Good Review of Cruise Options
Here's a travel agent guy who is a strong Tauck supporter. He has a discussion of various cruise lines in this link - (https://www.shawnpower.com/cruise-categories-types-of-cruises/) - that I thought people might enjoy reading. I tend to agree with his analysis.
Has anyone heard of him before, or had any dealings with him?
[He has a lot of pictures of himself on various cruises on his website. Makes me wonder if he travels with a photographer.] [Update: I sent him a note and he said his wife used to take the pictures of him.]
This post has been edited to make the link more apparent.
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Mike, did you intend to post a link? Seems like something is missing from your post.
The link is embedded in the words "this link" but I'll add an explicit link here.
https://www.shawnpower.com/cruise-categories-types-of-cruises/
Gotcha. It wasn't easily apparent in the first post, at least on my computer.
The font on the link is barely different from the other font so unless you happen to move your cursor over it you'd never know. He does have lots of articles to check out.
Okay, I'll edit the original post to make the link explicit.
I liked his comment about Viking River Cruises - "The Carnival of River Cruises." That's what I've heard from people who have taken Viking River Cruises.
I read some of the guy’s website and there are many of us here who have taken more Tauck trips than him. I’m waiting for an invite to be on the Advisory board and I’ve already traveled with Peter Tauck.
Only taken one big cruise, they are just not for us. The biggest we go is Tauck small ship cruise but we still prefer their land tours.
What I want these days is longer more in depth tours to areas of the world, not a tour that says an ‘Essence’. Anyone there at Tauck listening?
He books a lot of people on Tauck tours/cruises - that's how he got on the Advisory Board. I wonder if Tauck has any frequent Tauck travelers on that Board.
[Added comment: I was surprised by his comments about Uniworld. I didn't even know they had been sold. The buyer was Apollo Funds, an asset management company, purchase was July 16, 2024. My experience with those companies is that they come in and cut expenses to increase their profit (run the company into the ground). Of course, cutting expenses means cutting services, which means a lesser experience for the traveler.]
My true blue travel agent over decades and still using annually has been on TV. I am currently planning a new trip.
Shawn's business in booking luxury cruises, and Tauck tours of all flavors. He has booked 2 Taucks for us, and we have a deposit on one in 2026. He has also booked Oceania, Seabourn, and AMA Waterways for us. Shawn is not a full-service agent. He doesn't do airfare, hotels, or any other type of ancillary arrangement. He is a high-performance sales person with many, many bookings. In his blogs, he educates using his personal experiences and knowledge of the industry. One of the things I find he excels at is super fast response, 7 days a week, no matter where he is in the world.
I stopped using a travel agent, find it so much better to make contact myself and I can do research for extra days and time. I've always booked by own air, only once I used Tauck. I really enjoy booking the trips myself.
I just book with Tauck directly. Read about Shawn, not interested in any other cruise companies.
Let me just clarify that I'm not suggesting that anyone use Shawn as a travel agent (or that anyone use any travel agent) - I just thought his comments about the various cruise companies were right on the mark and that people here would be interested in what he had to say.
So what value added does 'Shawn' bring if, "He doesn't do airfare, (before and after) hotels, or any other type of ancillary arrangement?" (unless he gives a handsome, but prohibited, kickback). It is easy peasy to book a tour thru Tauck, it is the other stuff that can sometimes require the assistance of a TA though I've only used a TA once, when we took our family of 10 to WDW followed by a Disney cruise- talk about ancillary arrangements! Yikes
We had to use a travel agent for our trips with our singing group, we’ve recently booked our third one. It was a pain. The first time they charged us a fortune for the flights. We learned from that. They are also not as available 24/7 as Tauck is, because they are a small operation.
If we used lots of different tour companies as many people we talk to on our travels do, then I can see the value of a trusted travel agent. If people just travel with Tauck, I don’t see the point in a middle man. For flights, we use either Tauck or American Express and always do careful research first.
Just like politics, there are people firmly on both sides of using a travel agent or not.
