Best Of
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
@henrypoon_66 - if anyone participates in social media, all of that is already well known. Facebook, for example, monetizes their knowledge of you, and they know a whole lot about you. They do everything they can to get you to disclose information about yourself and your life. People post pictures which have EXIF data in them which gives the time and date of the picture and where it was taken. They know where you live, how much money you make, how many kids you have and their ages, who your friends are, where you travel and how often, and a lot more.
That’s the primary reason I don’t use Facebook.
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
Hi all. Back from POI (Mike and I were in the same tour). First let me say that Annie was a wonderful tour director and folks really should try not judging and sharing personal opinions like I have seen here about Annie. This is our professional career we are talking about here. I get this is a sharing community site, but really. Second. I never at any time felt uncomfortable around Indian men. I actually even “broke the rules” and went sleeveless a few days due to the heat.
This tour was fabulous and is our number 3 out of 10 Tauck Tours. Annie helped make this an amazing trip. I appreciated her directness perhaps because I myself am pretty direct.
(Hi Mike 👋)
Re: Question about photo opportunity at the Taj Mahal
tdelliott71 it depends on the photographer and the time of day. - or perhaps this photo was taken shortly after COVID when the numbers of travelers were less. I'm guessing MikeHenderson had this photo taken during the pre-dawn visit to the Taj Mahal as the mid-morning hours crowds are thicker. The photographer will do his best. on my 1st POI tour I found the photopgrapher to be much better at capturing unique photos than on my 2nd visit (India-Nepal). Keep in mind, the India-Nepal tour only includes the mid-morning visit and not the early visit. We actually mixed the schedule a bit for the last trip as it was very foggy on the morning we were to visit the Taj. We instead visited the Fort first and then went to the Taj later in the afternoon and it was very crowded
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
tdelliott71 That's the Annie I had as a TD. IMO, she was very good and went out of her way on occasion to ensure everyone had a great experience--now, I cannot compare her to SID --who was FANTASTIC.
Our tour only had 15 people, but a few were quite difficult. She handled them the best she could. I didn't have any issues with her and her attitude was just fine. She did mention she was retiring and that's why I was quite surprised when I asked Sid if her knew her and he mentioned she was leading a tour at that time--this was 5 years later. I'm sure it's an exhausting trip for the Tds. There's a lot of coordinating going on behind the scenes--but, that's what we're paying for...someone else to coordinate and handle potential "issues"
It's a great trip...Enjoy!
Re: Itinerary for cruising the land of the midnight sun
Whatever the tour is called, I think to get the best feel for Japan, you have to do a land tour. Osaka is huge and crowded and many of the interesting things are under ground so not seen by coach.
British
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
Sally North - You are going to LOVE the Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand trip! It was my first Tauck trip to go on solo (my hubby retire about 1.5 years ago so before that i did some of the trips with Tauck by myself). I loved Cambodia so much that i took my boys back there about 6 months later to celebrate my oldest son's college graduation. I loved the trip because not only does it have a ton of history, but the scenery is just amazing to photograph!!!!
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
It is the same Annie! There are not two. She must be about 80 now.
British
Re: Women's dress code
tdelliott71 - Our Tour Director was Siddhartha Sharma. He was excellent.
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
Sally North We think alike! POI is definitely in my Top 3 Tauck tours. I took the Northern India-Nepal tour 5 years after the POI and I am anxiously awaiting a new Tauck India itinerary. The TD (Sid) hinted they were developing a tour to possibly include Bhutan. I'm ready and still have a few years left on my 10-year visa. I'm taking the Vietnam tour next December. I hope you get a chance to post a few reviews. I'm also taking MikeHenderson recommendation adding the Ha Long Bay tour on the front end and will add a few days at the back end to visit Laos. Safe Travels.
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
tdelliott72 You will LOVE LOVE LOVE India...I think it will always be in my Top 3 Tauck tours.
I do not recall any aggressiveness from the Indian men. For my India tours, I arrived a day early and arranged guides and driver through the concierges at the Leela and Imperial hotels. I do not recall much down-time. it's a fast moving tour. If there were more downtime, I would have welcomed the opportunity to enjoy more of the beautiful hotel properties.
In reference to tour guides - I think there are two Annie's. For my first POI tour, I had Annie - middle age; platinum bob. She was good. and we had a few difficult people on that tour. A friend of a friend took the POI tour last year. I think her guide name was Annie ( a different, younger Annie). She said she was not that great - at times, downright awful). I hope you are lucky enough to get my TD Annie (2018 tour) or if Lady Luck is really on your side, you will get the incredible Sid who was my TD for the 2023 Northern India-Nepal tour. He does both tours.
Enjoy! I'm looking forward to Tauck developing another India Itinerary