Many river cruises, especially the longer ones, start and end with hotel stays in major cities. We might not see more of the interior of a country, but our river cruises have always been culturally enriching, both on and off the ship.
There is nothing more relaxing in my opinion than watching the shoreline of a country go by while sipping a glass of wine on the top deck or in the privacy of our room.
How we travel is a personal choice. The only “right” way is what works best for the individual.
There are smaller ocean cruising ships, but they have perhaps 750 guests, not 100 as you might have on a river cruise.
I've done a number of ocean cruises on small ships and enjoyed them. They are very stable - don't rock and roll unless you get some very rough seas - as you might encounter in the Drake Passage.
My personal choice is not a ship with 750 people either. The Tauck small ships are the perfect size for me. But I’ve experienced rough seas on them a couple of times. My personal choice is to be on the land and land tours while I have the energy to take them,
I’ve taken a number of specialist river cruises lately with lots of friends and opera entertainment each night and I love that, the tours and food have been exceptional at a much better price point for us, two more booked. Not in the summer.
I'm trying to track the Ms. Joy on the Danube as much as possible. It appears to be approaching Bratislava after departing Munich several days ago. Unfortunately, I cannot tell if there were river problems en route but it should be possible to tell if it stops in Bratislava for busing to Budapest, which seems likely.
In terms of Land vs River Cruise, I am in the fortunate situation where I will do both and appreciate the difference. This is not a pick one and you can never do the other situation.
Thank you to KateMossNJ for updating us on the Aug 10th departure and Tauck providing the option to guests to cancel if the modifications are not to your liking. I will keep looking for updates on Aug 17th departure and track this until my mid-September departure approaches.
We've taken about as many river cruises with Tauck as land tours in Europe. Rivers and ports were for centuries the transportation hubs and therefore there are plenty of interesting cities and sights to see. Where I think land tours have the edge is the ability at the end of the days planned excursions to go see other sights in the town your hotel is located. With cruises that time is often when the ship is getting underway for the next port. For people who want to be sightseeing from sun up to sundown that can be an issue. To each his own. I think we're pretty much done with land tours. The hotel moves, the random assignment of rooms, and the meals that have become a much smaller subset of a restaurant's menu than before. On a cruise I can pick the cabin type I want spending how much makes sense for us and I've always been happy with the meal variety offered. Not sure how many more years of international travel we have in us but I want to enjoy what we do choose.
I tend to alternate - I do a land tour and then a cruise - not a huge fan of river cruises but I love the ocean cruises...I find pluses and minuses for each - I love unpacking once and having my room go with me on a cruise and sometimes find the packing up every other night and having my suitcase ready for a transfer to a new hotel kind of annoying, but I also love seeing places more in-depth on a land tour -- I find it is a happy medium for me alternating. If you do a cruise in one country like Greece or Norway and every city or town you stop in is in the same country you actually do get to see quite a bit of the country and get a real feel for the country.
I see August 10th at Westbound (Budapest to Prague) on the Blue Danube cruise, and August 17th as the next Eastbound (Prague to Budapest). So I hope this thread can track what is going to happen on the Aug 17th Cruise.
Earlier in this thread KateMossNJ reported: " My understanding is that the August 10 departure (Blue Danube) is running, but with modifications and the Aug 10 cruise participants have been given the option of cancelling."
We have only done one River Cruise with Tauck - it was nice, to Normandy but we much prefer land trips! Reading all the mess this year with river cruises, glad we go land based. We are headed to Singapore in 2 days! We also don't do cruises but do go with another company on small ship eapeditions - largest ship only holds 140 people and most are smaller and they are large enough ships so you don't feel crowded! Good luck to all on River Cruises this year!
Aug 17 Blue Danube Prague to Budapest running per notification on 8/11/2026. 3 days on MS Joy (room for room swap from MS SAVOR), other nights in good hotels. Obviously much more motorcoach time. Some modifications to itinerary but all in all still seems like a great trip.
The tracking sites show Tauck’s Joy, Savor, and Esprit all docked in Vienna/Bratislava for days now. AFAIK, there were Danube trips scheduled for Aug. 3 and Aug. 10, but I’m unsure of the assigned ships. I’d love to hear from anyone booked on those cruises.
