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Couple of questions re: upcoming river cruise

Mark_H

Hey there! After 3 land tours ('93 & '94 courtesy of my in-laws, and 2024) we have booked "Romantic Capital: Prague to Paris" for next June and had a couple of questions. We'll be on the Joy, but I imagine things are similar across many river tours. I think I read this is a new tour for 2025.

are the bars (Compass/Panorama/Arthur's) open during non-dining hours? For example, if I want a beer or cocktail at 10pm will that be possible?
if I buy a bottle of wine or spirits on an excursion, can I bring it on the ship to enjoy in the room? I know this is not allowed on most ocean cruise lines, but curious re: the rules on a Tauck river cruise.
I've noted that a number of days have a lunch departure, not leaving the boat until the next morning. Am I right in assuming there are varied activities available while cruising - lectures, games, entertainment, food/wine classes or tastings, etc...? I would love to hear some of your favorite on-board activity experiences, if you would care to share!

Comments

Ben

The compass room is only open during breakfast and dinner and lunch the days it is scheduled. The Panorama lounge is open all the time. In the evening there is usually an activity. Never tried to get a drink between 1AM and 5AM but the other times you can get what ever you want to drink. Arthurs has coffee early in the morning and a some choices before the Compass room breakfast begins and is open pretty much all day and evening.

You can bring wine, beer or spirits on board. The bar is fairly well stocked and they usually will serve a different regional wine at dinner. You can ask for a bottle of wine for your room.

Depending on the.day there is usually some activity in the lounge during cruising including lectures/talks. During this cruise you will be going through the middle Rhine which should have a commentary of the castles and the history of the area. If the weather is nice you will be on the sun deck for viewing and will be able to hear the commentary. in addition the Moselle River is also very scenic. and most likely you will be on the sun deck. Some people use the cruising time to sit in the hot tube, putt on the tiny green(you will need to compensate for the ship motion), or walk laps on the track. In the past we have had food tastings, scarf tying, French lessons...There are always people playing cards. Typically there will be an engine room and wheelhouse tour.

Claudia Sails

Ben covered it all pretty well. I believe the official opening time of the lounge is 10am. From then the staff will serve you in the lounge and if its nice on the sundeck. Arthur's also has a bar though not as fully staffed except during meal times. If you've bought a bottle of something the crew will serve it to you. We never have as the choices are usually excellent in the lounge and dining room.

Your room refrigerator will be stocked with free soft drinks. Let your cabin attendant or front desk know what you like.

Yes there are various activities on board though certainly not comparable to an ocean liner. As you said, talks/classes in the lounge. There might be a stretching or yoga class if the crew has someone to lead it. Various nightly entertainment. And the room TVs have on demand movies usually including some which match the theme or area of of the cruise.

kfnknfzk

Mark_H - Per your request, following are some of our favorite on-board activities we experienced:

Lectures on how British women participated in the war effort and how the European Union (EU) began and evolved into the powerhouse it is today.

Culinary demonstrations focused on regional specialties of Portugal, France, Belgium and the Netherlands; the latter included the traditional way of consuming herring—tilting your head back and swallowing whole. I offered a more refined way of eating herring with raw onions and capers on rye bread—the rye bread being improvised. For some reason there weren't many participants, but one tour director and I had a lovely snack!

Crafts such as the already mentioned scarf tying, making a key chain using Portuguese cork, clog painting and decorating holiday cookies.

Antics of the crew consisting of dance contests and talent shows.

So many great memories.

travel maven

Mark: I was reading the itinerary for the "Romantic Capital: Prague to Paris" and it sounds great. I have been on four River Cruises with Tauck. Two of the cruises were in France; Seine and Rhone Rivers respectively. One was Budapest to The Black Sea on the Danube and one was Amsterdam to Basel on the Rhine. I think you have already received answers to your questions, however, I will elaborate on some additional activities on the boat.

