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2023 reviews and advice
Hello fellow Tauck Travelers! It may be user error, but I haven't been able to find 2023 reviews for Belgium and Holland in Spring. We are looking at next April ('24). Regarding the ships it looks like the Grace and Joy were renovated in 2023 which is appealing. Any thoughts on a favored direction. Lastly, I know everyone has their own price points and cabin size, but wondering whether you were particularly impressed with a certain category of cabin? Thanks much as always. We have another Tauck adventure in October and then this one. Look forward to contributing again to this forum!
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As I and others have posted, the Cat 3 loft cabins are the best bang for the buck. At 225 sq. feet they are larger than Cat 4 and Diamond Deck Cat 5 cabins, and equal in size to Ruby Deck Cat 5 cabins, and Cat 6 cabins. If you really want or need the extra space or have difficulty with stairs (there are 3 carpeted steps up to the loft) or money is no object, go with a Cat 6 or Cat 7. There are only 8 Cat 3 loft cabins on Joy and Grace (all 4 of the Inspire class boats) and they go quickly. We've stayed in Cat 3 on Joy and Inspire.
Favored direction, opinions differs. As far as the boat itself, it will raft in many places, so you may need to walk thru or over other boats and vice versa and you may not have a view while docked. The boats ALWAYS dock so the bow faces into the current (up stream) if there is one.
CruiseCritic info: https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/tauck/tauck-joy/cabins
On that class ship we've only been in a Cat 4 Ruby deck. I liked everything about it accept nearness to the lobby/ lounge. We had some noise issues they may have been unique to our cruise. My sister and BIL had the loft and loved it. Would book again. I don't care for the layout of the Cat 5s that put the head of the bed against the hallway wall.
We've twice had Cat 6 cabins on Taucks smaller ships and they've been our favorite. Plenty of space, storage and windows.
On cruise direction it depends on whether we want to add days at the beginning or end and which city(s) to do so.
We always get Cat 7 and will have it again on the Seine in August. It is so nice when you return from an excursion and just to be able to sit in comfort on the nice large sofa and the bathroom and closet is large. It does cost more but it is well worth it. We looked at the other cabins while on the Rhine and Moselle as the ship was less than half full due to Covid and none of them appealed to us.
We also enjoy the category seven (7) cabin for its size, comfort and ability to move about unencumbered. Like Noreen said it is nice to sit and relax, especially with a glass of wine, in the privacy of your own room. And the large closet is great for having everything neatly stowed away. The ability to have breakfast in the room is also a very nice feature.
Thanks so much for the input, really appreciated! We generally have only done land tours with Tauck so this will be our first river cruise experience.
Hi. Happy and healthy holidays to all. Am just starting to look at this tour. We’ve only done land tours with tauck up to now. Would you recommend it? Anything we should definitely plan on doing on our own if tauck doesn’t do it? South or North? Where best to start?
Anything else we should know? Best time to go? Etc.?
Any input is appreciated.
Thank you.
We travelled on the MS Inspire, leaving April 12, 2023, going northbound from Brussels to Amsterdam for the Holland and Belgium in Spring "river cruise". What we found out is that this was not at all like the Tauck river cruise we took on the Danube. This was not a true river, but shipping channels. The views were mostly of industrial shipping areas, and the associated shipping containers, equipment etc. Very disappointing after being on the Danube. We were also pretty disappointed in the quality of the crew--not up to the caliber of the crew for the Danube trip. They were polite and did their job, but when you pay as much as you do for a Tauck cruise, you expect exceptional service.
This ship also had a lot of sickness--most everyone on the ship got the virus that was going around. Not sure if it was there when we got on, or someone brough it on. Whatever. it made for a miserable experience.
If you are looking for beautiful views from the ship while traveling between destination areas, this is not the cruise for you. Just my 2 cents....
TRAVELLING NORTHBOUND FROM BRUSSELS TO BELGUIM --IN APRIL 2024. MY FIRST TIME ON A RIVERCRUISE ONLY BEEN ON TAUCK LAND TOURS-ARRIVING IN BRUSSELS 3 DAYS EARLIER THAN THE TORU BEGINS-DOES ANYONE KNOW OF AN EXCELLENT GUIDE THAT CAN TAKE ME ON A PRIVATE TOUR EITHERIN BRUSSELS OR BRUGE