@Claudia Sails - I always looked at it this way. I'm an old man and don't have that many years left. If one of those on-tour flights crash, I haven't lost that many years
We found the Indian airports very secure. You had to produce your ticket to even be allowed in the terminals. Any car or bus that enter the hotel grounds are scanned underneath for bombs. Having said that, the only Tauck client ever killed was in the terror attack at the hotel in Mumbai some years ago.
Claudia: I am in the same boat as you with my husband. He loves to travel, however, he suffers greatly from motion sickness when flying or on a bus and has tried many different over the counter remedies, but nothing works well. Many leave him groggy and no appetite and it takes 1-2 days to recover. So, taking multiple on-tour flights on top of the long, prime flights to India and back just won't work, he will be ill all the time. I couldn't stand to see him suffer. We did go on a River Cruise to Europe back in 2018, but luckily we had the gift of time from Tauck so at least he had a full day to semi recover and took dramamine when on the bus, but it made him terribly groggy.
Portrait of India—most FABULOUS hotels so far. I’m looking forward to the Northern India-Nepal tour. I wasn’t aware of sleeping under the stars (in a bed)— oh my, that’s going to be an amazing experience. I’m not your camping or glamping girl, but that canopy bed under the stars — I will definitely experience that.
My least favorite hotel on the Portrait tour was the Oberoi Mumbai— the room was nice but the hotel itself was just too modern. It could have been any 5* business hotel. I wished we could have had rooms at the Taj—although I understand that’s the hotel where the Mumbai bombing took place and a Tauck guest was killed.
In Delhi, Although I really enjoyed the Leela Palace, I’m looking forward to staying at The Imperial hotel for the Northern India tour. I had dinner at The Spice Route and it was wonderful. That hotel has such wonderful colonial British charm.
Cathy we’re just the opposite when it comes to flying—I very much enjoy long flights—the longer, the better and take off and landing are my favorite parts
Travel maven, has your husband ever tried the ‘Seaband’ wrist bands for motion sickness? We got them for our daughter when she was young and she went from vomiting on planes and cross channel ferries to being totally fine. Worn correctly, exactly on the pressure points that the instructions explain, they can work very well. Certainly worth a try. I am sure you can find them on Amazon. We used the stretchy fabric ones with a a hard plastic pea sized ball that was the pressure piece back then.
Travel Maven has your husband ever tried the prescription Scopolamine patches? These work perfectly for my husband who gets seasick. They do require a prescription. The Dramamine stuff and the bracelet did not work for him if the seas got rough.
I too vote for Portrait of India hotels. I had an incredible experience at the The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur. The hotel was abuzz with many florists and photographers. I asked a lovely young woman in the lobby what was going on and she told me that she was getting married there that evening. I was very curious and had lots of questions - I’m a wedding planner! She generously invited us to the reception — it was incredible!! The gowns, the jewelry, the flowers, the light show, the food, the music — I’ve never seen anything like this before or after!
About your response “ the tour with the weakest hotels was Scandinavia…quality and amenities were not worth the Tauck premium", are these still the same hotels that are listed in the current Scandinavia tour?
Windy01 - The tour has changed considerably from when I did it. For example, We stayed in Toftaholm, Sweden, a midway point for a very long bus ride from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Now they fly. That hotel was the type of place I would have stayed in while backpacking thru Europe as a college student.
The only hotel in the current list that stands out in my mind as being poor is the Hotel Alexandra in Loen. It was in need of major renovation when I was there (about 5 years ago), with stained, ratty carpeting, torn drapes, etc. Problem with Loen is it's a very isolated (and beautiful) location, so there probably aren't any other options for a large group.
We did not stay in Alesund. We did stay one night in Flam which the current tour doesn't. That hotel was clean, but very basic.
The major city hotels were fine and appear to be the same ones.
Tauck used to stay in the best available including location. Now it appears they stay in better hotels that are sometimes nowhere near the attractions which to us has been a pain
Another company we have now used twice and have two more tours booked, the tour content is better than Tauck’s. but the hotels are sometimes not, some were very basic. It comes down to a choice of which is more important. Tauck In general definitely can’t be beat, and they are very fair and reliable, but now attract more ‘elite’ customers.
