I saw in the news that low water levels on the Danube have exposed WWII era German gunboats that were scuttled near Prahovo, Serbia. So if you're on the lower Danube and still on a riverboat, you may get some bonus sights.
When we board on Tuesday, our first toast should be to fun and fellowship, no matter what the unexpected developments. The essence of a great trip for me are the people, not water levels or sites seen/missed!!
Sealord, I saw the article regarding travel in general that talked about flying, hotels and cruising but it only covered ocean cruises. What was the title of the article that discussed river cruising?
Yes, it's clear the author had more time with the AMA rep. Didn't even name the Tauck one. Years ago Tauck encouraged us to vote for them at a Conde Nast travel site. I did so and ever since receive a daily travel newsletter from them, but they almost never mention Tauck. I think because Tauck doesn't advertise with them (or anyone). They talk about Viking a lot and others that are advertisers. I wrote an editorial to them about our experience in 2019 when we had a ship swap due to Viking taking out a lock on the Main and how badly Viking was handling it, not telling their customers the truth, etc. while Tauck handled it very well and even sent us $1000 voucher for our next tour when it wasn't even their fault. Sadly publications all too often tout products not because they are the best but because they advertise with them. Buyer beware.
Viking may be the "leader" in numbers but our one experience with Viking on a river cruise was dismal. Free tours were generally cursory tours and only outside the buildings. The guides on purchased tours had their hands out constantly and were merely baby sitters, not quality presenters. We took a paid tour to the oldest brewery and were promised a beer. Took us, left us in the middle of the plaza for a short time. No tour of brewery or adjacent buildings; not even an explanation. The beer was at a truck stop on the highway the way back to the ship! There was a beer garden on the plaza adjacent to the brewery- you would think they would have at least served the beer there along with a talk. They took us to an abbey (apparently owned by Viking) rather than Melk, that was just up the river. This was an experiment for us, long time Tauck travelers. I could nitpick further but won't.
We went on that tour because people told us Viking was great and the price was lower than Tauck. Lesson learned--you get what you pay for. All we could do was compare our experience to our prior Tauck trips. That said there are people who love Viking and I need to watch my tongue! Lots of money spent by Viking on commercials, especially on Masterpiece. We fast forward through them. Tauck's success is due to positive experiences and word of mouth. We started traveling with them after a positive review from a close friend.
FYI-We are not fans of river cruises, even with Tauck at this stage of our lives, although we can see us using them more as we age. Land and small ship tours are at the top of our long bucket list.
Our first few river cruises were not with Tauck but rather with Grand Circle. I must say we enjoyed them never having been on a Riverboat before and never having heard of Tauck. We did take an ocean liner with Viking just to see what the hubbub was all about. As "Bucketlist" says, "it was an experiment for us" which on the whole was no better than average. So Claudia...I believe you're right...Viking is inspirational, but our river cruises (which we love) will be with Tauck.
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I especially love Budapest at night.
I saw in the news that low water levels on the Danube have exposed WWII era German gunboats that were scuttled near Prahovo, Serbia. So if you're on the lower Danube and still on a riverboat, you may get some bonus sights.
Leaving on September 18, truly hoping water levels will be okay for our trip from Budapest to Amsterdam!!
The Points Guy today has a good article about river cruising that might set your mind more at ease.
When we board on Tuesday, our first toast should be to fun and fellowship, no matter what the unexpected developments. The essence of a great trip for me are the people, not water levels or sites seen/missed!!
Actually, we board on Wednesday! LOL. We are arriving on Tuesday....
Sealord, I saw the article regarding travel in general that talked about flying, hotels and cruising but it only covered ocean cruises. What was the title of the article that discussed river cruising?
Claudia the headline was
Will the drought in Europe affect your river cruise Vacation?
https://thepointsguy.com/news/europe-drought-river-cruises/
This link should take you there.
Thanx Terrye I found it. A worthwhile read though not very kind to Tauck.
I thought it was a good article…I missed where it was unkind to Tauck,Claudia? TAUCK does the ship switch too and the passengers haven’t complained!
Maybe not unkind but kind of meh in comparison to the way they talked about AMA.
‘Venus and Mars’ … I don’t get any of that. They are simply trying to make it work and provide a good experience.
My takeaway was that AMA Waterways is probably a soponsor for him and he gave them some advertising😉
They never even mention Viking which I thought was the leader in river cruising
Yes, it's clear the author had more time with the AMA rep. Didn't even name the Tauck one. Years ago Tauck encouraged us to vote for them at a Conde Nast travel site. I did so and ever since receive a daily travel newsletter from them, but they almost never mention Tauck. I think because Tauck doesn't advertise with them (or anyone). They talk about Viking a lot and others that are advertisers. I wrote an editorial to them about our experience in 2019 when we had a ship swap due to Viking taking out a lock on the Main and how badly Viking was handling it, not telling their customers the truth, etc. while Tauck handled it very well and even sent us $1000 voucher for our next tour when it wasn't even their fault. Sadly publications all too often tout products not because they are the best but because they advertise with them. Buyer beware.
Viking may be the "leader" in numbers but our one experience with Viking on a river cruise was dismal. Free tours were generally cursory tours and only outside the buildings. The guides on purchased tours had their hands out constantly and were merely baby sitters, not quality presenters. We took a paid tour to the oldest brewery and were promised a beer. Took us, left us in the middle of the plaza for a short time. No tour of brewery or adjacent buildings; not even an explanation. The beer was at a truck stop on the highway the way back to the ship! There was a beer garden on the plaza adjacent to the brewery- you would think they would have at least served the beer there along with a talk. They took us to an abbey (apparently owned by Viking) rather than Melk, that was just up the river. This was an experiment for us, long time Tauck travelers. I could nitpick further but won't.
We went on that tour because people told us Viking was great and the price was lower than Tauck. Lesson learned--you get what you pay for. All we could do was compare our experience to our prior Tauck trips. That said there are people who love Viking and I need to watch my tongue! Lots of money spent by Viking on commercials, especially on Masterpiece. We fast forward through them. Tauck's success is due to positive experiences and word of mouth. We started traveling with them after a positive review from a close friend.
FYI-We are not fans of river cruises, even with Tauck at this stage of our lives, although we can see us using them more as we age. Land and small ship tours are at the top of our long bucket list.
I'll give Viking credit for inspiring us with the interest in a river cruise but so glad our first was with Tauck.
Our first few river cruises were not with Tauck but rather with Grand Circle. I must say we enjoyed them never having been on a Riverboat before and never having heard of Tauck. We did take an ocean liner with Viking just to see what the hubbub was all about. As "Bucketlist" says, "it was an experiment for us" which on the whole was no better than average. So Claudia...I believe you're right...Viking is inspirational, but our river cruises (which we love) will be with Tauck.
I agree! We were very disappointed with Viking river cruise on the Douro river.