Question Has anyone done a RV tour (caravan) lately?

[Neal]

Back around 2017 I did a Passport America "Rockies" tour (caravan) which was 34 days long with about 27 RV's. One of the best experiences I've had and a great experience for a new RVer. Has anyone done a tour lately, in the past year or two?

 

[Jim]

Back around 2017 I did a Passport America "Rockies" tour (caravan) which was 34 days long with about 27 RV's. One of the best experiences I've had and a great experience for a new RVer. Has anyone done a tour lately, in the past year or two?

I have never gone on a caravan. Wondering what happens when someone has a problem, like maybe a derating DEF issue? Do the rest of the RV's keep going? I guess they would pretty much have to, right?

 

[Neal]

Did happen and will happen. There usually is a leader and wagonmaster trailer. Someone makes sure they are okay and may or may not stay with them. Happened multiple times on my 34 day caravan. Sadly it’s part of the RV life when you have older RV’s involved. Always sucks. No one wants that to happen. I broke on my first stop on the journey to CO for the start point. Fortunately it was when Newmar answered phones on Sunday and conferenced FL in to get me going again. Couldn’t air up after raising jacks. Stuck shuttle valve.

 

[Jim]

We caravanned with a group of boats from Pensacola to Panama City and back. On the return trip, a riser decided to go rogue, and my top speed dropped to a blistering few miles per hour. What should’ve been a normal run turned into an endurance event.

A buddy stuck with us for about an hour, then, understandably bored out of his skull, politely said he’d meet me at the marina. Hard to blame him. It was a long, miserable ride back, and I learned exactly how slow “no-wake speed” really feels. We picked up a seagull when he landed on the radar arch and then hung with us almost the entire way back. That was pretty cool.

 

[Underboss]

I just cancelled another Alaska trip. My friend was the tailgunner this year and will lead next year. He said the group moves on but he will stay with someone that gets stuck until they are settled. This year someone could not drive any longer, he got them to a cg and called their relatives to arrange the driving of the coach back home and went on his way. Prices are steep but these companies book all the good spots long in advance so any solo person is picking up the scraps. In the end, I think the value is probably worth it as everything, including many dinners are included along with activities

 

[Holdmybeer]

I have never gone on a caravan. Wondering what happens when someone has a problem, like maybe a derating DEF issue? Do the rest of the RV's keep going? I guess they would pretty much have to, right?

The peloton waits for no man

 

[osuallen]

We did a 60-day caravan to Alaska this summer. We went with RV Adventure Treks Tours to Alaska, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and PEI. (Neal - please delete the reference/link if not allowed). I would recommend them, we had a great time. They are a small group caravan - 15 guest coaches plus a trek master and tail gunner. I think under certain circumstances they would accept up to a maximum of 17 guest coaches - I think that would primarily happen if a group of several friends wanted to sign up after the tour was already mostly filled. We went with 1 other couple that we already knew, but the rest of the group was unknown. The small group allowed everyone to get to know each other pretty quickly. Fortunately we had a great group. One of our fears was that we would get the group that had "that one guy". We thought about doing it on our own, but my wife was not keen on that. We researched all the trips to AK and RVAT spent the most days in AK from all the ones I could find with the exception of 1 company that was quite a bit more expensive. Our group was quite a mix, we had 1 pickup camper, 1 bumper pull, 1 class B, Three 5th wheels, and the remainder were Class A's - 2 gas and the rest DP's. Kind of surprising 8 of the Class A's were Newmars. We met in Dawson Creek, BC and finished in Prince George, BC. As for what happens if you break down - the tail gunner leaves 30-45 minutes after the last coach and watches to try to be sure they do not pass anyone. If they find someone broken down, they will stay with them for a given length of time. I forget the maximum time, but part of the rule was so the TG could still make it to camp by mid-late evening. If the coach was side of road repairable, they would stay while it was fixed. If it was not, they would assist in finding a tow. We had a couple of breakdowns, but they were both side of the road repairable.

Would I consider a caravan again? It depends - we like travelling by ourselves or with 1-2 friends, but we had a great time going this way. There was a lot to be said for having everything preplanned. We went to some things that I would not have picked if we went on our own. Some, I was pleasantly surprised. Others, my first thought was confirmed. I think most things in the CONUS we would be much more likely to do on our own (I'm sure there is an exception in there somewhere). Outside the US, we would most likely at least consider a caravan.