Sandy feet, if you go onto the BBB there are many Covid complaints about OAT. OAT took their forum down because of all the complicated on there too. The husband I mention was one of the owners of OAT. A husband and wife team.
Sam, most of the photos are of entire meals, small dishes, not very often a large entre.. There might be as many as 15 or so little dishes of food for each meal, we were stuffed with food, believe me I love food, but a lot more healthy food than we get in the US. Some of the photos are just of breakfast meals!
We were on Viking Ocean Mars for 15 days over Thanksgiving. It was the best ocean cruise we have done since Covid. We booked only 3 weeks before sailing and got a terrific deal. Everything was top notch. If you book a future cruise on board you have a 6 month window for final payment. Otherwise it’s usually a year in advance. But as noted, they include a free excursion in every port. The not included excursions are pricey and the 17 dollar per day per person for gratuities adds to the total. Believe it or not that gratuity cost is one of the cheapest in the Industry. The cruise price includes port charges and taxes.
Choc, there were explanations of all the food if you wanted it. Like I said, I realizes many Tauck customers are not adventurous about food. We are, although I didn’t try the tarantula on the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos tour, my husband did. We love to cook at home, my hubby is making a curry right now.
For us, Tauck works fairly well. After 3 land tours and 1 small ship (Panama Canal), with 2 more future deposits paid, I believe it's a good, if not perfect, fit.
Personally, it takes the edge off the stress of planning and executing the reservations, admissions and transportation. We've done that on our own, with the help of a TA and guidebooks (pre-internet!), and find that we actually see and do more on tours. We don't drive in Europe anymore (our marriage wouldn't survive it!), and train travel can be time consuming. And time is always a concern, since we are both employed and only take off a few weeks a year.
The other thing that makes Tauck a good choice for me is that I have a dietary restriction which requires some help at mealtimes. Tauck TDs have been wonderful asking for special options for me and others. There's nothing worse than getting ill on vacation due to miscommunication with staff while dining. I love being able to sample local fare while feeling confident about my choices. I am eternally grateful to the TDs we've had who take this seriously. It gives me great peace of mind.
No one has yet mentioned Tauck's agility on the ground. There always seems to be a readily available Plan B if something unexpected happens. We have only used one other tour company years ago, so I can't really say if other tour companies are as good as Tauck on this. One time in Dubrovnik the bus to take us to a restaurant didn't show up, but within 15 minutes the TD had 6 black SUV limos at the door for us. Another time, in Slovenia, a busload of UN officials showed up unannounced to view the Postojna Caves. Our Tauck group went in ahead of them and all the other tour groups had to wait. Most importantly let's not forget recent events in Israel.
As long as Tauck is going where I want to go, I will continue to give them the edge for this one reason.
I'd like to second the comments that Tauck always has a plan B and takes care of the guests on a short notice. In New Zealand there was a plane problem (cracked windshield) and we could not take off, so they gave us a tour of botanical gardens and a nice luncheon. We missed one of the stops on the tour, but this was clearly something that Tauck could not control and came up with a solution very quickly.
Another New Zealand story -- Because of bad weather, our chartered plane from Queenstown to Auckland could not take off. Within 2 hours, our TD had our entire tour on a scheduled Air New Zealand flight between the two cities. In order to do so, he had to get approval from Connecticut headquarters to exceed his normal spending amount on his Tauck credit card.
Our story of a Tauck Plan B, started with a long lock delay on the Rhine River. Two buses of our group off the Swiss Emerald were touring a city in Germany when the Tauck Directors learned of the delay as we were headed to where we were supposed to meet the boat. The boat would not arrive for another two hours.
Their Plan B was a visit to a small pub on the route back to the boat. All 60 of us were treated to pretzels and all kinds of beer (Plan Beer?).
As we left, the owner and his wife were smiling and energetically waving. We all remarked, “well, Tauck paid their mortgage payment for a few months!”
