Missed Opportunity in Amsterdam
We were on the Rhine, Swiss Alps, and Amsterdam river cruise in late Aug/early September. This is the first time that we added extra nights at the end of the trip. Maybe this is normal; however, I found it to be a missed opportunity by Tauck.
Two days before the river cruise ended, the Cruise Director met with everyone to discuss the departure procedures and announced that 54 people out of the 120 people on the cruise were spending extra days in Amsterdam at the Pulitzer. At 9:00 a.m. on departure day, three buses transported the 54 people to the Pulitzer. When we arrived at the Pulitzer, it was chaos. The hotel had three people handling check-ins, a very slow process that includes checking each person’s passport. One of the tour directors arrived and looked stunned. She found an area where people could sit so only one person for each room had to stand in line. It took well over an hour to check everyone in.
Another Tauck group that had spent the night at the Pulitzer before boarding the river boat in the afternoon for the start of their cruise. Their luggage was pulled early so that their luggage could go on the truck that had bought our luggage to the Pulitzer. They also had checked out of their rooms early even though the Tauck transport service was not picking them up until 2:30 p.m.
The Pulitzer declined to provide an estimate about when our rooms would be ready. By lunch time, we were told that our room was on a priority list. We had tickets to the Anne Frank house at 3:00 p.m. We checked again around 1:00 p.m. and again at 2:15 p.m. and we were told that the room was ready but needed to be inspected. At 4:00, while on the tour, we received a text that our room was ready. The Pulitzer check-in time is 3:00 p.m. and they had no intention of providing early access to the rooms.
Is this a typical situation when staying extra days? Could a Pulitzer staff member have boarded the river boat on the final night of the cruise and registered the 54 people and let everyone know that there would be no early check-ins? Could Tauck have offered an activity in the morning rather than leaving two tour groups in the lobby of the Pulitzer? Would it be smarter to avoid the Tauck recommended hotel when staying extra days?
Comments
Yes, good idea to stay at another hotel, Tauck would have arranged to take you there instead of the airport. Of course, this is more of a problem for River cruises. If a land tour ends there, the people will already be staying in the hotel at the end of the tour, which is what happened to us on a tour that ended in Amsterdam.
I don’t think an hotel person could be expected to go to the ship, it’s normal for many European hotels to require seeing passports.
I am not sure Tauck could arrange activities for you, after all, the tour officially ends as you leave the ship and go to an hotel or the airport. They will be busy arranging for the next tour.
I am sure hotels do their best to accommodate people who arrive before check in time, especially for Tauck. It’s unfortunate that such a large number of people were staying on.
Yes this is more or less how the transition from the ship to the hotel goes post cruise. Of course it's going to vary from tour to tour depending on the number opting to stay at the hotel, how crowded it is at that time, staffing, etc. We ended a cruise in Basel 10 years ago. There was maybe 30 guests who opted to stay extra days at the Tauck hotel. The coach arrived at the hotel, we all lined up at the counter, presented our passports, they gave us an estimated when our room would be ready, offered to store anything else we wanted in their luggage room and the concierge offered assistance with our sightseeing plans.
We had somewhat the same experience on our Hidden Waterways cruise this past summer at the start of the cruise. Many guests arrived from the airport 1 day prior to the tour at about the same early morning hour. A whole bunch of jumbo jets all arrived very close together. Some rooms were ready but many were not and frankly the Hotel Amigo did a lousy job communicating. Like - don't take my cell number promising to call when the room is ready then not do so. The had a hospitality room for Tauck guests that offered some drinks and incredibly uncomfortable chairs. If you sat in the lobby in the comfortable chair they chastised you if you fell asleep. Not great.
If our room wasn't ready by the hotel's checking in time - which is usually 3pm - I would be annoyed.
We have ended cruises in Amsterdam staying in a non-Tauck hotel twice. The CD arranged a cab for us to the hotel that we paid for and then arranged transport from that hotel to the airport they day we left.
Not Amsterdam, but Paris
We had GOT at the Hotel Lutetia and arrived at the Hotel about 9:30 AM (early am flight). Our room was already ready and we were all set. We got a messsage that the bus to the boat would leave at 3 PM the next day. It did, and we were very pleased.
I have not stayed at the Pulitzer but believe your experience was a result of too many guests checking in and out at the same time. The hotel was probably overwhelmed.
Your tour officially ended when you disembarked the ship, so Tauck has no responsibility to arrange an activity for guests waiting to check in.
It would also be impractical for the hotel to send someone to the ship ahead of time to check in guests. That would set a precedent that neither a hotel nor Tauck would want. Merely my opinion.
Once in Lyon, France, we had to wait for several hours before our room was ready. We found a lovely little café and park close to the banks of the Rhône and were delighted to see our Tauck ship off in the distance as it was preparing for the next round of guests.
IMO, the missed opportunity was waiting around to check in when you could have left your bags with the bellman and gone out to explore Amsterdam, coming back later when everyone else had completed check in. Hotels don’t and quite honestly won’t staff for large drop offs. You expect them to bring people in for an hour? Traveling, especially to Europe where things move more leisurely, requires adapting to what is presented. I’ve been to Amsterdam multiple times, such a wonderful city with interesting sights around every corner. You’re on vacation, enjoy every moment and work around the minor inconveniences.
We also stayed at the Hotel Lutetia before the start of our recent Seine riverboat cruise. Our room was ready (about 10:30 AM), but our son and daughter-in-law's was s not. They offered to let them stay in a smaller room until their room was ready. They were able to shower and sleep - a few hours later, hotel staff moved their luggage to their actual room. We were really impressed with the service provided by the hotel staff throughout our stay - and making the other room available to them while they waited was going above and beyond.
I thought I recognized the name ‘Pulitzer’ then realized one of my favorite areas of Amsterdam — the Nine Little Streets — is virtually at the doorstep of the hotel. Another missed opportunity.
For those who will be staying soon at the hotel, this area might interest you. Not too far away is the Sofitel Amsterdam. We loved staying there. I don’t recall the time we arrived, but it was well before noon and had no problem checking in. Our room was also available.
I agree about the Nine Little Streets. We weren't with a tour but have stayed at both The Pulitzer and The Andaz, just down the street. Both are fun hotels but the Pulitzer seems to draw tour groups more.