Best Of

Folks, until a few years ago due to health concerns, I was on 42 tours with Tauck, land/riverboat/events in the US/Canada/Europe, which I covered pretty thoroughly over the past decade; I especially enjoyed the Tauck Events (they no longer offer them except for the yearly Rose Parade in the US). I only wanted to cover the US/Canada/Europe in retirement and enjoyed all of those tours/trips. That said, I also thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the posts/comments above by you folks, too. Many of you have traveled more and all over than I will ever do, but I still enjoyed reading about your experiences, too. Tauck will always be number one in my mind as they put me in places and experiences that I would never have had without them. :-)

Concur with comments so far. The gangplanks for river cruise ships are not like the wide and often fixed ones on ocean going ships. They are portable structures the ship takes with them and set up at each docking. The picture below is an Avalon ship but the same type of gangplank that Tauck uses. Sometimes they use a longer one. Sometimes it ends in a platform with steps. The incline can vary. All hard to predict depending on the dock and water levels. You'll see it's narrow, has ropes not fixed handles, and has those cross metal pieces for traction.

On board the ship she would be fine except that the elevator does not go to the Sun deck.

If she can walk short distances using both feet she could do this assuming you handle the knee scooter. See below re wheelchairs.

Part of the Health/Mobility guidance from Tauck on the river cruises:

PLEASE NOTE: We regret that this Tauck itinerary cannot accommodate wheelchairs or motorized scooters. Likewise, we regret that we're unable to provide individual assistance to guests with walking difficulties or other personal needs. The responsibility of the Tauck Director who accompanies your trip is to ensure that the larger group enjoys a relaxing and informative journey, and he or she cannot be relied upon to provide ongoing individual assistance to any one guest. Guests requiring such individualized assistance must be accompanied by an able-bodied companion who can provide it.

Tours say they do not accommodate scooters or wheelchairs, perhaps you need to talk to Tauck. Also, consider you might encounter snow, ice and cobbled streets.

There's no way. Too many steep ramps, steps, and cobblestone. Plus - often boats dock next to each other in port and you have to climb lots of stairs to get off your boat, onto another boat, etc. Plus-- the castles, abbeys, palaces, cathedrals they take you to have stairs. The markets are very crowded - it would be difficult to navigate and even get up close to the stalls to see the products.