We discovered Tauck in 2013;several excellent trips since then.Prior to that we did use other companies;one of particular mention was APT .service was comparable.More recently we used another company primarily because Tauck did not offer the itinerary.We seriously suffered Tauck withdrawal particularly with respect to airport transfers and luggage handling.One night hotel stay also was not so great but the highlight of the trip was cruising which was excellent.Have considered other agencies such as AberCombie and National Geographic but came back to book thru Tauck.We are satisfied with the itineraries and down time in the tours we have taken.After all one never sees everything in any place;the experience is just getting a glimpse of the place,culture and the place.
The food looks delicious, I wonder which tour company can offer that!
In regards to Plan B, I think most luxury tour company offers Plan B. For Tauck's Venice and Dalmatian Coast cruise, the visit to St Mark basilica was not exclusive, meaning the Tauck group goes in with every other tourists. The first time I went with Uniworld to Venice, the visit to St Mark basilica is just for the Uniword group at night, exclusively for just ourselves.
For this year Tauck/Ponant cruise, the Plan B was to cancel almost all of the hiking, biking and swimming excursions due to lack of interest. Back Roads which shares the same ship has every one gone to the active excursions.
For the same Dalmatian cruise, Tauck airport transfer was late so a Uniworld representative had to call for the Tauck shuttle to pick a group of us five up after we were stranded at the airport.
To give Tauck credit, my flight was delayed for two hours for Japan Land Tour, the Tauck airport transfer waited for two hours in pouring rain and there was a Tauck representative at the Kansai Airport to show the three of us where to go when the departing flight terminal changed without any notice.
We have done fourteen Tauck tours, and have three more scheduled. We travel almost exclusively with Windstar (18 cruises), and Tauck. On our Antarctica cruise Ponant announced a lecture describing future Ponant cruises, but announced also that the Tauck guests should book through Tauck. So I did some research to see if the Frenchies were getting a better deal. The Ponant version does not exactly match the Tauck trips, but it appeared to me that Tauck offers more ‘bang for the buck’ than booking directly with Ponant. We have done four Tauck trips aboard a Ponant ship. We are now Admirals with the Ponant loyalty program so we get some extra benefits.
On a recent trip with Tauck I was disappointed with when 2 advertised excursions that did not happen. In the past, when something changed, an explanation was given and substitute activity was presented.
On a recent trip, the only excursion for the last day was cancelled (several factors involved and not Tauck's fault). We were told of the cancellation the day prior. If we had booked the activity on our own, it would have cost $150 if transport was included. We were given $25! No other offerings or alternatives suggested. The prior day an advertised highlight visit nearby that was not done. No discussion or explanation by the TD. It could easily have been substituted for the cancelled excursion. We were in a remote place with limited opportunities (none given by TD and hotel concierge was not helpful.) Spent the day walking into a tiny town with a few shops with name brands we have at home and drinking! I rather drink at night. :-)
I think a Plan B depends on the TD. Ours was a “kid” who did not seem to have much experience, although she professed to have it. I am finding more and more the TDs are referring travelers to the hotel concierge. The good TDs I have had usually provide provide some guidance for free time. They get bigger tips from us.
So there is not always a Plan B although we did experience Plan Bs on many other trips with Tauck and will travel with them twice in 2024. I learned that next time I will be more proactive when a plan activity is cancelled.
I agree with Plan B depends on the TD. They are never perfect. For the recent One Week in Portugal Sao Bento Train station(worth 15 minutes of visit time) was substituted with a beach walk at the mouth of the Douro without any advance notice. Given there was severe traffic congestion, construction crews in from of the station, I totally understand why it was cancelled but there was never any explanation given why we went to the beach at 8 in the morning for 15 minutes. Luckily i went to Sao Bento on my own the day before on the Pre-Trip Day. An hour visit to a cork factory was added impromptu which I loved but a lot of the budget minded Tauck guests, were very impatient preferring to head back to the hotel to get dressed for the dinner at Marriott.
On the other hand, our wonderful TD Larry and Nicole added a visit to a small, absolutely beautiful park in Hiroshima when the tour group was too efficient, an hour ahead of the schedule train ride back to Kyoto. The park was wonderful. It was beautiful! I prefer the nice Tauck coach over the bullet train any day. The Tauck coach is very comfortable, clean, air conditioned with big clean windows with possible emergency bathroom facility.
