Yeah, a Color Brochure
Got our 2021 brochure a few days ago. Was interesting to read and see some changes from last tours.
The NM Land of Enchantment tour now starts at Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque. I've been in it and it is an improvement over the Hyatt Tamaya (which is actually in Rio Rancho) mainly due to location. It's in walking distance of our Old Town while the Tamaya is a bit isolated.
Also see that ESW tours let you upgrade to a junior suite at the Savoy. We pretty much had one at the end of our Seine cruise but was just luck of the draw.
Wonder what other changes people have seen?
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That's not a new option for ESW/ I had ESW booked for this month (sob). Out of curiosity, I inquired on the price to upgrade and it was something like $1000/night!
Re other changes, there are more flights on the Scandinavia tour. When I did it, we bussed from Conpenhagen to Stockholm with an overnight in the middle of nowhere. Also a new flight between Oslo and Alesund.
Also, looks like they eliminated the Colorado trip, which doesn't surprise me. As one who has lived here for 10+ years, I thought it was a poor itinerary. For example, I can't imagine why they would include Leadville, but not include Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes NP's.
I haven’t lookEd at the itinerary for Colorado, I didn’t even realize they still did a Colorado tour. We took It years ago and it went to Mesa Verde and the Sand Dunes. I should take a look at the Scandinavia tour as we are booked on it for July 2021, I know it’s unlikely to go So I’m not getting excited about it.
To be honest, since Tauck re tooled is website months ago, it’s so much more difficult to quickly Look up tours than it used to be That I rarely bother unless I’m really looking for tours I’m interested in booking. I don’t know if anyone else agrees with me.
I completely agree with you. The new site is so much less user friendly than the old one.
Almost every tour and/or cruise I've been on over the years is no longer the same. Some of my favorites have been cancelled completely, and in other cases, they stay at different hotels or go to different cities. The good thing about that is if there is someplace I liked, I don't mind taking a similar tour again because I know I'll go to at least a few different places.
On ESW about half our group had suites with water views on Wales. Was nice but I wouldn't have paid extra. Always happy to have a room with a good view.
Mesa Verde yes. Sand Dunes meh. Been twice and got eaten alive by the CO equivalent of midges.
It's taken me a while to get the hang of the new site but I love having a color book to browse through.
One thing to be aware of about the brochures, they don’t always have all the tours in them, and they don’t always have additional departure dates either. So if you like a look of a tour, go to the website to find additional dates, or call Tauck because if there is sufficeany interest they will add dates. To be sure Tauck aren’t going other places not featured in brochures, you also need to check the website.
British when are you booked for Scandinavia? I'm booked for the July 23rd tour.
Without looking for the paperwork, we must be on a tour a little earlier than you as my calendar says we leave home on July 17th so I guess ours will be about the 19th. Like I said, I’m not convinced it will go.
What is ESW?
ESW = England, Scotland & Wales
Can't just do ESW, you need to add on Ireland. Lots of great sights in Ireland.
You can if you've already been to Ireland.
We did both - just not on the same trip. Loved both trips. Now I want more Scotland. Wish Tauck had a 2 week Scotland land tour which Rick Steve's is adding next year.
I've done Ireland with family members (including a cousin who studied there who was able to point out where our grandmother's cottage had been) on our own, but have booked a Tauck small group trip for next June (which I'm not sure will happen). I've been to Scotland, but have my eye on the cruise that goes to the Scottish islands, but I'm not planning to get on a cruise ship any time soon. I love Ireland and Scotland. No surprise: I just got my Ancestry.com DNA results: 94% Irish; 6% Scottish.
My first thought was you need vowels in your handle to get one, but I got one...
kfnknfzk - You need to recognize a friendly joke. Smile.
Yes, I think it was a joke
Bingo! Guess I should have added a smiley face at the end.
In these times, when we can't travel, a little levity is a necessary diversion.
I think you were also the one who misinterpreted a comment I made as political when it wasn't. Take a chill pill, dude. If it wasn't you, never mind, my apology.
kfnknfzk - Would you please elaborate on your comment: "With the exception of West Point...."? What was it about the West Point portion of the tour that was not to your liking?
kfnknfzk: I would have loved to have been on your tour. I'm a retired career Army officer and spent the last 10 years of my career as a Professor and Deputy Department Head at USMA (US Military Academy...West Point is the post name). His tune would have changed even more quickly. I'd add that what you experienced is aberrational...most senior cadets (and it have likely been a junior or senior) are very motivated individuals. While the education is free, they have to really work for it...not at all your typical college experience (and I went to the University of Wisconsin so I know whereof I speak).