British - Tauck In general definitely can’t be beat, and they are very fair and reliable, but now attract more ‘elite’ customers.
For hotels, on land tours, it is Location, location, location. Location is what allows 'roaming' in tour down times. Oftentimes in major cities that comes at a price. Tauck pays the price. Here is an example.
When we first started touring we used Globus for a couple of tours. Globus is cheaper than Tauck, but in terms of what you see the tours are similar. The difference is location of hotels and how you are treated. On one of the Globus tours we visited Venice. The hotel was off the main island. We had to bus in to see the town/canals. That's not conducive to roaming in tour dead time. On a Tauck tour that visited Venice we stayed in the Danielli, about 500 feet from St. Marks Square. That's very conducive to roaming. For Globus you have to porter your bags to/from the bus to your hotel room. Our Tauck that's taken care of.
So if you call wanting to be close to "the action" and not have to tote your own bags then Tauck does cater to 'elite' customers. Tauck tours cost more than Globus tours. You get what you paid for.
Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed our Globus tours, but once my wife experienced a Tauck tour there was zero chance she was going to do another Globus tour.
I look at the tours kind of like Color TVs (Tauck) vs Black and White TVs (Globus). Once you try a color TV you don't ever want to use a black and white TV again.
Smiling Sam - You are correct about Tauck. We have travelled with OAT, Grand Circle, Rhodes Scholar and Viking. The only other company that we have travelled with that comes close to Tauck is Silversea but they are mostly about the ship and their excursions are not as good as Tauck. We only travelled with them once to Iceland but will go again with them in a few weeks to Alaska. Tauck is our favorite company to travel with. This is the reason that we have four trips booked with them in 2023.
Smiling Sam
I look at the tours kind of like Color TVs (Tauck) vs Black and White TVs (Globus). Once you try a color TV you don't ever want to use a black and white TV again.
My favorite analogy along those lines is power windows.
Noreen - As another example, this one OAT vs Tauck.
We have friends who travel with OAT. They took a Peru tour with OAT. At Machu Picchu their hotel was down in the town at the base of the mountain, near the train station. The Tauck hotel was on top of the mountain, just outside the park entrance.
Smiling Sam - OAT hotels are a hit and miss in my opinion. After travelling with Tauck just once we decided (like your wife) that this is the company for us. It is more expensive but worth every penny as they do a fantastic job overall.
Hasn’t someone just been complaining about a Tauck hotel in Venice being on a different island? Our last Tauck tour, the final hotel was a $50 taxi ride out of town, same on another recent tour that ended in Jackson Hole a half hour from town and we had added days at the end of the tour. We walked past the hotel Tauck used to use on that tour, walked in and it looked fine, and right in the middle of town.
When you chose a tour company, you have to assess your priorities. For a couple of our upcoming tours, the itineraries was more important than what Tauck offers. Tauck is definite the best, no questions for so many reasons but for us there are exceptions be asked Tauck don’t even have tours to some of the places we would like to visit.
OAT, don’t get me started on them, definitely get what you paid for and they are crooks.
The biggest advantage of OAT is no single supplement. I went to Tanzania and Morocco with OAT, and both trips were fantastic. That being said, camping in the Serengeti with OAT doesn’t hold a candle to the Tauck safari camps in Kruger. I chose OAT for Morocco over Tauck because we had two nights in a tented camp in the Sahara. I want to be as close to nature as possible when in wonderful Africa.
Ladybombay - we had two nights in a tented camp in the Sahara. I want to be as close to nature as possible when in wonderful Africa.
I haven't been to that part of Africa. What types of animals did you see when you were in your tented camp in the Sahara?
My friends that went to the Serengeti with OAT were told that there were no structures, like hotels, in the Serengeti is why they stayed in tents. I had to capture a segment of Google Maps, pointing out where the Four Seasons was located.
