September 20 Budapest to Amsterdam
The uncertainty of whether this cruise will cancel is disturbing, at least. I read that the September 6 cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, which would be the ship we would board in Budapest cancelled yesterday. How unfair to wait until 3 days before the cruise to cancel it. How are you expected to make alternate plans when you have your over the water flights booked for a year and learn only 3 days before the scheduled departure that the cruise isn't going. Most people, I am sure, booked their departure to make the cruise several days early, so the 3 day noice may effectively be one day!. I have booked independent travel to Morrocco, but it is all on hold until I learn that I can get my money back. From all I read, there is NO WAY this cruise will go as planned, so I don't know why they can't at least offer the option to cancel now. Whatever good will they hope to get by offering a refund is tarnished by not providing a timely notice. Just my opinion.,
Comments
Sandman, what a difficult and annoying situation you and many many others find themselves in. I know you are a regular customer. Tauck could indeed at least put a temporary banner headline on their website with latest general information.
I am feeling that more people will cancel purely because of not getting timely details and a percentage of these people would still go even if it means staying in hotels some nights. People like me that still prefer land tours over river cruises, especially if all the places the river cruise was to visit are still on the itinerary. I think that is why Tauck is holding out, not because of thinking about their profits because thay surely won’t be making any on the cruises that go ahead with so few people still deciding to take them.
From what I am reading, it seems they are having to cancel some tours now because there are too few people willing to take them, not that the tour could be taken with a few changes. Those on land tours must be having a great time with far less crowds at all those river cruise destinations.
I am taking a river cruise in France at the end of October, it’s fire damaged that might disrupt that trip. I’m going to London first, so that would make changes complicated.
We have had to cancel a couple of tours recently because of civil unrest, like the current war. We canceled a tour of Nepal earlier in the year because of that, as our flight via Doha was canceled. Otherwise, we had a trip to Nepal scheduled for next month. The company canceled it several months ago because people like us pulled out.
You really have to dig deep into the Tauck website to find their travel updates page. However this is the latest input there. Note the date. The only info was about Middle East tours, No river cruise issues.
MAY 7, 2026
Travel Updates
Travel Updates will keep you informed on the operating status of tours or cruises by destination, and provide up-to-date information on our travel policies.
It has not been easy to plan a tour with all the uncertainty in the world caused by war, climate and civil unrest. Glad we were able to travel during what looking back, were "good times"
We do truly hope that the 9/20 Budapest to Amsterdam trip can happen, even with some certain modifications, but are also facing the same deadlines and stress over our pre-trip plans to Budapest and post trip travel from Amsterdam to Iceland. The cancelation of the preceding eastbound 9/06 Amsterdam to Budapest trip seems to have put the writing on the wall…but we all pray for some timely updates from Tauck.
I do feel like they could do better on the Travel Update page. Particularly in a season fraught with low water and cancellations like this year's river cruise season. Even a generic notice would be better than nothing….
I hope, like RandallJay1960, that the trip will go, but it gets more and more unlikely with each passing day. The problem in not knowing is that alternative travel plans that we want to finalize are still undone and the costs of last minute travel is outrageous. I would like to know now if they will offer a full refund so I can cancel and finalize the air and hotels i reserved if we have to miss this cruise.
Where is the travel update page?
at the far right bottom of the Tauck home page. There’s no information posted, however.