Are people canceling river cruises for 2027 already?

BSP51

We are on the Sept 21,2027 Romantic Capitals Prague to Paris river cruise. For the past month our date has been fully sold out in all categories. Last night I noticed a few available categories so I checked this morning and all categories are now available. On other dates for next year more categories have also become available. Are people bailing early or might there be yet another glitch in the system?

British

I think some people have been put off either taking river cruises, prices too high or gone off Tauck. The main reason for being put off Tauck I feel is the last minute cancellations. A generic message at least on the main webpage would have helped. Don’t forget most people do not know about the Tauck forum, so the only way is to call Tauck.
I maintain there are people out there who would accept bus travel etc over no vacation, I certainly would have done. Therefore Tauck was trying to see if they could run the tours, waiting until the last minute just in case.

At one time, I thought Tauck might dispense with land tours because they probably make more money from river cruises and it’s generally less organization and way more people. But not now! I still prefer land tours. There are plenty of Tauck clients who probably enjoyed the land tours of the Rhine and Danube areas, we certainly did and saw more at each location.

inlanikai

British, I have neighbors that booked a Danube cruise on another tour line for mid-October. As one might imagine, they have been concerned about cancellation as well. That cruise company told them they won't know about cancellation/modification, if any, until very close to the tour date. I don't think Tauck is unique to last minute cancellations.

In fairness to all the tour companies, I think they have a constant assessment to make between the river levels at multiple points along the river(s), alternate accommodation availability, boat logistics, excursion alternatives and dates, and the desires and conveniences of their customers.

JaneP

I was wondering how many people would be eager to sign up for summer cruises after this year. I have done 2, but in the Spring, and then the water issue tends to be high water so some bridges end up being too low to get under…I've been getting lots and lots of rive cruise sale information.

kfnknfzk

I agree with inlanikai. I don’t think people understand the complexities and the amount of logistics involved in deciding whether to continue with a tour, modify it or cancel it. No matter what Tauck does, there are going to be people who complain endlessly.

Claudia Sails

There was someone on one of the Facebook groups who cancelled a cruise next year and was annoyed they didn't get all money back or as much flexibility with rescheduling as they wanted. All they got were comments asking why they'd cancel this far in advance.

MikeHenderson

We'd like to do the river cruise that we were booked on this year - that was cancelled. But I'm a bit gun shy now about river cruises.

BSP51

https://forums.tauck.com/discussion/comment/119350#Comment_119350

So are we but we’re going to hold out until next September and hope things improve.