Detailed, Hourly Travel Itineraries
For seasoned Tauck travelers: When do you usually receive a more detailed (hourly ) itinerary? A Tauck advisor told me that was what would be uploaded through the portal 60 days prior, but I see only a daily summary (similar to the website) included with Travel Docs. How soon does the more detailed version typically arrive? And I fully realize it’s always subject to change, but I like to plan our free time and know what to expect for morning start times, etc. Thank you for any insight!
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The only time you may receive an hourly itinerary is from the tour director once you are on the tour. All other itineraries are daily.
Yes, agree, only when you get on the tour. Sometimes you get the entire tour details then but occasionally you might get it for just say three days ahead or even just the day before. The best thing to do is research ahead everything you would like to see well in advance and be prepared to fit it in around the planned itinerary if time allows. This is more difficult post pandemic now that timed tickets are required for popular sites. The tour director may also add extras not mentioned on the original tour description or change days around.
For some trips, where I want to schedule a timed free-time activity in advance, I call Tauck and ask for details on a specific day or two. I've never had the need to get an hourly itinerary in advance for the entire trip.
For land tours we've typically gotten the hourly schedule at the welcome dinner. Sometimes only the first week of the tour then and the second later in the tour. For river cruises you get it day to day. A printed copy for the first day when you may be at a hotel but once on board the ship they use a QR code system so you access the daily schedule from a mobile device.
If you need to know it prior to the tour start the Tauck phone agents have it. Its not published for exactly the reason that things can change before and even after the tour start.
Ah ha—thank you! This makes sense, given a phone agent was able to tell me what the hourly was looking like very early on, but did say they would post it online 60 days prior. I’ll just call back in an inquire on the days I most care about. I am our travel agent (and so far, so good) so relinquishing control on a tour is very new to us. A bit difficult, but also feels good now that my day job has been so busy.
The itinerary that gets provided closer to the tour - emailed to you and available in your acct on the website - doesn't usually provide much more detail than the original one we seen when booking the tour. It might list a bit more detail on sights to see, excursion options, and any itinerary changes. The only times I've ever seen listed were official tour start on day 1 and ending on the departure day.
Most of the information provided in the final itinerary you can find on Tauck's website page for your tour i.e. luggage restrictions, what to pack, reading list, weather, etc. What I scan the final itinerary for (and usually print out) are the recommended tip amounts, the instructions at the airport/train station to find our transport driver and the phone numbers for that service and Tauck's emergency number.
I have learned that it’s risky to book sometimes on your own when there was supposed to be free time, because often it is not. that’s partly why I hate all the free time on tours these days, it an be tricky to organize anything. Instead, we go early or stay at the end of a tour and do things then as often those places are skimmed over by Tauck