Is there a DVD Player in the River Cruise cabins ?

lbholden

I was reading reviews of Tauck river cruises (I am taking the Blue Danube cruise on the MS Savor on July 8th) and there was a mention of a DVD player in the cabins and a small library of DVDs available to watch ? Is this true? I can't find anything about this on the Tauck website. I don't plan to spend my trip watching DVD's - but I like to fall asleep to something good on the TV at night and if there is DVD player - I may just bring some DVDs with me to watch.

Claudia Sails

Can't say for sure as I haven't been on the Savor or Inspire, but the Swiss Emerald rooms did not have DVD players that I remember. There was TV in the room that played a few European TV channels in English (mostly news), a ships info channel, and 2 channels that showed the daily movie selections. Each day it would be 2 different movies that would play on a continuous loop throughout the day. The daily program left on the bed by your maid at night will list what the movies will be for the next day.

jdurkin

Inspire has a number, i.e. more than 2, of video channels that play a selection of films, in a good variety of genres, on demand … they start when you want to play them. There is a selection of local (European) English language TV channels. There is also an iPod dock so you can play your own music. I'm sure you will find something you like to lull you off into dreamland.

Savor is Inspire's twin.

Cheers,

Jan

lbholden

Thank you Claudia and Jan - I appreciate your responses and you have saved me from packing DVDs in my luggage.

jdurkin

You're welcome. Happy to help.

TARA5

We just got back from the Blue Danube cruise, staying on the MS Savor (newly launched). It was a beautiful boat and experience. We were not in our rooms long enough to watch TV, so don't know if there is a DVD player. If we turned it on, it was no more than 30 mins on one day. We opened the sliding doors daily to our beautiful balcony room to enjoy the picturesque views and to get some fresh air. During the day, it's rise and shine early, LOTS of walking, uphill on cobblestones and stairs. Bring good shoes. Luggage weight (and size) is highly scrutinized. Be sure to measure and weigh your carry on for the "smallest" size allowable. They will seize it at the gate, if it does not fit into their carry on luggage mold at the gate. Seriously, no shortage of storage space, unlike ocean-cruise rooms. The large sliding doors made the room feel a lot larger, with a lot of light. We were spoiled by the # of US elec outlets in the room vs in the hotels. The drinks and bottled water are free flowing. Can't say enough good things about this trip. Our Directors were very personable and knowledgable. This was our first Tauck vacation, but not our last. They treat you like royalty. The weather was perfect, there was a little rain, but not a problem. We met some very nice people with whom we will be friends with for a long time. If this is your first Tauck trip, it probably won't be your last.

Claudia Sails

Tara, just to clarify - who was the "they" who were so careful about luggage size?

Just to add to the database on staterooms - which category were you in, any issues with noise, etc.

Glad you enjoyed you cruise.

RGM2

As for DVD's, they are coded for different areas in the world and will not play anywhere else. Also DVD players are usually set for the region where you live. There are region free players, but not too common. A computer DVD player may be changed up to 5 times to a different region, then it will be locked to the 5th change forever. There is a region " 0 (zero) which will play anywhere but is not widely distributed.

R1 Region 1 ~ U.S.A., U.S. Territories and Canada.
R2 Region 2 ~ Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland.
R3 Region 3 ~ Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong.

BlueRay disks are also region coded and also have a region free code " 0 ".

Region code Area
A Includes most American and Southeast Asian countries, as well as some East Asian countries including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau and Taiwan.
B Includes most of Europe, Western Asian countries, all of Africa, and most of Oceania, including Australia and New Zealand.
C Includes Belarus, Ukraine, European and Asian parts of Russia, central, east and south Asian countries, including Kazakhstan and China (Mainland)

So leave your home DVD's at home and enjoy.

jdurkin

Great information, RGM2.

But you didn't mention another region. We do exist!

Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, Caribbean Region.

Cheers,

Jan

RGM2

jdurkin wrote:

Great information, RGM2.
But you didn't mention another region. We do exist!
Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, Caribbean Region.
Cheers,
Jan

My aplogies Jan, it was not done on purpose, rather in error. Yes I realize there is a region 4.
I spend my winters in Mexico and that is in region 4.

lbholden

Thank you RGM2 - I did not know that DVDs and DVD players are different depending on where you are in the world. A few years ago my husband and I traveled to Hong Kong and the hotel we stayed at (The Peninsula) listed on their website that one of the room amenities was a DVD player - so naturally I packed some DVDs with me to help me sleep at night. They worked beautifully. So I guess that is why this whole region thing never dawned on me.

My husband tells me that there are players made that can support DVDs from multiple regions and maybe that was case at the Peninsula or maybe they just happened to have players for our region.

Thank you again for the great info.

Sealord

Just curious ... What determines: Traveler, Explorer, or Ambassador?

Ken from Vegas

Sealord wrote:

Just curious ... What determines: Traveler, Explorer, or Ambassador?

Number of posts.

British

No, it is not just that. As far as I know there are only two people with Ambassador status, Jan and I think it is also Rabo.