Our first Tauck tour was Classic Italy about 13 years ago. I did a spreadsheet of about 6 tour companies to compare where they go, cost of excursions, what is included and what is not, hotel locations, etc. We selected Tauck even though they were more expensive; Tauck included all of the things we wanted to see/do and did not charge for extras. We never looked back. I had traveled on a tour of the UK with Colette (similar to Globus) many years earlier, and my recollections of hotel locations are similar to Smiling Sam’s. We’ve now been on 8 Tauck tours with 4 more booked through 2023 (#9 is K/T next month; Hawaii in January; Normandy, Brittany in May; and Rhine River Cruise in October). We are not as concerned with the size/quality of the hotel rooms as we are with the location of the property. We are definitely more interested in the itinerary, and Tauck offers everything we could possibly want—and some things we didn’t know we wanted while on tour.
As BKMD mentioned, the Scandinavian tour has changed dramatically over the years, and it appears to still be evolving. So many plane rides now instead of bus rides. I enjoy the bus rides since they afford a wonderful view of the landscape, especially in Norway.
I was extremely disappointed in the Radisson Blu in Kobenhavn. It was clean, but certainly no frills/thrills. The tour director explained that the hotel was chosen for its proximity to Tivoli. I guess people wanted to be close to the blaring American music coming from there. I believe they have changed hotels. It was years ago when I took the tour.
BKMD - If you ever wish to return to Scandinavia, I can offer some suggestions for hotels, especially in Kobenhavn.
I also compared a river cruise between Tauck and Viking. We were traveling with my family at the time and with Tauck there are not any add-ons that require an extra payment after the initial cost of the tour. Thank goodness. With Viking, for example, there are add-ons with the excursions you choose, your drink package, etc. Let me tell you adds-ons with a family up with a family certainly add up especially when some on Viking cost over a hundred dollars! By crunching the numbers, we came out ahead going with Tauck. I have been on Viking and it even becomes a problem signing up for the excursion reservations in advance because family members (even within a family) have to have their own login and password. That was an issue in itself. By the time my husband and I made ours, the same excursion was already filled when I attempted minutes later to make them for family members! Then there was the scurrying to make dinner reservations on Viking in their nicer restaurants. It’s just not my cup of tea. Just saying.
Comments
@Claudia Sails - I always looked at it this way. I'm an old man and don't have that many years left. If one of those on-tour flights crash, I haven't lost that many years
When you're old, you can be fearless.
Part of its fear factor but mostly that flying ( security, check in, waiting around) is the least fun part of a tour.
We found the Indian airports very secure. You had to produce your ticket to even be allowed in the terminals. Any car or bus that enter the hotel grounds are scanned underneath for bombs. Having said that, the only Tauck client ever killed was in the terror attack at the hotel in Mumbai some years ago.
I went with A&K to India in 2015. It was a fabulous trip.
Claudia: I am in the same boat as you with my husband. He loves to travel, however, he suffers greatly from motion sickness when flying or on a bus and has tried many different over the counter remedies, but nothing works well. Many leave him groggy and no appetite and it takes 1-2 days to recover. So, taking multiple on-tour flights on top of the long, prime flights to India and back just won't work, he will be ill all the time. I couldn't stand to see him suffer. We did go on a River Cruise to Europe back in 2018, but luckily we had the gift of time from Tauck so at least he had a full day to semi recover and took dramamine when on the bus, but it made him terribly groggy.
Portrait of India—most FABULOUS hotels so far. I’m looking forward to the Northern India-Nepal tour. I wasn’t aware of sleeping under the stars (in a bed)— oh my, that’s going to be an amazing experience. I’m not your camping or glamping girl, but that canopy bed under the stars — I will definitely experience that.
My least favorite hotel on the Portrait tour was the Oberoi Mumbai— the room was nice but the hotel itself was just too modern. It could have been any 5* business hotel. I wished we could have had rooms at the Taj—although I understand that’s the hotel where the Mumbai bombing took place and a Tauck guest was killed.
In Delhi, Although I really enjoyed the Leela Palace, I’m looking forward to staying at The Imperial hotel for the Northern India tour. I had dinner at The Spice Route and it was wonderful. That hotel has such wonderful colonial British charm.
Cathy we’re just the opposite when it comes to flying—I very much enjoy long flights—the longer, the better and take off and landing are my favorite parts
Travel maven, has your husband ever tried the ‘Seaband’ wrist bands for motion sickness? We got them for our daughter when she was young and she went from vomiting on planes and cross channel ferries to being totally fine. Worn correctly, exactly on the pressure points that the instructions explain, they can work very well. Certainly worth a try. I am sure you can find them on Amazon. We used the stretchy fabric ones with a a hard plastic pea sized ball that was the pressure piece back then.
