Best Of
Just returned from Jordan & Egypt-small group (2/2024)
We just returned from our 10th Tauck trip, Jordan & Egypt small group (2/2024). We were suppose to be a small group of 24 but only 9 of us did not cancel our booking. So glad we did not cancel! We never once felt we were in danger and all of the local guides and boat/hotel staff were always thanking us for traveling. It was great for us as crowds were smaller at the tourist sites! I am posting this with the hopes it will answer any small questions/concerns you might have about taking this trip but please reach out to me if you have another question. This was a fabulous time to travel as the temps were very comfortable. Jordan was chilly and we either wore a fleece or lightweight jacket. Egypt was a little warmer so we just wore our long sleeves shirts. This is a very casual trip (with the exception of a dinner jacket required at the Cataract restaurant). A lot of us used the laundry service on our river boat, Oberoi Philae, and were very pleased with their cleaning and fees. The Oberoi Philae is a wonderful ship with the largest cabins on the Nile! In Egypt, we had an armed guard with us at all times. His services were never needed except to gently tell the street vendors to go away! You do not need to get any foreign currency before the trip! Both countries are happy to accept our USD. I would suggest you get an assortment of small US bills if you plan on making purchases from the street vendors. Also, our Tauck Director gave us bathroom money. The best place to shop was at the GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum). They have a wonderful gift shop for some last minute souvenirs or gifts. Airport security was easy. The first round was to X-ray our luggage and personal items. You would then check in your luggage and proceed to the second round of security. This time you had to remove your watch, belts and shoes. The only thing that was different was that there were always two lines for security, one for women and one for men. Everyone is patted down after going through the x-ray machine so they would have a female for the women's lines and a male for the men's line. Again, a fabulous trip that I would recommend to all!
Re: Travelling Tips…
A corkscrew for opening a bottle of wine.
12 PM addition......... bandages and antibacterial cream for when my husband cuts himself opening the wine.
Re: Travel Insurance
That sounds good Inlanikai. Except, apples to apples, I’m assuming that does not include cancel for any reason which the Tauck insurance does. Without cancel for any reason, most insurances get reduced by about half.
When we travel with other companies or independently which we are doing more often these days and of course now we are on Medicare which doesn’t cover health, we have annual insurance for medical evacuation for any time we are more than 100 miles from home which includes cover for medical escort and getting your companion home, returning a rental car if you had one etc. That is really cheap. The company now has regular travel insurance which we have just started using for non Tauck tours. We can get the cancel for any reason coverage in addition, but it doubles the price as it does with pretty much any other company. For what Tauck insurance rates covers, it is very reasonable and possibly the gold standard. Most people seem to have been satisfied apart from delays with reimbursement during initial Covid times.
Before the company we are using offered the regular insurance, we used the Squaremouth website to choose the insurance coverage we needed. In addition, most of the Tauck tours we use are very expensive and we travel business class these days, so in most cases, $15000 limit would probably cover less than half the cost of the trip. It depends what each person feels they can afford to lose. Sometimes, even if you know you can afford to lose it, it might cause total annoyance to do so. Everyone has different tolerance of risk.
Re: Treasures of Spain and Portugal
I was going to add that you will not always get the same answer from different agents. If I don’t get the answer I want, I call back and talk to someone else. I never argue with the first one … they all don’t know all the correct answers.
Re: Great Barrier Reef Day
My husband does not swim and was so disappointed he would not get to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef.
Leave it to Tauck to go above and beyond.
They asked if there was anyone who could not swim but who would like to snorkel and as soon as he raised his hand the people in charge took over like a well oiled machine.
They tied balloons onto his arms to designate him as a non- swimmer and with a person holding him on each side they took him snorkeling!
It was a day he will never forget - a true bucket list experience he did not think he would ever get to have.
Thank you all who made this possible.
Re: Review of tour
We just got back from our Feb 11, 2024 magic of Morocco tour (# 28 now). Wonderful experience! There were only nine of us!! Many people had cancelled due to the recent earthquake (which had NO effect on the tour) and the war in Israel (which is 2,500 miles away people). Tauck always has "eyes on the ground" in their locations and has much better info than your local news station.
Our motto is: 'If Tauck goes, we go".
Morocco is majority Muslim, but it is quite moderate with Muslims, Jews, Christians, Berbers living there quite peacefully together. We never felt afraid the few times on our own, and beggars were minimal & not persistent. The new king there is focused on building up the infrastructure and public places. Construction everywhere. The king is doing good things for the country. Marrakesh especially looked quite modern (of course, we were in tourist locations). Unless you get out to the country on your own, English is often understood and spoken. Naturally, if you attempt to use the native language you'll get a smile. At least learn to say thank-you!!
