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Impact of Tour Directors
We just returned from combining the French Escapes and Lisbon/Duoro/Madrid tours. Both tours were very similar in activities and both riverboats and staff were great. The two tour directors we had on the Lisbon/Duoro/Madrid were the gold standard in my opinion. They were organized, energetic, informative, spoke excellent English and had a great sense of humor. It made a huge difference in our level of enjoyment. If Tauck posted the tour directors schedules, I would probably use that as a selection guide.
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Absolutely right. Thankfully we've been very lucky in our TDs. We've had some great ones and only one who was soso.
I learned the hard way on our recent Scotland trip how hard the TD's job is. After the Tauck tour we spent almost a week touring on our own joined by a couple of friends. I was wiped out by the end. The time taken pre-tour to research and book rail tickets, sight seeing, restaurants, etc was the least of it and something I would have done even if just my husband and I. I tried beforehand to encourage minimalist packing knowing that dealing with a lot of luggage on our own and taking public transport is a challenge. And it was. Once there, trying to herd 3 other people, making sure they knew the plans, keeping them together and on time, etc was exhausting. No matter how hard I tried I'd get at least one of them asking to repeat something. I will never begrudge a TD their tip and may in future add to the minimum.
Claudia - I find your comments about TDs in general enlightening and your attempt at being your own TD quite amusing (sorry).
Any lessons learned from your TD duties beyond appreciating the Tauck TDs a little bit more?
Perhaps if you're traveling with more than just your husband, then just do the tour, not a lot of extra pre and post days. In any case, you've now earned you Boy Scouts 'Cat Herder' merit badge.
I find traveling on my own quite easy and enjoy the pre-planning, but I agree each added traveling companion does have a complex multiplier effect. Way too much time can be wasted waiting for others, deciding where to eat, etc.
Got that right!!!
Oh my goodness, I agree. I don’t like being blamed if I picked a restaurant that wasn’t satisfactory to everyone. On an escorted tour, no one can ask me why I picked a restaurant that just one person or friend didn’t care for. The same goes for hotels and sights to see that might not be the cup of tea for everyone. I’m off the hook on a Tauck tour.
I travel with 4 others and we usually add in 1 week or more of independent travel pre or post our TAUCK trip. And I am the planner!! I enjoy it. I develop an elaborate plan - share it with the others for comments. Once we are on the trip, everyone follows along - never late; no complainers. Thankfully we have 2 strong good natured men with us who are in charge of all luggage. Once in Thailand, they miscounted the bags. But the concierge came to the rescue, made a few calls and the missing bag was located. So now my sister is in charge of counting the bags and the men just load them into the cabs!
Apple-tags: Nancy. I have them on everything we own of importance including the dog. I just got a wallet that holds one after thinking I had lost it last week. My iPhone is kept busy telling me about all the things I left behind when I get about two blocks away. Some might find that annoying but I find it very useful. I would have known I left my wallet in the ‘man cave’, I didn’t lose it.
The issue in Thailand was counting to 5 … my brother-in-law stopped at 4. A mistake he won’t make again!
At the end of our recent Best of Ireland tour we all agreed that the best part of our tour was our tour director! Colm made every aspect of the tour an “experience”. I’m very sure there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to make everything look so smooth.