

Husband works for Cox and this info in correct...not that you needed me to tell you

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks for your input everybody. I've done a little research and with Travelex I can add cancel for any reason for $66 and it's still $120 less than Tauck's for the two of us and the coverage in some of the other categories is higher. It only pays 80% for cancellation, but 100% for trip interruption. I probably don't need that anyway, since there is almost zero chance that I will cancel for any reason that's not covered by the insurance already. It does have pre-existing condition coverage, and I don't see that listed on Tauck's policy. I don't think we have to worry about that, but I injured my back in a car wreck and had surgery over 20 years ago when I was a teenager and I can see some insurance company digging that up, if I happened to get hurt on the trip. I'm going to do a little more comparison shopping before I decide.

sayhello, I noticed your countdown ticker. Wow, only a little over 3 months until your cruise! Last year, when so many of us booked early, we were waiting 9 months or more for our departure dates to arrive. This year it will be here in no time at all!

Added Note - I just talked to Tauck and their insurance does cover pre-existing conditions. So I either missed it or they left that out on the website.

 

[sayhello]

sayhello, I noticed your countdown ticker. Wow, only a little over 3 months until your cruise! Last year, when so many of us booked early, we were waiting 9 months or more for our departure dates to arrive. This year it will be here in no time at all!

I know, last year, it was over a year between me booking, and then going on my tour in September! (Never mind that it wasn't the same vacation I booked in August, but still... ) Now if I can just make it past that 90 days point at which ABD won't cancel, and I'll be good to go!

Sayhello

 

[Techtravler]

So we think we may be pulling out of the Costa Rick trip with Tauck. We have seem to lost interest in this somewhat, and after talking with our local health dept, they had a list of recommended vaccines that was larger then we expected.

It's funny, we just booked a trip to San Juan in April, to make up for a New York City New Years trip we had to cancel the day before departure due to my Daughter having a severe ear infection. After looking into all we want to do in San Juan, we realized we need more than 1 week. Top this with the fact that I get free lodging most of the time due to all the hotels I stay in for work. After a while, it just sounded more relaxing to stay at a nice beach resort, for 7 days straight and day-trip when we feel like doing something.

We have been to San Juan before, and it is not a place we need our hand held like we might in Costa Rica. Since Tauck has such a great cancellation policy, it is no issue to do this. We will lose some money between the airfare change fee and tauck's insurance lost, but we are going to spend a fraction of the money, and relax a bit more.

TT

 

[Bobo912]

So we think we may be pulling out of the Costa Rick trip with Tauck. We have seem to lost interest in this somewhat, and after talking with our local health dept, they had a list of recommended vaccines that was larger then we expected.

It's funny, we just booked a trip to San Juan in April, to make up for a New York City New Years trip we had to cancel the day before departure due to my Daughter having a severe ear infection. After looking into all we want to do in San Juan, we realized we need more than 1 week. Top this with the fact that I get free lodging most of the time due to all the hotels I stay in for work. After a while, it just sounded more relaxing to stay at a nice beach resort, for 7 days straight and day-trip when we feel like doing something.

We have been to San Juan before, and it is not a place we need our hand held like we might in Costa Rica. Since Tauck has such a great cancellation policy, it is no issue to do this. We will lose some money between the airfare change fee and tauck's insurance lost, but we are going to spend a fraction of the money, and relax a bit more.

TT

Vaccines! Oh, my! ABD didn't suggest that we get vaccines before going to Costa Rica and I didn't think to check with my doctor or health dept. Although the Costa Rican's seemed very proud of the quality of their water, ABD did provide us with bottled water everywhere we went, including big bottles in our hotels room at every location. I wonder what other dangers we exposed ourselves to. Well, we returned unscathed so no worries. Have a great time in San Juan!

 

[kjd469]

Vaccines! Oh, my! ABD didn't suggest that we get vaccines before going to Costa Rica and I didn't think to check with my doctor or health dept. Although the Costa Rican's seemed very proud of the quality of their water, ABD did provide us with bottled water everywhere we went, including big bottles in our hotels room at every location. I wonder what other dangers we exposed ourselves to. Well, we returned unscathed so no worries. Have a great time in San Juan!

It is not necessary for most people to get vaccines before travelling to Costa Rica. Most people have already had their tetanus, hepatitis, etc. and you would only need a typhoid vaccine if you were going to be there longer than a month, and visiting/living in small rural locations eating and drinking there. The larger tourist areas that ABD or Tauck visit, pose no threat to the average, healthy person who has had their standard immunizations.

Techtraveller - so sorry that you won't be joining us on our trip - however, you have to do what you feel is right for your family. Enjoy your time in San Juan. I know for us, we can hardly wait for my DD's birthday, at the end of February, so we can give her "her trip"...the closer the time gets the more excited we are. It will be nice to openly talk about it with her, not just my DH.

 

[kjd469]

Deleting duplicate post.

 

[Techtravler]

We have not decided 100% that we are not going.

Also, I believe my wife mentioned Mallaria pills were recomended too.

 

[Bobo912]

We have not decided 100% that we are not going.

Also, I believe my wife mentioned Mallaria pills were recomended too.

