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
So glad to see this question. I just got my “details” for a trip in October and expected a lot more than a rehash of what was already online. So, I’m a bit disappointed. I guess I need to follow with my TA to get real details first a couple days. I’m already adding days before and after, but usually the stuff in the middle doesn’t change as much.
Katherine, A call to Tauck should get you to someone who will give you the more detailed itinerary. I’m grateful to have it, though I definitely know it can change, and I’ll have no issues pivoting from what we have planned during “free time” if schedules change.
GinaW - my TA (big group) who books loads of Tauck, got nothing when she called. This is my first Tauck tour and I have another scheduled next year. I was looking for much more details prior to the trip, the trip starts in six weeks. I’m always positive, but my mom did these trips years ago and I remember pages of details, not a couple of sentences per day. It’s not like Petra moved and they haven’t done the trip before!
I guarantee she got those pages at the start of the tour, not before.
I don’t think I have ever gotten an ‘hourly detail’ in advance. Sometimes things change, and the TD’s have a great deal of flexibility on how they put a tour together when it comes down to the details. If a tour does not fit your schedule, you are always free to skip it and do whatever pleases you.
Every Tauck trip we've taken - we've gotten the detailed schedule on the first night of the trip or in our room the day before as we arrived a day or two early.
You can always try to find a trip report of the tour you are going and it may have more details.
And sometimes you only get a few days at a time.
I can understand wanting to know as much as possible about an upcoming trip and being able to plan your free time. I'm the planner in our family. But I've also learned that the unexpected bonuses that happen on tour came be really fun and often form our happiest memories of a tour.
When I've needed to have more detailed timing of the daily schedule I haven't had any issues calling Tauck and the agent could fill in the blanks. They don't know every single detail and things can definitely change once you're on tour. Unexpected traffic, canceled ferries, a once a year festival, marathon race coming thru town, weather, etc etc. I've seen loads of things happen.
Land tours we've either gotten the entire schedule the first day or possibly the first half with the rest coming later. It's printed out. I use my smartphone to take a picture so I always have it available. On river cruises the detailed schedule is only available 1-2 days in advance and for the last 2 cruises it's been online using a QR code and app. Make sure you have some way to access QR codes on your phone. There may be some printed copies on the CDs desk.
I echo Claudia, my last river cruise in April was the first time I've used the QR code and app. Usually on river cruises there's only one tour a day with maybe a couple of days having 2.
First time river cruisers be advised. The ship sometimes moves to a new location while you are on tour. If you go into town on your own expecting to return to the ship, you might find it gone. You do need to pay attention to the itinerary.