Tauck Danube Cruise

[torst]

Anyone doing the Danube this spring? Any words of advice from others that have done this trip?

[Doonan]

We did a Budapest to Amsterdam with Uniworld last year .... fantastic.

 

Gay .. No ... Gay Friendly .. Yes. Everyone was great fun. As you realise they include sightseeing on the river cruises which was very good. Food was out of this world.

 

We had a cabin on the top deck .. excellent with top class amenities in the bathroom.

 

Guess that says it all .. we will do another river cruise in the future.

 

Neil

[apollobeach]

We took a deluxe Tauck tour and Tauck (including their tour guides)

are clearly NOT Gay friendly. Would stay clear of anything offered by Tauck.:mad:

[Anthony&David]

We took a deluxe Tauck tour and Tauck (including their tour guides)

are clearly NOT Gay friendly. Would stay clear of anything offered by Tauck.:mad:

 

I am interested in what led you to this conclusion. And, are there other lines you would suggest, and why?

 

I think doing a river cruise somewhere in Europe could be quite interesting, but I think we would do a lot more planning than we have for the few big-line cruises we have done. So, any information you can share would be great. Thanks.

[Darrell6t]

My partner & I have been on several river cruises, though not with Tauck. There are so few people on a river boat so that you get to know almost everyone and they know you. So a gay couple is very obvious and that can be a problem. We were asked "Are you from Texas?" No, we said. Oh, you're the other ones. Yes, there was another gay couple from Texas. We still had a good time and no one was unpleasant.

 

The river cruises with RSVP, an all gay cruise, were so much better. But all gay river cruises are very rare.

 

We did go to Australia with Tauck and had no problems. The guide was friendly enough and no one was a problem. But so much depends on the group you end up with and that is never the same.

[Doonan]

River Cruising and Sea Crusing are very different and should not be compared.

 

Sea cruises are like staying in a big five star hotel with lots of glitz, bars and enterainment .. also many people to meet with FOD etc.

 

Think of a river cruise as a small boutque hotel. Fine service and food and a mix of people most of whom you will get to speak with at some time.

 

The river cruise is a great way to see Europe as you visit both large and small towns with time to explore and experience the country.

 

We had not problems being a gay couple and loved every second and will go again in the future.

 

Neil

[YoungRestlessOne]

I am a gay man from Columbus, Ohio. My husband and I have been on several sea cruises (gay and straight, including 2 with Atlantis and 1 with RSVP). We have never done a river cruise before but have always wanted to. I have started doing some research into various tour operators, and Tauck was on my list, so I very much appreciate the feedback offered in this thread saying that Tauck was not gay friendly.

 

Are there specific river cruise operators that are known for being more gay friendly? We have friends (a straight couple) who recently traveled in Europe on A M Waterways (I think that was the name) and loved it. I get mailings from Viking practically weekly. But I'm fairly ignorant about the river cruise market and would appreciate more feedback from gay couples who have done this type of cruising.

[Darrell6t]

RSVP chartered AMA Waterways a couple of years ago for 2 river cruises. We were on one of them and it was wonderful. Their ships are very, very nice. The staff was fabulous. The food was really excellent and the free wine was different every nignt, and also excellent. I recommend them. http://www.amawaterways.com/

[Doonan]

We travelled with Uniworld last year for 15 days from Budapest to Amsterdam. The crew and fellow passnger were all very friendly and we had a great time .... fantastic.

 

Have only been on Uniworld so can not compare with other river cruise companies.

 

Out of interest we had a delay in sailing as the Danube was flooded and non of the cruise bots could get under the bridges.

 

Uniworld put on extra free sightseeing for us in and round Budapest and after we sailed made sure we did not miss any ports on the itinerie. They did this by stopping in other places , they then had coaches waiting to take us ahead of ship which we then joined later in the day plus again they added extra sightseeing at no charge.

 

At the end the apple on the cake we all got a letter from the CEO saying they were sorry for the changes (Not the fault of Uniworld) and gave us all a $300 per peron discount from our next cruise valued for 3 years.

 

They acted way beyond what I would have imagines.

 

I will go on another rivercruise some time in the fuure an it will be Uniworld.

 

Neil

[YoungRestlessOne]

We travelled with Uniworld last year for 15 days from Budapest to Amsterdam. The crew and fellow passnger were all very friendly and we had a great time .... fantastic.

 

Have only been on Uniworld so can not compare with other river cruise companies.

 

Out of interest we had a delay in sailing as the Danube was flooded and non of the cruise bots could get under the bridges.

 

Uniworld put on extra free sightseeing for us in and round Budapest and after we sailed made sure we did not miss any ports on the itinerie. They did this by stopping in other places , they then had coaches waiting to take us ahead of ship which we then joined later in the day plus again they added extra sightseeing at no charge.

 

At the end the apple on the cake we all got a letter from the CEO saying they were sorry for the changes (Not the fault of Uniworld) and gave us all a $300 per peron discount from our next cruise valued for 3 years.

 

They acted way beyond what I would have imagines.

 

I will go on another rivercruise some time in the fuure an it will be Uniworld.

 

Neil

 

Thanks for all the great information, guys! I am going to check out AMA Waterways and Uniworld.

[torst]

My partner and I have just returned from our Tack Danube cruise. We were very welcome by all staff, crew and passengers. Highly recommend!

[kennetro]

That's great to hear TORST, as we're booked with Tauck in November for their "Jewels of the Nile" river cruise. It looks great & I've read nothing but 5-star reviews for Tauck on Cruise Critic.

[RMS Olympic]

I am curious as to why Tauck is not gay friendly? Was it the ships staff or the passengers onboard? Tauck is one of my choices to tour Machu Picchu next year and although the furthest thing from a river cruise, a Travel Company's attitude or policy towards gay travelers is very important to me.

As for a river cruise....I have an interest in doing Germany, but as a single a river cruise gets really exspensive...if Tauck includes tours in their pricing, that is a great asset.

[torst]

On our recent cruise all transfers, all tips, all tours were included. A couple of meals were not. Beer, maybe wine was included at lunch and wine at dinner. There were four complimentary cocktail parties and most drinks, already reasonably priced, were half price for the one hour happy hour before dinner. If you don't drink or shop you could get away with spending very little money once you leave home. We found that when you added up all the inclusions that Tauck seemed a good deal and they certainly delivered.

 

There was some form of discount on single supplements on our particular cruise with 18 singles on board.