Review of Impressions from the Seine May 23-30, 2025
Letter to Tauck sent:
I would like to give you some feedback about my recent river cruise on May 23-30, 2025(Impressions from the Seine). I hope you will read this with some compassion and understanding for what it is like to be a passenger on one of your cruises when things go astray.
I just returned from my first Tauck river cruise to France. I was a solo traveler. My worst fear, particularly traveling alone, was that I would get lost or stranded by a tour guide/company. Unfortunately this fear was realized. On the very first day of the cruise, while in Paris, my bus did not return to pick me up or 2 other women from the cruise. We were on our own for lunch and to meet the bus back at 2:00 to head on to The Louvre. We arrived at 2:05 due to getting terribly lost only to find no bus. I was later told by other guests that the tour guide, Victoria Putz, had remarked to the other passengers that she was "down 3 people,oh well. We must be on time, and they were not". We had not been provided with the ship's address and unable to dial the swiss number on the key card due to it being indecipherable to Americans. In terror and panic, I called the police to help me. I did not find assistance. I then called the Tauck after hours/weekend emergency number. The person kindly assisted me by calling the ship's captain. Eventually we found our way back to the ship by Uber.
There was no apology or sympathy expressed from the captain, Alex Roumat. I received great scorn from the tour guide, Victoria Putz later that evening. She said it was a passenger's responsibility to be exactly on time, and that it was my own fault. And it was also my fault that I had not asked for the ship's address. None of our 3 tour guides gave us their contact information, should a crisis occur. Fortunately the other 2 guides kindly assured me through the rest of the week that I would not be left behind. Victoria Putz showed no remorse for her poor decision making. The rest of the trip continued to be traumatic as I feared getting lost or left again.
The trip seems like it should have been great had I been less scared and able to enjoy it. As a company, I would think that you would be thoughtful enough to apologize and not blame the customer and certainly not abandon guests while on excursions.
I hope that Tauck will take a look at my comments and that of others who were also extremely upset that their fellow passengers were left behind. If Tauck is as reputable as advertised, providing customers with kindness and empathy when mistakes are made seem like a minimum in a customer service business. I also would perhaps consider traveling with Tauck again if they could assure me that this was their mistake and would make every effort for that to not happen again to any customers who choose to travel with them. Thank you for reading this. I would greatly appreciate a response.
Comments
Oh my goodness, I feel for you. While we have only ever experienced one person being late on our many many Tauck tours which I will explain later, for a Tour Director to leave within 5 minutes of the alloted time, especially if there was no critical timing for getting to the next location, and it was three people who obviously were not traveling together, and on the first day, I think it was a wrong decision. And in Paris of all places, not the safest place to be a newly touring on your own. I do feel bad for the solo travelers now that Tauck continues to increase the ‘free time’ element to so many tours. One main reason for people to take a tour, is the comfort of knowing you are not in a strange place on your own.
I understand that Tauck tends to start the least experienced TD’s on the river cruises where there are other TD’s on the ship too, some of those will be experienced TD’s who prefer leading river cruises. Senior TD’s get first pick for tour leading choices.
Our late person was on a Tauck Small ship cruise just last year was late back to the bus every time we were given a specific time to be back, even in small one street locations and not just five minutes, maybe 20 and with no apology. Eventually, our bus left her but as there were three buses and we were the first, the TD knew she would probably get the next bus and everyone on the bus felt she made the right decision.
I don’t know what others think here, but that’s my input.
Wow! I agree with British about leaving 5 minutes after the meeting time seems a bit crazy to me! I just did my first solo trip last December on the Christmas Markets on the Rhine and getting lost was one of my biggest fears! I don’t have cellphone service overseas so I would have been at a loss to call anyone for assistance. I do have an app that I have downloaded that can be used offline and try to pin the locations that we get to on the trip and download the maps for each location before leaving. I always made sure to be at the meeting point super early just to ensure I didn’t miss getting the bus and know that my Rhine trip was definitely different than your Paris tour as we were around the markets and weren’t as in the city as I’m sure you were. Sorry your first trip wasn’t a good experience. I feel comfortable traveling w/Tauck solo because I know how great the other travelers are. My next solo trip is the Yuletide River Cruise this December. I hope you hear back from Tauck and get some closure from having a bad first experience. Their guides usually are super nice.
