Cheese and Chocolate - Yuletide Cruising on Tauck

[Roz]

I was on the December 20, 2022 Yuletide Spirit sailing on the ms Grace from Amsterdam to Brussels.  It was an outstanding cruise featuring Winterfest in The Netherlands and Belgium.  It wasn’t marketed as a Christmas market cruise, so the focus was a bit different although we did have the opportunity to visit a couple of winter festivals in The Netherlands and a few Christmas festivals and markets in Belgium.  

 

Pre-Cruise

 

I spent 3 days pre-cruise in Amsterdam at the Doubletree Centraal Station. Great hotel in a good location for cruisers and for getting around the city.  I’m a Hilton Honors member and checked it out on my first visit to Amsterdam.  Wonderful service that reminded me of the way things used to be pre-Covid.   

 

I booked my flights through Tauck.  Even though I came in 3 days early and wasn’t staying at Tauck’s hotel, they still sent a driver to meet me at Schipol Airport.  That was a nice touch.  I booked 2 activities online for my time in Amsterdam.  On Sunday I took a morning tour of the Rijksmuseum and on Monday I did an Amsterdam food tour.  Enjoyed both immensely.  

 

Passengers

 

There was a nice mix of passengers.  Several families, about 12-15 solos like myself, and the rest were couples.  All were Americans to the best of my knowledge, with the exception of 2 British ladies.  

 

The Cruise

 

This was my first Tauck cruise.  Prior to this I took 3 river cruises with Uniworld.  I found the 2 lines to be more alike than different.  I like Tauck's lowest category cabins (no single supplement for solos) better than Uniworld's, but I think Uniworld's food is better overall and there's more variety.  Tauck's "aquarium" class cabins have larger windows and are above the water line.  I will say Tauck's soups are outstanding and unique - cream of chestnut soup and mustard soup, for example. 

 

The 4 cruise directors were all helpful and informative and went above and beyond to make passengers feel welcome and comfortable.  There were Christmas activities onboard such as a Secret Santa gift exchange, cookie decorating, Christmas carol karaoke, etc.  And the ship was beautifully decorated for the holidays. 

 

All the excursions I participated in were outstanding, and each city we visited was unique and offered something different.  It would be hard to  name a favorite.  All were well done. 

 

The dining room service was sometimes a bit off at dinner.  For instance, if the hostess seated me at a table where people were already seated, she wouldn’t give me a menu or let the waiter know she had seated someone else.  One night our table wasn’t offered rolls, and we had to flag down a waiter for wine.  Two of the ladies already had wine.  The waiter poured wine for the third lady but didn’t offer me any even though it was clear both wine glasses were empty.  It could take a while to get tea or coffee with dessert if it arrived at all.  Not sure if the dining room service issues were due to staffing shortages or inexperienced employees.  I will say the waiters were good about asking if we wanted something off the menu for breakfast instead of the buffet or in addition to it.  

 

Itinerary

 

Our itinerary included Amsterdam, Gouda (pronounced How - da), Rotterdam or Delft, The Hague, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels.  There was only one change to the itinerary due to wind and water levels that involved spending 2 overnights in Antwerp instead of one, and then being bused to Bruges and Ghent.  I only visited Bruges as it was going to be too long of a day to do both.  Be prepared to do a lot of walking and I can’t stress enough about wearing comfortable walking shoes. For example, in Bruges the buses aren’t allowed in the city center so we had to walk a mile in and a mile out, in addition to hours of walking around Bruges, most of it on cobblestones.  My hips and knees were screaming at me that night, and I had to take an Aleve and drink a martini in order to be in shape for the next day’s activities.  

 

Throughout the cruise and excursions we were awash in cheese, chocolate, sausages, stroopwafels, and fish.  The hot waffle I had from a vendor stand in Bruges and the oliebollen (literal translation - oil balls) in Gouda stand out in my mind.  Not to mention the puffy little Dutch pancakes (poffertjes) with butter and powdered sugar  I had the opportunity to eat twice.

 

Weather

 

The weather was pretty much what I expected - cold, wet, windy, and dark.  Did I mention wet?  The most useful items I packed were a compact umbrella, lots of socks, gloves, and athletic shoes with thick soles for staying out of the water.  Some people were prepared and others weren’t.  The worst weather we encountered was the evening we were in The Hague.  It was rush hour and dark and raining, making it almost impossible to see the bike lanes and puddles.  I spent all my time at the Mauritshuis Museum as I needed an indoor activity.  

 

Flights

 

As I previously mentioned, I had my TA book my flights through Tauck.  Going over I was on American Airlines, Nashville to Philadelphia and then Philadelphia to Amsterdam.  I had a 4 hour layover in Philadelphia that turned into 2 hours due to delays in Nashville.  It took me about 40 minutes to get from the gate where we landed to the international terminal.  

 

I returned home from Brussels on December 27 on British Airways.  Despite dire warnings, I made it back on schedule.  The saving grace was I flew direct from Heathrow to Nashville, bypassing the East Coast weather mess and of course I wasn't on Southwest.  I got up at 2:15 am so I could make the flight from Brussels to London, then had a 6.5 hour layover at Heathrow.  It was a L-O-N-G day.  

 

Miscellaneous

 

The last time I visited Europe was in 2018.   A big change I noticed on this trip was the number of businesses, including small mom and pop shops, that only take credit and debit cards.  I was told this came about as a result of the requirement to have contactless payment during the peak of the Covid epidemic.  It was also easier to use my AMEX card.  I carry 2 cards with me, one AMEX and one Visa.  The only place I couldn’t use my AMEX was for a canal boat ride in Bruges.  I brought some leftover euros with me to get me started, but didn’t have a need to get any additional from an ATM.