Thank you Mike for the link to the article, it’s great for Cruising devotees.
Heard a story about Viking this week. I forget which sea it was now, maybe one of those new trips to the winter Arctic area. Anyway, a friend was on the ship and a large wave hit the ship and many were injured. The tour was ended.
We are relatively new to Tauck but not to travel. We use a TA for Tauck, book independent travel and cruises ourselves. Interestingly our next door neighbor booked the same Tauck Spain tour as us, same year. We had no idea until it came up at happy hour! He did it directly, us via the TA. We both had issues that required contacting Tauck. He spent hours on the phone, mostly waiting. I called my TA, she used her back door number to the people at Tauck she knows on a first name basis and I had my answers within an hour. As for air, I absolutely, positively will never book except directly through the airline. When things go sideways and you’ve booked through a third party the airline treats you as if you are someone else’s customer, and you are. If that third party is not immediately available and responsive things can get bad. Speaking from experience.
I'm in Folsomdoc's group. I use a TA - I have her cell phone number so I can reach her any time - and she has proved her worth in several situations.
I also agree you should never book other than with the airline (I mean have your TA book directly). I made that mistake once - bought a consolidator ticket to save some money. Airline cannot help – they tell you to go back to the consolidator. Same thing if you purchased from some third-party company.
People who have had problems with a TA should try a different one who will provide service. There are some good ones out there.
Incidently, TAs don't get a commission on airline tickets. If they arrange for you, it's a service as part of your tour/cruise booking.
Mike, one reason I’m reluctant to use a TA is that they might not be available in the middle of the night or if they themselves are on vacation. Have you ever tried this out? We have so many trips where our location has big time differences to the US and even places where there is no cell phone service.
@British - I haven't had any problems of that nature (yet) but just because your TA made your reservations doesn't mean you can't contact Tauck, or the airline to make whatever changes you need.
My TA takes trips but always gives me the name of another person at the travel agency who can handle things in her absence. So far, I haven’t had to use the backup person. The backup person may not be as motivated to help as the original TA – don’t know.
I have my TA's cell phone number and can call her in the middle of the night (she said to do it if I need her). She didn't give it to me the first time I used her, but did when she recognized that I was going to be a continuing customer. We do about three trips a year (every year) so she makes a decent amount of money off us.
I guess it’s as you said. People fall into two different camps: TA or no TA. Neither is wrong – it’s what works for you and satisfies your needs.
[Regarding airline routing and costs: I use Matrix airfare search (embedded link) to see what flights are available and the cost and then discuss things with my TA. She has better search capability than I do so she can often come up with a better solution. But I know, for sure, she's not giving me a worse solution.]
[We are not Tauck only travelers - we will travel with several different tour and cruise companies. My TA will usually see what the tour/cruise company will offer for airline routing and the cost before we decide whether to go that way or go on our own. Regent once tried to give us a return trip with two stops. No, not going to do that.]
I believe it is very much a personal choice. I don't travel with other touring companies, so I don't mind booking directly with Tauck. Besides, I enjoy conversing with them. They have my airline, routing and seat preferences on file, so booking with them is easy—same as with using a trusted travel agent as reported above. Only once did we have a problem abroad but within a half hour and well after being closed, Tauck had us on our way with a different airline. And they followed through to make sure we were okay.
British -- I have a specific agent that I use at Amex Platinum. If she isn't available, someone else will help me, day or night. They were a great help when I was trying to get out of Jordan in March 2020.
Yes, Amex are good for 24 hour cover, we have had to use them for cancelled flights and changes.
I like that Mike has traveled with other companies because it means that he has been able to compare and contrast between what Tauck offers and what others offer for the same price/itinerary/length of trip etc. That’s what we have been doing lately because we’ve wanted to go to places Tauck does not and also want longer trips with more time in certain places. Otherwise we always turn to Tauck, who happened to be the first tour company we ever used and they are totally reliable and fair. My husband’s parents took a US tour with Tauck and hated it, but we got the brochure they signed us up for and never looked back.