I have a different perspective and one based solely on the information that is readily available to travelers. Emergency information is provided in documents before the tour, during the orientation meeting and in the binder found in the cabins.
It is certainly easy to get lost in unfamiliar cities but the onus to be aware of surroundings and the time is on the traveler, not Tauck. Being a few minutes late might sound trivial but there are schedules to be met, especially when there are timed entries to venues, and traffic considerations to be taken into account. Paris’ traffic always seems horrendous.
The incident was unfortunate but avoidable in my opinion.
We have never had an issue. If anything they have gone out of their way to make sure the count is correct and have waited for people showing up late particularly early in the tour. The only big issue is when they optional shuttles, then it impossible to keep track if there is an option to walk back to the ship. I have only had one TD phone number and that was on a land tour. On our last tour, I half heartedly joke that each passenger should get an AirTag hooked to their VOX. As far as the captain, he runs the ship not the tour
I got the impression that the tour had not even gotten to the ship for the first time. If so, then there might be some lack of specific info. I hate it when people are late. But on this occasion the report as written was I think a valid situation to defer to the client. I hope it is resolved.
I can recommend one or two companies where singles rarely get free time and all meals are together
Leigh,
Tauck is truly nasty. Five minutes late is no big deal and also there were two others. Tauck needs to prepare for any unforeseen emergenies and sudden stops needed. I have traveled with other companies including much higher end ones. The TD always looked for you. It is no big deal if they are running slighly behind or have to reschedule or go back to do something. I was with Abercrombie & Kent in Vietnam this year, the TD has to called for a backup when someone had to go to the hospital half way during a walking tour . The TD got a back up for the rest of the group and he took the sick person to the hospital. Some one tumbled down the hill during Cruising the Greek Isle last year and has to use the tender to go back to the mainlaand. They have enough backup and rearrange the schedule for the rest of the group. So best Wishes for Tauck's new your in Greece next year. I guarantee with such exotic locales there will be nonstop excitement.
I found Tauck is opertaing on shoestring resources these days and they would spent money on line influencer like kfnknfzk blaming every situation on you other than Tauck.
British,
Not every tour company is within everyone's budget.
henrypoon_66 - I will not be giving you the reaction you so desperately want, but you may receive a reaction from Tauck. It won’t be the one you want, however.
Kfnknfzk:
You are not a nice person!
I don't understand why you cannot handle any criticism. I don't see any one left behind by other tour companies. People are late and people are late. No big deal. Happens at work and happens off work.
I am so disappointed that you are defending Tauck instead of offering empathy and support. It must be very stressful left behind in Paris. Are you representing Tauck on this forum, silencing any dissent?
Leigh - I'm so sorry this happened to you on your 1st Tauck trip. We just returned from "Rendezvous on the Seine" & we had late people a few times and we waited for 10-15min most times. Eventually, a TG got off the bus to continue to wait & the rest of us went on. One of the issues with traveling as a group is that the TG/CD have to keep everyone 'happy' - and that is not always easy. They are on a schedule & I think do their best to keep us happy. The Captain had nothing to do with this and most likely doesn't even know it happened - not his job.
To have a whole bus who is on time, wait on others who are not is a tough call. I'm not saying what they did was right and you certainly deserved an apology as you were the guest. But we all have to be on time to make a group tour work well. If you don't know the area - arrive extra early. There are great apps for your phone to help in European cities to avoid getting lost.
Another issue is that there is always the option to stay later on your own & get back to the boat via UBER - they mention this often. Since you weren't there at the specified time, they may have thought you were staying longer on your own. This does happen and we have done it.
We were just on the Seine Tauck trip also and our cards were easy to read, so I don't understand why yours wasn't?
