Tauck River Cruising Offer
We received a letter from Tauck yesterday regarding a special offer for some of the final river cruises of 2023. They were for two cruises - The Blue Danube and The Rhine, Swiss Alps and Amsterdam. The offer was a cabin credit as well as some good airfares.
While we have traveled extensively with Tauck, we have never been on a river cruise. Both of these cruises appear to have multiple openings for all different categories of rooms. While we have visited many of the destinations on land tours, we are considering this opportunity. I'd like to get your opinions and some feedback about the different categories of rooms and also the specific cruises, if you've taken them.
I know that Alan likes the two level rooms. Which types of rooms do others prefer? Also, have you traveled in October? I assume that the days are very short. How does this enter into the touring experience? I recall being in London and Paris in October and having it dark at 8AM and then again by 4PM.
Thank you for your comments.
Comments
I also received that offer, I might have considered it if I had been available. We took a river cruise in Spain last year in November and we had a great time. Admittedly, it was further south. It is not going to be dark at 4pm that early in the year, it’s not the shortest day until December. The temperatures are more comfortable for site-seeing and it is less crowded.
Right now, another thing we are considering is the price of flights, it’s getting outrageous.
We have been on two Tauck river cruises and loved them both. We have the Rhine Bridges booked this summer and another in the fall of 2024. If we did not already have plans we would be taking advantage of one of these offers. We took the Tauck Danube Christmas Markets cruise and loved the towns. Not sure where these go, but I would recommend taking a Tauck river cruise. The airfare offer might alleviate some of the concerns about airfare. I would not worry about the daylight issue.
Kathy M,
The cabin choice is a personal one based on expected level of comfort, whether you plan to relax in your cabin instead of the lounge, mobility issues, budget constraints, et al. My advice is to review the cabin schematics before making any decision.
I typically travel in spring and fall, preferring the fall months and the amount of daylight has never been an issue.
No matter your decision, I think you will be pleasantly surprised how nice river cruising is. Good luck with your decision.
We've done cruises/tours with most of the stops on both those cruises but not those exact itineraries. Of the two, I think the stops on the river portion are better on the Danube vs the Rhine cruise. We have enjoyed visiting Amsterdam and the Rhine cruise includes Switzerland which is wonderful. Jungfraujoch and Lucerne are worth a visit. Either way it will be an enjoyable tour.
On cabins, both use the longer Tauck/Scylla ships which not only have the popular loft cabins but both Cat 5 and Cat 6 225 sqft cabins. We've been in the Cat 6 cabins on the smaller ships (Sapphire, Treasures, etc) and loved them. Plenty of space, storage, good sized bathroom, large view windows, table and chairs, etc. The Cat 5 is similar but a different layout to allow for the windows of the loft rooms below. Unfortunately it puts the head of the bed against the hallway wall which I wouldn't like.
As to time of year, yes the days will be shorter and may be cooler/wetter. Our Rhine/Moselle cruise was in Oct and that's the weather we had for much of the tour. We still enjoyed it. The fall colors were amazing. Just took some getting used to after having done a summer cruise -- eating breakfast as the sun was coming up and happy hour at sunset or later. On the plus side, most people were more concerned about being warm than dressed up so slacks and sweaters dominated the evening dress.
Per Kathy M post, Prague sunrise mid October about 6:30am and sunset about 5pm Budapest sunrise about 6:05am and $:45pm sunset. Yes daylight shorter, but great fall color awaits, and far less tourists.