Yep, we stayed in 201 on a 2 week Rhine/Moselle cruise a couple of years ago.
Pros:
- good layout with plenty of room to move around the bed
- lots of light from the big sliding doors
- decent sized bathroom with rain head shower, good storage and counter space
- the 2 chairs and table are nice for the few times you want to sit, write, use your laptop, etc
- close to the lobby so very easy to get to and from the lounge, restaurant, dep/return from the ship
Cons
- the shower is kind of a weird corner unit that some people find problematic (not a con for us as it's way bigger than our RV shower)
- noise from the lobby which is not carpeted - 99% of the time this isn't a problem - I'm a very light sleeper
- unlike the loft cabins which are cheaper, our Cat 4 didn't have it's own coffee maker - when we wanted coffee early we walked back to the bistro which has a self service machine (and usually starts continental breakfast around 6 am)
If noise doesn't bother you and you don't care about the coffee, it's a very nice cabin.
Below is a link to a slide show USA Today did of the Inspire - photos 44-46 are the Cat 4 room/bath
We stayed in a Cat 4 cabin and loved it. All the pros that Claudia Sails mentioned. We had no problem with noise. Really liked the convenience of being close to everything. Would definitely make this a first choice if we take another river cruise.
Glad we agree on something Alan. Actually, I call the loft the men’s dressing area, and the rest of the place is the women’s dressing area. It is also a nice arrangement for those times when you might be having a ‘discussion’. I loved the window, and window treatment controls at both the bedside and the loft. Our friends were in a Cat 7 suite, and other than the walk in closet, I liked the loft better. In my view a ‘French Balcony’ is useless ... just a big sliding window. I think we actually had more window area than the suite. There were people on our Danube trip that said they were trying to get the loft and could not get it. Ironically, we were on the ‘waitlist’, and we got the loft. We were really pleased. Almost afraid to talk of it here because Tauck may reclassify it as a Cat 6.
I do like the French Balcony in the Cat 5 and 6 cabins now that they have designed them with the foot of the bed facing the window. Was nice to lay there and look at the water/scenery. Never really felt the need of a real balcony since you often can't use it - no view, blocked view in port, weather, etc. If it's nice enough to sit out, I'd rather be on the sun deck with the waiter coming by with drinks and snacks.
I do hope that when I take this tour next year I will not have time to be sitting on the ship’s deckhaving drinks, I want to be out there exploring. Maybe I should read the itinerary a little more carefully. We just booked the flights today.
I do hope that when I take this tour next year I will not have time to be sitting on the ship’s deckhaving drinks, I want to be out there exploring. Maybe I should read the itinerary a little more carefully. We just booked the flights today.
Well, unless you sleep, get a massage, or plant yourself on a bar stool in Arthur's or the Lounge, you will likely be on deck since there are at least two afternoons of daylight sailing. Either that or sign out a couple of bicycles and try to keep up with the boat : )
I do hope that when I take this tour next year I will not have time to be sitting on the ship’s deckhaving drinks, I want to be out there exploring. Maybe I should read the itinerary a little more carefully. We just booked the flights today.
British, do you go on tours and spend the entire time just rolling out of bed, eat breakfast, walk around all day til dinner then immediately back to bed again? No time to just kick back, enjoy the place and the company?
Every river cruise is different and every day is different. We've had some where we were busy all day with only a little bit of time between returning to the ship and the start of happy hour/TD discovery briefing in the lounge. Others with a more leisurely pace with time to explore the area near the ship or just sit and enjoy the area the ship was parked at. As Alan mentioned, there are times in daylight when the ship is sailing to the next port. It's not like its going through a tunnel with nothing to see. The Seine had some lovely stretches with interesting buildings (chateaus etc) along the river. And of course there is the Upper Middle Rhine with castles and the Lorelei.
It's all too easy to get so caught up in the seeing and doing (and endless picture taking) that I often don't take the time to just BE and enjoy where I'm at. I can look at the pictures later and relive the things I saw, but it's harder to recapture that feeling you get when you realize you're in an extraordinary place that you may never get to again.
