2020 tours all cancelled

Sad. Disappointed. But not surprised.

We can hope there will be tours in 2021. I see them listed, but none have any dates yet.

This must be especially disappointing for those who rescheduled tours from this spring to the fall. I admire Rick Steves Tours for the handling of this situation throughout. I too hope that we can travel again soon. It won't happen as long as a percentage of Americans will not conform to public health recommendations.

Same here, for my October tour of Sicily. I was expecting it, but it still made me sad. And I also noticed the explicit statement that "all remaining 2020 tours" were being cancelled.

Now waiting for an effective vaccine, administered worldwide.

-Ben

Got the email today cancelling our trip to Eastern Europe. We had to cancel last year for personal reasons, now our rescheduled Oct trip has been cancelled. We were expecting it but still sad. 🙁

So sad but very responsible action on Rick's part. I am planning to support RSE by taking a tour next year, lol!! (Great excuse, right!)

Can you even imagine the sadness within such a business, making this statement? We are only 2 tour alumni with RS, but had a 3rd planned in May to Greece, with some wonderful American friends that were made 5 years ago, on a trip to Spain, with RS tours. We don’t know when, if ever, we will see these new friends, if and when RS runs again, we are in! ( just hope the dollar is better, we do take kind of a hit!). I can’t imagine the pain within the company. My sadness at the loss of my oversea vacation is nothing compared to the loss of income of hundreds and hundreds of people employed, around the world with this company...such sad times.

Wow. I really thought they'd hang in there. But if the EU is not allowing us in for the forseeable future, there probably is not much hope for this year.

I had a tour to Morocco booked with Gate1 Travel for November and I've just received
an email letting me know that they have suspended all 2020 tours.
I did not hold out much hope of that tour taking place anyway, but I'm still disappointed.
Our flight was via Paris so with Europe closed to Americans it makes sense. Also, the majority of the tours are in Europe
so really no where for them to go.
Hopefully 2021 will be much better.

Sad but inevitable.

I, for one, appreciate their understanding the very serious nature of the virus and their willingness to say safety first. Bravo Rick Steves, your company took the high road.

Respect!

Dear Rick and all the Rick Steves employees and tour guides-my heart bleeds for you and for all of us. You are doing the right thing and I hope that there are others besides myself who are ready, willing, and able to come back and travel with you when all of this is over (in whatever form that may take). I treasure beyond measure the best memories of my life, traveling with you on 13 tours. I want to go on the 14th one whenever you are ready. You have made the biggest difference in my life and my world view. Oh, the people I've met, the friends I've made, the places I've seen. They are in my heart 24/7. You make a difference that cannot be measured. And I cannot imagine the grief and sadness that overwhelms you in doing what you have had to do this year. It's not about business - yes, that is one aspect and necessary. But it is all about the connections we make with the world that we would not have made if not for your tours and every single person involved in creating and executing a tour. I felt this would happen, but I grieve along with you for our collective loss. I send the most enormous virtual hug to all the Rick Steves crew and also to everyone who visits this Forum. It is a family to us and the loss or the distancing of this family is so very hard to bear. Please, everyone, be smart, wear you mask, do your part, be kind to everyone, we want to be back out there as soon as possible.

Love you all!

If your business depends on being able to cross borders, but borders are closed with no definite plans to open them or to keep them open - then there's no other choice but to cancel. It's not that they're doing the "right thing" - they're doing the "only thing".

There was no choice here.

My hope for RS employees and other unemployed people is for Congress to extend federal unemployment benefits beyond July 25, but with strict guidelines to prevent those invited back to work from taking advantage of the system.

Rick,
I promise if there are tours in 2021 we will the first in line to sign up!

We had two RS tours canceled this year and as sad as that makes me it only strengthens my desire to head back to Europe next year.

I am so disappointed that our October tour to Sicily was canceled, although I was expecting it. There were 5 of us planning to go, and we are all going to reschedule for 2021, hopefully. I am trying to put all my excitement into our trip to a cabin in Oregon next week (I am far more excited than I usually would be for a small road trip, but not quite as excited as I was for Sicily). :)

Very well said, Barbara!