 

I ended up with a zero balance on my onboard account.  All food, drinks, excursions, tips, and transfers were included.  

 

Conclusion

 

Tauck is a class act, and I will definitely consider them for future river cruises.  This was definitely an itinerary I would consider doing again, and I heard other passengers echo the same sentiment.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for this review.  I have heard similar wonderful things about Tauck, and also that food is their weak point.  Question: I think of Tauck [perhaps unfairly] as primarily a middle-American bus tour provider – is their food aimed at stereotypical 'middle-American' tastes?  Just trying to get a handle of how if differs from other river cruise lines.

[Roz]

11 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for this review.  I have heard similar wonderful things about Tauck, and also that food is their weak point.  Question: I think of Tauck [perhaps unfairly] as primarily a middle-American bus tour provider – is their food aimed at stereotypical 'middle-American' tastes?  Just trying to get a handle of how if differs from other river cruise lines.

 

Their menus include local specialties that I wouldn't consider stereotypical mid-American fare.  For instance, the first night I had Bami Goreng.  We also had 2 different types of rouladen.  The last night I had black tagliette (sp?) with mussels and prawns in a roasted tomato sauce.  The one American dinner I recall was Christmas Eve - turkey breast rolled with stuffing, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potato puree.  They did a nice job with it but there was no cranberry sauce. 😁

 

One day at lunch there were some delicious Belgian boulets (meatballs) in a tasty sauce.  Then there was the Livar pork chop I had heard so much about.  It was huge and mildly salty like ham.  I was somewhat disappointed in it.  It was rather dry and didn't have the rich flavor I imagined it would have coming from a specially bred pig.  

[Second seating]

Roz,

 

What was the Christmas Market in Bruges like?  We are planning a DIY trip in December to some of our favorite spots in the Netherlands and Belgium. I have been to every place during the spring, summer or fall except Ghent.

 

Thanks,

Second seating

[Roz]

@Second seating, the Christmas market was small but nice in the main town square.  There was ice skating and mostly food booths, but also a few booths selling crafts and clothing items.  We were there on Christmas Eve and it was crowded.  Plan on doing some shopping and sightseeing outside of the market because there's not enough there to keep you busy and occupied.

[Roz]

The Netherlands and Belgium are so small it's amazing how much you can see and do in a short amt. of time.

[Coral]

I easily blew through $400 Euros on my French/Spain/Portugal cruise recently. Also went through quite a bit of British pounds in UK.

 

I didn't run into any place there that wouldn't take cash.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like a great trip.

[papa B me]

I’m going on the new Uniworld Belgium Christmas Market cruise in December.  Looking forward to the Chocolate, Cheese, and most importantly Beer-ha

[Second seating]

pappa B me,

 

Enjoy your cruise, it has great stops I have been to in the past, just not in Dec.  We were in the Netherlands in Dec. one year pre cruise (work for spouse at Tilburg University) planning to travel to Maastricht but it snowed!  The trains in the Netherlands have issues when it snows a few inches!!!  I have been to Maastricht years ago in the summer, fantastic!

 

Second seating

[Roz]

@papa B me, I'm considering that same cruise.

[Roz]

I am still gushing about this cruise and thinking about how much fun I had and all the interesting things I saw. So....today I booked the same cruise for this coming December along with the cruise after it. It will be a back to back and I'll be spending both Christmas and New Year's onboard. My travel agent was able to snag the same cabin for me for both segments so I don't have to pack up after the first cruise. I'm so excited. I see more stroopwafels and bitterballen in my future.

[CPT Trips]

On 1/4/2023 at 10:45 AM, papa B me said:

I’m going on the new Uniworld Belgium Christmas Market cruise in December.  Looking forward to the Chocolate, Cheese, and most importantly Beer-ha

For the most important part of your trip, check out http://www.ottosrambles.co.uk. 
He has led me to some interesting experiences. Check ahead, some of his entries are dated and the establishment might have closed. 

[Gatorcpa]

I took the same cruise Roz, beginning 12/27/22. The service problems in the dining room were mostly resolved on our cruise. The only problem I had was a server who brought me sea bass served on a bed of clams. When I reminded him I was allergic to shellfish he curtly tried to inform me that clams were not shellfish and was rude when I asked to have my entree replaced. Other than this incident, I thought the food and wine was great.

We had similar nasty weather which cannot be helped. I did enjoy the itinerary, as I had always wanted to visit Belgium. However, I was disappointed in the Christmas Markets as they don’t hold a candle to German Christmas Markets I visited on a previous Tauck Rhine River cruise. Days were busy and long, but the ship was welcoming and comfortable to come home to. We had several large multigenerational families onboard. The kids and young adults were well behaved and added some fun and energy to the mix. I think this same itinerary would be more enjoyable at another time of year, perhaps when tulips  are blooming. 

Tauck held a really fun New Years Eve celebration on board. All of our onboard tour directors were wonderful. The housekeeping staff worked really hard at cleaning the shop. 
 

As long as you weren’t expecting authentic Christmas markets in full swing, this cruise was a nice way to spend the holidays after Christmas. I would definitely cruise with Tauck again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roz]

@Gatorcpa, I'm pretty sure I know which waiter you're talking about.  He was very surly with me one night when I wanted the fish instead of the prawns.  

 

Glad to hear you had a similarly good experience.  I agree with you that the kids and young people onboard added to the fun.  

 

I wasn't expecting much in the way of Christmas markets which is one of the reasons I booked this cruise and not one on the Rhine or Danube.