VERY STRANGE!

J AND H

I check the posts several times a week to see if anyone is on our ESPRIT cruise on 5-5..NOT ONE BITE! Numerous posts re future sailings on the JOY! I am beginning to wonder if our sailing is a 'phantom' one ??? I checked with Tauck and they confirmed that our sailing is completely booked. I guess my fellow passengers on this sailing don't know about or dont care about this forum. Unfortunate, I was hoping we could 'meet' some fellow passengers before we get there and possibly plan some private excursions together.

We have about two more months,..possibly some posts on this sailing will materialize!

crackers54

Don't worry. I see very few responses to the are you on our tour. I have tried a for a number of tours and only got one response. It makes me mad when someone gets a conversation going quickly with a fellow traveler.

Of the people that travel with Tauck, it seems there are very few that use the forums.

You will have a great cruise and probably a full ship, but don't expect any of them to respond to are you on my tour question.

AlanS

There are other possible reasons that many travelers don't participate in the forums. One is that they rarely, if ever, visit the website. There can be any number of reasons for this- they are uncomfortable with computers- yes, there are still folks that are not very computer literate and not comfortable with them. Also, many people still use travel agents for all their travel arrangements. They may be totally unaware of the Tauck website and forums.

British

And then there are people like me who would not want to hook up and commit to some kind of travel arrangement in case we find we do not 'gel'. Plenty of time to get to know people when the tour begins.

Claudia Sails

Don't worry. Assuming you are relatively outgoing you'll have plenty of time to make friends on your cruise. On our first cruise my husband and I didn't know anyone and on the second we had 2 family members with us. In both cases we made friends with several couples and singles.

At the hotels we've stayed at the Tauck group generally is seated in a separate area for breakfast so identifying your fellow passengers is easy. Don't be shy. Say hello, ask if you can join a partially filled table, introduce yourself, etc. You'll find that most are as eager to make friends as you.

Same goes for on board the ship in the lounge, at meals, up on deck, etc.

On daily excursions - especially any with bus time - you'll have a chance to chat with others as well.

Once your tour starts the Tauck directors will provide a list of passengers names, home towns and email address. I make notes on mine to help me remember names and faces. Comments like "met at happy hour on the first night".

Have a great cruise.

Ward801

J&H - My wife and I are on the Esprit cruise starting April 21 going eastbound from Budapest so hopefully no "phantom". We will leave the boat in good shape for you. This will be my first river cruise and we are looking forward to it.