Terrilynn, thank you for your insightful review. I'm making notes to share with the friends I'm going with in 2023. I've been on four Christmas market cruises, two Rhine, one Danube, and with the exception of the Yuletide (Amsterdam to Brussels) cruise I took last month, have enjoyed them all. I agree re skipping the palace/restaurant lunches, I get very antsy and want to explore the markets instead. Next year, I'll take your suggestion and will opt to enjoy a treat at the markets instead. My friends and I took your suggestion and have booked the Hotel Victoria in Nuremberg also. One of my friends and I have been to Europe many times, but it will only be the second time for our other friend, and we really want her to have a wonderful time. I was VERY disappointed in the Yuletide cruise. I knew the Netherlands didn't have markets per se but hoped that the Belgian markets would be fun -- they were not. (There was a market at The Hague but their biggest booth featured Chinese made items that I could find at home.) I would say about 95% of the booths were food related. If there were any "crafts" booths, they were underwhelming. I have not done any market cruises with companies other than Tauck, and I wish they offered extensions to Prague or Budapest. The AMAWaterways market itineraries are very appealing. Thank you again.
ASHeltsley - I have done two Christmas market trips with Tauck and this year took one with another company. (only because I couldn't get a spot on Tauck. My opinion is the other companies don't have the special touches that Tauck offers. Also, transfers are limited to certain times of day and ONLY on the day of departure. Also, some of the excursions charged additional fees and some had limits on the number of people that could join the tour, about 14-28. Tauck has never limited excursions to the people that book first.
Other than the food maybe being a little better on this year's market cruise, I'm sticking with Tauck.
@terrilynn, what was the dress onboard the ship at dinnertime. We've been on two other Tauck river cruises and they suggest a sports coat for men and a dress for women. Yet, I saw more people than not that dressed fairly casual. Was that the case on the Danube Christmas Market River Cruise?
it was super casual. One of many reasons we love the Xmas Market Cruises. Most wore what they wore around town all day. Lots of jeans and comfy clothes. Even though a sport coat was recommended for Captain's night, only about 50% of men had them on - most had on Khakis and a nice sweater or button up shirt. We saw a very few dresses on Captains night, most women wore pants and a blouse - lots of Christmas-y shirts too.
We returned from this trip last week. We did Dec 7 - 14 Vienna to Nuremberg. Instead of posting a FULL review, I thought I'd just add to this one as there are not too many changes since I wrote the 2022 review.
We did go with a group of 10 this time - most of their 1st time to the Xmas Markets & 1st time with Tauck. We flew into Vienna 3 nights early as we love the city & it has so many markets and things to see & do. We stayed at Hotel Das Tyrol which is now one of our favorite hotels in all of Europe. We did move to the hotel Tauck uses on our last night to take advantage of our GoT (Hotel Imperial - we have stayed here before), but I must say that all 10 of us liked Hotel Das Tyrol better for ambiance, service, food, etc. It is a small boutique hotel and we will return there. If you go to Vienna early, def see St. Stephan's cathedral and the market there. We all agreed that our fav market in Vienna was the AmHof market (a 3 minute walk from St. Stephan's market). Tauck does still take you to the CityHall market/Rathaus on the 1st night after dinner - but not for much time, so if you have time, I recommend seeing it on your own also. The Karlsplatz market close to Hotel Imperial is still VERY good.
I still agree w/what I said about the Tauck lunch at the Palace in Vienna in 2022- the food is just not good to us. We stayed for soup and the show (which was a Ukrainian choir - the BEST thing we saw in our 2 wks there). We left after the show and went and had soup in a bread bowl at the St. Stephan's market). This was what one of the TG suggested we do (we told her about our past experience at this particular lunch -- she was a TG we had had on our Ultimate Alps & Dolomites Tour in 2022). Most who stayed for the lunch at the palace said the food was only ok and not worth missing 2 hrs of time in Vienna.
No changes in Melk since I posted in 2022.
Salzburg's lunch has moved up to the fortress area - so we did take the Funicular up to see the views which are magnificent, but we did NOT stay for the 2 hr lunch. We went back down and had lunch at our fav sausage stand in Salzburg and had time for 3 of the Salzburg Xmas Markets. The lunch at the fortress had mixed reviews from people (it was a set menu incl duck). We love Salzburg and would never miss the town over a 2 hr lunch.
