Getting sick ( non Covid) while on tour.

Just guessing, but you would not automatically be booted. If your condition is not contagious, and you can keep up with the group (so far as being able to travel on the bus and stay at the hotels), I am sure missing a day of activities while you recover at the hotel would not be an issue.

I do seem to recall seeing someone (pre-covid) who separated from the group for a couple days and rejoined the group later.

Maybe a bigger question is if you came down with something like the flu. Contagious, but is something like that treated like Covid, where you are obligated to leave the group, with no option to rejoin on recovery. I certainly recall lots of discussion from people complaining about people with flu symptoms, or just coughing and hacking, being allowed to stay with the group.

Yes. I had a bad cold last week on a tour; no problem.

I had bronchitis on a tour a number of years ago; after I checked myself out of the emergency room I went back to the tour hotel, skipping the first meeting and dinner. The next morning, I met with the guide, and we agreed that I could stay on the tour after I assured him that if I were to hold the group up, I would leave the tour, or at least skip group activities. I did pace myself, skipping the more strenuous activities.

No offense to anyone, but if i were on a RS tour, i’d be upset if someone with any contagious illness (cold, flu, strep throat, etc) was allowed to stay.

No offense to anyone, but if i were on a RS tour, i’d be upset if someone with any contagious illness (cold, flu, strep throat, etc) was allowed to stay.

Yeah, well they are and they do. My wife and daughter became quite ill on the BOE tour when an entire family of 5 showed up with a bad cold. And, on our Best of the Adriatic our guide announced at the opening dinner that if anyone wondered who on the tour was going to give anyone else a cold, it was him! RSE treats COVID differently and it is a particularly vicious respiratory virus with some potential long term consequences. My guess is, that in time, it will be treated as just another bad bug you don’t want to get on vacation.

Colds are contagious the day before a person has symptoms, so people on a bus have already been exposed. I coughed more from non-Covid, most likely allergy-related(in my case, dust mites), respiratory diseases, than I did when I tested positive for Covid. So coughing that you hear may not be contagious.

Cold, flu and other contagious illnesses have ALWAYS been a risk of group travel and cruising. Covid has been treated differently so far by RS and some other tour companies, although I expect that will change in time. My experience on 9 RS tours is that most people make an effort to mitigate the impact of their illness on others. I willingly accept the risk because I really enjoy RS tours. It is neither reasonable nor feasible to boot every sick person off a tour. Another reason that group touring is not for everyone.

A good doctor treating Strep throat will tell the patient to stay away from others for a bit. Just saying!
Anyone with a cold should cover their cough and wear a mask so as to allow others to enjoy the tour. A few simple steps can help the spread!

Intestinal virus…not good!

With 8 RS tours behind us, I have tremendous respect for the guides we’ve had that helped tour mates get any medical attention they needed, whether it was a pharmacy or something more. We toured with one other company where half the group were felled by one person with a horrible cold that did nothing to address it. Last year we traveled later in the spring season than previously and I discovered I’m horribly allergic to some tree that time of year. It hit the guide as well, but he had already encouraged us to mask on the bus, so everyone seemed to understand.

My husband and I were on a R/S tour in Italy. One person started coughing and had a bad cold. Then, his wife got it. We had some masks and offered them one, especially when riding on the bus. They refused and pretty soon, one by one, about half came down with his cold. They didn't make any attempt to stand apart and continued to get up close to people to talk. It's a matter of being respectful to others when you're under the weather; some are just clueless.

I was just on a tour (not an RS one) where a nasty stomach bug scythed its way through the group the first two days of touring. Of 16 travelers, I think at least 12 got it, including me. But luckily it was short lived (less than 24 hours of symptoms), and the rest of the tour was fine. Another good thing was that we were staying 4 nights at the first destination, so those affected could rest and recover at the hotel before traveling on to the next place. There wasn't any talk of anyone not being allowed to continue the tour.