Indeed — a beautiful message, Barbara.

OH Barbara...you eloquently express what many of us are thinking. Thank you.

I think he's doing the only thing he can do. Sadly, from a health standpoint, we are not even close to immunity and with not everyone wearing masks and different state regulations there is no way that the US is going to be ready by fall. I'm glad Rick is being proactive and safe and concerned about everyone's welfare. it seems like nowadays everyone is only worried about themselves and it's heartening to see Rick and Co. being cautious.

Hopefully 2021 will be a year of change back to a new normal.

Barbara, that was deeply moving and heartfelt. You've expressed each of our thoughts with intimacy and passion, my friend. We shall overcome.

It’s the right decision. Now that the calendar has flipped to July 1, this would be the time for people to firm up fall plans. There’s still way too much uncertainty. I can’t imagine any sight in Europe welcoming large tour groups right now

There will be no return to normalcy until an effective vaccine is mass produced and distributed.

After I receive the vaccination (Thinking positive here), my goal will be to link back to back tours, something I’ve never done. I’m a mid-sixty retiree now and want to travel while I’m in good health.

Also, the airfare costs this year was already high enough for my canceled trip. I hope to get the max value of traveling to Europe on one airfare cost versus having to fly there twice in the same year.
My last European travel was 2018 Eastern Europe tour.

I high five Rick and the entire company for handling this crisis professionally and gracefully.

Diane, we did back to back 14 day Ireland tour and then flew across to Edinburgh to meet up with the 10 days Scotland tour* in summer 2019. Altogether we were gone for 28 days. We did it for the same reason you mentioned - to save airfare. We had a great time. We only packed enough for a week but we were able to do laundry before leaving Ireland and then twice more mid-tour in Scotland. We plan to find another couple tours we can do back-to-back when travel opens again.

*I think there’s only an 8 day and 14 day Scotland tour listed for 2021 now.

I’m thinking 2021 September-October or October-November.

Tours on my bucket list: Greece, Switzerland, Sicily, ;Northern Europe, Eastern France,
Village Italy.

I’m tentatively planning the 14 Days Scotland tour for either April or May 2021, thinking positive here. Then the 10 Days Poland tour in September.

I’m still working so cannot take the block of vacation days to do back to back tours.

I tell myself everyday “I’m one day closer to taking a trip” than I was yesterday. Keeps me going.

Barbara, thank you. Donald, you can't be the first in line to sign up; we will! And Diane, we've done back to back tours twice, and loved it. We did Best of Paris followed by Best of Belgium and Holland in 2012, and Best of London followed by Best of Sicily in 2014 or 2015. We're planning to do it again, probably not in 2021, but in 2022. We have a longer trip planned for 2021, that combines a RS tour with a couple of weeks of travel on our own.

I'll just add a comment about back to back tours. I, too, have done several combos and have had discussions on tour with other tour members who were also doing them. I actually like back to backs better when you have a change of culture on the 2nd tour.

I did the Villages of Southern England + Best of Scotland (plus some pre-tour time in London and Edinburgh). I usually love castles and ruins but by the end of the Scotland tour I could not even bear to consider stopping at yet another castle. I was shocked at myself but I learned a lesson.

Previously I'd done Best of England followed by Paris and the Heart of France and LOVED that combination! The transport between the first tour and the 2nd was a no-brainer (London to Paris) and very easy. I loved the shift in culture and food for the 2nd trip.

My first RS back to backs were when I did the 21 day Best of Europe followed by Best of Paris (plus another week in Paris with a friend) followed by Village Italy. That worked really well as you've only got 1 full day in Paris on the 21 day tour so I "needed" extra time there, then there was a total shift when I went back to Italy for the Village Italy tour since that is focused on smaller cities rather than Rome/Florence/Venice.

I've also done several Road Scholar tours back to back or bumped up to a Rick Steves tour.

For myself I know I need to have either a different culture or a different pace - Big cities to villages/countryside or similar - for me to enjoy myself the whole time.