And yes the Ponant version is different from Tauck. The frenchies are paying more with very few excursions included. However, they are only ones that could go to the blue Grotto/Lokrum on the Venice and Dalmatian Coast cruise. Tauck guests were told we don't have that option.The oyster farm visit with lunch was also off limit to Tauck guests despite offering to pay for them.
We traveled with Tauck eight times with three more trips planned. Also, we have traveled with Silversea seven times and I would recommend them. We did one river cruise on the Douro river with Viking in June 2022 and it was my least favorite trip. The food on Viking was very good except when you went on some excursions that included lunch off the ship it was very mediocre and we were all served the same food with absolutely no choices. This was a big disappointment. Excursions off the ship were pretty typical but the local guides were not the same quality and experience as you have on a Tauck cruise. Some were a little better but overall it felt again kind of institutional. We were just being processed it seemed. Maybe that is related to COVID and the related fatigue throughout Europe but we think the local guides could have put a little more effort in welcoming us and being more inspiring in their presentations and descriptions of local sights.
We've decided that Viking will not be our first choice for river cruising. We'll stick with what we know and like and for the next couple of years; it'll be Tauck for river cruising trips.
Wow, I loved reading all of the comments about Tauck, land vs river/ocean, independent travel etc. 30 years ago when we started to travel, independence was our first priority. We planned our own itinerary, ate when and where we wanted etc. Then as we aged (77 and 87 now) we decided it would be better if someone else picked us up at the airport, carried out bags and made sure to take care of us if we had any health emergencies (thankfully we didn't but others on our trips did) We traveled with Tauck on their Croatia (land based), Japan and China tours that have been mentioned here and also on the River cruise along the Rhine plus 9 other trips with Tauck and a few more with other companies. As we aged, so have our traveling partners with Tauck, so yes, Tauck caters to an older group. However, most of these are experienced travelers, usually able to keep up with the activities, or politely bow out and willing to deal with the unexpected.. Most are willing to explore new foods and different locations during free time with other new found traveling friends or on their own. We have rarely encountered people who could not find some interesting local place to eat or find a way to entertain themselves during the relatively little free time that Tauck provides. The active times on our trips (remember our ages) were infinitely more interesting and satisfying than our comparatively limited shore time on the river cruise.
Just to put things into perspective, when we were in Dubrovnik last year (ages 76 and 86) we walked the town walls during our pre-trip free time because we knew that Tauck did not include it. However, one of the local guides did offer to lead a wall walk during the actual tour. We were happy that we did it on our own so we could go at our own pace. We also opted to visit several destinations on our own that were not included with Tauck. Last fall we took the Belissima Italy trip with Tauck and again, got into a taxi to indepently explore some restaurants and sites that interested us but were were not included on the tour We hope to take the Paris-Normandy trip next fall and have already decided to forego the Tauck bus tour around Paris and go off on our own because we have visited Paris before. The rest of the tour will be new for us.
I guess the bottom line as has already been said is to each his/her own and be sure to carefully decide what is important to you and then do your research on what is provided. In any case, Happy traveling.
I agree with Noreen about Viking. We tried a Viking river cruise once-never again. On the "included" tours, we looked at the fascade of the buildings, and did not go inside, except for "Viking Abbey" which was nothing memorable or important - while Melk Abbey was a short ride down the river. We never got to experience the vista shown on the Viking ads - driven to another town to get on the ship after a boring bus tour. We never went near the Parliament building in Budapest. The tour started in Budapest, I had a list of things to see and do in Budapest. I was assured we would have free time - that did not happen. Most things were closed on Sundays and the start of the first tour, on a bus was early.
The paid tours that I remember: Schonbrunn Palace was a tour of 2 rooms and another tour to the first brewery - we were left in the square - never went in - and treated to a beer at a truck stop although there tables in the park outside the brewery. Guides stood with their hands out at the door when we left the bus.