I'm scheduled for a trip on the MS Esprit and I've been tracking it, also. It's been reporting that it's docked in Vienna for quite some time now. Our trip starts in Amsterdam so I doubt if that river cruise is going to go.
[Update 8/13/2026 - Our trip was cancelled by Tauck.]
Just got off with Tauck, we have cancelled our reservation (full refund) for the Danube on the 28th, and have reserved a new cruise May 2028 on the Esprit. Hoping for more water then.
I’m wondering if more and more people cancel, those tours that were going to go ahead might be canceled because there are not enough passengers to make it financially worth it. I wonder if the crew gets paid?
I love both land tours and river cruises, since 2010 I've gone on a river cruise in the Spring and a land cruise mid-summer. Places like India, Japan, China, Singapore, Italy, Spain etc., the best way to visit is with a land tour.
Having the opportunity to go early, stay late or both covers pretty much what I want to see.
We are scheduled on the Blue Danube cruise Budapest to Prague, departing 8/28. We received a letter today (8/11) with the new proposed itinerary, and a request that we fish or cut bait by August 14. We can cancel but will lose the Cruise Protection Plan payments. Tauck is not willing to apply those payments as a credit towards another trip. Under the new itinerary we would be on the Joy and the Savor for several nights but the ships will remain in port; they will not sail, per the Tauck rep we spoke to.
KateMossNJ, at least you would be staying on the river boats, not changing hotels. If enough cancel you might have a small group. Prices will only go up next year. I think I would go.
KateMossNJ, so you will be on two different boats during the same tour and doing local excursions from each? Did they say which port each ship is docked?
On the new itinerary for the 8/28 Blue Danube departure from Budapest, we will be staying at hotels in Budapest and Vienna, not on ships. The Savor will be docked at Bratislava. The embarkation location for the Joy is not yet determined. The Budapest Hotel is the Al Habtoor Palace and the Vienna hotel is the Anantara Palais Hansen. So: the itinerary is hotel in Budapest (2 nights), Savor (2 nights), hotel Vienna (2 nights), Joy (3 nights I think), Prague in scheduled hotel. The written materials that Tauck provided did not speak to whether the Savor or the Joy would cruise, but the Tauck rep we spoke to said the ships would stay in port.
KateMossNJ: That’s a pretty radical departure from the original itiinerary.. It seems disappointing that Tauck would not credit you with the Cruise Protection plan for another trip even if they did not actually cancel. Thanks much for the description.z
I give credit to Tauck for trying to make lemonade when the weather gave them lemons. It must not be easy for them, or the guests, to balance cancelling vs modifying a tour and when to decide on either.
Rawley (or anyone else with info) - May I ask, how far in advance did you call Tauck to cancel your reservation (full refund) for the Danube on the 28th? We're supposed to go 9/8 - Budapest to Prague - and I'm wondering if I can proactively call them this far in advance and request a refund. I thought I might need to wait until they send us a notification of cancelation/itinerary changes first?? No interest in taking a cruise that doesn't cruise!!
If you cancel, you may lose your insurance premium and possibly more. If they cancel, they will probably let you put it towards another tour or give you a voucher.
@SusanMcGarvey - I would recommend you wait until Tauck cancels the tour.
If you have Tauck's "Cancel for any reason" insurance you can cancel the 9/8 river cruise but you'll only get 50% of your money back, and you will not get any of your insurance payment back. For the Tauck insurance, cancellations within 59 days or less of sailing, 50% is what you get.
While waiting is difficult, the best approach is to let Tauck cancel. If you get within a week, and Tauck hasn't cancelled, and you really don't want to go, then go ahead and cancel, taking the 50% hit.
What Tauck might do instead of a full cancellation is offer you a revised itinerary plus a partial refund. Or offer you the option to fully cancel and get your money back. No guarantee that they will do that, however.
Comments
Same here......................been there, done that!
Many river cruises, especially the longer ones, start and end with hotel stays in major cities. We might not see more of the interior of a country, but our river cruises have always been culturally enriching, both on and off the ship.
There is nothing more relaxing in my opinion than watching the shoreline of a country go by while sipping a glass of wine on the top deck or in the privacy of our room.
