Wanting to book Classic Italy trip for spring. Thoughts on small group vs. Classic. I know the small is more money and hotels are different, so thoughts based on experiences. Thanks.
You will get various answers here on the forum. Ultimately, it is your choice. Personally we never think it is worth it. We’ve asked, and the main reason is for the extra money that Tauck gives the Tauck director in lieu of the smaller number of tips he/she will receive from a smaller number of people. This makes sense, who would want to lead fewer people on a tour, knowing their tips will be less. So it does not mean you are necessarily stating in better hotels.
It’s also a long time since we have been on a full tour, so you often get the small group experiences anyway.
We prefer the small groups for several reasons...more time viewing the sights versus waiting...camaraderie established with less travelers...smaller, more intimate hotels and restaurants (not always the case)...
It is a personal choice, and no matter which you choose you are bound to have a memorable time!
Carol, we've taken 4 land tours and only paid for small group once but non of the tours were fully booked. The biggest group was 28 and the smallest last year 9. I wouldn't go small group just to guarantee size but other factors may be worth it - special itinerary stops like private after hours tour, hotels you like better or if the dates work better for you.
Our first Tauck tour was small group classic Italy 2016. Since then we have taken 5 more and are leaving next week on a Seine River cruise. We have enjoyed all of our tours but Classic Italy small group still remains our favorite. It was such a cohesive and fun filled group of people. We always book small group. The only time I thought small group might have been a slight negative was when there was a group of 4 couples who all worked together and didn’t mix much with the others. It’s a personal preference.
I’ve noticed that Small group dates nearly always sell out first. We’ve been on both (prepandemic when trips were always full)) and the larger group really feels larger…restaurants, bus breaks, loading and unloading…there really is a difference. Nowadays, trips are often not full, boats are still running under capacity…hoping it all improves. Like already said, it’s up to you but we are Small group kind of people too.
I vote for small group and have never done a large group tour. It's definitely a personal preference but I feel lost in a large group of people especially since I travel as a single. I did the Italy tour you are contemplating as Small Group. There were some differences in the hotels and the experiences offered. When I did it, they included a Ferragamo reception which was quite a treat since I'm a big Ferragamo shoe fan.
As I have posted many times, we prefer small groups- years ago we started with small group tours to test the Tauck waters, but on our third trip (in the US) we took a standard size tour and will never go back- the large tour spent too much time on none touring and admin functions. I don't know if it was because it was an exceptionally older group, but it took forever to get on and off the bus, eat meals, even simple things like handing out keys or explaining things, took forever. We always had shorter site visits to allow people time to make it back to and board the bus. As mentioned by a few others above, while the itinerary varies little you get to experience different lodging like Ashford Castle on Best of Ireland, Small Groups and during Classic Italy, small group tours use to spend two nights at the Brunelleschi Hotel, a wonderful boutique hotel that was in the heart of the old section and a short walk to the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, etc. etc. It was literally in the shadows of the duomo!
As I have posted many times, I prefer the large group. I've done one small group tour (and I wouldn't say "never again.") I don't think it's worth the premium. I've never had the issues AlanS described in the large group. Besides price, there are a few other reasons I like the large group:
1. If there is a large group (extended family, friends, etc.) within the group, they tend to isolate themselves, so fewer people to mingle with.
2. If there is a jerk on the tour, easier to avoid them in a larger group.
Regarding hotel differences on your trip, that's because some of the hotels can't accommodate the large group.
Bottom line, some like chocolate and some like vanilla.
We started traveling with Tauck before they did Small Groups. They started them because of customer demand, but it’s still 24 which I would not consider small. Other companies cap the number around 14. We have taken a couple of small group tours because we wanted those dates. The USA tours always had large numbers and always seemed to be full, we took a couple of those early on and it was a lot of people.
We stayed at the hotel you mention in Florence on a regular size tour Alan.
