Target Tours

👋 In case you're new here — we're John and Lynn Dunphy, the couple behind Target Tours!

We started this company from our basement in Morell, PEI in 2009. 15+ years later, we still personally host many of our tours and we'd love to take you somewhere amazing.

What destination are you dreaming of? 🌍

Is 2026 YOUR year?

Every tour we run starts the same way: someone decides it's finally their year to go.

And while it might be the end of August, we've still got spots on Iceland (Oct 1) and Greek Isles & Turkey Premium Cruise (Oct 11).

Tag a friend you'd love to travel with this fall!

Come sail to iconic islands and historic ports with us in 2027 ⛴

Our Greece, Egypt & Turkey Cruise from Athens sets sail next October (Oct 13 to 30, 2027) and is sure to be a trip to remember.

This 18-day journey features 9 jaw-dropping destinations, 45 meals and an endless sea of memories for you to make.

Aboard the Azamara Onward, your home away from home, you won't have to worry about a thing as you travel to ports of call like Mykonos, Alexandria (Egypt), Antalya (Turkey), and Nafplio (Greece), and visits to historic landmarks like the Acropolis and the Pyramids of Giza.

For more information about this trip including pricing and itinerary, visit our website by clicking this link: https://targettours.ca/greece-egypt-turkey-cruise-from-athens/

Happy Sunday to our travel community.

We hope you are having a restful, rainy day before we enter the last full week of August. How did time fly by that fast?!

Enjoy this photo of the beautiful landscape from Costa Rica, February 2025.

Come experience the Alaska Highway and Yukon Gold Rush with us - no passport needed!

Visiting the Yukon has been on my "someday" list for quite a while, but I've learned a thing or two over the years when it comes to travel and that is - you can't wait for someday to happen.

Sometimes, you have to decide that someday is actually today, or tomorrow, or next August.

Imagine yourself, this time next year, packing for your vacation that includes:

🔹Travelling the Alaska Highway, starting at at Mile "0" in Dawson Creek, into the Yukon, past the Sign Post Forest at Watson Lake, across the Nisutlin Bay Bridge.

🔹Driving the The Dempster Highway, Canada's only all-season highway that runs to the Arctic Circle and beyond.

🔹Visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site holding the world's largest non-polar icefield.

🔹Panning for your own gold at Goldbottom, a town that held 5,000 people in 1898 and now holds almost none.

And that's just the beginning.

You don't need to travel outside of Canada to have a memorable vacation. Come explore the beauty of the North next August 31 to September 11, 2027.

Visit our website or call us at 1-877-214-5367.

⭐ What They Said ⭐

Your biggest priority on vacation should be enjoying your vacation, just like Libby did.

And as a Tour Host, it's our job to make that happen.

Being a host isn't just about leading a group from point A to point B. It's also about curating an inclusive environment for everyone in the group.

We want our travelers to feel comfortable and confident in their ability to participate in group activities, or explore on their own.

40 years in travel taught me one hard lesson - and I don't want you to learn it the same way

Most travellers think they're covered. Too many find out they're not at the worst possible moment.

I've been in the travel industry for close to 40 years. For the past 17 years, Lynn and I have taken groups all over the world: Europe, Iceland, North America, the Canadian Rockies, and everywhere in between. We've had some incredible experiences, and we've made friendships that have lasted decades.

But I'd be doing you a disservice if I only told you the good parts.

Over 40 years, I've also seen what happens when things go wrong. A medical emergency in a foreign country. A trip cancelled at the last minute because of a family crisis. A traveller who thought they were covered and wasn't. Those moments are hard to watch, and some of them were genuinely devastating, financially and emotionally.

So today I want to talk about something we all don't spend enough time on: travel insurance. Not just having it, but actually understanding what you have.

Buying a policy is not the same as being protected

Most people purchase their travel insurance, tuck the documents away, and never look at them again. I get it. Nobody wants to read the fine print. But that fine print is exactly where most claims get denied.

