Dining reservations and other pre-sailing decisions
Do you need to make dining reservations and/or make any other choices or decisions in advance of sailing? If so, when do those opportunities open up?
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Do you need to make dining reservations and/or make any other choices or decisions in advance of sailing? If so, when do those opportunities open up?
Comments
If you are asking about dining reservations on the ship, no reservations are required for the main dining room. Sometimes the alternative venue requires a reservation but that was not the case when we took this tour last year.
Tauck will send you an e-mail regarding selecting your desired excursions in advance of the tour. You are not obligated to adhere to your choices. Typically, you will be asked to confirm your choices after embarkation.
Should you be adding pre/post-tour days, you may need reservations depending on where and at what time you wish to dine.
I'm not totally sure what you mean. Are you asking about meals or sights not included in the tour? If so it depends on what you want. Other than Day 2 all.meals seem to be included. London has lots of options from take out to Michelin star. We tend to go light when on our own as Tauck meals are generous. As for sights, again it depends on what interests you. Lots of choices in London and Paris. Some its best to prebook (Eiffel tower) but others you can wait.The concierge in London got us skip the line tickets to the Big Eye.
I’ve only taken one river cruise with Tauck. If you are talking about reservations for dinner on the boat, there is the one big dining room and the small Arthurs. You can’t make reservations as I recall. Small ship tours are the same, taken three of those. On our anniversary, we asked if we could make a reservation for a table for two that night and they would not even do that. We were actually quite upset at the time, not really wanting to dine on a big table with potential strangers.
If you mean meals and excursions that are part of the tour, the meals no you don't need to make choices ahead of time. Either its a set time for everyone likes the welcome dinner or most nights on board dinner in the compass dining room is served during a time period like 6-8 and you go down when you want. It will be listed in the daily schedule. For dinner in Arthur's casual bistro they may ask you to reserve ahead. Usually just tell the people at reception that day. Its just because its small.
For excursions, it looks like a couple of days they list them. Tauck will.contact you a.month or so ahead or you can go on their website to your account and select them. This is not like Viking where you book and pay extra. All.excursions are included in your tour. They just want to get an idea of interests. Every cruise I've been on with them that you picked excursions ahead of the cruise, once on board we had a chance to ask.questions and reconfirm or change our minds.
For what it's worth, I've never made a reservation at Arthur's -- but I've been there only for breakfast or lunch -- and usually, it was pretty empty.
Reservations for Arthur's were only ever asked for dinner except for our Douro cruise in 2022 when I think we had to for lunch as sell. But the crews alter the routines. On our Christmas cruise last year they didn't ask for reservations.
British, on the Christmas cruise there was a couple who wanted a private-ish dinner and the CD worked with the crew to provide them a special table in Arthur's
Same for us, MCD. We have occasionally had a bowl of soup and shared a club sandwich for lunch in Arthur's but never had dinner there. I do recall seeing an Arthur's sign-up sheet once or twice for a "special" meal.
One nice change was that on our Dec 2023 holiday cruise, tables were reserved in the main dining room for several families/friends who were traveling together. We appreciated that because it eliminated people standing guard and/or rushing into the dining room to secure their tables.
Usually you do need reservations for dinner at Arthur's, never for lunch.