Stingy with the included wine...needed to flag the server to get a drink and refill.
I understand some people love Viking, but Tauck has spoiled us and helps us spend out kid's inheritance! Some interesting, revived and revised tours for 2025!
We went in June 2021 and not 2022. The wine on board was not great and they served the same wine every day for eight days at lunch and dinner that was included. However, we had one of their nicest cabins and it included the mini-fridge to be replenished daily that had nicer wine so I just showed up at dinner with my own wine from the cabin. There is no excuse for this as wine in Portugal is very inexpensive. I was told I could purchase a wine package. This is just nickel and dime stuff which I don't like.
We travel exclusively with Tauck. We’ve looked at other tour companies but do not like being nickeled and dimed. We prefer the upscale and all inclusive that Tauck offers. Also, we have found that when problems occur on tour, Tauck and their TDs do their best to provide alternatives. When we went on Best of Hawaii last year, we had not one but two bus mishaps. The first caused us to miss the Kona coffee plantation tour for which we were reimbursed by a Tauck and provided some compensation by the bus company. The second was on Maui while returning from an excursion. A few days after we returned home, we received an apologetic letter from Tauck with an unexpected but fair compensation for the disappointments we experienced. Knowing how much Tauck appreciates its customer base makes it easy for us to (as bucketlist said) spend our kids’ inheritance on Tauck tours!
On my recent Blue Danube river cruise, we had many unexpected tours and enhancements. I had arranged some private tours prior to the trip that I needed to re-direct because TAUCK added to their planned itinerary.
Some friends had gone in a Viking river cruise with the same basic itinerary- but their days were not as full or complete as ours. They did feel nickel and dimed regarding liquor package and added sightseeing.
There is no question in my opinion that TAUCK offers and delivers an excellent product.
As far as I recall, I am not sure Tauck always offered free alcohol on the river cruises, I could be wrong.
But I don’t get the all inclusive, it might be on the river cruises but on land tours there are more and more meals to find out of your own pocket. Most of you are fairly new to Tauck, I have been traveling pretty frequently with them for twenty years. They are still the best but are changing. Just my opinions but not always for the best.
Alcohol and tips are included in the small ship tours as well. And if you look at the “what’s included’ on the website description of the tour it tells you exactly how many meals are included. Our next river cruise is Savoring France. It is ten days including the arrival and departure days, and includes 23 meals. There is one meal each on the arrival and departure days, which leaves 21 meals for the other eight days. So if you eat three meals a day, which we don’t, you will have three meals on your own during those eight days. Personally, I like having a few meals away from the tour group. I typically eat a lot less than what Tauck provides. In any case on our next river cruise it is ‘al inclusive’ except for three meals which we will probably only eat if it is a dinner meal. If it is lunch it will likely be coffee or a glass of wine.
Yes, alcohol is definitely included. One can actually spend more on Viking for the same cruise whether it is a river cruise or ocean voyage when comparing Viking to Tauck. The add-ons with Viking happen gradually with paying more for excursions and the alcohol package that you don’t realize it until after the fact. This is more obvious when we’re paying for adult children that we’re treating for a trip because all the add-ons kept on adding up! I vote for Tauck. There are not any add-ons and/or extra fees.
Tauck/Ponant have alcohols included just not the real premium stuff. You have access to 80% of everything on the ship for free including a well stocked refrigerator. The rest Ponant will bill you on the last days.
Uniworld has an empty refrigerator but as a guest, you are entitled to 100% of the alcohol on the ship. According to me and another guest on the recent Tauck/Poanant cruise, the selection of red and white is slightly better on Uniworld.
It’s the Alaska trip that used to not include alcohol. Does anyone remember Tauck people reporting on the forum that the none Tauck people pretending to be Tauck to get free drinks when Tauck started to include them. Now they have to wear wrist tags.
Comments
British, great pics of the Japanese cuisine. My husband wouldn’t enjoy any of it. He likes go know what he’s consuming.