You've probably seen the stories on the news. A Canadian traveller stuck in a hospital overseas with a bill climbing into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A family scrambling to get someone home. A claim denied because of a clause buried in the policy that nobody read. These aren't isolated cases. They happen more often than people realize, and they happen to good, careful people who thought they had done everything right.

The pre-existing condition trap

This is the big one. In my experience, this is where most of the heartbreak happens.

People hear "pre-existing condition" and they think it means a serious, long-standing illness. But insurers define it very specifically, and the definition can be much stricter than most people expect.

Here's what "stable" actually means in most policies: no new treatments prescribed or recommended, no change in medication, including dosage or frequency, no new or worsening symptoms, no hospitalizations, no referrals to a specialist, no tests recommended but not yet completed, and no planned or pending treatment. Every single one of those conditions has to be met. All of them.

Life happens between the day you buy your insurance and the day you board that plane. A medication adjustment here, a specialist referral there, these are normal parts of life, and most people don't give them a second thought when it comes to their travel coverage. But it's worth a quick call to your insurer just to confirm you're still good to go. Five minutes on the phone could save you a lot of heartache down the road.

Why Lynn and I stand behind Manulife

We've looked at what's available on the market, and for our clients, we consistently recommend Manulife. Here's why.

For travellers 74 and under, the Premium Protection Plan offers something that genuinely stands out: the pre-existing condition clause doesn't apply in the way most policies apply it. The plan doesn't disqualify you for having a health history. The only thing that makes you ineligible is if your physician has specifically advised you not to travel. That's a meaningful difference. That's real protection.

We also appreciate that it includes cancel for any reason coverage, emergency medical up to $10 million, unlimited trip interruption, and Manulife's Flight Assistance program, real-time compensation for flight disruptions sent right to your phone via Interac e-transfer. It's a comprehensive plan, and it's the one Lynn and I would want our own family travelling on.

A quick homework assignment

Before your next trip, pull out your insurance policy, whatever you have, and ask yourself these questions:

1. If I had to cancel before departure because a family member, caregiver, or key employee became seriously ill or passed away, are my non-refundable trip costs covered?

2. If I had to fly home mid-trip due to a family emergency, does my plan cover a one-way flight home plus a refund of my unused prepaid travel costs?

3. If I'm hospitalized during my trip, does my plan cover my travel companion's out-of-pocket expenses - hotel, meals, taxis, phone?

4. If I'm travelling solo and I'm hospitalized, does my plan cover airfare for someone to fly to my bedside?

5. If yes to #4, how many days do I have to be hospitalized before that's covered?

6. If I need a physician-recommended medical es**rt to fly home with me, does my plan cover that es**rt's airfare and expenses?

7. If I lose my job due to layoff or dismissal without cause before departure, are my non-refundable trip costs covered?

8. Does my plan include a cancel-for-any-reason clause?

If you can't answer yes to all of those, or if you're not sure, you may have a gap in your coverage worth looking at before your next departure.

I'm not here to sell you anything today

Honestly, I just want you to travel protected. Whether you're travelling with Target Tours or heading off on your own adventure, you deserve to go with confidence, knowing that if something goes wrong, you're not going to be left dealing with it alone.

If you have questions about Manulife, want to understand your current policy better, or just want to talk through your options, reach out. That conversation doesn't cost you anything, and it might be the most valuable one you have before your next trip.

Travel well.

🔸 Vibrant terracotta orange rooftops: a Croatian signature 🔸

We are dreaming of our Croatia Intensive Cruise from Venice (Oct 7 to 19, 2027).

Aboard the Azamara Journey, we will sail along the Adriatic Sea, where each port reveals a new layer of coastal life and history. Ports like Opatija and Zadar, Sibenik and Dubrovnik.

Between the wonderful climate, the stunning blue water in the Adriatic Sea and vibrant orange rooftops, and the fascinating history, there are so many reasons to visit this beautiful country.

Are you ready to set sail on your dream trip? Click this link to our website to find your next vacation: https://targettours.ca/upcoming-vacations/