Travel Maven has your husband ever tried the prescription Scopolamine patches? These work perfectly for my husband who gets seasick. They do require a prescription. The Dramamine stuff and the bracelet did not work for him if the seas got rough.
I too vote for Portrait of India hotels. I had an incredible experience at the The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur. The hotel was abuzz with many florists and photographers. I asked a lovely young woman in the lobby what was going on and she told me that she was getting married there that evening. I was very curious and had lots of questions - I’m a wedding planner! She generously invited us to the reception — it was incredible!! The gowns, the jewelry, the flowers, the light show, the food, the music — I’ve never seen anything like this before or after!
BKMD,
About your response “ the tour with the weakest hotels was Scandinavia…quality and amenities were not worth the Tauck premium", are these still the same hotels that are listed in the current Scandinavia tour?
Windy01 - The tour has changed considerably from when I did it. For example, We stayed in Toftaholm, Sweden, a midway point for a very long bus ride from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Now they fly. That hotel was the type of place I would have stayed in while backpacking thru Europe as a college student.
The only hotel in the current list that stands out in my mind as being poor is the Hotel Alexandra in Loen. It was in need of major renovation when I was there (about 5 years ago), with stained, ratty carpeting, torn drapes, etc. Problem with Loen is it's a very isolated (and beautiful) location, so there probably aren't any other options for a large group.
We did not stay in Alesund. We did stay one night in Flam which the current tour doesn't. That hotel was clean, but very basic.
The major city hotels were fine and appear to be the same ones.
Tauck used to stay in the best available including location. Now it appears they stay in better hotels that are sometimes nowhere near the attractions which to us has been a pain
Another company we have now used twice and have two more tours booked, the tour content is better than Tauck’s. but the hotels are sometimes not, some were very basic. It comes down to a choice of which is more important. Tauck In general definitely can’t be beat, and they are very fair and reliable, but now attract more ‘elite’ customers.
My wife wants a Star Gate.
Or have Scotty beam you over!
Ah, a little nervous about potential problems with the pattern buffers.
For hotels, on land tours, it is Location, location, location. Location is what allows 'roaming' in tour down times. Oftentimes in major cities that comes at a price. Tauck pays the price. Here is an example.
When we first started touring we used Globus for a couple of tours. Globus is cheaper than Tauck, but in terms of what you see the tours are similar. The difference is location of hotels and how you are treated. On one of the Globus tours we visited Venice. The hotel was off the main island. We had to bus in to see the town/canals. That's not conducive to roaming in tour dead time. On a Tauck tour that visited Venice we stayed in the Danielli, about 500 feet from St. Marks Square. That's very conducive to roaming. For Globus you have to porter your bags to/from the bus to your hotel room. Our Tauck that's taken care of.
So if you call wanting to be close to "the action" and not have to tote your own bags then Tauck does cater to 'elite' customers. Tauck tours cost more than Globus tours. You get what you paid for.
Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed our Globus tours, but once my wife experienced a Tauck tour there was zero chance she was going to do another Globus tour.
I look at the tours kind of like Color TVs (Tauck) vs Black and White TVs (Globus). Once you try a color TV you don't ever want to use a black and white TV again.
Appreciate the response, BKMD.
You missed your chance, Alan. They were available in Egyptm but you had to bring your own excavation eqpt
Smiling Sam - You are correct about Tauck. We have travelled with OAT, Grand Circle, Rhodes Scholar and Viking. The only other company that we have travelled with that comes close to Tauck is Silversea but they are mostly about the ship and their excursions are not as good as Tauck. We only travelled with them once to Iceland but will go again with them in a few weeks to Alaska. Tauck is our favorite company to travel with. This is the reason that we have four trips booked with them in 2023.
My favorite analogy along those lines is power windows.
Noreen - As another example, this one OAT vs Tauck.
We have friends who travel with OAT. They took a Peru tour with OAT. At Machu Picchu their hotel was down in the town at the base of the mountain, near the train station. The Tauck hotel was on top of the mountain, just outside the park entrance.
