May 1 Trip Experience
We are scheduled for Berlin, Danube, & Krakow starting 8/28/22. Looking for feedback from travelers on the May 1 tour... were there any issues in Berlin, Krakow, or along the Danube due to the war in Ukraine?
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We are scheduled for Berlin, Danube, & Krakow starting 8/28/22. Looking for feedback from travelers on the May 1 tour... were there any issues in Berlin, Krakow, or along the Danube due to the war in Ukraine?
Comments
We started on this tour but had to come home from Berlin after 3 days because my husband got sick. (not covid) I didnt have time to make connections with anyone on the tour to ask how things went after we left but there is a Facebook group called Tauck Travelers and a woman on there has just returned and was very positive about the trip.
Our three guides were knowledgeable and helpful, especially when we had to bail out. I learned so much about Berlin just during the time with them.
The hotel in Berlin was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. Wonderful service and food. Our room was a nice size for two. My only issue was getting used to how the lights worked but that was probably a German vs US thing.
We saw no signs of the war or refugees in Berlin.
Hopefully someone else can answer your questions about the tour from that point. It was our 4th attempt and I am not sure we will try for a 5th.
Birder49: After reading your feedback, I decided to check out the "Tauck Travelers" group on Facebook and decided to join the group. They have approximately 600 members. I only just started reading some of the threads, however, there is alot of good information there and pictures. By the way, there is another group on facebook with the same name but they only have 52 members. I joined the larger group as I thought there would be more variety in the feedback.
Travel Maven, Im glad I was of some help. I enjoy reading the different experiences people are having during these crazy times. I feel like the collective personalities of the groups on FB are very different than this discussion board. Makes it even more entertaining. :-)
I was hoping to read some comments about the actual tour since I will be doing the July 31 tour, but too late noticed that the Leigh’s will be doing this tour in August. And are also looking for info.
I will have 3 days on my own before the tour starts and that’s to refresh memories from when I left Berlin as a kid in 1956.
Please google Things to see and Do in your destinations if no one responds, then you can check out what interests you. If you get some ideas, come back on the forum and ask if anyone has been to the place you are interested in. No point giving you ideas for things to do that don’t interest you.
RGM2,
Im not sure if you have gotten an email from Tauck with your tour choices and other details but I can tell you what we experienced the first two days.
On Day 1 at 3pm (May 1) the tour directors offered an optional orientation walk for the area around the hotel.. They talked about possible independent excursions and I am going to attempt to post that handout.. That night we had a welcome dinner at the Parliament building. This included a tour of that building before eating. There was a speaker after dinner who talked about growing up in East Germany.
.On the morning of day 2 we had a choice of World War II Berlin or Potsdam. We chose WW II. It was about 3 hours long and included many landmarks from that era. Hitler's Bunker location, and the Topography of Terror. I could have spent a lot longer there. The afternoon was free.
We were unable to attend the tour on day 3. Day 4 is just a travel day on the train to Regensburg.
Im sorry I cannot tell you more about what you will do in Berlin but it appears that you will have a lot of free time even after the tours starts. They had a bike ride scheduled for the afternoon of day 3 along with the tours.
Since the hotel is right next to the Brandenburg Gate there were many people offering tours and several hop on/hop off buses. The Berlin subway also has a stop right by the hotel
Thank you Birder49 for your explicit information, much appreciated. Which ship were you on? I believe mine will be “Savor”. Yes I have received my email to make my choices for the different excursions and submitted my choices. I chose the Potsdam tour. There is one FREE exhibit that I will go to” The Palace of Tears” during my 3 days on my own, it is at or near Friedrich Strasse Station. Somehow I managed to save your two Tauck info sheets to “Pocket” so I can read them offline. Though that may be a handout we will also receive. I also copied your message to my Notes.
I have several Typical German restaurants on my list. Two are Nante-Eck in the style of 1900’s Berlin a 10 min walk and Alt Berliner Wirtshaus almost behind the hotel about 7 min walk, both are a short walking distance from the Adlon hotel.
May I ask you about how it was in Krakow? I’ve been busy looking for Polish restaurants there. I’ve found several typical Polish restaurants and member “alidor30” also gave me some helpful info about Milk bars to eat at. But it seems that dinners are part of the tour and it’s only lunches we have to do on our own.
RGM2, Im sorry I cant help you past Berlin as we had to return home before the tour group left Berlin because my husband was ill. I hope that handout will help you plan out your days in Berlin and you have a wonderful trip. When you return please write about your adventures. We would really enjoy reading about how it all goes!
RGM2 - I would suggest that you visit the Oskar Schindler's Museum in Krakow. You could easily spend the whole morning or afternoon there. Also, on our return back to the hotel we stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant called Zalewajka. If I remember correctly it was in the Jewish district and the food was just delicious.
Thanks Noreen, I'll try to make Schindlers, but I don't remember when we have time to spend on our own.
Just curious which ship were you on? The Savor? I've only been on the "Esprit" and it was great.
Schindler’s museum was included in the itinerary when I did this tour in 2018.
RGM2 - I was not on a Tauck tour but visiting my sister who lives in Germany and she was the one that suggested we go to Krakow for five days back in 2015. It is a beautiful city.
RGM2 - I was on the Savor for my tour in 2018. It was a great ship and layout. Hopefully you get to utilize Arthur’s. It was one of our favorites.
RGM2 - Another restaurant close to the Adlon in Berlin is the Gaffel Haus. It’s a sports bar type of restaurant that had great food. We ate there twice while we were in Berlin.
Thanks Smiling Sam, I think I better bring clothes to fit me going and another set for going home.😏
I see that my two posts of Tauck handouts from our Royal Danube cruise have been marked as spam. Did I do something wrong by posting them ? Any ideas?
Thanks!
No you did nothing wrong. The tedious flagger has some weird set of rules nobody understands. Ignore them.
There are a few random flaggers who like to flag legitimate posts. Just ignore them.
I'm curious? I still see the handouts posted by Birder49, which I had saved anyway, but I also do NOT see any "Flag" posting?
Am I missing something?
😂😂😂
Rgm, the flags are those tiny icons at the bottom of each post. If you look next to them there will be a number. I flagged yours just so you'd see it. Likes and LOLs work the same.
Leighs:We are on the 8/28 tour as well.Hope the tour is a go from the international situation.We are arriving a day earlier in Berlin.Looking forward to meeting you.
Thank you Claudia Sails for the explanation, now I know!
I had thought some nefarious act was going to happen
I'll remove the flag. Don't want to erroneously add to your spam count.