But, how much do you pay a Travel agent to book a tour, I’ve no idea! How does it work?
@British - You don't pay any extra. The tour/cruise company pays the TA. If you had to pay, most people would probably book on their own. I suspect the tour/cruise companies have complex formulas for the payments to the TA - the higher the booking dollars, the more the TA gets (in percent).
I know the compensation to the TA is based on the cost of the tour/cruise, so there's some incentive for the TA to try to talk you into a higher category cabin, for example. But most of us have been around the block and know what we want and what we're willing to pay. I haven't encountered that with my TA. She often suggest a lower grade cabin to save money, but we like a bit of luxury.
But you need to find a good TA who is looking out for you and who you get along with well. Additionally, they need to respond to your questions quickly.
Thanks Mike
My travel agent personally does not get a commission; she's paid a salary. Amex gets the commission paid by Tauck.
This is a topic I know a little something about. Maybe. See attached. Many years ago my husband and I took a Viking Cruise with friends who insisted on going with the Viking brand. I do think the attached was sent to us in error but oh well. I have kept it in my records since 2019. It was an eye opener for me. Since this cruise, I have learned that I am not a fan of Viking, but that is just my personal preference. I like it when a tour company makes an effort to know my name and the names of my family members. Tauck does this and this is why I prefer Tauck for more reasons than one. We have about 15 Tauck tours that we have taken. I also tour with other companies for the sheer sake of variety. Variety is the spice of life. On this particular cruise in 2019 (maybe that wasn't too long ago), this is what the commission was from Viking to the travel agent per person. There were actually 3 of us, and I am only displaying two. This begs the question as to how much a travel agent receives from Tauck. This is actually a chunky amount.
I have used the same travel agent for decades and we pay a very nominal fee for her to take over all of our reservations per trip including air. I can call her company around the clock if necessary, and if there was any type of emergency. Thank goodness, this has never happened even though this is available. The one an only emergency I have had was when a parent passed away and my travel agent immediately booked me on another flight and took care of anything else related to my Tauck reservation that I needed assistance with. So yes, an excellent travel agent is worth his or her weight in gold.
I think Mike's TA is exceptional. I used a TA twice. Unfortunately, when there is a nine hour difference and it's on a weekend communication is difficult. We and our taxi driver spent too much time trying to find our ship. They had changed location but the TA was notified on a Saturday and away from her office. We were not notified. I now deal directly with Tauck and prefer that.
When it comes to flying, though, I book with the airline. I decided to call Tauck's air department recently for an upcoming trip. I won't do that again. I saved a lot of money by booking directly with the airline. And, while Tauck couldn't get assigned seats with a segment that was one-way I got our seats by booking with the airline.
Also, don't forget how wonderful hotel concierges can be. We are flying in early for our Tauck tour. The concierge was able to advice me about seats for a concert we're going to. Another time a concierge told us of another approach in getting tickets to the sold out Vermeer exhibit in Amsterdam (get a one year membership and you could see the exhibit any time - loved it!)..And, in going into Beijing early the hotel set us up with tours - it was so easy and enhanced our trip.
As an aside from the Moores post. There was a documentary about that Vermeer exhibition that was shown with fantastic commentary at one of our local art house movie theaters at the time. We felt it was like being there. I’m sure it could be found if people are interested.
What I don’t like about Viking is their teasers to get the tour half price if you book early, a hugely inflated price that is way above what Tauck offers. I don’t know how I got on their mailing list….and today I’m suddenly getting brochures from Road Scholar.
I have a friend that travels with Viking and even if the tour price is less than Tauck's, they have to purchase tours during the trip as only a few are included.
I used an excellent TA for a few years, she mirrors what Mike described. When she retired I went with my friend's (that passed away) TA and found out that I was late in getting my documents because she was on vacation and even though working out of an office, she had no one taking care of her customers, needless to say I stopped using her and now do all my bookings directly with Tauck.