In our experience, the Tour directors assess the group in the first couple of days and make changes in timing when for example they have a tardy group, they will ask for luggage to be out earlier and leave earlier and vice versa. Especially Europe, it doesn’t matter how big or small the group is, the bus drivers have strict rules about how long they are able to drive without a break and how long the breaks must be, so at a rest stop, even if there are only a few people on the tour, the driver still has to have a certain amount of time to rest.
We have been on a couple of tours where the TD has said,you are a good group, we don’t need to leave until such and such a time.
Explaining things happens on the bus. It doesn’t matter how many people there are, it only needs one person not paying attention for the TD to have or repeat what he has just said. It only takes one person who is not very mobile to slow the entire group down, big or small, we see all this happening time and time again.
Most small group tours cost about $1000 extra per person. Consider this, for two people you could probably stay on three days extra at the beginning or end of a tour including buying food. With all the ‘free time’ Tauck gives you on tours these days, you could spend extra time at places you think you needed more time. We certainly haven’t felt rushed around on any place we have visited with Tauck on a regular size tour. For is, that was a no brained.
Smaller hotels can be used for small groups,,, those are the type they used to use before Small groups were a thing, especially in places like Italy, they are charming and we like them. But the size of rooms do vary and people like a good view from their room, complaints were common, so now Tauck uses bigger hotels and I think gets good deals with them. I’m noticing lately that the Four Seasons hotels seem to be falling out of favor with Tauck, we have two upcoming tours where the Four Seasons have been replaced with something else.
On a recent non Tauck tour, we had to have our bags ready just five minutes before the tour was to get on the bus, that’s small group!
CaroP--the brochure will list the hotels for both classic and small group. I haven't checked them lately and I did this trip in 2014 so I don't remember which of the hotels we stayed at were different. I did the Brittany, Normandy, etc. trip in 2019 and one of the different hotels was Le Meurice in Paris, definitely a much higher end hotel, although I cannot remember the other hotel used for the larger group size. I just looked at the brochure on line for both 22 and 23 and don't see any difference in the hotels used for both classic and small group so its best to compare them side by side to see what the difference, if any, is. I had always wanted to stay at Le Meurice so in addition to the fact that I loved that Brittany/Normandy, etc. itinerary, I jumped on it. Things will probably continue to evolve post pandemic and hotels will change as well given customer feedback. I also just did a compare on the Tauck website of Classic Italy and Classic Italy, Small Group and the hotels are clearly different.
When you say the hotels on the Classic Italy and Small group are different , what are you saying? Hotels are better on one than the other, and please explain,in your opinion?
CaroP-I have no opinion one way or the other. Tauck just uses different hotels for different group sizes. Some of the hotels appear to be larger for larger group sizes where some of the hotels on Small Group seem more intimate. It all depends on the experience you want. It's personal preference. I prefer smaller.
Remember, you spend very little time in the hotels. We focus on what the site seeing will be above everything else. That’s why recently we have turned to other companies that have a better itinerary than Tauck.for some destinations or Tauck doesn’t go there. We know the hotels won’t be as good a quality, but most of the time we just sleep in them.
British - I would like to know what other companies you travel with. If you feel this question is out of line on Tauck website please send me a private message and thank you. I value your opinion.
I want to clear something up here. For most tours, the large group and small group tours use the same hotels and have the same itinerary. The only exceptions are those where there is a separate listing for large groups and small groups (not just separate dates, but fully separate listings). The two I know of that are this way are Classic Italy and Best of Ireland. I believe that Classic Italy small groups itinerary only differs in the itinerary with the addition of the wine tasting with the member of the Ferragamo family (and this is apparently on "select" small group tours). I see that they now use different hotels as well. If you're considering this tour your best bet is to printout the hotel and itinerary listings and compare them side by side.
