Glad to hear you had a great tour. Our last had more cobblestones and stairs than any I remembered in the past and several people with mobility issues. The TDs would try to have a leisure paced group but some either didn't hear or didn't want to admit that they had issues. It never caused us to be late but I do think when ended up with more standing still during guided tours than I like.
Claudia, sent you a private message the other day telling you how much we enjoyed our cruise and thanking you for your info and tips in the past.
Alan S, yes we will book another cruise sometime in the future. Mr B really enjoyed the more leisurely pace, although we both admit you see more on land tours.
We do prefer less people on a tour, it’s difficult to have dinner as a couple on the ship. There really are not any couples dinner tables. We also like to just chill at breakfast as it ithe only time of day when we relax for a bit, usually after our morning walk. It’s not that we are anti social, we just like ‘us’ time occasionally. We will be doing plenty of extra exercise and dieting when we get home. We loved the band and the disco bight on the ship, we danced until the music stopped.
Another day in Amsterdam today, we managed 3 museums yesterday after getting to the hotel from the ship. It’s 27 years since we were last in Amsterdam and we are loving it. Just waiting for Mr B to wake
Good you pointed it out. I hadn't realized it was there.
Did you ever try the bistro? It is smaller and has some 2 person tables so you get some time on your own. I definitely need some me time. Went off on my own in Passau.
People tended to avoid the Bistro because there were smokers on board and they were in and out of the door into Arthur’s all the time and it smelt very smoky. Also when they were standing in line and when walking along on the guided tours. At the meal at the castle the people on our table were complaining about the smoke coming in the door near where they were smoking. When Mr B went to the bathroom and past them shortly afterwards he asked them to move further away from the door because people were complaining inside. After that, he was personna non grata with them. I guess no one including us wanted to say anything to the tour directors but I mentioned it was unacceptable to us in our trust and hope, it was the only negative of the trip.
Wow, that stinks literally and figuratively. Just went back to my green book to see if things had changed and it still says smoking only permitted in the designated area on the sun deck behind the wheelhouse so they shouldn't have been anywhere near the bistro. I did notice ash trays on some tables of the sun deck not right behind the wheelhouse but don't remember any smokers. Glad you mentioned this in the comment card. I'd have said something to the CD or TD in the vein of "has the policy changed". I only remember a couple of smokers in all our tours and they never were a problem.
Scheduled to go on this trip next month, but are concerned that the walking tours may be too much for my wife's injured back. She can do about a half mile but then needs a short break. Long inclines and more than two flights of stairs also are problematic. Are we asking for trouble if we go? Thanks for any advice.
When we took the tour there was a ‘Yellow Mellow’ group for those who needed to walk more slowly, but I do not know if this is usual since this was our first river boat tour. There are certain walks you just won’t be able to do. And in Milan, the hotel is about a good brisk 20 to 30 minutes from the Duomo and so on. You could get an Uber, same thing in Amsterdam, we got them a few times when we stayed extra days because it was so darned hot then that a half hour walk in the heat of about 100 degrees was too much.
We are in great health and walk very fast daily., with no back problems. We find that all the slow walking and lots of standing around is actually quite tiring and achey on the back, just getting older I guess.
What does your wife’s Doctor say? Have you spoken to Tauck?
Richard, I do hope your wife has an injury that will get better, these things take such a long time to get right again. I also hope you will be able to travel with Tauck again, I’m wondering if any of the US ones might be easier to do with shorter plane rides. We flew business class this year but the Heathrow to Milan business flight were regular seats with just the middle seat blocked, we knew this in advance, but it could be an issue with a bad back.
Wondering if you could do an independent trip that just involves maybe one or two cites, staying in a nice central hotel with things to do at the hotel and some trip advisor tours that will pick you up from the hotel or similar tour company and do a customized tour to limit walking or hills. The trouble with the river boats is that here is little entertainment on the boat and certainly the places where the boat docked were not picturesque.