As someone who has been in that very position, but at the similar, but finer
institution on the banks of the Severn River in Maryland, I frankly think your group was off base in all categories- you were rude and patronizing. The "kid," really?!?!? Yes, the Academy education is federally, funded, but since Cadets are also tax payers, their tuition is partially paid by the Cadet (or Midshipman) her/himself and his parents. Trust me he/she will pay back that investment many fold, by defending his/her country and voluntarily putting is life in harms way many times over the next six years or throughout his/her 20 - 30 year career, if he/she is permitted to serve that long. Free time is severely limited at all the academies. If you are not going to class, you are studying, doing research at the library, preparing spotless uniforms, cleaning your room, participating in mandatory athletics, military unit, and social activities. By the time lights out arrives, those not staying up late to study or work on a project or paper, are totally drained- 0600 comes early! Even during the summer the Cadets are busy and do not have a lot of free time. For part of the summer they will be at the Academy for special military, leadership, and academic training, so free time is most precious to them. Those not at the academy will be out serving with and learning from the operating forces, jumping from aircraft and participating in combat and weapons training. Had your group known or appreciated this, they might have looked more favorably or sympathetically on what was no doubt a lapse in judgement. Did anyone in your group ask for his address so they could send him a care package of cookies, treats, etc. That would have been the appropriate response! And yes, due to the physical and mental stress, the attrition rate is high at all the academies! Of the 40 high school graduates and the Navy and Marine Corps enlisted service members in my company who raised their right hands with me on induction day, only 16 graduated and were commissioned.
Thanks.
But, don't thank me. I had it easy during the "cold" war. Yes, there were quite a few hair-raising aircraft carrier landings on a pitching deck in windy, rainy, moonless, pitch-black nights. We often came within the range of anti-aircraft missiles from the USSR/Russia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, etc. , but all-in-all we were just continuously training to fight during that time, but not firing a shot.
Thank the officers and enlisted who are serving today and are faced with near constant hostilities and much longer deployments away from home. And don't forget to thank the spouses and children who are separated from their loved ones, constantly wondering if he/she will come home alive and physically and mentally sound.
The "thank you for your service" comment actually makes me feel uncomfortable. Thought I was alone in that until I did some research and found that 50% of vets feel the same. For me, I joined because I loved the life and loved the chance to travel and do something worthwhile with my life. But nobody was ever shooting at me or attempting to blow me up. Lately my response to the comment is to encourage the person to find a veterans charity they believe does good work and support them. Plenty out there to choose from.
Alan - Great training for becoming the resident Tauck forum guru! Thanks and Anchors Aweigh!
For the sake of discussion, I will offer a slightly different perspective on this issue. Given the favorable reactions to the comments above, I realize that I may be in the minority.
I did not attend any of the service academies, so I will take you at your word that free time is scarce. That would certainly make sense under the circumstances. However, when this cadet enrolled at West Point, I trust that he did so being aware of the strict regimen involved. While I can empathize with the fact that he may not have been thrilled to perform this particular task, it is not an excuse to be rude and disrespectful to people who likely had genuine interest in the information he was to provide and (as already stated) are collectively paying to clothe, house, feed, train, and educate him. At that moment, he was representing the United States Military Academy, and it does not appear that he did so in a professional manner.
That said, I whole heartedly agree that we owe these men and women a huge debt of gratitude. We have an all-volunteer armed forces, and God bless each and every one of them for the sacrifices that they (and their families) have made for all of us in this country! To be sure, the value of this sacrifice and commitment dwarfs the tax dollars that are used to support their efforts, but again, it is not an excuse to be rude.
I would imagine that one of the primary skills taught at USMA is discipline, which includes the ability to moderate one's behavior. He should have answered the group's questions with a positive attitude, and then he would have been free to do what he wanted to do. Everyone can have a bad day, and hopefully this incident served as a learning opportunity for him. If he ever finds himself on a battlefield (for which he is ultimately being trained), a "lapse in judgement" could have significantly more dire consequences.
Seeing some of the entitled attitudes of a few Tauck travelers on the trips I’ve been on I will give the cadet the benefit of the doubt.
I hope you're not talking about me, Bryan!
Nope. Never. Wouldn’t do it! Hi Max!
Based on your thin skin, attitude towards other forum members-
and (just my opinion) your continued failure to appreciate and understand subtle humor and irony, might it be possible that you also misread the USMA situation? Just a few days ago you mentioned an incident that everyone else, including the poster, agreed was an attempt at humor when you said:
What you appear to have totally missed is that the person wasn't ridiculing you nor being "hateful" but far from it. He was just making what was a purely lighthearted comment about the lack of vowels in your screen name, just like his screen name, so he was also the intentional butt of his own joke. Why was that so difficult for you to understand and accept? As someone else said quite eloquently- take a chill pill!
Thanks for sharing this useful information.