Sandy feet, if you go onto the BBB there are many Covid complaints about OAT. OAT took their forum down because of all the complicated on there too. The husband I mention was one of the owners of OAT. A husband and wife team.
Sam, most of the photos are of entire meals, small dishes, not very often a large entre.. There might be as many as 15 or so little dishes of food for each meal, we were stuffed with food, believe me I love food, but a lot more healthy food than we get in the US. Some of the photos are just of breakfast meals!
We were on Viking Ocean Mars for 15 days over Thanksgiving. It was the best ocean cruise we have done since Covid. We booked only 3 weeks before sailing and got a terrific deal. Everything was top notch. If you book a future cruise on board you have a 6 month window for final payment. Otherwise it’s usually a year in advance. But as noted, they include a free excursion in every port. The not included excursions are pricey and the 17 dollar per day per person for gratuities adds to the total. Believe it or not that gratuity cost is one of the cheapest in the Industry. The cruise price includes port charges and taxes.
Choc, there were explanations of all the food if you wanted it. Like I said, I realizes many Tauck customers are not adventurous about food. We are, although I didn’t try the tarantula on the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos tour, my husband did. We love to cook at home, my hubby is making a curry right now.
My husband can do surgery but will not clean a chicken!
Great pictures British, I love Japanese food, I envy you.
Thank you, British.
For us, Tauck works fairly well. After 3 land tours and 1 small ship (Panama Canal), with 2 more future deposits paid, I believe it's a good, if not perfect, fit.
Personally, it takes the edge off the stress of planning and executing the reservations, admissions and transportation. We've done that on our own, with the help of a TA and guidebooks (pre-internet!), and find that we actually see and do more on tours. We don't drive in Europe anymore (our marriage wouldn't survive it!), and train travel can be time consuming. And time is always a concern, since we are both employed and only take off a few weeks a year.
The other thing that makes Tauck a good choice for me is that I have a dietary restriction which requires some help at mealtimes. Tauck TDs have been wonderful asking for special options for me and others. There's nothing worse than getting ill on vacation due to miscommunication with staff while dining. I love being able to sample local fare while feeling confident about my choices. I am eternally grateful to the TDs we've had who take this seriously. It gives me great peace of mind.
No one has yet mentioned Tauck's agility on the ground. There always seems to be a readily available Plan B if something unexpected happens. We have only used one other tour company years ago, so I can't really say if other tour companies are as good as Tauck on this. One time in Dubrovnik the bus to take us to a restaurant didn't show up, but within 15 minutes the TD had 6 black SUV limos at the door for us. Another time, in Slovenia, a busload of UN officials showed up unannounced to view the Postojna Caves. Our Tauck group went in ahead of them and all the other tour groups had to wait. Most importantly let's not forget recent events in Israel.
As long as Tauck is going where I want to go, I will continue to give them the edge for this one reason.
I'd like to second the comments that Tauck always has a plan B and takes care of the guests on a short notice. In New Zealand there was a plane problem (cracked windshield) and we could not take off, so they gave us a tour of botanical gardens and a nice luncheon. We missed one of the stops on the tour, but this was clearly something that Tauck could not control and came up with a solution very quickly.
We have taken 9 Tauck tours and are very pleased.
Another New Zealand story -- Because of bad weather, our chartered plane from Queenstown to Auckland could not take off. Within 2 hours, our TD had our entire tour on a scheduled Air New Zealand flight between the two cities. In order to do so, he had to get approval from Connecticut headquarters to exceed his normal spending amount on his Tauck credit card.
Our story of a Tauck Plan B, started with a long lock delay on the Rhine River. Two buses of our group off the Swiss Emerald were touring a city in Germany when the Tauck Directors learned of the delay as we were headed to where we were supposed to meet the boat. The boat would not arrive for another two hours.
Their Plan B was a visit to a small pub on the route back to the boat. All 60 of us were treated to pretzels and all kinds of beer (Plan Beer?).
As we left, the owner and his wife were smiling and energetically waving. We all remarked, “well, Tauck paid their mortgage payment for a few months!”
