Canceling our trip….
I along with 5 of my traveling friends made the difficulty decision to cancel our December 13-20 cruise. This trip was booked originally for 2021 in early January 2019, so we been dreaming for almost 3 years. We all felt with the cancellations of Ghent and Antwerp markets, the time restrictions in The Netherlands and uncertainty of what will happen in the next two weeks, we had no choice. We are thankful for the swift professionalism of the Tauck staff in handling our cancellations and refunding our money. We have previously traveled with Tauck on both the Rhine and Danube CM trips. Most of the 2022 CM trips are booked except Christmas week, so I’m not sure we will book another Christmas trip. I hope everyone taking these cruises have a wonderful experience.
Comments
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. My story is pretty much the same as yours. I, too, have done both the Rhine and Danube Christmas Markets cruises and was so happy when this one was added. I booked it originally in early 2019 for the Amsterdam to Brussels direction on Dec. 20, 2020 which I rescheduled to this year when 2020 wasn't looking good and I wanted to be sure I got the cabin I prefer. I decided to move it again in October of THIS year when the 2023 dates were released because the Delta variant was too worrisome and I didn't want to take a chance.
I would have moved it to 2022, but I have a Seine river cruise scheduled in the fall next year and I can't do two cruises just a few months apart. When (I refuse to say "if") I finally take this trip in 2023, I will have been waiting four years!
We've got you both beat!
We booked the 2020 XMAS Mkts on the Rhine in Oct 2018!! and re-booked for 2021 which was also cancelled early this year. Hopefully XMAS Mkts 2022, our third attempt, will be the charm.
Well, you all have me beat..I’ve only been booked for about 8 months and a friend decided in November to join me. We have both just cancelled and are rebooking for the Christmas week tour in 2022. It’s so disappointing. I’ve been looking forward to this trip. I managed to do Magic of Morocco in November so at least I got one trip in!
Wishing happy holidays to one and all and better luck next time to us all!
All - It could be worse, at least Christmas happens every year.
You could have scheduled a tour for something like the Passion Play which happens once a decade, or perhaps to some sort of eclipse viewing.
And as a fallback there are an 'infinite' number of Christmas Markets still open in the US.
I was on the Dec 12-20 BRU to AMS River Cruise. WELL, the 53 or so passengers had a lot of excellent service from the crew. The Tauck directors were wonderful. I'm glad I went but would not recommend the tour again. First, Netherlands celebrate St.Nicholas Day around Dec 5th as their gifting day and Dec 25 is a family day rather than what we call a major holiday. I didn't see any holiday lights or displaces worth writing home about. I also found many "kids" smoking cigarettes and not social distancing. The few Christmas markets that were open didn't impress me except if you are interested in tasting food and drinking beer in the 40F weather. The lock down on our last full day was not the kind of lock down I'd expect. Take outs were open and people seemed to roam the streets freely but most ever thing of tourist interest was closed. The AMS airport ran normal on Monday and people did not social distance as I would have expected strict compliance with the rules. I came back very sick but tested negative for COVID. Maybe it was the raw Oysters on the boat but all I know if it wasn't COVID, it must have been a close relative? I did contact Tauck; they responded that the ship never reported a health problem but when I emailed the tour director, he never responded.
Bob: thanks for the reminder about St. Nicholas Day. We're signed up for the December 6th cruise in 2022 and, fortuitously, St. Nick Day is December 6th in 2022 so we'll experience it in Amsterdam.
We're expecting less from the Christmas Markets than we've visited on Danube and Rhine Christmas Markets cruises, but 1) want to go somewhere and this itinerary is new for us, 2) this fits our calendar, and 3) we know that Tauck will make it as memorable as possible.
Bob_from_VNCFL --
Thanks for your input. My husband and I have the YuleTide one booked for 2023 with my friend (who is a new widow at 50) and her 2 kids (who will be 22 and 20 when we go). My husband and I have been on the Danube and Rhine Xmas Market ones and LOVED them --- they have NEVER been to Europe and want to see the Xmas Markets, but my concern is that the YuleTide cruise won't have what they are wanting (even though my husband and I prefer this one since we've done the others). We have been to Amsterdam in Dec and we were very underwhelmed as far as the lack of Xmas decorations and there were no Xmas Markets. I'm wondering if we should change from the YuleTide one to the Rhine one? Her kids will be taking finals till Dec 14, so the Danube dates won't work. Would love your thoughts.
We just returned home from the Dec 21-27 sailing and we had a totally different experience then mentioned above. We had over 90 guests on board and I would say that most had a great time. The Netherlands had shut down the day we flew to Amsterdam, so Tauck was quick to make a change to our itinerary. So instead of having the day in Amsterdam, we did a quick overview of city and headed for the MS Grace to sail early since all guests had arrived. Sure, we were a little disappointed that we didn't see Amsterdam, but it was Covid related. So we sailed to Germany and we got to experience the many markets of Dusseldorf, Aachen and Cologne. They all were very cute and Christmasy and enjoyed every minute of the visit to these markets. We also had a walking tour of Dusseldorf, or you could venture out on your own. Seeing the markets at night really made it special. Plenty of Gluhwein, sausages, waffles and treats at the markets were a true delight. We had plenty of Christmas related activities on board for the daytime sailing. And we had onboard entertainment and demonstrations in many evenings and a few afternoons. Almost everyone participated in the "secret Santa" gift exchange as well as picked out a special ornament to decorate the tree onboard the ship. Not sure how Tauck arranged all of the entertainment and a visit from chocoaltiers on a moments notice since we were on an alternate itinerary, but it was very much enjoyed by all. The rest of the itinerary went back on track to Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels. Although, the markets weren't open at most of these locations due to Covid, we still had plenty to see and do. (there was a small market open in Bruges) Most shops and restaurants were open as well as ice skating and other Christmas activities. (Even on Christmas Day, some shops and most restaurants were open) We felt the Christmas spirit in all of these places. Tauck also offered many options such as museums, Ferris wheel with city overview, Brussels light show and more. Considering the Covid situation, this trip was wonderful! We were happy to travel, meet new Tauck friends and enjoy new holiday traditions. And I don't want to leave out the amazing Tauck tour directors and cruise director that went out of their way to make everyone happy:) They even tracked down our lost luggage...but that's a different story.