A failed trip down the Danube
We are just returning from the river boat cruise Berlin to Krakow. This was our first Tauck experience and first group travel. I am not alone in feeling very disappointed. Let me list pros and cons.
Pros.
-we travelled through beautiful countries of German, Austria, and Poland.
-the hotel in Berlin and the river boat were beautiful facilities with incredible staff
-the weather was incredible
-the tour guides at various locations were good, some great
-the food was great
-dinner at the parliament building in Berlin and the palace in Vienna was incredible.
Cons
-very old group of people. We asked tauck about ages of guests. They said 60 percent over 60 almost everyone was over 75 many over 80. Only 2 people under 60. Very disappointing. Felt like floating senior citizen home.
-group was large and impersonal. Felt like I was being herded like cattle. Tauck staff while nice did not engage with guests. Even when we went on a small group bike tour of 7 Tauck person did not speak with us but spoke with bike leader. Felt like cattle
-Sheraton hotels in Nuremberg and Krakow were mediocre. In Krakow we were given horrendous room with stairs covering our window. We had to insists on a change. There was no turn down service. When we asked they said they do not turn down Tauck rooms. Front desk was not helpful when I needed to mail postcard.
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Overall would not recommend or do a Tauck tour in foreseeable future.
Pros.
-we travelled through beautiful countries of German, Austria, and Poland.
-the hotel in Berlin and the river boat were beautiful facilities with incredible staff
-the weather was incredible
-the tour guides at various locations were good, some great
-the food was great
-dinner at the parliament building in Berlin and the palace in Vienna was incredible.
Cons
-very old group of people. We asked tauck about ages of guests. They said 60 percent over 60 almost everyone was over 75 many over 80. Only 2 people under 60. Very disappointing. Felt like floating senior citizen home.
-group was large and impersonal. Felt like I was being herded like cattle. Tauck staff while nice did not engage with guests. Even when we went on a small group bike tour of 7 Tauck person did not speak with us but spoke with bike leader. Felt like cattle
-Sheraton hotels in Nuremberg and Krakow were mediocre. In Krakow we were given horrendous room with stairs covering our window. We had to insists on a change. There was no turn down service. When we asked they said they do not turn down Tauck rooms. Front desk was not helpful when I needed to mail postcard.
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Overall would not recommend or do a Tauck tour in foreseeable future.
1
Comments
Wow, slamming an entire tour because, despite apparently not being in the demographic and being told by Tauck what it was, you took the tour anyway! The Tauck rep might have overstated the ages, I would say our group averaged 65, but certainly no where near 60% over 70 and very few over 80. Oh, my gosh, no turn-down service! The world is coming to an end!! Seriously? It sounds to me like you might be better off traveling on your own.
In what way were you herded like cattle? Except when the group has to make a move from town to town, Tauck never makes you go on the daily tours. Yes, you do need to show up on time otherwise you are delaying the entire group.
Did you talk to anyone? Did you make any effort to engage with anyone?
After 5 Tauck tours i find it hard to believe the TDs and CD didn't engage with anyone. Totally not the experience we've had.
And, I can sympathize with that "cattle" feeling as I have felt that way about the organization on another trip (although, I loved our TD who was very personable and engaged continually with us).
Turndown...well, you've got me there! That's really not a deal breaker! I can never figure it out...some hotels provide it, others not always. Frequently, the turn down service will arrive around 6 PM just when we are returning from some adventure and need to shower and change. We have no problem telling them to return at some appointed hour. In fact, if we want a service, we call and request it. Maybe their usual practice is not to turn down Tauck rooms, but I bet if you request it, they will not deny you. Tauck does wield a bit of power.
As far as unacceptable rooms, the same principle applies. If you have a problem with a room, ask for a change. We have had a couple of experiences where our room smelled of cigarette smoke (most recently in London in what was a "non-smoking" room). Even the receptionist who came to escort us to our new room couldn't deny that the room reeked! We have never had a problem being relocated. Then again, we do not ask for a Grand Canal view with a balcony if our room has a inner courtyard view.
As far as the postcard is concerned, I can't sympathize as I haven't mailed a postcard in 16 years! That sort of does not connect with your observation of a "senior citizen home"!
Touring with a company is all about expectations. I really think you need to clarify your expectations (you were pretty clear in your pros) and, if unable to find a company that satisfies all of your expectations, settle with a company that fulfills the most important ones (apparently age of fellow travelers is important to you, and frequently the luxury companies attract a crowd that is more established...also, the type of tour dictates the type of traveler...the more exotic tours attract a more intrepid traveler...)
