Hi-
We are new to the Tauck family. My travel partners are my husband and 11 yr old daughter. Last year we did the Bridges River tour from Paris to Normandy. This year we tried land-based - Costa Rica. I frequent this site looking for advice on Bridges tours and always come up empty. so I am offering a quick compare/contrast of these two options from our perspective. In short, we found Tauck to be the perfect way for a busy family to see the world and allow someone else to do all the work. I could not have done some of these excursions (not without having a huge fight as we navigated roads, tour guides, languages, and other travel hassles). That comes at a cost. You do not have control of what your day looks like. If you want to stay longer (or shorter) at any site - too bad. Both tours were expertly run and we never worried about anything. Giving you the freedom to relax on an international trip while watching your children see the world. We learned that the mix of families fluctuate. Having a family along that you jive with can make a trip that much better. On one trip, my daughter made a ton of friends and we never saw her. On the other, she was more limited. Both tour guides were polished, polite, and professional. For us, we preferred the energy and fun the one gave, but these are personal preferences. Finally, I was upset at what I thought was a lack of communication leading up to our trips. I learned that is because there is nothing for you to do or worry about. As a Type A person, that is hard to let go of. But trust me - you can! Here is how I would compare/contrast a river versus land tour for families.
River- (1) You unpack once; (2) After a long day of touring you come back to a known location with bartenders who have a drink ready; (3) The service was always impeccable; (4) I felt more comfortable letting my daughter run free on the ship versus unknown resorts; (5) We got to know each other more since we did everything together; (6) There seemed to be more planned activities at night since we were all together; (7) We loved the peace and quite having a drink on the deck and watching towns go by.
Land - (1) More time overall on the bus; (2) Service was sometimes amazing, sometimes good, and even not good; (3) We feel you do get more of a 'real' feel for the country since you spend more time interacting with the people who live there; (4) You get to try a range of menus, hotel rooms, resorts, and drinks; (5) they make it easy for you as you don't handle your luggage, but unpacking/organizing can be a pain. (6) at night, we felt on our own with no planned group activities (that could be good or bad I guess).
Next year we are taking a break from Tauck and doing several of our own US-based trips. As much as I have loved the ease of these trips, I miss trip planning. Our Tauck wish list includes the river journey from Amsterdam to Switzerland and the Japan one. I will monitor the forum for a day or so if anyone has bridges questions or ones related to the trips we have gone on! Happy Traveling!
Hope T.