We discovered Tauck in 2013;several excellent trips since then.Prior to that we did use other companies;one of particular mention was APT .service was comparable.More recently we used another company primarily because Tauck did not offer the itinerary.We seriously suffered Tauck withdrawal particularly with respect to airport transfers and luggage handling.One night hotel stay also was not so great but the highlight of the trip was cruising which was excellent.Have considered other agencies such as AberCombie and National Geographic but came back to book thru Tauck.We are satisfied with the itineraries and down time in the tours we have taken.After all one never sees everything in any place;the experience is just getting a glimpse of the place,culture and the place.
The food looks delicious, I wonder which tour company can offer that!
In regards to Plan B, I think most luxury tour company offers Plan B. For Tauck's Venice and Dalmatian Coast cruise, the visit to St Mark basilica was not exclusive, meaning the Tauck group goes in with every other tourists. The first time I went with Uniworld to Venice, the visit to St Mark basilica is just for the Uniword group at night, exclusively for just ourselves.
For this year Tauck/Ponant cruise, the Plan B was to cancel almost all of the hiking, biking and swimming excursions due to lack of interest. Back Roads which shares the same ship has every one gone to the active excursions.
For the same Dalmatian cruise, Tauck airport transfer was late so a Uniworld representative had to call for the Tauck shuttle to pick a group of us five up after we were stranded at the airport.
To give Tauck credit, my flight was delayed for two hours for Japan Land Tour, the Tauck airport transfer waited for two hours in pouring rain and there was a Tauck representative at the Kansai Airport to show the three of us where to go when the departing flight terminal changed without any notice.
Is Plan B and airport transfer courtesy unique?
We have done fourteen Tauck tours, and have three more scheduled. We travel almost exclusively with Windstar (18 cruises), and Tauck. On our Antarctica cruise Ponant announced a lecture describing future Ponant cruises, but announced also that the Tauck guests should book through Tauck. So I did some research to see if the Frenchies were getting a better deal. The Ponant version does not exactly match the Tauck trips, but it appeared to me that Tauck offers more ‘bang for the buck’ than booking directly with Ponant. We have done four Tauck trips aboard a Ponant ship. We are now Admirals with the Ponant loyalty program so we get some extra benefits.
On a recent trip with Tauck I was disappointed with when 2 advertised excursions that did not happen. In the past, when something changed, an explanation was given and substitute activity was presented.
On a recent trip, the only excursion for the last day was cancelled (several factors involved and not Tauck's fault). We were told of the cancellation the day prior. If we had booked the activity on our own, it would have cost $150 if transport was included. We were given $25! No other offerings or alternatives suggested. The prior day an advertised highlight visit nearby that was not done. No discussion or explanation by the TD. It could easily have been substituted for the cancelled excursion. We were in a remote place with limited opportunities (none given by TD and hotel concierge was not helpful.) Spent the day walking into a tiny town with a few shops with name brands we have at home and drinking! I rather drink at night. :-)
I think a Plan B depends on the TD. Ours was a “kid” who did not seem to have much experience, although she professed to have it. I am finding more and more the TDs are referring travelers to the hotel concierge. The good TDs I have had usually provide provide some guidance for free time. They get bigger tips from us.
So there is not always a Plan B although we did experience Plan Bs on many other trips with Tauck and will travel with them twice in 2024. I learned that next time I will be more proactive when a plan activity is cancelled.
I agree with Plan B depends on the TD. They are never perfect. For the recent One Week in Portugal Sao Bento Train station(worth 15 minutes of visit time) was substituted with a beach walk at the mouth of the Douro without any advance notice. Given there was severe traffic congestion, construction crews in from of the station, I totally understand why it was cancelled but there was never any explanation given why we went to the beach at 8 in the morning for 15 minutes. Luckily i went to Sao Bento on my own the day before on the Pre-Trip Day. An hour visit to a cork factory was added impromptu which I loved but a lot of the budget minded Tauck guests, were very impatient preferring to head back to the hotel to get dressed for the dinner at Marriott.
