Venice,Florence,Rome Tour: March 23 - April 1 Tour

Thomas, there's already a thread going regarding RS tours and the virus (below) but I understand now that you just want info/discussion on your specific tour.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/coronavirus-have-any-rick-steves-italy-tours-been-cancelled-or-changed-professional-input-please

We are most definitely concerned, having a RSE tour to Italy booked in early April, Actually our flight is in March, which is coming real soon. Not sure what to do. Thank you for starting tread.
Andre Malepart

Personally, if I had the tour booked, I would go, unless of course, it was cancelled.

This virus is going to be with us for a while, before there is a vaccine.

Kathy
as the thread states my tour is March 23-April 1. Also I was just trying to get a thread started with my other tour group members is all.
thomas

Thomas, you were clear and your purpose is fine.

Oops! Missed your dates in the title, Thomas! Apologies for that!
Editing my previous post...

no apologies necessary LOL. just wanting to see what my fellow travelers are thinking and hopefully start some good conversations prior to meeting up at the tour.
thomas

just spoke to a person with Rick Steves tours. As of right now it is business as usual per RST. As i thought, it is just too early to tell based on what has happened over the last two days. Personally it's out of all of our hands at this point and if the tour gets cancelled theirs nothing i nor anyone can do about it. I plan to continue to monitor these threads in the forum, which are getting numerous, as we are all asking the same questions. All threads have good info as well with official reports and sites.
thomas

Thanks for letting us know what the office said!

I'm going to the same cities as you during the same time with my wife (on our own trip) and I am not planning to cancel any of our plans. We don't leave until March 21, so we've got just over a month. But from what I've been reading is that it's perfectly fine to travel as the virus is in a couple specific towns and will not affect anything else.

i see cgreb. i believe another problem is actually getting to Italy and then being stuck there. i also see that i received an email from RST yesterday afternoon in regards to the virus as well as the option to postpone / move my tour which i've posted below. I am sure all of you that have a tour booked received the same email as this one.

Dear Tour Member,
We are closely following the Coronavirus situation in Italy, as you undoubtedly are too. It has always been the Rick Steves tour philosophy to travel without fear — but also to travel smartly and safely. As of February 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that older adults and those with chronic medical conditions consider postponing nonessential travel to Italy.
As a tour operator, we put our travelers' safety first. At the same time, we owe it to you not to overreact to headline-generated anxiety. As of today, we are still planning to operate all of our tours. But if you would rather postpone your travel to another time — or go to another part of Europe — please contact us at 425-608-4217 and we will transfer you to a new 2020 tour of your choosing.
Thanks for being part of our touring family.
Rick Steves' Europe
Tour Sales and Service

still honestly not sure what to do. not sure if i can get a "refund" from my non-refundable airlines tickets. i assume that if the airlines are still flying to those cities then i will be out of luck until they issue a travel ban to those cities.

thomas

You can now follow any updates to our message for tour members at https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/coronavirus-faq.

Hi Thomas
My husband and I are on the same tour as you. We are coming in a few days early and staying in Italy a few days past April 1. I think we land March 20th.
I have never been to Italy before and so far we have not decided to postpone.It is a little unnerving. but we decided to give it more time before we make any decision.

Denise

I have been keeping a very close eye on what's happening and the only thing I am nervous about is some of the major sites closing due to the virus. If that's the case, it would not make for a great trip. Given, it is Italy, but not being able to go into some of the basilicas would be disappointing. I've seen that everything in Milan is closed, but haven't heard anything on the other major cities. It's basically a waiting game.

On the other hand, it could be nice being in the major cities while they are empty!

Good morning. We are traveling on the Mar 23 to Apr 1 tour as well. We are waiting, watching and appreciate the opportunity to connect with others in the same circumstances as we are. We will arrive Venice a few days before the tour and plan to visit family just north of Venice and they will let us know if they hear anything from their side.

thanks for joining. please forward any helpful info you can.
thomas

I speak with colleagues from Northern Italy daily, the general feeling is that the virus is a little overblown although of concern. They also have the feeling that Italy has been proactive about both testing for the virus as well as reporting its findings where other European countries may not be testing or reporting the virus as freely because of economic consequences.
In another 30 days we may be in the same position as Europe regarding the virus. Sooner or later you have to leave your house and risk seeing the world.
The choice as always is yours.

Well I'm 99% sure I'm postponing my tour until late September or October. Totally sucks but I'm not getting stuck in Italy if it gets worse over there. Oh well that is life.
Thomas

tkoltoniak, My daughter says she can think of worse places to get stuck. Of course, she's not taking into account the likely closure of restaurants.