How we travel is a personal choice. The only “right” way is what works best for the individual.
There are smaller ocean cruising ships, but they have perhaps 750 guests, not 100 as you might have on a river cruise.
I've done a number of ocean cruises on small ships and enjoyed them. They are very stable - don't rock and roll unless you get some very rough seas - as you might encounter in the Drake Passage.
My personal choice is not a ship with 750 people either. The Tauck small ships are the perfect size for me. But I’ve experienced rough seas on them a couple of times. My personal choice is to be on the land and land tours while I have the energy to take them,
I’ve taken a number of specialist river cruises lately with lots of friends and opera entertainment each night and I love that, the tours and food have been exceptional at a much better price point for us, two more booked. Not in the summer.
I'm trying to track the Ms. Joy on the Danube as much as possible. It appears to be approaching Bratislava after departing Munich several days ago. Unfortunately, I cannot tell if there were river problems en route but it should be possible to tell if it stops in Bratislava for busing to Budapest, which seems likely.
In terms of Land vs River Cruise, I am in the fortunate situation where I will do both and appreciate the difference. This is not a pick one and you can never do the other situation.
Thank you to KateMossNJ for updating us on the Aug 10th departure and Tauck providing the option to guests to cancel if the modifications are not to your liking. I will keep looking for updates on Aug 17th departure and track this until my mid-September departure approaches.
We've taken about as many river cruises with Tauck as land tours in Europe. Rivers and ports were for centuries the transportation hubs and therefore there are plenty of interesting cities and sights to see. Where I think land tours have the edge is the ability at the end of the days planned excursions to go see other sights in the town your hotel is located. With cruises that time is often when the ship is getting underway for the next port. For people who want to be sightseeing from sun up to sundown that can be an issue. To each his own. I think we're pretty much done with land tours. The hotel moves, the random assignment of rooms, and the meals that have become a much smaller subset of a restaurant's menu than before. On a cruise I can pick the cabin type I want spending how much makes sense for us and I've always been happy with the meal variety offered. Not sure how many more years of international travel we have in us but I want to enjoy what we do choose.
I tend to alternate - I do a land tour and then a cruise - not a huge fan of river cruises but I love the ocean cruises...I find pluses and minuses for each - I love unpacking once and having my room go with me on a cruise and sometimes find the packing up every other night and having my suitcase ready for a transfer to a new hotel kind of annoying, but I also love seeing places more in-depth on a land tour -- I find it is a happy medium for me alternating. If you do a cruise in one country like Greece or Norway and every city or town you stop in is in the same country you actually do get to see quite a bit of the country and get a real feel for the country.
Has anyone heard what, if any modfications have been made on the Prague to Budapest danube river cruise taking place THIS WEEK?
I see August 10th at Westbound (Budapest to Prague) on the Blue Danube cruise, and August 17th as the next Eastbound (Prague to Budapest). So I hope this thread can track what is going to happen on the Aug 17th Cruise.
Earlier in this thread KateMossNJ reported: " My understanding is that the August 10 departure (Blue Danube) is running, but with modifications and the Aug 10 cruise participants have been given the option of cancelling."
Aug 28: westbound
Sept 4: eastbound
Sept 8: westbound
Sept 15: eastbound & westbound
We have only done one River Cruise with Tauck - it was nice, to Normandy but we much prefer land trips! Reading all the mess this year with river cruises, glad we go land based. We are headed to Singapore in 2 days! We also don't do cruises but do go with another company on small ship eapeditions - largest ship only holds 140 people and most are smaller and they are large enough ships so you don't feel crowded! Good luck to all on River Cruises this year!
Aug 17 Blue Danube Prague to Budapest running per notification on 8/11/2026. 3 days on MS Joy (room for room swap from MS SAVOR), other nights in good hotels. Obviously much more motorcoach time. Some modifications to itinerary but all in all still seems like a great trip.
The tracking sites show Tauck’s Joy, Savor, and Esprit all docked in Vienna/Bratislava for days now. AFAIK, there were Danube trips scheduled for Aug. 3 and Aug. 10, but I’m unsure of the assigned ships. I’d love to hear from anyone booked on those cruises.