Passau was great as always - the only change is Tauck no longer gives a voucher for the 1/2 meter sausage sandwich - it is now a voucher for a free Gluwein & mug (same thing at the Schonnbrun Palace in Vienna). They do still do the amazing gingerbread demo.
Regensburg change was that we had more time to see and explore the town and main market around the cathedral. They do still take you to the amazing Thurn & Taxis Private Market, but they no longer take you into the palace (which is fine with us as we personally didn't care for it). We had 1.5 hrs for the Thurn & Taxis Market.
Nuremberg - no changes - still not enough time there, so def extend if you can. We added 2 nights at Hotel Victoria. Then took the train to Munich for 2 nights at Hotel Schlicker (went to Dachau again and did a Third Reich tour with Tours By Locals).
As far as the cruise - it was very good. The dress is more & more casual each time we repeat this trip. Lots of Jeans in the dining room. Only 5-8 sports coats on Captains/Chefs Dinner night. These Xmas Market Cruises are truly about warmth & practicality which is one reason we love them. I will say that the food was not as good as usual and our 10 friends who went with us agreed and they were all surprised it wasn't better since Tauck is a luxury line. Arthur's was great, The Compass Rose was only OK. The service was very good as usual.
We also did this itinerary, but from Nuremberg to Vienna Dec 14-21. We had a group of 6 including 2 teens. We really enjoyed this trip as we have done the exact itinerary before with Tauck in 2019. We even saw some familiar faces as two tour directors, Charlie and Anna we had met before.
We decided to do all the Tauck options, except Melk, and were glad that we did. We had a change in a Nuremberg excursion related to the WW2 option. We were able to visit the Nuremberg Palace of Justice where the trials took place. It was very interesting and a great change to that tour option.
It was interesting to hear that Terrilynn wasn't offered the tour of the Thurn and Taxis castle, but we were offered that on our tour. We found it a little long, but very interesting. And we still had plenty of time to see the markets and catch the 2nd transport back to the ship.
In Passau, we really enjoyed the change to the gingerbread demo, being in the theater instead of the outdoor tent. We were all able to see and hear Walter Simon and he even came in to the audience to talk and to take pictures. My daughter that was with us is a baker and she and Mr. Simon shared notes.
We really enjoyed the lunch at the fortress lunch in Salzburg. The food was just ok, but it was a great time to enjoy the views and some relaxing time with family. I'd say we were done in about an hour and still had time to visit 3 markets and some regular shops along the streets.
We stayed for the lunch in the Vienna Palace. The musical performance was very good and enjoyed by all. The lunch buffet moved slowly, so we just grabbed a light snack. The service was good and I noticed our server was the same man we had back in 2019. I'm sure he didn't remember us, until we showed him a picture from our last trip.
As far as the cruise for us, it was outstanding. We sailed on the Savor. The service was great overall as well as the food. Maybe even better than the last time. The bar staff even went out in town at one of our stops and purchased a drink request that my husband had. I think our only complaint was the condition of the ship. It was showing wear and in need of an update.
Mimitravels - Were you able to enjoy some regional specialties while on the ship or in the markets? Also, what kind of activities/entertainment was there on board? I have only been on the Yuletide Spirit cruise (fabulous) and am trying to get an understanding of what similarities there are. Thanks.
kfnknfzk - there were def regional specialties offered each night in the Compass Rose Dining Room - dishes from the town we visited that day (Incl soup (lots of pumpkin options), salad, entree, & dessert that were regional from that area). As far as activities - there was a Stollen bread demo, a gingerbread demo, a Gluwein demo, we made gingerbread houses one day, they had 2 evening concerts onboard - a musical duo w/piano & violin one night and a men's Acapella quartet another night. There was an incredible children's choir from the Ukraine at our Vienna Palace lunch.