Smiling Sam - OAT hotels are a hit and miss in my opinion. After travelling with Tauck just once we decided (like your wife) that this is the company for us. It is more expensive but worth every penny as they do a fantastic job overall.
Hasn’t someone just been complaining about a Tauck hotel in Venice being on a different island? Our last Tauck tour, the final hotel was a $50 taxi ride out of town, same on another recent tour that ended in Jackson Hole a half hour from town and we had added days at the end of the tour. We walked past the hotel Tauck used to use on that tour, walked in and it looked fine, and right in the middle of town.
When you chose a tour company, you have to assess your priorities. For a couple of our upcoming tours, the itineraries was more important than what Tauck offers. Tauck is definite the best, no questions for so many reasons but for us there are exceptions be asked Tauck don’t even have tours to some of the places we would like to visit.
OAT, don’t get me started on them, definitely get what you paid for and they are crooks.
The biggest advantage of OAT is no single supplement. I went to Tanzania and Morocco with OAT, and both trips were fantastic. That being said, camping in the Serengeti with OAT doesn’t hold a candle to the Tauck safari camps in Kruger. I chose OAT for Morocco over Tauck because we had two nights in a tented camp in the Sahara. I want to be as close to nature as possible when in wonderful Africa.
I haven't been to that part of Africa. What types of animals did you see when you were in your tented camp in the Sahara?
My friends that went to the Serengeti with OAT were told that there were no structures, like hotels, in the Serengeti is why they stayed in tents. I had to capture a segment of Google Maps, pointing out where the Four Seasons was located.
I totally get the 'single supplement' issue.
Our first Tauck tour was Classic Italy about 13 years ago. I did a spreadsheet of about 6 tour companies to compare where they go, cost of excursions, what is included and what is not, hotel locations, etc. We selected Tauck even though they were more expensive; Tauck included all of the things we wanted to see/do and did not charge for extras. We never looked back. I had traveled on a tour of the UK with Colette (similar to Globus) many years earlier, and my recollections of hotel locations are similar to Smiling Sam’s. We’ve now been on 8 Tauck tours with 4 more booked through 2023 (#9 is K/T next month; Hawaii in January; Normandy, Brittany in May; and Rhine River Cruise in October). We are not as concerned with the size/quality of the hotel rooms as we are with the location of the property. We are definitely more interested in the itinerary, and Tauck offers everything we could possibly want—and some things we didn’t know we wanted while on tour.
Did you have to porter your own bags on the Colette tour? I've never traveled with them, but since you compared them to Globus I assume you did.
Sam, I honestly don’t recall — it was about 30+ years ago! I probably did, but I was much younger and didn’t know any better!
Windy01,
As BKMD mentioned, the Scandinavian tour has changed dramatically over the years, and it appears to still be evolving. So many plane rides now instead of bus rides. I enjoy the bus rides since they afford a wonderful view of the landscape, especially in Norway.
I was extremely disappointed in the Radisson Blu in Kobenhavn. It was clean, but certainly no frills/thrills. The tour director explained that the hotel was chosen for its proximity to Tivoli. I guess people wanted to be close to the blaring American music coming from there. I believe they have changed hotels. It was years ago when I took the tour.
BKMD - If you ever wish to return to Scandinavia, I can offer some suggestions for hotels, especially in Kobenhavn.
I hope you do take the tour someday, Windy01.
I also compared a river cruise between Tauck and Viking. We were traveling with my family at the time and with Tauck there are not any add-ons that require an extra payment after the initial cost of the tour. Thank goodness. With Viking, for example, there are add-ons with the excursions you choose, your drink package, etc. Let me tell you adds-ons with a family up with a family certainly add up especially when some on Viking cost over a hundred dollars! By crunching the numbers, we came out ahead going with Tauck. I have been on Viking and it even becomes a problem signing up for the excursion reservations in advance because family members (even within a family) have to have their own login and password. That was an issue in itself. By the time my husband and I made ours, the same excursion was already filled when I attempted minutes later to make them for family members! Then there was the scurrying to make dinner reservations on Viking in their nicer restaurants. It’s just not my cup of tea. Just saying.