I'm scheduled for a trip on the MS Esprit and I've been tracking it, also. It's been reporting that it's docked in Vienna for quite some time now. Our trip starts in Amsterdam so I doubt if that river cruise is going to go.
[Update 8/13/2026 - Our trip was cancelled by Tauck.]
The east bound Romantic Capitals tour on Aug. 21 —Paris to Prague—was canceled according to a person in a different thread.
Just got off with Tauck, we have cancelled our reservation (full refund) for the Danube on the 28th, and have reserved a new cruise May 2028 on the Esprit. Hoping for more water then.
I’m wondering if more and more people cancel, those tours that were going to go ahead might be canceled because there are not enough passengers to make it financially worth it. I wonder if the crew gets paid?
I asked how many are cancelling. He felt it was about 50-50
I love both land tours and river cruises, since 2010 I've gone on a river cruise in the Spring and a land cruise mid-summer. Places like India, Japan, China, Singapore, Italy, Spain etc., the best way to visit is with a land tour.
Having the opportunity to go early, stay late or both covers pretty much what I want to see.
We are scheduled on the Blue Danube cruise Budapest to Prague, departing 8/28. We received a letter today (8/11) with the new proposed itinerary, and a request that we fish or cut bait by August 14. We can cancel but will lose the Cruise Protection Plan payments. Tauck is not willing to apply those payments as a credit towards another trip. Under the new itinerary we would be on the Joy and the Savor for several nights but the ships will remain in port; they will not sail, per the Tauck rep we spoke to.
They are not canceling, so that’s a loophole for not returning the insurance payment.
KateMossNJ, at least you would be staying on the river boats, not changing hotels. If enough cancel you might have a small group. Prices will only go up next year. I think I would go.
KateMossNJ, so you will be on two different boats during the same tour and doing local excursions from each? Did they say which port each ship is docked?
On the new itinerary for the 8/28 Blue Danube departure from Budapest, we will be staying at hotels in Budapest and Vienna, not on ships. The Savor will be docked at Bratislava. The embarkation location for the Joy is not yet determined. The Budapest Hotel is the Al Habtoor Palace and the Vienna hotel is the Anantara Palais Hansen. So: the itinerary is hotel in Budapest (2 nights), Savor (2 nights), hotel Vienna (2 nights), Joy (3 nights I think), Prague in scheduled hotel. The written materials that Tauck provided did not speak to whether the Savor or the Joy would cruise, but the Tauck rep we spoke to said the ships would stay in port.
So it’s like a land tour, you might see more than you would have done on a river cruise.
KateMossNJ: That’s a pretty radical departure from the original itiinerary.. It seems disappointing that Tauck would not credit you with the Cruise Protection plan for another trip even if they did not actually cancel. Thanks much for the description.z
I give credit to Tauck for trying to make lemonade when the weather gave them lemons. It must not be easy for them, or the guests, to balance cancelling vs modifying a tour and when to decide on either.
Rawley (or anyone else with info) - May I ask, how far in advance did you call Tauck to cancel your reservation (full refund) for the Danube on the 28th? We're supposed to go 9/8 - Budapest to Prague - and I'm wondering if I can proactively call them this far in advance and request a refund. I thought I might need to wait until they send us a notification of cancelation/itinerary changes first?? No interest in taking a cruise that doesn't cruise!!
If you cancel, you may lose your insurance premium and possibly more. If they cancel, they will probably let you put it towards another tour or give you a voucher.
@SusanMcGarvey - I would recommend you wait until Tauck cancels the tour.
If you have Tauck's "Cancel for any reason" insurance you can cancel the 9/8 river cruise but you'll only get 50% of your money back, and you will not get any of your insurance payment back. For the Tauck insurance, cancellations within 59 days or less of sailing, 50% is what you get.
While waiting is difficult, the best approach is to let Tauck cancel. If you get within a week, and Tauck hasn't cancelled, and you really don't want to go, then go ahead and cancel, taking the 50% hit.
What Tauck might do instead of a full cancellation is offer you a revised itinerary plus a partial refund. Or offer you the option to fully cancel and get your money back. No guarantee that they will do that, however.
Sit tight and wait until you hear from Tauck.