On the other hand, our wonderful TD Larry and Nicole added a visit to a small, absolutely beautiful park in Hiroshima when the tour group was too efficient, an hour ahead of the schedule train ride back to Kyoto. The park was wonderful. It was beautiful! I prefer the nice Tauck coach over the bullet train any day. The Tauck coach is very comfortable, clean, air conditioned with big clean windows with possible emergency bathroom facility.
And yes the Ponant version is different from Tauck. The frenchies are paying more with very few excursions included. However, they are only ones that could go to the blue Grotto/Lokrum on the Venice and Dalmatian Coast cruise. Tauck guests were told we don't have that option.The oyster farm visit with lunch was also off limit to Tauck guests despite offering to pay for them.
We traveled with Tauck eight times with three more trips planned. Also, we have traveled with Silversea seven times and I would recommend them. We did one river cruise on the Douro river with Viking in June 2022 and it was my least favorite trip. The food on Viking was very good except when you went on some excursions that included lunch off the ship it was very mediocre and we were all served the same food with absolutely no choices. This was a big disappointment. Excursions off the ship were pretty typical but the local guides were not the same quality and experience as you have on a Tauck cruise. Some were a little better but overall it felt again kind of institutional. We were just being processed it seemed. Maybe that is related to COVID and the related fatigue throughout Europe but we think the local guides could have put a little more effort in welcoming us and being more inspiring in their presentations and descriptions of local sights.
We've decided that Viking will not be our first choice for river cruising. We'll stick with what we know and like and for the next couple of years; it'll be Tauck for river cruising trips.
Wow, I loved reading all of the comments about Tauck, land vs river/ocean, independent travel etc. 30 years ago when we started to travel, independence was our first priority. We planned our own itinerary, ate when and where we wanted etc. Then as we aged (77 and 87 now) we decided it would be better if someone else picked us up at the airport, carried out bags and made sure to take care of us if we had any health emergencies (thankfully we didn't but others on our trips did) We traveled with Tauck on their Croatia (land based), Japan and China tours that have been mentioned here and also on the River cruise along the Rhine plus 9 other trips with Tauck and a few more with other companies. As we aged, so have our traveling partners with Tauck, so yes, Tauck caters to an older group. However, most of these are experienced travelers, usually able to keep up with the activities, or politely bow out and willing to deal with the unexpected.. Most are willing to explore new foods and different locations during free time with other new found traveling friends or on their own. We have rarely encountered people who could not find some interesting local place to eat or find a way to entertain themselves during the relatively little free time that Tauck provides. The active times on our trips (remember our ages) were infinitely more interesting and satisfying than our comparatively limited shore time on the river cruise.
Just to put things into perspective, when we were in Dubrovnik last year (ages 76 and 86) we walked the town walls during our pre-trip free time because we knew that Tauck did not include it. However, one of the local guides did offer to lead a wall walk during the actual tour. We were happy that we did it on our own so we could go at our own pace. We also opted to visit several destinations on our own that were not included with Tauck. Last fall we took the Belissima Italy trip with Tauck and again, got into a taxi to indepently explore some restaurants and sites that interested us but were were not included on the tour We hope to take the Paris-Normandy trip next fall and have already decided to forego the Tauck bus tour around Paris and go off on our own because we have visited Paris before. The rest of the tour will be new for us.
I guess the bottom line as has already been said is to each his/her own and be sure to carefully decide what is important to you and then do your research on what is provided. In any case, Happy traveling.
I agree with Noreen about Viking. We tried a Viking river cruise once-never again. On the "included" tours, we looked at the fascade of the buildings, and did not go inside, except for "Viking Abbey" which was nothing memorable or important - while Melk Abbey was a short ride down the river. We never got to experience the vista shown on the Viking ads - driven to another town to get on the ship after a boring bus tour. We never went near the Parliament building in Budapest. The tour started in Budapest, I had a list of things to see and do in Budapest. I was assured we would have free time - that did not happen. Most things were closed on Sundays and the start of the first tour, on a bus was early.