Comments
You will get various answers here on the forum. Ultimately, it is your choice. Personally we never think it is worth it. We’ve asked, and the main reason is for the extra money that Tauck gives the Tauck director in lieu of the smaller number of tips he/she will receive from a smaller number of people. This makes sense, who would want to lead fewer people on a tour, knowing their tips will be less. So it does not mean you are necessarily stating in better hotels.
It’s also a long time since we have been on a full tour, so you often get the small group experiences anyway.
We prefer the small groups for several reasons...more time viewing the sights versus waiting...camaraderie established with less travelers...smaller, more intimate hotels and restaurants (not always the case)...
It is a personal choice, and no matter which you choose you are bound to have a memorable time!
Carol, we've taken 4 land tours and only paid for small group once but non of the tours were fully booked. The biggest group was 28 and the smallest last year 9. I wouldn't go small group just to guarantee size but other factors may be worth it - special itinerary stops like private after hours tour, hotels you like better or if the dates work better for you.
Our first Tauck tour was small group classic Italy 2016. Since then we have taken 5 more and are leaving next week on a Seine River cruise. We have enjoyed all of our tours but Classic Italy small group still remains our favorite. It was such a cohesive and fun filled group of people. We always book small group. The only time I thought small group might have been a slight negative was when there was a group of 4 couples who all worked together and didn’t mix much with the others. It’s a personal preference.
I’ve noticed that Small group dates nearly always sell out first. We’ve been on both (prepandemic when trips were always full)) and the larger group really feels larger…restaurants, bus breaks, loading and unloading…there really is a difference. Nowadays, trips are often not full, boats are still running under capacity…hoping it all improves. Like already said, it’s up to you but we are Small group kind of people too.
I vote for small group and have never done a large group tour. It's definitely a personal preference but I feel lost in a large group of people especially since I travel as a single. I did the Italy tour you are contemplating as Small Group. There were some differences in the hotels and the experiences offered. When I did it, they included a Ferragamo reception which was quite a treat since I'm a big Ferragamo shoe fan.
May I ask what you meant by differences in the hotels--addressed to voikk32 and anyone else that cares to comment.
As I have posted many times, we prefer small groups- years ago we started with small group tours to test the Tauck waters, but on our third trip (in the US) we took a standard size tour and will never go back- the large tour spent too much time on none touring and admin functions. I don't know if it was because it was an exceptionally older group, but it took forever to get on and off the bus, eat meals, even simple things like handing out keys or explaining things, took forever. We always had shorter site visits to allow people time to make it back to and board the bus. As mentioned by a few others above, while the itinerary varies little you get to experience different lodging like Ashford Castle on Best of Ireland, Small Groups and during Classic Italy, small group tours use to spend two nights at the Brunelleschi Hotel, a wonderful boutique hotel that was in the heart of the old section and a short walk to the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, etc. etc. It was literally in the shadows of the duomo!
As I have posted many times, I prefer the large group. I've done one small group tour (and I wouldn't say "never again.") I don't think it's worth the premium. I've never had the issues AlanS described in the large group. Besides price, there are a few other reasons I like the large group:
1. If there is a large group (extended family, friends, etc.) within the group, they tend to isolate themselves, so fewer people to mingle with.
2. If there is a jerk on the tour, easier to avoid them in a larger group.
Regarding hotel differences on your trip, that's because some of the hotels can't accommodate the large group.
Bottom line, some like chocolate and some like vanilla.
We started traveling with Tauck before they did Small Groups. They started them because of customer demand, but it’s still 24 which I would not consider small. Other companies cap the number around 14. We have taken a couple of small group tours because we wanted those dates. The USA tours always had large numbers and always seemed to be full, we took a couple of those early on and it was a lot of people.
We stayed at the hotel you mention in Florence on a regular size tour Alan.
In our experience, the Tour directors assess the group in the first couple of days and make changes in timing when for example they have a tardy group, they will ask for luggage to be out earlier and leave earlier and vice versa. Especially Europe, it doesn’t matter how big or small the group is, the bus drivers have strict rules about how long they are able to drive without a break and how long the breaks must be, so at a rest stop, even if there are only a few people on the tour, the driver still has to have a certain amount of time to rest.