What kfnknfzk says is true - we've been on several Tauck river cruises & 'usually' they do give out ship info at the 1st meeting & again on the bus & it is in your stateroom. I do hope that Tauck will make this right for you. We have traveled with Tauck since 2003 & trust them & like them as a company (and we have been with many other companies over the years). I hope you will give Tauck another try, but if not, there are many other companies to choose from. Don't let this deter you from traveling solo again.
henrypoon_66 -- if Tauck is so "nasty," why don't you do yourself and all of us a favor and move on to the A&K Forum & not participate here. I've been on the forum for 11 years & have never seen postings such as yours. I travel w/other companies also. None of us are 'influencers' here - we are just people who love to travel, both with Tauck, on our own, & with other companies.
Let's get this forum back to what it is meant to be - a place to learn from, give recommendations to, ask advice about.
Plenty of blame to go around on this one.
Reading the online itinerary it was clearly the 2nd tour day after they had had the cruise info briefing held the night before. The day had 2 excursion options in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I'm assuming rather than returning to the ship for lunch, guests were offered the option to stay in Paris and be picked up later by a shuttle bus back to the ship. If I were very nervous about finding my way around Paris solo I'd have gone back to the ship. Did none of the 3 guests have a map? Did anyone take note of where the bus pickup location was? None of the 3 of them could figure out how to call the ship's number? I have to wonder if each of the 3 thought one of the others would take care of things.
The bus did come for you - but you weren't there. If they were truly only 5 minutes late then it's easy to say the TD should have waited. But what if they'd been 10 minutes or 20 or whatever? What if the trio had decided to just stay in Paris all afternoon? No way for the TD to know that. The TD should have contacted the cruise director and made sure they were following up on this and they certainly shouldn't have been rude later.
In what way was the Swiss ship's number indecipherable?
No calling the Paris police was not the right option unless you'd been robbed or mugged.
No it's not the ship captains job to console you. The captain's primary job is to pilot the ship safely and on time. The hotel manager answers to the captain to take care of cabins and meals. The Tauck tour directors and cruise director are responsible for excursions and activities. For those new to river cruising, the timing is a big issue. When the daily schedule says All Aboard at a certain time, they won't be waiting for you. A ship's docking and transit thru the many locks are pretty tightly timed. If one ship is too late or too early it causes a domino affect. I've been on cruises when that happened.
Leigh, I'm sorry you had a bad experience. While I'd expect Tauck to apologize I doubt they could ever guarantee that nothing wrong is going to happen especially when you aren't actually with the TD. People are given free time to explore and when that happens they have to be ready to take care of themselves making there way thru unfamiliar areas, public transport, languages, etc.
Both sides on this one need to do better.
(And once again, no I'm not a paid influencer)
A super well thought out reply Claudia. You are certainly well qualified to understand the logistics of river cruising having been on so many. I’ve only taken one river cruise with Tauck but maybe 5 small ship cruises with them. I can’t recall an exact number right now. Again, I hate it when people are not on time but this did appear to be an exceptional choice by a TD if indeed there was no real important deadline. A reminder to all on the bus afterwards that lateness is not tolerated would have cautioned people going forward And all for Paris, I’ve never understood the big deal about Paris.
Really tired of Henrypoon trolling the Tauck forums. Every post is a criticism and put down of Tauck. We get it Henry, you don’t like Tauck travelers, you don’t like Tauck tours and A&K is the bestest in the world. We get it.
And Leigh, I’m sorry your first solo trip was so traumatic. I started traveling by myself right out of college, Long before there were wheels on luggage and people had any sort of thing resembling a cellphone. I traveled with my little plastic fold out map and a little notebook that I used to write every detail I needed to know in case I got lost. Being solo does mean you have to rely on yourself to be prepared. Hopefully the beauty of the trip will leave you with good memories.
Great conversation.
I’ll make this short and sweet. I put all Tauck phone numbers, all foreign embassy (depending where I’m going) in my contacts in my cell phone including all of Tauck’s emergency numbers and transportation numbers under the letter A in my contacts so if I need to call Tauck, I just have to press “call”. It has happened which makes that much easier than searching for a phone number under a stressful situation.
Great idea Ourtravels. I'm adding that to my growing trip todo list. FYI, the transport driver numbers given in the final docs are unique to that tour and/or country. That's the number to call if you get to the arrival airport and the driver isn't there with the green placard that says Tauck.