Our Last Tauck Trip....
This year Tauck celebrated its 100th anniversary. If they don’t get their act together and offer their customers better value for the money, this anniversary may well be their last! Below we have cited some of the highlights (indeed, the lowlights) of our recent trip with Tauck to the shores of Eastern Canada in September, 2025.
The two Tauck tour directors, Danielle and Tristan, while friendly and cheerful, were casual and uncertain in their leadership roles.
They didn’t understand the needs and wants of those of us on the tour, nor did they try to.
It was clear to us that they would certainly benefit from working with more experienced leaders.
The tour program was weak with only one speaker during the eleven day trip who provided valuable and meaningful information.
For example, one of the excursions we took to a blueberry farm on the Saguenay Fijord was led by a person whose sole objective was selling blueberry preserves and other products the farm produced.
The most egregious example of the carelessness and poor planning that went into this tour was the disembarkation. All the information claimed we were disembarking at Bayonne, NJ. We had a driver scheduled to pick us up who had to drive for 2 1/2 hours to get to Bayonne. As we disembarked, and he was arriving in Bayonne, we realized we weren’t in Bayonne but at Pier 90 in New York City!
We called the driver, and he agreed to extend his trip to pick us up, which he did, and he reluctantly said he would have to charge us an additional $200 for this trip. We paid this knowing not only was our day confused and misdirected, but his workday was also misdirected and extended. Tauck insisted that we present a receipt for the charge before they would reimburse us. Wow!
Unfortunately, there were numerous other examples of poor planning and execution on this trip.
This mismanaged tour and poor guest experience continued in the post-tour environment. We wrote a letter to Tauck explaining how poorly managed the tour was, and as former loyal customers, we had no intention of repeating this experience with Tauck. Therefore, we wouldn’t use them again.
Two weeks after sending the letter to Tauck, we received a call from Kate, a guest services manager, to review our letter and concerns. She played the Tauck “customer playbook” claiming that no one else had made these comments, implying we were wrong, and we rebuffed her by saying these are our concerns, and we are not speaking for others. She then reverted to the other line in the “playbook,” expressing that Tauck’s principal point of interest is guest satisfaction. After the second time hearing that, we tuned her out. She simply was not listening.
That telephone exchange was followed by a letter from the CEO of Tauck expressing disappointment that we had an experience that didn’t meet our expectations, but expressing no accountability as well as the conviction that they would see us on future Tauck tours! Clueless - no one at Tauck is listening!
This was our second Tauck tour this year and the fifth trip for my wife, but no more Tauck tours for us!
Dan M and Ellen H
Comments
Unless there are two Tauck TDs named Tristan in Canada, I had Tristan as a TD on a different Tauck Canadian itinerary. He was terrific, took great care of us and was very pro-active.
What a shame. You've been such a good, long time contributor to the forum.
Ellen, I’m not sure which tour you are talking about. The Canadian Maritimes does not ‘disembark’ in either of the places you mention, or is it a cruise? It’s unusual to have two tour directors on a land tour unless one of them is learning about the tour.
What were your wants and needs? Was the tour itinerary not as described? It’s not common to get more than one lecture on a tour, certainly not a short tour like this one. I am sorry you were so disappointed. We took this tour about 20 years ago, it might have changed a bit but we enjoyed it.
BKMD - Counting visits and posts is not relevant or fair. This is a public forum, people have different personalities and interests. Your sarcasm is mean.
I'm sorry that Ellen had such a disappointing experience. It sounds like this was a small ship cruise. My land tour of the Canadian Maritimes was lovely.
At least one thing isn't adding up here. I'm assuming this is the small ship cruise Shores of Eastern Canada and New England
You say "The most egregious example of the carelessness and poor planning that went into this tour was the disembarkation. All the information claimed we were disembarking at Bayonne, NJ. We had a driver scheduled to pick us up who had to drive for 2 1/2 hours to get to Bayonne. As we disembarked, and he was arriving in Bayonne, we realized we weren’t in Bayonne but at Pier 90 in New York City!
We called the driver, and he agreed to extend his trip to pick us up, which he did, and he reluctantly said he would have to charge us an additional $200 for this trip. We paid this knowing not only was our day confused and misdirected, but his workday was also misdirected and extended. Tauck insisted that we present a receipt for the charge before they would reimburse us. Wow!"
But the online itinerary for Day 12 is
"Disembark ship this morning for a city sightseeing tour of New York City, taking in the iconic landmark sights of Lower Manhattan, South Street Seaport, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and St. Patrick's Cathedral on a sightseeing drive through the city. Spend the night at the New York Marriott Marquis. Located on Times Square in the theatre district, your hotel puts you in the heart of the city's vibrant cultural center steps from the great White Way of Broadway. Join us this evening for an exclusive farewell reception and dinner."
Why were you booking a transfer service from NJ?
Sorry you feel that way Bucketlist. Over the years on the forum, I've noticed a pattern of one-time posters make vague claims like this that seem out pf character for what Tauck provides.
BKMD, what a shame indeed. What a shame that someone dare post their travel experience, and you feel the need to attack them rather than reply to their actual comments. Critical posts like yours actually discourage people from posting openly on forums, and encourage them to use the forum without posting contributions.
I had no idea there was a small ship itinerary. If what Claudia says is true, I’m totally confused!
Did Ellen fail to read the full itineraries before taking the tour. I’m still confused. Perhaps it was booked through a travel agent who did not give correct info. It seems many people sign up for tours that they have not fully read about.
Oh my goodness, the pick up would be from the hotel in New York. Weird weird. Did you leave the tour early?
Tauck isn't perfect and yes people can have valid complaints but I agree with BKMD that there are a tiny minority of posters who aren't regular forum participants who come on one time with a major complaint about their tour.
Some I suspect believe the forum is part of customer service and this is a place to lodge a complaint. It's not. It's a place for guests to engage. We can't solve their issue and when it doesn't make sense are likely to start asking some hard questions that usually don't get answered.
Others may realize that it's a community forum but complain away anyway as a form of vengeance just like trashing a restaurant on Yelp. That's just sad and petty.
I understand why someone would post about a negative experience, especially if they felt that their complaints were not addressed by the regular chain of management.
According to the itinerary for the tour Ellen's comments make no sense at all. Verification of disembarkation is always provided, I can't believe you can approach NYC without realizing it.
It's ok if you have a valid complain, but I agree with BKMD to use the forum only to trash an entire tour doesn't seem right, mostly when the comments don't make sense.