We have been on a couple of tours where the TD has said,you are a good group, we don’t need to leave until such and such a time.
Explaining things happens on the bus. It doesn’t matter how many people there are, it only needs one person not paying attention for the TD to have or repeat what he has just said. It only takes one person who is not very mobile to slow the entire group down, big or small, we see all this happening time and time again.
Most small group tours cost about $1000 extra per person. Consider this, for two people you could probably stay on three days extra at the beginning or end of a tour including buying food. With all the ‘free time’ Tauck gives you on tours these days, you could spend extra time at places you think you needed more time. We certainly haven’t felt rushed around on any place we have visited with Tauck on a regular size tour. For is, that was a no brained.
Smaller hotels can be used for small groups,,, those are the type they used to use before Small groups were a thing, especially in places like Italy, they are charming and we like them. But the size of rooms do vary and people like a good view from their room, complaints were common, so now Tauck uses bigger hotels and I think gets good deals with them. I’m noticing lately that the Four Seasons hotels seem to be falling out of favor with Tauck, we have two upcoming tours where the Four Seasons have been replaced with something else.
On a recent non Tauck tour, we had to have our bags ready just five minutes before the tour was to get on the bus, that’s small group!
CaroP--the brochure will list the hotels for both classic and small group. I haven't checked them lately and I did this trip in 2014 so I don't remember which of the hotels we stayed at were different. I did the Brittany, Normandy, etc. trip in 2019 and one of the different hotels was Le Meurice in Paris, definitely a much higher end hotel, although I cannot remember the other hotel used for the larger group size. I just looked at the brochure on line for both 22 and 23 and don't see any difference in the hotels used for both classic and small group so its best to compare them side by side to see what the difference, if any, is. I had always wanted to stay at Le Meurice so in addition to the fact that I loved that Brittany/Normandy, etc. itinerary, I jumped on it. Things will probably continue to evolve post pandemic and hotels will change as well given customer feedback. I also just did a compare on the Tauck website of Classic Italy and Classic Italy, Small Group and the hotels are clearly different.
When you say the hotels on the Classic Italy and Small group are different , what are you saying? Hotels are better on one than the other, and please explain,in your opinion?
Hotels may start to become fuller and fuller if the doom and gloom article I just read comes to pass- "Is European River cruising, coming to an end?"
Yes, this is the article
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/europe-drought-river-cruising/index.html
If the drought continues we will have more to worry about than river cruising, maybe hoping there isn’t a world famine
CaroP-I have no opinion one way or the other. Tauck just uses different hotels for different group sizes. Some of the hotels appear to be larger for larger group sizes where some of the hotels on Small Group seem more intimate. It all depends on the experience you want. It's personal preference. I prefer smaller.
Remember, you spend very little time in the hotels. We focus on what the site seeing will be above everything else. That’s why recently we have turned to other companies that have a better itinerary than Tauck.for some destinations or Tauck doesn’t go there. We know the hotels won’t be as good a quality, but most of the time we just sleep in them.
British - I would like to know what other companies you travel with. If you feel this question is out of line on Tauck website please send me a private message and thank you. I value your opinion.
I want to clear something up here. For most tours, the large group and small group tours use the same hotels and have the same itinerary. The only exceptions are those where there is a separate listing for large groups and small groups (not just separate dates, but fully separate listings). The two I know of that are this way are Classic Italy and Best of Ireland. I believe that Classic Italy small groups itinerary only differs in the itinerary with the addition of the wine tasting with the member of the Ferragamo family (and this is apparently on "select" small group tours). I see that they now use different hotels as well. If you're considering this tour your best bet is to printout the hotel and itinerary listings and compare them side by side.
Also, Jordan & Egypt: Petra to the Pyramids, Small Groups is a separate tour listing. I haven't compared the itineraries or hotels.