Have just checked Trafalgar web site regarding my upcoming Italian Scene trip, scheduled to leave 11 Sept 08. No longer indicates "Yes" beside guaranteed departure, but says, "Please call". Should I be concerned about this? Anyone know what this means?

Judi and Liette. This "please call" beside a tour date USED to mean that the tour was nearly full and that people or TAs should call to see if there were space. I suspect this is the case in your tour. However, these days with even guaranteed departures being cancelled, it could mean almost anything. To set your mind at ease, I would advise you to indeed call your own travel agent who with a quick call to Trafalgar can clarify this for you.

Brenda

Thank you Brenda. I'll definitely call my TA to put my mind at ease about this.

Judi

Judi & Liette ~ As you have now passed the magical 50 day mark I would suspect it means your tour is a go, which is something we all love to see. Ring your TA for confirmation.

Do you mean that if we were outside the 50 day mark that the tour could very likely be cancelled? I'm new to all of this, and am starting to get stressed out after having read about others having their tours cancelled!!!! I'll be calling the TA tomorrow to clarify.

Judi & Liette~ You wull probably be fine. I went through the worry of whether my tour would be going ahead or not, we had the " GD"-"please call" problem but are all set to go. If you are concerned, call your TA, that's what you pay them for. .

We had the "please call" as well but it ended up that our tour is now full.

quote:

Originally posted by SoloT:
We had the "please call" as well but it ended up that our tour is now full.

Should have mentioned... not only is our TT going ahead but it has two coaches of people!!

quote:

Originally posted by Judi C:
Do you mean that if we were outside the 50 day mark that the tour could very likely be cancelled? I'm new to all of this, and am starting to get stressed out after having read about others having their tours cancelled!!!! I'll be calling the TA tomorrow to clarify.

Yeah Judy C we had GD it went to Please Call.So I called my TA who called TT and they said the tour was almost full so it was a GO. So in the order of things it appears that a move from GD to Please Call is TT code for GO. It's simple. NOT

I still correspond with one of my european TD's by email. She told me last week that what they thought would be a very slow season has turned out to be very busy. Guess the cancellations will be fewer and fewer now and people are still travelling - something we all like to hear

Michelle: It seems that North American touring is down but this has made no difference to the Antipodes apparently. Even Las Vegas is showing a downward result and gambling is down 3%. Now, 3% may not sound like a lot but in money terms, it represents huge losses.

In my opinion (which counts for little, I admit) since Europe is so much closer and accessible for us, we always know that when things get better we can hop a plane and be there much faster than people from your end of the world who have to psych yourselves up, plan and I assume save up for a long time for these journeys and I don't know how many pay a year or more in advance.

However, my husband is on an international photography forum and he says that Aussies are always complaining about the high prices they have to pay for photography equipment in comparison to what we pay and yet, you all seem to have very exotic cameras, laptops etc. to take with you regardless so there's a disconnect here somewhere.

Brenda

quote:

Originally posted by BrendaC:
...Aussies are always complaining...so there's a disconnect here somewhere. Brenda

Edit: Pls note that the above is taken out of context, and does not reflect BrendaC's original comments.

Brenda, there's a classic (Australian) bush verse which begins '"We'll all be rooned", said Hanrahan'. ('Rooned' = 'ruined'.)

I guess every country has its myths or semi-myths about itself, and we have 'The little Aussie battler'. He doesn't actually complain, but he'll be ruined because of the drought; he'll be ruined if the rain doesn't stop; he'll be ruined by bushfires, because the season has been too good. He'll be ruined by the pollies and the international corporations and the price of fuel and the education system and the health system...you name it, and he and we'll be ruined by it!

Of course, it's always 'other people' who complain needlessly and at length, and we call them 'whingers'. 'My' complaints are, without exception, sensible, reasoned analyses!

What do you reckon, BBers? True or false?

I think complaining or in our vernacular 'having a whinge' is not generic to Aussies. Having said that, I do complain about the price of fillet steak, I still buy it & honey??? have other Aussies noticed how the price of honey has risen? (apologies I digress) Complaining about $$'s doesn't mean people don't still think it is worth having the article. Surely that is not just Australians. Or am I missing something?

No- it certainly is not just Aussies. After all everyone on this board from all nations has been having a whinge about rising costs. We all do it. We should never forget though how much luckier we are than most in the greater scheme of things. I am googling cameras at the moment and cannot believe how much the good ones cost. So unfair!!!

quote:

Originally posted by tony54 and me:
I am googling cameras at the moment and cannot believe how much the good ones cost. So unfair!!!

LOL

While I, on the other hand, have been pleading & begging with Uncle Google to tell me how I can turn up the incoming SMS tone on my new mobile phone. Alas all to no avail (insert whinge here)