The paid tours that I remember: Schonbrunn Palace was a tour of 2 rooms and another tour to the first brewery - we were left in the square - never went in - and treated to a beer at a truck stop although there tables in the park outside the brewery. Guides stood with their hands out at the door when we left the bus.
Stingy with the included wine...needed to flag the server to get a drink and refill.
I understand some people love Viking, but Tauck has spoiled us and helps us spend out kid's inheritance! Some interesting, revived and revised tours for 2025!
We went in June 2021 and not 2022. The wine on board was not great and they served the same wine every day for eight days at lunch and dinner that was included. However, we had one of their nicest cabins and it included the mini-fridge to be replenished daily that had nicer wine so I just showed up at dinner with my own wine from the cabin. There is no excuse for this as wine in Portugal is very inexpensive. I was told I could purchase a wine package. This is just nickel and dime stuff which I don't like.
We travel exclusively with Tauck. We’ve looked at other tour companies but do not like being nickeled and dimed. We prefer the upscale and all inclusive that Tauck offers. Also, we have found that when problems occur on tour, Tauck and their TDs do their best to provide alternatives. When we went on Best of Hawaii last year, we had not one but two bus mishaps. The first caused us to miss the Kona coffee plantation tour for which we were reimbursed by a Tauck and provided some compensation by the bus company. The second was on Maui while returning from an excursion. A few days after we returned home, we received an apologetic letter from Tauck with an unexpected but fair compensation for the disappointments we experienced. Knowing how much Tauck appreciates its customer base makes it easy for us to (as bucketlist said) spend our kids’ inheritance on Tauck tours!
On my recent Blue Danube river cruise, we had many unexpected tours and enhancements. I had arranged some private tours prior to the trip that I needed to re-direct because TAUCK added to their planned itinerary.
Some friends had gone in a Viking river cruise with the same basic itinerary- but their days were not as full or complete as ours. They did feel nickel and dimed regarding liquor package and added sightseeing.
There is no question in my opinion that TAUCK offers and delivers an excellent product.
As far as I recall, I am not sure Tauck always offered free alcohol on the river cruises, I could be wrong.
But I don’t get the all inclusive, it might be on the river cruises but on land tours there are more and more meals to find out of your own pocket. Most of you are fairly new to Tauck, I have been traveling pretty frequently with them for twenty years. They are still the best but are changing. Just my opinions but not always for the best.
Alcohol is included on river cruises - not just with dinner. As are tips.
Alcohol and tips are included in the small ship tours as well. And if you look at the “what’s included’ on the website description of the tour it tells you exactly how many meals are included. Our next river cruise is Savoring France. It is ten days including the arrival and departure days, and includes 23 meals. There is one meal each on the arrival and departure days, which leaves 21 meals for the other eight days. So if you eat three meals a day, which we don’t, you will have three meals on your own during those eight days. Personally, I like having a few meals away from the tour group. I typically eat a lot less than what Tauck provides. In any case on our next river cruise it is ‘al inclusive’ except for three meals which we will probably only eat if it is a dinner meal. If it is lunch it will likely be coffee or a glass of wine.
Yes, alcohol is definitely included. One can actually spend more on Viking for the same cruise whether it is a river cruise or ocean voyage when comparing Viking to Tauck. The add-ons with Viking happen gradually with paying more for excursions and the alcohol package that you don’t realize it until after the fact. This is more obvious when we’re paying for adult children that we’re treating for a trip because all the add-ons kept on adding up! I vote for Tauck. There are not any add-ons and/or extra fees.
Tauck/Ponant have alcohols included just not the real premium stuff. You have access to 80% of everything on the ship for free including a well stocked refrigerator. The rest Ponant will bill you on the last days.
Uniworld has an empty refrigerator but as a guest, you are entitled to 100% of the alcohol on the ship. According to me and another guest on the recent Tauck/Poanant cruise, the selection of red and white is slightly better on Uniworld.
It’s the Alaska trip that used to not include alcohol. Does anyone remember Tauck people reporting on the forum that the none Tauck people pretending to be Tauck to get free drinks when Tauck started to include them. Now they have to wear wrist tags.