I personally enjoy the River Cruises very much. They are much more intimate than a large ship. As far as on board activities, all of the itineraries have been different. There is always some sort of lecture or movie in the Panorama Lounge which centers around the area you are traveling thru. There is always wonderful entertainment. I have experienced amazing first rate Musicians playing Violins and acoustic guitar up to solo singers and comic acts. I have experienced Baltic Dancers and Can Can dancers. All of the acts are very well done and entertaining. On my last cruise down the Seine, I enjoyed participating in a paint and sip class where we painted our version of a famous impressionist painting in acrylics and sipped wine, it was very enjoyable. There was also a fun trivia contest with prizes. There were cooking demonstrations and consumption of the delicious food that was demonstrated. You can engage in these various activities or just do nothing like gazing out at the lovely landscape as you cruise slowly along the rivers, perhaps enjoying a cocktail or special coffee. I hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise and be sure to write a review. I would be most interest in your impressions.

Mark_H

Thank you, everyone! Much appreciated. I'd almost forgot, our 1993 Tauck trip was Austria, Germany and Switzerland, which included a lovely one (or was it two...) night cruise up the Rhine.

Fun story: when booking our 2024 trip, Tauck had an offer for a free 1-night pre or post night hotel stay if you have been on a Tauck trip before. I provided my name, my wife's name, and the names of my in-laws from 1993/94, but nothing could be found. It had been too long, I guess. I did tell them I remembered the first name of the 1993 tour guide: Charlie, whom everyone thought VERY highly of. It didn't help.

Fast forward a couple of months and I've booked this river cruise. For some reason, "Charlie" came to mind and I thought, "I wonder if Charlie is still with Tauck 31 years later?" So I do some internet snooping, and it seems he is! Been with Tauck 38 years. It would be so fun if we were to have him again after all these years (though the odds would make that unlikely)!

British

We had Charlie for a tour a couple of years ago.
We have been traveling with Tauck for 21 years, so newbies compared to you. Even so,, their records are sketchy from the earlier years.

AlanS

Charlie may be leading tours in other areas too, but according to him, he is (still is?) focused on the US Southwest in the area where he lives. In May we had him for Spirit of the Desert: National Parks of the Southwest.

Sealord

During our fifteen Tauck tours, we have had one tour director three times and another one twice …. missed a third by one week. We have also encountered another of our TD’s several times on ‘overlapping’ tours. So seeing your past tour directors is not highly unusual. A couple of these encounters were on opposite ends of the earth … we have been to all of the ‘ends’ … continents. We don’t always travel with Tauck, but they are our favorite tour company.

RGM2

In my experience the Panorama lounge closes when the last guests depart, that was frequently a lady and myself. On my first river cruise they stocked Royal Crown Canadian whiskey. On the next the lowered down to Canadian Club. By the way if at 11pm you were a bit peckish they would serve you some small tasty snacks too.

Sealord

On a recent Tauck river cruise I mentioned to the cruise director that I was a little disappointed that they did not have Maker’s Mark onboard. They went out and got some.

Mark_H

Quote: "On a recent Tauck river cruise I mentioned to the cruise director that I was a little disappointed that they did not have Maker’s Mark onboard. They went out and got some."

That's Tauck!

AlanS

During a tour of the galley, I mentioned to the head chef, that I like his wiener schnitzel but would like it even more with the sauce my grandmother made (a special brew of ketchup, Lee & Perrins, plus ??). The staff had some of my grandmothers 'sauce' waiting for me the next time wiener schnitzel was on the menu!

Claudia Sails

On our Danube Christmas cruise at one meal the waiters asked us what we wanted the chef to make for us. I knew he was from the Philippines so I immediately said lumpia (Philippino egg rolls). I was mostly kidding but sure enough the next night our waiter set down a big plate of hot lumpia at our table. We couldn't eat them all but the waiters said not to worry as they were happy to finish them off.