Still find it hard to believe 2-3 TDs and the CD didn't engage with anyone. If so it will be reflected in multiple evaluations.
To me the river cruises aren't really easier physically than the 2 european land tours we've taken but easier in that i have more control over the type of room and the meals. I like the ship's buffet breakfast and lunch where I can focus on fruits and vegetables, not end up with more on my plate than desired and hence enjoy the happy hour and dinner with a little more comfort and less guilt. And yes it's very convenient being able to hang up my clothes so they aren't wrinkled, know how to work the shower controls, know where to find electric plugs, etc. I find I spend more time enjoying the tour not trying to readjust to a new room or hotel. There is plenty of walking and climbing to do and you better be able to climb the ship's stairs and walk the often awkwardly placed gangplank to shore. Unless you just want to sit on the ship you need to be fairly mobile.
Regarding not getting turn down service, I would have nightmares for weeks :-)
As much as I like the convenience of the river cruise as floating hotel, I have enjoyed the usually welcome surprise of the hotels rooms we've had on our Tauck tours. In Ireland we had a suite in the Merchant with a 4th floor view of the city and at Glenlo Abbey a view Lough Corrib I could have stared at for hours. It made me willing to ignore the lack of AC during a heat wave and the tiny bathroom with the most frustrating shower. It had a stiff plastic control valve that took two hands to operate from inside the shower (getting sprayed with cold water) or attempt to wrap your left arm around a folding glass door to reach. Yep, pretty refreshing way to start the day.
I do concur with BKMD that some of the cruise itineraries/stops put the ship in a locale that you don't want to walk around and explore on your own. When it is in a walkable location it's great. Our first cruise on the Rhone was like that and the reason it remains our favorite. I liked the places the tour went on the Rhine/Moselle but there was more bus time. The Seine a bit of a mix and I'm hoping the Danube/Main/Rhine cruise next year will have very little bus time and still see interesting places.
That's too bad. I wonder if the new-ness of this tour contributed. The team TD concept is something unique to the river cruise and small ship tours as opposed to the land tours where the TD is pretty much chief cook and bottle washer. We did have one river cruise where the TDs were all good and very personable but the CD was a bit preoccupied. A few minor incidents where communication within the "team" broke down.
Not that I want to get anyone in trouble, but hopefully you communicated your impressions in you evaluation.
We will be on the same itinerary in early August, so I appreciate your comments. Looking forward to our trip. We've had nothing but good experiences with Tauck in the past.
We did learn that Tauck has hired 50 new Tauck tour directors this year because the company is expanding so rapidly. I would guess that they maybe start them off on the river cruises because to me they would be the easiest tours to put beginners on, plus, because there are usually four on each boat, they would be able to suppprt each other. We had three new hires ‘observing’ on this trip, they were all young. Be sure to fill in your comment cards and maybe any tour directors who have been sub standard will get more training or be dismissed. Or maybe the original posters are more deamanding than the average Tauck traveler. Any situation can be looked at from two sides. The directors do ‘score’ ius the traveler too.
You could be right about river cruises being a good place to train TDs since they can work with the other more experienced ones. I only recall 1 TD that had done land tours before river cruising and she was kind of the junior member of the team learning the cruise itinerary, etc. The number of directors on board can vary. Now that the older ships have been reconfigured to carry fewer passengers (98 max) you may not see the standard 3 TDs and CD. That's what happened on our Seine cruise where we only had about 60 passengers so only 2 TDs. They did have a 3rd who was an experienced Danube TD but was cross training to the Seine. The cruise going back west after our Rhine/Moselle had the normal complement plus 3 more trainees.
Hope you enjoyed your small ship tour British. I'm a little nervous of those due to number of passengers and sea sickness.
We are doing our first small ship cruise, which is the same one that British is on. I know one of the directors is Carla, whom we had in Patagonia. I cannot imagine her being anything other than totally friendly and helpful. We had some concerns about four tour directors, but we look at traveling as doing something different. We have previously done demanding land trips like Kenya/Tanzania and Israel. Life's been busy and we are looking forward to something new. Learned along time ago part of traveling and having fun is flexibility. And can't wait to get out of this South Texas heat!
Can't agree more! We loved all those places mentioned by Virginia, and we, took, were looking for Alaska alternative. Thanks for the mention about China land tour, too!