Tauck vs Uniworld

[ddschur]

I hope that you chose Uniworld. Tauck is a secondary carrier. They charter the ship. Tauck can be good and also very bad. I took 4 great tours with them....raved about them...everything was good. My 5th trip was horrible...everything went wrong. It was so bad that we called Tauck from Europe. Tauck didn't care...told us not to book with them again...no help, no apology, poor attitude. I wouldn't travel anywhere with Tauck even if it were free. I am not the only one who has had this experience. I travel often, but never again with Tauck!

 

Everyone one is entitled to their opinion and mine is the exact opposite of the one quoted.

 

We have been on several Tauck tours (land and river) and they have all been SUPERB!

 

We have seen many of the riverboats represented here and, my opinion is, that NONE of them are as impressive as the Tauck river boats.

 

Additionally, the food was superb and service was unmatched!

 

IMHO, I think Tauck is THE river cruise line for the truly exceptional experience!

[letsgo39]

I really don't see how they can be compared unless you have traveled on both. Tauck is definitely a lot more expensive and many of the things people brag about being included on Tauck are also included on Uniworld,AMA and Avalon.

[Ozjohnno]

I really don't see how they can be compared unless you have traveled on both. Tauck is definitely a lot more expensive and many of the things people brag about being included on Tauck are also included on Uniworld,AMA and Avalon.

 

As we've yet to do a river cruise I'm probably open to being bucketed for buying into this discussion but from my research so far in Australia I have to say that Tauck, as I write this, are NOT the most expensive and again I have to say I've not seen anywhere any options you have to pay extra for with Tauck and they appear to take you places that you have to pay extra to go to with the others.

[shoshona2]

To Redtravel,

 

Sorry your Tauck tour was so horrible. I'm sure that if you would have written a letter to Tauck's president and told him about your experience, you would NOT have gotten the rude answer you got from some rep (did you write down this rep's name?). Tauck has been in business for 80 years and it relies on word of mouth for new bookings. My friends had a terrible time on a Tauck Tour last year (weather conditions were horrible and the tour guide wasn't up to par) and it ruined their vacation. They contacted Tauck's headquarters and Tauck has made it up to them on their next tour. We have taken over 13 tours with them -- some boat trips -- and are looking forward to our next tour on July 13th on the brand new Jewel doing the Rhine and Moselle and another tour next year to London and Paris with our granddaughter.

 

Happy cruising to you!

 

Sheila

[thunderbird56]

from my research so far in Australia I have to say that Tauck, as I write this, are NOT the most expensive .

 

Let me start by saying that I have heard nothing but great things about Tauck and I believe they provide a high quality experience in every way. Having said that, you definitely pay for what you get. I did a lot of pricing analysis before booking our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise for this July. I ended up booking the largest non-suite cabin on the upper deck with sliding glass doors and french balcony on Vantage for slightly less than 10K for two from AZ including airfare. I just went back and checked the identical cruise with Tauck in a comparable cabin and it was 6300-6800 pp w/o airfare which in July would run you at least 1400 pp. Tauck includes all gratuities and wine with meals but everything else is comparable. I figure they are at least 5K per couple more. If I had that in my travel budget I would definitely consider them, but that's a bit much for me. In all fairness to Ozjohnno, Vantage is not a company thats available in Australia so they have to work with what they can get, but it is certainly a factor for US and Canadians.

[orchestrapal]

To Redtravel,

 

Sorry your Tauck tour was so horrible. I'm sure that if you would have written a letter to Tauck's president and told him about your experience, you would NOT have gotten the rude answer you got from some rep (did you write down this rep's name?). Tauck has been in business for 80 years and it relies on word of mouth for new bookings. My friends had a terrible time on a Tauck Tour last year (weather conditions were horrible and the tour guide wasn't up to par) and it ruined their vacation. They contacted Tauck's headquarters and Tauck has made it up to them on their next tour. We have taken over 13 tours with them -- some boat trips -- and are looking forward to our next tour on July 13th on the brand new Jewel doing the Rhine and Moselle and another tour next year to London and Paris with our granddaughter.

 

Happy cruising to you!