You're welcome. And pat yourself on the back as being one of the minority here who ask a question, get an answer and actually thank/acknowledge the efforts people made to help you out.
British, do you go on tours and spend the entire time just rolling out of bed, eat breakfast, walk around all day til dinner then immediately back to bed again? No time to just kick back, enjoy the place and the company?
Every river cruise is different and every day is different. We've had some where we were busy all day with only a little bit of time between returning to the ship and the start of happy hour/TD discovery briefing in the lounge. Others with a more leisurely pace with time to explore the area near the ship or just sit and enjoy the area the ship was parked at. As Alan mentioned, there are times in daylight when the ship is sailing to the next port. It's not like its going through a tunnel with nothing to see. The Seine had some lovely stretches with interesting buildings (chateaus etc) along the river. And of course there is the Upper Middle Rhine with castles and the Lorelei.
It's all too easy to get so caught up in the seeing and doing (and endless picture taking) that I often don't take the time to just BE and enjoy where I'm at. I can look at the pictures later and relive the things I saw, but it's harder to recapture that feeling you get when you realize you're in an extraordinary place that you may never get to again.
Sorry to be naughty Claudia, yes, we do like to stop and smell the roses but I am concerned about how it will be. On our Iceland small ship we feel we missed seeing some things because of the new ‘choices’ that Tauck is bringing in. We could really have seen more in one day if we had been given the opportunity to take two tours instead of going back to the ship. It is remote locations, so not as if we could have organized anything extra ourselves. It was hard to connect with all those people, it was so unlike a land tour. We made a couple of connections but not as many as usual.
I certainly enjoy the bus rides that most people don’t like or are too busy talking to look out of the window, so I know I will enjoy when we are moving along during the day. Thank you so much for bringing me back to reality!
Don't laugh. There are some places on some of their river cruises where you can actually do that.
Yup! Did that on the Blue Danube this year.
I was in a group that biked 43 km (26 mi.) from Engelhartszell to Aschach, Austria. While we biked, the boat went on ahead. The bike paths on each side of the Danube were great. We had a mix of people- I don't know if I was the oldest (a tad shy of 70), but I sure felt like it when we finished. We started out together but the younger jack rabbits quickly zoomed out ahead (eventually were out of sight!) and the "slow-pokes" slowly lagged the same distance to the rear. I made up the entire "middle group!" We stopped briefly 2 or 3 times and had a chance to rest during a small ferry crossing, which gave everyone a chance to catch up, but it was anything but a leisurely bike ride! I'm a swimmer not a biker, so I was glad I trained for several weeks prior to the trip! A TD friend told me that this evolution was a fairly new option and in the recent past only slightly more than half of those who start, finish (they didn't believe, or weren't told about the level of difficulty.) The rest rode the chase vehicle to the ship. However, everyone in our group made it!
British, re naughty as they say "Well behaved Women seldom make history" or in other words at our age we're entitled to occasionally be naughty.
None of us want to pay what we do for these trips and not enjoy the experience. One of the reasons I wanted to take our first river cruise was that vision that Viking used to sell of being on the top deck, cruising through beautiful mountains sipping a glass of wine. And while we have enjoyed some top deck touring, it actually hasn't been all that much. A few longer spells like the two I mentioned before but other favorites included going through the first lock on our Rhone cruise where everyone was topside watching the action, cruising into Avignon at sunset with the sun hitting the old stonework and an accordionist playing french tunes, departing Paris at sunset watching the Eiffel tower fade into the distance, and leaving the Moselle's fall colored vineyards as the captain negotiated us under a very low bridge. It was all wonderful.
Other than times when the weather was either too cold or too hot to enjoy the exploring, I don't remember any boring times I felt I was missing out. Pretty hard to control weather and it will equally impact land tours or river cruises.