kfnknfzk - We also did the Yuletide Spirit cruise and loved it. There are a lot of similarities. Yes, we did try all the local specialties such as the three finger sausages in Nuremberg, the Gluten and gingerbread. Each city had some special tastes of their own such as their sausages. The Raclette and Flammkuchen was also a nice treat offered in many of the towns as well as the Flammkuchen being offered in Arthurs. As Terrilynn mentioned, we have the same entertainment as well as a wreath making and demo. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Comments
Terrilynn, thank you for your insightful review. I'm making notes to share with the friends I'm going with in 2023. I've been on four Christmas market cruises, two Rhine, one Danube, and with the exception of the Yuletide (Amsterdam to Brussels) cruise I took last month, have enjoyed them all. I agree re skipping the palace/restaurant lunches, I get very antsy and want to explore the markets instead. Next year, I'll take your suggestion and will opt to enjoy a treat at the markets instead. My friends and I took your suggestion and have booked the Hotel Victoria in Nuremberg also. One of my friends and I have been to Europe many times, but it will only be the second time for our other friend, and we really want her to have a wonderful time. I was VERY disappointed in the Yuletide cruise. I knew the Netherlands didn't have markets per se but hoped that the Belgian markets would be fun -- they were not. (There was a market at The Hague but their biggest booth featured Chinese made items that I could find at home.) I would say about 95% of the booths were food related. If there were any "crafts" booths, they were underwhelming. I have not done any market cruises with companies other than Tauck, and I wish they offered extensions to Prague or Budapest. The AMAWaterways market itineraries are very appealing. Thank you again.
Asheltsey, can’t you create your own extension after your cruise?
ASHeltsley - I have done two Christmas market trips with Tauck and this year took one with another company. (only because I couldn't get a spot on Tauck. My opinion is the other companies don't have the special touches that Tauck offers. Also, transfers are limited to certain times of day and ONLY on the day of departure. Also, some of the excursions charged additional fees and some had limits on the number of people that could join the tour, about 14-28. Tauck has never limited excursions to the people that book first.
Other than the food maybe being a little better on this year's market cruise, I'm sticking with Tauck.
@terrilynn, what was the dress onboard the ship at dinnertime. We've been on two other Tauck river cruises and they suggest a sports coat for men and a dress for women. Yet, I saw more people than not that dressed fairly casual. Was that the case on the Danube Christmas Market River Cruise?
it was super casual. One of many reasons we love the Xmas Market Cruises. Most wore what they wore around town all day. Lots of jeans and comfy clothes. Even though a sport coat was recommended for Captain's night, only about 50% of men had them on - most had on Khakis and a nice sweater or button up shirt. We saw a very few dresses on Captains night, most women wore pants and a blouse - lots of Christmas-y shirts too.
We returned from this trip last week. We did Dec 7 - 14 Vienna to Nuremberg. Instead of posting a FULL review, I thought I'd just add to this one as there are not too many changes since I wrote the 2022 review.
We did go with a group of 10 this time - most of their 1st time to the Xmas Markets & 1st time with Tauck. We flew into Vienna 3 nights early as we love the city & it has so many markets and things to see & do. We stayed at Hotel Das Tyrol which is now one of our favorite hotels in all of Europe. We did move to the hotel Tauck uses on our last night to take advantage of our GoT (Hotel Imperial - we have stayed here before), but I must say that all 10 of us liked Hotel Das Tyrol better for ambiance, service, food, etc. It is a small boutique hotel and we will return there. If you go to Vienna early, def see St. Stephan's cathedral and the market there. We all agreed that our fav market in Vienna was the AmHof market (a 3 minute walk from St. Stephan's market). Tauck does still take you to the CityHall market/Rathaus on the 1st night after dinner - but not for much time, so if you have time, I recommend seeing it on your own also. The Karlsplatz market close to Hotel Imperial is still VERY good.
I still agree w/what I said about the Tauck lunch at the Palace in Vienna in 2022- the food is just not good to us. We stayed for soup and the show (which was a Ukrainian choir - the BEST thing we saw in our 2 wks there). We left after the show and went and had soup in a bread bowl at the St. Stephan's market). This was what one of the TG suggested we do (we told her about our past experience at this particular lunch -- she was a TG we had had on our Ultimate Alps & Dolomites Tour in 2022). Most who stayed for the lunch at the palace said the food was only ok and not worth missing 2 hrs of time in Vienna.
No changes in Melk since I posted in 2022.
Salzburg's lunch has moved up to the fortress area - so we did take the Funicular up to see the views which are magnificent, but we did NOT stay for the 2 hr lunch. We went back down and had lunch at our fav sausage stand in Salzburg and had time for 3 of the Salzburg Xmas Markets. The lunch at the fortress had mixed reviews from people (it was a set menu incl duck). We love Salzburg and would never miss the town over a 2 hr lunch.
