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Switzerland: Europe Crown Jewels 2024
We are booked on this trip in August of 2024. We are new Tauck travelers but have heard wonderful things about the company. Could anyone answer this question- are alcoholic beverages included with all the dinner meals? If not what other added costs can we expect?
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Very few Tauck tours include alcohol, which I prefer, it makes it more fair on none drinkers. But the Welcome dinner and Farewell dinners always include alcohol. Some other meals may include alcohol. Your Tour Director. will make it clear.
Check your tour details and you will figure out how many meals you have to find on your own, that can really add up. Check your final details. It should be more clear with guidelines about the following.. You always have to tip the tour director. I think it is $10 per day each. So,e tours you tip the driver too, $7 e day each.
Tauck is definite not all Inclusive these days.
Every tour and hotel is different. As British said, alcohol is usually available at the welcome and farewell - drinks before hand and during. On our tour during the boat ride to dinner at the farewell the TD had drinks and snacks provided. I have had some tours where wine or beer was provided if you wanted at other meals. Usually it's listed on the daily detailed schedule the TD provides when you get there. And yes, recommended tipping will be spelled out in the final tour documents emailed a month or two before the tour.
Switzerland is very high cost especially if you want sit down meal service at restaurants. For comparison purposes only - a Big Mac meal is about $18. Before we went I looked at the times meals were on our own, researched options near our hotel and if they had a website what the menu and prices were like.
We just returned from this tour last night. Of the 8 dinners included, 4 had alcohol and 2 or 3 of the lunches included as well. Our tour guide did a great job of suggesting restaurants for the meals that were on our own - including price points. We chose to have pizza both nights. In Zermatt there is a pizza restaurant across from the hotel and they provide a 15% discount for takeout. We ate it on our balcony with a bottle of wine we bought at the market.
We just returned from this excellent tour which was our first Tauck experience. Some of the wine is included but if you have to buy wine you can expect to pay $15-$20 a glass. Expensive. Switzerland is not a cheap place to visit. BUT, we travel frequently and I rate this country one of my top three favorite experiences.
Top three in the world, or in Europe?
Wine was included in half the dinners and a couple lunches. Don't count on them actually arranging the Glacier Express trip for Day 7.....they forgot to order tickets for our tour group so we had a trip on regular train and a very long bus ride. In lieu of a glass-topped train through the alps, they did give us a tour of the basement of a cheese factory and then called it even. NO compensation for deleting a featured event.
I prefer a cheese factory visit!
This was our favorite trip. You should have been compensated for that or have an alternative activity. The cheese is not that.
The Glacier Express was not so good - enjoyed the bus ride from St. Mortiz and Interlaken - totally imersed on the Alps. We were not reimbursed on a recent trip for recent activities -- we were left to fend on our own and pay for activities. Irritating and expected more. I chalked it up to the inexperience TD who previously worked at a resort. No prior tour experience - something I was surprised at. Maybe Tauck is faced with hiring issues other industries are facing. I think the training must be deficient also.
I have 2 more expensive trips booked - waiting for those to see wheat I chose next. :-)