Sept. 10, 2016 Budapest to Amsterdam

We can hardly wait! I was wondering if Tauck provides transfers when you arrive a day early and stay in a hotel you book yourself? We would like to stay at the Marriott on the river.

Comments

  • edited September 2015
    They typically do not. Have your travel agent contact the Tauck TA contact or you can call Tauck direct at the 800 number. They have always been quite responsive to any question. We are doing this trip in early June, 2016.
  • Martigoh wrote:
    We can hardly wait! I was wondering if Tauck provides transfers when you arrive a day early and stay in a hotel you book yourself? We would like to stay at the Marriott on the river.

    Yes they will, but contact Tauck by phone and make your request. I also booked my own hotel in Budapest and was transferred to my hotel. Though getting to the ship from your hotel will be on your own dime. Get the hotel front desk to call for a cab, I did that and was taken to the ship at minimal cost.
  • My husband Gary and I will also be on this cruise next year. We will be staying for two nights in Budapest prior to the cruise. Hope to connect with some people on this forum who are also going to be on this trip.
  • Hi G and M Hallenbeck,
    I am sailing with my cousin. My husband did not want to do a river cruise. So I am leaving him behind unfortunately. Are you staying the two nights at the Tauck hotel or staying somewhere else.
    Marti
  • Hi Marti,
    My husband Gary and I (Cindy) will be staying at the Tauck hotel, can't remember the name at the moment, I think the name has changed.

    Cindy
  • Martigoh wrote:
    We can hardly wait! I was wondering if Tauck provides transfers when you arrive a day early and stay in a hotel you book yourself? We would like to stay at the Marriott on the river.

    The Marriott is a nice hotel, but the Four Seasons is better. Tauck's hotel rate includes breakfast, tips and baggage transfer from your room to the ship - so you don't have to move twice. Tauck rooms are deluxe, while the lower prices you see for the Marriott are for standard rooms. While the Marriott is on the river, there is a highway between the hotel and river. The Four Seasons overlooks a park. My guess is that for a few dollars more you and your cousin will get more value by staying at the Tauck hotel. Just my opinion.
  • My husband and I plus four of our friends will be traveling on this cruise. We can't wait to meet all of you in less than six months! Does anyone know how the Excursions work? Are there choices and when are they presented to us to choose? Our group has only been on large ship, ocean cruises so river cruising will be quite a bit different and we can't wait!
  • Regarding Excursions.

    Every evening one of the Tauck directors (3 Tour Directors and 1 Cruise Director on board) will give what's called a Discovery Briefing - sometimes in the Panorama Lounge and sometimes on the bus coming back from an excursion. They'll tell you what the plan is for the next day. You'll also get a very detailed printed daily schedule in your room when the attendant turns down your bed.

    On a typical morning, there will be baskets of colored poker chips in the lounge. The number of chips reflect the max number in each group. That's just to make sure there aren't too many to fit on a bus or for a particular tour guide to handle. Each person needs a chip. If your group all want to go together, then decide ahead of time what color you'll all pick or assign someone to go get chips for the entire group.

    If there are options - like on the Rhine/Moselle you could chose a Basel tour or a Lucerne tour - you may need to decide a day or two before just to make sure they have enough buses, guides, etc. We've also had an occasion where we had to chose our entree a couple of days before an off ship dinner and once on the Rhone we had to specific what sequence/timing for a tour. The day included a cooking school demo that could only handle 10-15 people at a time. Everyone got the tours for that day, just in a little different order.

    I know some cruise lines have extra excursions (often not included in the fare) and a limited number who can go on them so that you have to decide very early in the trip if you want to go. That doesn't happen on a Tauck cruise. It's all included and everyone can chose what they want. Your choice can also be to stay on board and chill out or do a bit of exploring on your own.

    Enjoy
  • Thanks for a very informative explanation on excursions. I hadn't seen details like this before now. It's appreciated!
  • Claudia,
    Perhaps you can help me as well.
    My wife and I will be taking this trip on the MS SWISS JEWEL starting Sept 10. I have two questions. 1. Is there any WiFi on the river boat? 2. How extensive was the morning sightseeing in Budapest. In other words, did you go into the Parliament building or just drive by it? Did you go into the Fisherman's Bastion or just drive by it? What about the Central Market, did you see it? Thanks in advance for any help. Sherman & Dora
  • I can help with your first question - yes WIFI is available throughout the ship. When you check into your stateroom the front desk will give you the network name and your password. It won't be the fastest ever - ok for email, web surfing, and I knew a couple who used it to skyp. Not enough for big data uploads of pictures or video streaming. They will probably warn you not to do that.

    Can't help with info about Budapest as we haven't gone there yet. We've done the Rhone and the Rhine/Moselle cruise which ends in Basel.

    This is such a popular tour I'm sure someone else who's taken it can fill you in. Sounds like just a morning tour - 2-3 hours back on board in time for lunch and sailing. Not a huge amount of time.

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