Comments
Pros:
- good layout with plenty of room to move around the bed
- lots of light from the big sliding doors
- decent sized bathroom with rain head shower, good storage and counter space
- the 2 chairs and table are nice for the few times you want to sit, write, use your laptop, etc
- close to the lobby so very easy to get to and from the lounge, restaurant, dep/return from the ship
Cons
- the shower is kind of a weird corner unit that some people find problematic (not a con for us as it's way bigger than our RV shower)
- noise from the lobby which is not carpeted - 99% of the time this isn't a problem - I'm a very light sleeper
- unlike the loft cabins which are cheaper, our Cat 4 didn't have it's own coffee maker - when we wanted coffee early we walked back to the bistro which has a self service machine (and usually starts continental breakfast around 6 am)
If noise doesn't bother you and you don't care about the coffee, it's a very nice cabin.
Below is a link to a slide show USA Today did of the Inspire - photos 44-46 are the Cat 4 room/bath
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/cruises/2015/07/06/cruise-ship-tours-taucks-inspire/29500665/
Well, unless you sleep, get a massage, or plant yourself on a bar stool in Arthur's or the Lounge, you will likely be on deck since there are at least two afternoons of daylight sailing. Either that or sign out a couple of bicycles and try to keep up with the boat : )
British, do you go on tours and spend the entire time just rolling out of bed, eat breakfast, walk around all day til dinner then immediately back to bed again? No time to just kick back, enjoy the place and the company?
Every river cruise is different and every day is different. We've had some where we were busy all day with only a little bit of time between returning to the ship and the start of happy hour/TD discovery briefing in the lounge. Others with a more leisurely pace with time to explore the area near the ship or just sit and enjoy the area the ship was parked at. As Alan mentioned, there are times in daylight when the ship is sailing to the next port. It's not like its going through a tunnel with nothing to see. The Seine had some lovely stretches with interesting buildings (chateaus etc) along the river. And of course there is the Upper Middle Rhine with castles and the Lorelei.
It's all too easy to get so caught up in the seeing and doing (and endless picture taking) that I often don't take the time to just BE and enjoy where I'm at. I can look at the pictures later and relive the things I saw, but it's harder to recapture that feeling you get when you realize you're in an extraordinary place that you may never get to again.
You're welcome. And pat yourself on the back as being one of the minority here who ask a question, get an answer and actually thank/acknowledge the efforts people made to help you out.
Best wishes on your cruise.
I certainly enjoy the bus rides that most people don’t like or are too busy talking to look out of the window, so I know I will enjoy when we are moving along during the day. Thank you so much for bringing me back to reality!
Yup! Did that on the Blue Danube this year.
I was in a group that biked 43 km (26 mi.) from Engelhartszell to Aschach, Austria. While we biked, the boat went on ahead. The bike paths on each side of the Danube were great. We had a mix of people- I don't know if I was the oldest (a tad shy of 70), but I sure felt like it when we finished. We started out together but the younger jack rabbits quickly zoomed out ahead (eventually were out of sight!) and the "slow-pokes" slowly lagged the same distance to the rear. I made up the entire "middle group!" We stopped briefly 2 or 3 times and had a chance to rest during a small ferry crossing, which gave everyone a chance to catch up, but it was anything but a leisurely bike ride! I'm a swimmer not a biker, so I was glad I trained for several weeks prior to the trip! A TD friend told me that this evolution was a fairly new option and in the recent past only slightly more than half of those who start, finish (they didn't believe, or weren't told about the level of difficulty.) The rest rode the chase vehicle to the ship. However, everyone in our group made it!
None of us want to pay what we do for these trips and not enjoy the experience. One of the reasons I wanted to take our first river cruise was that vision that Viking used to sell of being on the top deck, cruising through beautiful mountains sipping a glass of wine. And while we have enjoyed some top deck touring, it actually hasn't been all that much. A few longer spells like the two I mentioned before but other favorites included going through the first lock on our Rhone cruise where everyone was topside watching the action, cruising into Avignon at sunset with the sun hitting the old stonework and an accordionist playing french tunes, departing Paris at sunset watching the Eiffel tower fade into the distance, and leaving the Moselle's fall colored vineyards as the captain negotiated us under a very low bridge. It was all wonderful.
Other than times when the weather was either too cold or too hot to enjoy the exploring, I don't remember any boring times I felt I was missing out. Pretty hard to control weather and it will equally impact land tours or river cruises.
Really hope you enjoy the experience.