Recommendations from the CDC:
Routine vaccinations like MMR, FPT, Polio, etc should be up to date.
Hepatitis A if you're traveling in an area where you exposure might occur through food or water.
Hepatitis B -
Typhoid

CDC recommends Malaria drugs if you are traveling in Limon province, but not in Limon city (Puerto Limon). For all other provinces where there have been rare cases of malaria in Costa Rica, the risk of malaria is low and taking an antimalarial drug is not recommended

My son's vaccinations were up to date when we went to Costa Rica, although I don't think he's ever had a Hepatitis A. I know I've never had Hepatitis A or B vaccine. It's easy to avoid drinking the water, but you eat uncooked food (a lot of fruit) that has been washed in the water, I would imagine. I know a lot of people who have been to Costa Rica and I don't know anyone who's ever gotten sick. But better safe than sorry, I guess. If I had known this before we went, I probably would have gotten the vaccinations.

 

[Bobo912]

Well I didn't know where Limon province was, but just looked and on the ABD and Tauck trips, you do travel there. This is what the ABD website says about vaccinations.

Vaccinations to travel to the areas of Costa Rica that are a part of the Adventures by Disney itinerary are not required if you are going to Costa Rica from the U.S. (if you extend your stay to other parts of Costa Rica, you are advised to consult www.cdc.gov). If you are not a U.S. citizen, please check your local requirements on vaccinations for travel to Costa Rica.

 

[kjd469]

Our family has travelled extensively, plus we live in Mexico, so we've all had our Twinrix vaccines, which covers the Hepatitis A & B. Those vaccinations are pretty much recommended for anyone travelling outside of the U.S. or Canada. Apparently the malaria vaccine is brutal on your body, and not recommended unless absolutely necessary...in this case, I would say the risk of contracting malaria is lower than the risk of side-effects from the vaccine, so we will opt not to have any malaria vaccines. I am sure if there were strong reasons to have the malaria vaccine, ABD and Tauck would be informing their guests.

Techtraveller - let us know when you decide

 

[Techtravler]

Our family has travelled extensively, plus we live in Mexico, so we've all had our Twinrix vaccines, which covers the Hepatitis A & B. Those vaccinations are pretty much recommended for anyone travelling outside of the U.S. or Canada. Apparently the malaria vaccine is brutal on your body, and not recommended unless absolutely necessary...in this case, I would say the risk of contracting malaria is lower than the risk of side-effects from the vaccine, so we will opt not to have any malaria vaccines. I am sure if there were strong reasons to have the malaria vaccine, ABD and Tauck would be informing their guests.

Techtraveller - let us know when you decide

AT this point we have been leaning back to Tauck and Costa Rica. We have not canceled anything and probably won't. I will update if this changes, but it will not be before april.

 

[Techtravler]

So I think we have decided what we are going to do. We will probably cancel the Tauck Bridges trip to Costa Rica, but we will still be going to Costa Rica on the same dates. In fact, we may stay at the first hotel on the itinerary the whole time.

After reading and researching so much about Costa Rica, we feel much more comfortable navigating around on our own. The biggest dilemma will be which part of Costa Rica to stay in. Each area offers something very different from each other. I know this is one of the benefits of the tour, but being able to stay put when we want also sounds great.

I hope to still meet some of you in Costa Rica.

TT

 

[Techtravler]

Well I offically canceled our tour today. We are still going to Costa Rica, but we are going to stay the whole time at the Los Suenos Marriott near the Jaco area. I am sure will be missing some cool adventures with everyone, but I think this will work well for us.

Everybody will be glad to know that canceling with Tauck was as simple as could be. They asked why, but said I did not have to say if I did not want to, no preasure. I spent more time on hold then talking to them about canceling. I hope eveybody has a great time, we are still really looking forward to this.

TT

 

[sayhello]

Well I offically canceled our tour today. We are still going to Costa Rica, but we are going to stay the whole time at the Los Suenos Marriott near the Jaco area. I am sure will be missing some cool adventures with everyone, but I think this will work well for us.

Everybody will be glad to know that canceling with Tauck was as simple as could be. They asked why, but said I did not have to say if I did not want to, no preasure. I spent more time on hold then talking to them about canceling. I hope eveybody has a great time, we are still really looking forward to this.

TT

Techtravler, I hope you have a wonderful time in Costa Rica, no matter what you do!

Sayhello

 

[Lex87]

I'm glad I found this post. We just booked our flight and are now filtering through all the reviews of costa rica hotels...which frankly is a little grueling
Good to know about the vaccinations. I haven't gotten there yet. Planning a trip is soooo much work!! I just want to put my feet up somewhere sunny. Is that too much to ask?

Thanks
Lexy

 

[Techtravler]

I'm glad I found this post. We just booked our flight and are now filtering through all the reviews of costa rica hotels...which frankly is a little grueling
Good to know about the vaccinations. I haven't gotten there yet. Planning a trip is soooo much work!! I just want to put my feet up somewhere sunny. Is that too much to ask?

Thanks
Lexy

Are you planning a trip to Costa Rica on your own, or with either ABD or Tauck?