This may be our plan if mobility becomes an issue
Wishing you speedy recovery and continued happy travels
Comments
Glad to hear you had a great tour. Our last had more cobblestones and stairs than any I remembered in the past and several people with mobility issues. The TDs would try to have a leisure paced group but some either didn't hear or didn't want to admit that they had issues. It never caused us to be late but I do think when ended up with more standing still during guided tours than I like.
i wondered who resurrected this thread!
Now that you have done a cruise will there be more on your schedule in the future?
Claudia, sent you a private message the other day telling you how much we enjoyed our cruise and thanking you for your info and tips in the past.
Alan S, yes we will book another cruise sometime in the future. Mr B really enjoyed the more leisurely pace, although we both admit you see more on land tours.
We do prefer less people on a tour, it’s difficult to have dinner as a couple on the ship. There really are not any couples dinner tables. We also like to just chill at breakfast as it ithe only time of day when we relax for a bit, usually after our morning walk. It’s not that we are anti social, we just like ‘us’ time occasionally. We will be doing plenty of extra exercise and dieting when we get home. We loved the band and the disco bight on the ship, we danced until the music stopped.
Another day in Amsterdam today, we managed 3 museums yesterday after getting to the hotel from the ship. It’s 27 years since we were last in Amsterdam and we are loving it. Just waiting for Mr B to wake
Good you pointed it out. I hadn't realized it was there.
Did you ever try the bistro? It is smaller and has some 2 person tables so you get some time on your own. I definitely need some me time. Went off on my own in Passau.
People tended to avoid the Bistro because there were smokers on board and they were in and out of the door into Arthur’s all the time and it smelt very smoky. Also when they were standing in line and when walking along on the guided tours. At the meal at the castle the people on our table were complaining about the smoke coming in the door near where they were smoking. When Mr B went to the bathroom and past them shortly afterwards he asked them to move further away from the door because people were complaining inside. After that, he was personna non grata with them. I guess no one including us wanted to say anything to the tour directors but I mentioned it was unacceptable to us in our trust and hope, it was the only negative of the trip.
Wow, that stinks literally and figuratively. Just went back to my green book to see if things had changed and it still says smoking only permitted in the designated area on the sun deck behind the wheelhouse so they shouldn't have been anywhere near the bistro. I did notice ash trays on some tables of the sun deck not right behind the wheelhouse but don't remember any smokers. Glad you mentioned this in the comment card. I'd have said something to the CD or TD in the vein of "has the policy changed". I only remember a couple of smokers in all our tours and they never were a problem.
Scheduled to go on this trip next month, but are concerned that the walking tours may be too much for my wife's injured back. She can do about a half mile but then needs a short break. Long inclines and more than two flights of stairs also are problematic. Are we asking for trouble if we go? Thanks for any advice.
When we took the tour there was a ‘Yellow Mellow’ group for those who needed to walk more slowly, but I do not know if this is usual since this was our first river boat tour. There are certain walks you just won’t be able to do. And in Milan, the hotel is about a good brisk 20 to 30 minutes from the Duomo and so on. You could get an Uber, same thing in Amsterdam, we got them a few times when we stayed extra days because it was so darned hot then that a half hour walk in the heat of about 100 degrees was too much.
We are in great health and walk very fast daily., with no back problems. We find that all the slow walking and lots of standing around is actually quite tiring and achey on the back, just getting older I guess.
What does your wife’s Doctor say? Have you spoken to Tauck?
Thanks, British, for your observations and helpful suggestions. We think it's best for us to cancel. It would have been our 11th trip with Tauck.
Richard, I do hope your wife has an injury that will get better, these things take such a long time to get right again. I also hope you will be able to travel with Tauck again, I’m wondering if any of the US ones might be easier to do with shorter plane rides. We flew business class this year but the Heathrow to Milan business flight were regular seats with just the middle seat blocked, we knew this in advance, but it could be an issue with a bad back.
Wondering if you could do an independent trip that just involves maybe one or two cites, staying in a nice central hotel with things to do at the hotel and some trip advisor tours that will pick you up from the hotel or similar tour company and do a customized tour to limit walking or hills. The trouble with the river boats is that here is little entertainment on the boat and certainly the places where the boat docked were not picturesque.
This may be our plan if mobility becomes an issue
Wishing you speedy recovery and continued happy travels