The first two hotels (Rabat & Fes) did not have AC and we needed to open the windows for cool night air (and all the nighttime noises). I gathered that they have systems (like some in the US) that circulate either hot or cold water depending on the season. But Winter in Morocco can reach 80F. You can ask for a fan.
In Rabat, for lunch the two of us went to a tiny mom & pop middle Eastern restaurant called Sufra. Just a couple blocks down from the hotel. Good food, very welcoming, and quite inexpensive. In Marrakesh on our own we ate a great Tapas place (Mas Tapas) and can recommend it.
Food on the tour was always good, but a little redundant. The Tagine cooking method is ubiquitous. As a previous poster said, I enjoyed a change at the excellent Italian restaurant in the hotel at Marrakesh. One tour option we had in Marrakesh was a cooking school; don't miss it. Professionally done and lots of fun but yes, you are going to make Tagine!
This is a great tour with beautiful architecture, and plenty of colorful mosaics. Not too much time on your own, but then you would surely get lost in the crowded hearts of the cities (Medinas). As usual for Tauck, a great director, and hand-picked local guides.
Re: New Smaller Groups Introduced by Tauck
Personally, I would not want to be on a tour with less than thirty. We have done fourteen Tauck tours and most of our companions were great and friendly. We have, however, done one or two where there were obnoxious people that we could not escape. It reminds me of a friend that took a barge trip with a ‘friend’, just two couples. After the trip they never talked to each other again. Small groups may be great if everyone is compatible, but if not you will probably not have a good time. We did one trip to Africa with a couple from Malibu that diminished the experience for everyone. He even got into a fight with someone in the eggs to order in the restaurant. That was after almost taking my wife’s fingers off by slamming her window from behind without her knowledge. I would not do a tour that was designed for only fifteen people. That being said, we did do one Africa trip where we only had eighteen people. And the B,Z, and SA trip is a small group, but ours worked out fine. I remain leery of small group tours. I think you need to be prepared to deal with some people that you find difficult.
Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand blog
I just returned from Tauck's Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand tour. I blogged it, as I do all of our travel. Here's a link to the blog
https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2024-1Vietnam-01.htm
I think this will be of most value to those who have not taken this tour and are considering it. The blog will show you what you do every day. I also include comments about the activities, and links to additional information.
It will be of less value to those who have already taken the tour, except to help time organize your pictures.
Re: Review of tour
British- you reminded me of a story when we were in the Galapagos. My husband, who loves all turtle things, complimented our Ecuadorian guide on his beautiful belt with tortoise designs. He thought he might pick one up at a local craft village.
"Where'd you get that great belt?", he asked.
"Amazon".
"Ohh - you bought it in the Amazon?"
"No", replied the guide. "Amazon- the website".
Re: Review of tour
There are obviously differences of opinions, and all are respected and heard here. While Morocco was not really high on our list of places to go to, a couple we met on our Antarctica Tauck trip, who had done 22 (!) Tauck trips, said hands down Morocco was their favorite tour. So, this trip was added to our ever increasing list of deposits. We were absolutely not disappointed. It was our 7th continent, so that was a milestone in and of itself. We had never been in a Moslem - predominant country, so the sights and sounds were just amazing to us. When we were in the souks/ medinas, particularly in Fez, it was truly like being in another world and being transported back in time. The trip out into the desert for the visit to the Berber family and the desert Bedouin dinner were fabulous. Driving through the desert, off - road, in a caravan of Toyota SUVs, surrounded by a cloud of dust, made me feel like I was in the middle of a movie. Seeing all of the children of the tiny village come out to "greet us" was fabulous. They are so ridiculously cute and have nothing really to play with except piles of dirt and rubble, yet they look remarkably happy. We were on this tour with a group of friends that are real foodies, and everyone raved about the food. Pure Luxury - we all flew Royal Air Maroc, business class. The lounges were subpar, but the flights were good. Our tour director was the absolute best ( Chris Morrison). We felt very safe and welcome. We travel with Tauck to places we won't go to on our own because we love Tauck, know what to expect, and want to be in the "Tauck Bubble". We were hoping to see more of the country and heard rumblings that Tauck was going to start a new tour that started in Southern Spain, went through Gibraltar, and continued into parts of Morocco that were not included on this tour. We were sad that such an itinerary was not included in the 100 Year Anniversary booklet. We loved this trip. For us it is on par with the Southeast Asia tour, which we also loved. (Our top tier being Australia/New Zealand and Antarctica). Seeing cultures that are so different from our own is awe inspiring. That is how we approach travel and make our destination decisions.