Best Of
Re: When to river cruise where question.
I always book river cruises in the Spring and land tours from August to October, the hot weather does not bother me being from Florida I'm used to it and I rather be hot than cold 😁
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
Thank you for your kind words about our blog - and the girls thank you for calling them adorable (they said "Woof, woof" when I told them). I don't remember a lot of down time on this trip, except at the resort in the south of India. They left time for people to take advantage of the spa. Perhaps ask Tauck for copies of the daily itineraries.
There were a lot of early mornings. By the end of the tour, we were a bit tired - but we're not so young any more.
Re: 40 days until we leave for our POI tour :) Woohoo :)
You do have to be careful about men in India, especially in crowded places. If given the chance they will touch you. It’s good to keep covered and not wear tight clothing.
We took the shorter Northern India tour some time ago and there was only one free afternoon but there was an optional excursion and only three of us took it. We felt the others missed a great afternoon of a beautiful temple and ride there on a tuk tuk. The guide took great photographs of us with the best backgrounds of the scenery, he knew exact where to place us.
Yes, the tours these days have too much free time. We would not venture out without a guide. Tauck paid people to keep the beggars away from us. Don’t look them in the eye or they will pursue you hawking their wears for long distances. We loved India.
British
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
My point is that there are many different tax situations or even cash flow situations. On one of our trips to Africa there were other guests who found a need for cash and thought they were going to find ATM machines or be able to cash checks at the hotels. Neither was the case. I ended up ‘cashing’ a few checks for people who needed cash. I have had credit cards go ‘inert’ on trips several times, so I am not comfortable if I don’t have a reasonable amount of cash with me. I once got caught in a restaurant with ‘dead’ credit cards, and no cash. I will not repeat that mistake. I made more than a couple phone calls getting one of the credit cards reactivated … which they said they could not do …. but they did when I told them we were getting ready to wash dishes. (;-). Those who think they can visit remote places with nothing but credit/ATM cards will eventually be proven wrong.
Sealord
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
I don't know about people from other countries but in the US yes cash only will often get you a discount because the person is likely not intending to pay tax on the amount. We've definitely had workmen giving us a discount if we pay in cash.
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
I’ve seen businesses give a cash discount vs credit cards, because they are passing on some of the savings, of not having to pay the credit card fees when a customer pays in cash, to the customer.
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
It surprises me how people would pay 15-20K for their trip, but complain about paying the TD $15 per day,, when they are the ones working hard to make sure you have an invaluable, carefree, amazing vacation.
Be grateful!
mil
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
Sealord - A thought for Mike and others who think ‘cash’ is not important.
If someone can give me a good reason why cash is superior to a credit card payment at the end of a tour, I'd consider it and balance it against my desire not to carry a lot of cash. Hiding the cash payment so they don't have to pay tax on it is not a sufficient reason.
Re: Considering the Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand trip
I felt Tauck handled the intra-tour flights incredibly well. Enough said!
jteiii
Re: Tauck raises suggested tip amounts
It’s carrying the cash that is the problem. That is what the main discussion is.
Our upcoming tour begins in Buenos Aires and last time we were there, the Tauck tour director firmly told us not to wear any jewelry and certainly not watches. Just take one credit card while out and about. Carrying cash was a no no. That was our ending city so that’s an example of not being able to go to an ATM safely to get money for tips.
British