Ms Joy

Quigley

Has anyone been on the Ms Joy? I believe that it was having its maiden voyage this year, was wondering when the maiden voyage was.
My wife and I are traveling on the blue Danube westbound trip August 11th 2016.

Claudia Sails

The 7 April Blue Danube seems to be the first Tauck cruise on the MS Joy but that doesn't necessarily make it the maiden voyage. The ships Tauck uses are owned/crewed by Scylla which can use them for other purposes when Tauck doesn't have scheduled cruises on them.

Quigley

Thanks for the prompt reply.
We have been on many cruises, but this is our first river cruise.
I imagine that this is an entirely different experience than Crystal Cruises.

Claudia Sails

We haven't done any ocean cruises. Differences that I know of:

- fewer passengers so you really get a chance to make some friends
- more focus on the daily tours and sights
- fewer shipboard activities - there is only 2 dining venues, 1 lounge, a small gym - no pool, no disco - evening entertainment (over by 10pm) may be a singer, a trivia game, etc
- fairly casual dress for all - the dressiest is usually a sport coat and/or tie for men, dress or dressy top/pants for women for the welcome/farewell receptions and sometimes a special dinner off the ship
- everything is included - the only thing to spend money on is laundry, spa/salon services, souvenirs
- there is always something to see on the shore
- all staterooms have a window

We've loved river cruising. Two down and at least 1 more to go before we run out of rivers.

gregdude

Actually there are some other differences than posted above. There is a hot tub on the top deck. There are no waves, no movement issues at all! The service is better all around from the entire crew and Tauck crews staff. Excursions are great with relatively small groups. We have done numerous ocean cruises and have found that Tauck river cruises are much better in every respect. We were on Inspire last year and from what I have read Joy is a duplicate copy, so I'm certain you will have a great trip.

Claudia Sails

Great points Greg. We were on the Inspire last year as well and the crew was fantastic. Example: we were in the bistro one afternoon at happy hour and I asked the bar tender for a particular drink our swiss TD told me about. She was a bit new in the job and didn't know what it was but called to the main bar in the lounge. They knew what is was, made the drink and she walked the length of the ship and back to bring it to me. And the crew show was hilarious.

Quigley

Thank you for the response gregdude, I am encouraged by the fact that you have had both experiences, ocean and river and it seems that you would rather the river.
We will see for ourselves in August.

Quigley

Claudia, I like the bar service already.

Claudia Sails

We have enjoyed the bar as well - although our livers weren't so sure. Top drawer choices and great wines.

Quigley

Anyone traveling on the Blue Danube westbound, commencing on August 11th, begins in BudaPest and ends in Prague?
We have never taken a river cruise but have been on more than a dozen ocean cruises, including Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Azamara, Seabourn and a half dozen Crystal Cruises.

Chargad

@Quigley, my husband and I, and our best friends, are traveling on the MS Joy Westbound Budapest to Prague on August 11. This will be our fourth river cruise, first with Tauck (two others were with Uniworld, one with an off-brand company). We love river cruises, and this one should be a good one.

Jensen1320

Hi Chargad and Quigley, my wife and I will also be on this cruise with you August 11th, Budapest to Prague. We have done many Ocean Cruises in the past but so far only one River Cruise, that was the Christmas Markets with Tauck. I can only reiterate the prior comments made Claudia Sails, as to the service, tours, excellent dining and most of all some wonderful guests on board. Oh and yes, the bar is a favourite hangout for a pre dinner cocktail. The smaller number of passengers is also a much welcomed addition. In a nutshell, we cannot praise Tauck highly enough for their commitment to superior River Cruising going above and beyond. Incidentally we are arriving into Budapest early so we can explore more of this wonderful city, staying at the Kempinski. On the backend we will add a further week in Prague.

If I can be of any help just advise.

Quigley

Thanks Chargad and Jensen1320, it is nice to know that there are guests who have experienced ocean and river and seem to lean toward river cruises .
We look forward to meeting you all in August.
We will be in Cabin 312.

Chess

We are Manhattanites on our 1st cruise (river or ocean), traveling w/ friends. Looking forward to the trip. Hear wonderful things abt Tauck & this trip. Will spend a few days in Paris b/4 arriving Budapest. Struggling w/ the endless finagling to figure out the best combination of points/$s for our flights.

bmeans

Hi Quigley, Jensen1320, Chess and of course Chargad. We are the friends of Chargad who are traveling with them on the Westbound MS Joy on 11 Aug. I tried starting a thread months ago but had no responses. Good to see one started and meeting with others who will be traveling with us. This will be our second river cruise, first with Tauck. We traveled with Avalon in France and that was a great cruise, so traveling with Tauck should be wonderful, especially after reading everything about them. We too love river cruising. River cruising and ocean cruising are two different animals - you really can't compare them. I have been on around 15 ocean cruises and have enjoyed them very much. Not crazy about all the large cruise ships these days with 5000 people. Having only 130 people on your river cruises makes for good fun and socializing and enjoying the attention to detail. The Danube has been on my bucket list for a long time and we are finally going to experience it - can't wait. Let's all keep in touch and look forward to meeting everyone.

AshvEd

Quigley wrote:

Thanks Chargad and Jensen1320, it is nice to know that there are guests who have experienced ocean and river and seem to lean toward river cruises .
We look forward to meeting you all in August.
We will be in Cabin 312.

Hi Quigley. We were on the June 23 departure of the ms Joy and in Cabin 312. You will love it's location. The cruise was amazing and Tauck really knows how to exceed all expectations. Best wishes for good water levels on the Danube.