 

Sheila

 

Sheila, So happy to read your comments. We have booked a suite on Tauck Rhine and Moselle cruise for May 2011.We are regular Oceania ocean cruisers and used to an upscale product and this will be our first river cruise. Sounds like we made a good choice. Please review when you return.:)

[Ozjohnno]

Let me start by saying that I have heard nothing but great things about Tauck and I believe they provide a high quality experience in every way. Having said that, you definitely pay for what you get. I did a lot of pricing analysis before booking our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise for this July. I ended up booking the largest non-suite cabin on the upper deck with sliding glass doors and french balcony on Vantage for slightly less than 10K for two from AZ including airfare. I just went back and checked the identical cruise with Tauck in a comparable cabin and it was 6300-6800 pp w/o airfare which in July would run you at least 1400 pp. Tauck includes all gratuities and wine with meals but everything else is comparable. I figure they are at least 5K per couple more. If I had that in my travel budget I would definitely consider them, but that's a bit much for me. In all fairness to Ozjohnno, Vantage is not a company thats available in Australia so they have to work with what they can get, but it is certainly a factor for US and Canadians.

 

It is true we in Australia do not have access to Vantage and I also was pricing the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. During my research I tried to compare apples with apples(same type cabin on the same deck) and had everything quoted in Australian dollars. Down here AMA uses the Australian company APT to conduct it's business so I got the prices from APT, Avalon, Uniworld, Scenic and Tauck. As it appears it is now the custom down here, for tip reticent Aussies, for all those companies to quote an "all inclusive price" that includes all gratuities but not options (if any). When you line them all up both APT and Scenic are more expensive than Tauck and Avalon and Uniworld only slightly cheaper but they have options you can pay for that are already covered in the Tauck price.

 

All I was trying to show initially that it unfair to simply label Tauck as "much more expensive" when down here they are not and to say "and many of the things people brag about being included on Tauck are also included on Uniworld,AMA and Avalon" can't be so if those companies offer "optionals" that are already included in the Tauck price.

 

I know I must sound like a Tauck rep and I've yet to set foot on any river cruise boat but I was just trying to clarify things in my part of the world.

[shoshona2]

Hi Orchestrapal,

 

We've been on all three Oceania ships and I've seen your postings on the Oceania board. This will be our first experience on a river cruise and we decided to go with Tauck since we have been so happy with our previous small ship cruise/tours with them. We have been on their 60 passenger sailing ship and their 80 passenger yacht and just loved them both. We just returned from Tauck's Egypt/Jordan tour with a wonderful Nile River cruise included. Just checked and our July 13th Rhine/Moselle is sold out. I will definitely post here when we return.

 

Sheila

[Wineart]

Hi Shoshona2,

 

I'd love any additional comments you have on the Tauck Egypt/Jordan tour. We've been on Oceania several times, and have booked our first river cruise this summer with Uniworld on the River Beatrice. I had been looking at Uniworld's Nile river cruise for next year, then found some information on Tauck's Egypt/Jordan tour which has us excited because it includes Jordan. We've travelled extensively, but always independently so have no experience with tour companies such as Tauck.

 

Roberta

[orchestrapal]

Sheila,

We'll look forward to your review when you return.

We leave on Oceania Insignia for 36 days on April 18th

and really look forward to it once again.:D

[shoshona2]

Hi Roberta,

 

Email me at scorpiosheila at yahoo dot com (I spelled it out since they usually delete email addresses) and I will answer any of your questions. It was a wonderful tour!

 

Sheila

[ARetiredGuy]

Sheila, So happy to read your comments. We have booked a suite on Tauck Rhine and Moselle cruise for May 2011.We are regular Oceania ocean cruisers and used to an upscale product and this will be our first river cruise. Sounds like we made a good choice. Please review when you return.:)

 

You will have a great time on the Rhine/Mosel cruise We did that last year on the Swiss Emerald. We did the Danube a few years ago also on the Swiss Emerald. I think some other tour operators are just as good as Tauck, but I am very pleased with them - so why change. We plan to do the Strasbourg - Regensburg trip next year. This would be our fifth Tauck tour.

[osur1947]

On our first trip to Italy several yrs ago, I took one pair of shorts, primarily because I was told that shorts were like a sign that read "tourist". Well, the combination of cameras, arriving in buses or ships, walking in groups led by tour guides with colored umbrellas, kind of gives you away. I wore my one pair of shorts almost every day, except for visits to religious sites and evenings, where khaki's were fine. Jeans are inappropriate, especially oin the summer. Too hot during the day, and tooo casual for at night.