Passau was great as always - the only change is Tauck no longer gives a voucher for the 1/2 meter sausage sandwich - it is now a voucher for a free Gluwein & mug (same thing at the Schonnbrun Palace in Vienna). They do still do the amazing gingerbread demo.
Regensburg change was that we had more time to see and explore the town and main market around the cathedral. They do still take you to the amazing Thurn & Taxis Private Market, but they no longer take you into the palace (which is fine with us as we personally didn't care for it). We had 1.5 hrs for the Thurn & Taxis Market.
Nuremberg - no changes - still not enough time there, so def extend if you can. We added 2 nights at Hotel Victoria. Then took the train to Munich for 2 nights at Hotel Schlicker (went to Dachau again and did a Third Reich tour with Tours By Locals).
As far as the cruise - it was very good. The dress is more & more casual each time we repeat this trip. Lots of Jeans in the dining room. Only 5-8 sports coats on Captains/Chefs Dinner night. These Xmas Market Cruises are truly about warmth & practicality which is one reason we love them. I will say that the food was not as good as usual and our 10 friends who went with us agreed and they were all surprised it wasn't better since Tauck is a luxury line. Arthur's was great, The Compass Rose was only OK. The service was very good as usual.
We also did this itinerary, but from Nuremberg to Vienna Dec 14-21. We had a group of 6 including 2 teens. We really enjoyed this trip as we have done the exact itinerary before with Tauck in 2019. We even saw some familiar faces as two tour directors, Charlie and Anna we had met before.
We decided to do all the Tauck options, except Melk, and were glad that we did. We had a change in a Nuremberg excursion related to the WW2 option. We were able to visit the Nuremberg Palace of Justice where the trials took place. It was very interesting and a great change to that tour option.
It was interesting to hear that Terrilynn wasn't offered the tour of the Thurn and Taxis castle, but we were offered that on our tour. We found it a little long, but very interesting. And we still had plenty of time to see the markets and catch the 2nd transport back to the ship.
In Passau, we really enjoyed the change to the gingerbread demo, being in the theater instead of the outdoor tent. We were all able to see and hear Walter Simon and he even came in to the audience to talk and to take pictures. My daughter that was with us is a baker and she and Mr. Simon shared notes.
We really enjoyed the lunch at the fortress lunch in Salzburg. The food was just ok, but it was a great time to enjoy the views and some relaxing time with family. I'd say we were done in about an hour and still had time to visit 3 markets and some regular shops along the streets.
We stayed for the lunch in the Vienna Palace. The musical performance was very good and enjoyed by all. The lunch buffet moved slowly, so we just grabbed a light snack. The service was good and I noticed our server was the same man we had back in 2019. I'm sure he didn't remember us, until we showed him a picture from our last trip.
As far as the cruise for us, it was outstanding. We sailed on the Savor. The service was great overall as well as the food. Maybe even better than the last time. The bar staff even went out in town at one of our stops and purchased a drink request that my husband had. I think our only complaint was the condition of the ship. It was showing wear and in need of an update.
Mimitravels - Were you able to enjoy some regional specialties while on the ship or in the markets? Also, what kind of activities/entertainment was there on board? I have only been on the Yuletide Spirit cruise (fabulous) and am trying to get an understanding of what similarities there are. Thanks.
kfnknfzk - there were def regional specialties offered each night in the Compass Rose Dining Room - dishes from the town we visited that day (Incl soup (lots of pumpkin options), salad, entree, & dessert that were regional from that area). As far as activities - there was a Stollen bread demo, a gingerbread demo, a Gluwein demo, we made gingerbread houses one day, they had 2 evening concerts onboard - a musical duo w/piano & violin one night and a men's Acapella quartet another night. There was an incredible children's choir from the Ukraine at our Vienna Palace lunch.
kfnknfzk - We also did the Yuletide Spirit cruise and loved it. There are a lot of similarities. Yes, we did try all the local specialties such as the three finger sausages in Nuremberg, the Gluten and gingerbread. Each city had some special tastes of their own such as their sausages. The Raclette and Flammkuchen was also a nice treat offered in many of the towns as well as the Flammkuchen being offered in Arthurs. As Terrilynn mentioned, we have the same entertainment as well as a wreath making and demo. Let me know if you have any other questions.