Romantic Rhine Cat. 1 room, MS Inspire
It has been my dream to take a Tauck River Cruise so a call to a travel expert showed that there was one room left in August for the Romantic Rhine Cruise on the MS Inspire. I did not know it was one of the four Cat. 1 rooms which are only 150 sq feet with virtually no window. I keep telling myself that no matter what I will be on a Tauck cruise and you don’t really spend that much time in the room, but I’m wondering if anyone has done a cruise in one of these tiny rooms? Any hints? Is there even a table to check our email and have a coffee??
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Rteets, I have never been in a category one room but you can see a video tour of the MS Inspire on YouTube. It’s several years old but the room size and configuration has probably not changed. You can get an idea from the video. I would think your biggest problem would be getting ready in the mornings and for dinners. You may need to do that one at a time.
Have fun.
There are photos on the Tauck website- navigate to "Accommodations", "Deck Plans," "View Cabin Categories" then select "Category 1" https://www.tauck.com/tours/amsterdam-basel-river-cruise?tcd=riy2024#deck-plans
I know lots of folks (both singles and couples) who have stayed in Cat 1 cabins. Whatever, your budget will allow. Often times a certain number of Cat 1 cabins are reserved for singles and do not require the single supplement. As you said you don't really spend much time in the room. But, make no mistake, the rooms are small.
We have only taken one river cruise with Tauck and it was on the Inspire but not that category. The photo shows the bathroom looks bigger than almost all the rooms on the Small ship cruises that Tauck do…..those are difficult for you to have one person at the sink and the other in the shower because you can’t get out until the sink person is out of the way. To me, the bathroom space is more important than the room because if you can’t get ready in there together, it really slows getting ready down. The food, tours and Tour directors will be the same. I would say go for it and think how much money you are saving compared to everyone else.
For a single traveling alone the Cat 1 is the best value since you don't pay the fairly steep single supplement that comes with all other cabins.
I stayed in one last year as my husband wasn't interested in a Christmas cruise so I went with a group of girlfriends that all got their own Cat 1 cabin. We all had plenty of space.
Yes, the view and light is somewhat limited. On one week cruises Tauck tends to keep you fairly busy during the day so you're mostly in the cabin to sleep and dress when the curtains are closed anyway. The best places for view on the ship are the sun deck, the lounge and Arthur's bistro. Even the largest cabins with the most windows can end up with no view if docked side-by-side with another ship which often happens in busy ports.
If I had to choose between not going and only going in a Cat 1 I'd choose it easily.
Thank you all so much. I’m most worried about the bathroom. In the description of the Cat 3 cabins it mentions a full bathroom. It does not do that for the Cat 1. We will make it work but I’m most concerned that we have no view from a window. How will we even know if we are passing something beautiful so we can go up somewhere else to see it? I don’t want to live in the lounge or the sun deck. Saving money is no consolation because I believe we are paying the same as the Cat. 3 . ($5890 pp). I’m sure I will be fine about it once we start, but if I’d known about it and willingly chosen to do it, it would be easier to swallow.
Yes, a Cat 1 has a full bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower. - but definitely smaller than the Cat 3's and larger cabins.
Sadly, most of the Rhine isn't all that scenic. The best part will be the Middle Rhine which it appears your cruise will sail thru on Day 4. You won't miss it. It will be on the daily schedule and one of the TDs will be making shipboard announcements as the ship proceeds pointing out each highlight.
I'm confused, is this just for you or will there be 2 in the cabin?
No the Cat 1 is not the same price as a Cat 3. I just checked the Tauck website for prices for the 21 Aug 24 sailing. For 2 people sharing a Cat 1 the price per person is $5890. For 2 people the price pp for a Cat 3 is $6740. For 1 person alone in a cabin the Cat 1 is still $5890 but the Cat 3 is $9436.
Well, thank you Claudia. That’s good news. A full bath, albeit tiny, we won’t’ miss anything scenic and we are saving some money (there are two of us). That makes me feel better…..
Even if you are in the most expensive cabin. You need to be out of it to view both sides of the river.
Rteets, my husband and my first Tauck cruise was in a cabin the exact configuration of the Cat 1 except it was on the deck above and had a full height window aka "french balcony". Those were the old days when all the ships Tauck used at the time had those cabins for most of the Ruby Deck (middle). They have since completely reconfigured those into a fewer number of larger cabins. We had such a great time on that cruise we immediately booked another cruise.
Yes the bathroom is tiny - one person at a time - and takes some effort with the shower doors so you don't drench the floor. Also the bathroom, cabin and closet doors all open into the same little hallway so it takes so coordination with your partner to get dressed.
If you do still think you'd prefer a larger cabin, you could ask Tauck to put you on a waiting list if one becomes available. Obviously you'd have to pay the difference once the change was made but it wouldn't affect any other plans like your airfare. Unfortunately people have emergencies all the way up until a tour begins and have to cancel.
Claudia - 100% accurate on that crazy shower. We were in Cat1 in May and we hated the shower - we could not take one without absolutely FLOODING the entire bathroom floor. We had to ask for so many towels every time we showered to clean the floor. I don't understand why they can't put a ledge and fix the doors so the bathroom doesn't flood. My cousin was across the hall from us and had the same issue.
It took me some experimenting with getting the rubber gasket on the door edge just so. Pull it shut first then just pull the other door shut far enough that the gasket blocks the water. I'd wait to turn on the water till the doors are shut. Also I'd roll up a hand towel to block the flow on the floor.
In Rome we had a shower with both rain head and hand held. The handheld.was.basically a cylinder with a series of holes in a line. My husband didn't realize he had.both on at the same time. The handheld was lined up perfectly to spray through a slim gap in the doors and managed to hose down the floor and everything on the counter. Took multiple towels to mop up.
I agree with Claudia (as usual). I would definitely get on the wait list as a back-up. We were recently in a Category 3 and were very pleased with the size of the cabin and relative value. Friends of ours decided to join us eight weeks before the trip, it was sold out, but their wait list cleared in a couple of weeks.
While we love Cat 3 loft cabins, we had the same problem with water and the shower/shower door in one. It is just a poorly designed shower and door arrangement, whatever the cabin category. It may have something to do with handicapped accessible shower, so there is no lip.
I have traveled in a cat-1, 3 times and found it fine. However, I wouldn’t want to do it as a couple. My husband and I have each booked our own cat1 so we can have more space and our own bathroom. I would rather have my own bathroom than a view. I am not in the cabin much.
I was in a Cat 1 cabin in July and it was fine for one person. I think it would do for two,
Had the same problem with the shower soaking the floor.
Interestingly, because the windows were so close to water lever, it seemed like we were moving much faster than we were.
All in all, I spent so little time in the cabin that it really didn't matter. Our excursions, tour directors, and food were all great.