Off Topic-Tauck River Cruises

[chrism23]

Hi.  I am venturing far a field, I apologize but need some help.  I am a regular poster here, a Silversea life , with 10 cruises and about 150 days in,  I rely a lot on this forum for information.  There are quite a few people here that really know what they are talking about.  I have a River Cruise scheduled with Tauck-Budapest to Amsterdam on June 14th.  I can't find a Tauck site on Cruise Critic  I have had 2 trips with Tauck a cruise to Cuba on the Ponant-their original ship, a gorgeous art deco sailing ship, which you wouldn't get me on again if you paid me.  And a land trip to the Canyons.

 

Can any body tell me anything I need to know about doing a river cruise with them?  If not could someone point me in the right direction.  TiA

 

chris

[Host Jazzbeau]

I won't move this thread since you want Silversea veterans' advice, but the place you need to post in is the Cruise Critic River Cruising forum.  [Of which I am the genial Host 😁]

 

[cruise_loverinlaval]

Congratulations Chris, you have selected an excellent itinerary.  I did it on a Uniworld ship, S.S. Maria Theresa.  I never did a river cruise with Tauck but my readings on them suggest to me that Your choice should be o.k.  I also did a river cruise Holland & Belgium at Tulip Time on the Crystal Bach. Crystal is not in river cruise business anymore but their ships are still in service.  Crystal had 5 river cruise ships.  Two of their ships are now used by Uniworld, their new name are S.S. Victoria and S.S. Elizabeth. One excellent point about these ships is that there is only 110 passengers vs 150 to 190 on other cruise lines ships and all ships have the same size therefore more space per passenger on Crystal ships.  My experience on both lines, Crystal and Uniworld, were similar, all inclusive, excellent service, food and excursions.  Enjoy your cruise in June! I am looking forward to read your future review.

[Gourmet Gal]

I did this cruise with Tauck and it’s a great itinerary.  Tauck is as all-inclusive as SS and the service is excellent though less “formal” than SS.  Food choices are more limited due to the small size of the ship and again the cuisine is less fussy but well-prepared. Tauck’s guides are really the highlight as the tour groups are smaller and the guides are very knowledgeable.  There will also be little surprises along the way that can be quite delightful. Tauck began as a company in the ‘20’s as a tour company so that is where they excel.  They do not own any ships and the ships are not crewed by Tauck employees.  That isn’t usually a negative at all but I believe in the case of Ponant it can be problematic.  I believe for the river cruises Tauck compares favorably to SS.  If you’ve not taken a river cruise before you’ll be surprised at how tiny the cabins are.  I highly recommend that you book a suite - still small but more comfortable.

 

I have also sailed on Uniworld and find Tauck superior because they have even fewer passengers in general and a better staff to pax ratio and of course the tours are much better.  I personally would not sail Uniworld again after experiencing Tauck.  Someone here may also chime in about Scenic and they are quite comparable to Tauck.
 

There is not a Tauck specific forum on CC but as you may know, Tauck has their own forum and you can glean a lot of info just reading through it.  You’ll see a thread specifically for your itinerary.

Edited February 8 by Gourmet Gal
More thoughts!

[jdk-atlga]

9 hours ago, cruise_loverinlaval said:

Congratulations Chris, you have selected an excellent itinerary.  I did it on a Uniworld ship, S.S. Maria Theresa.  I never did a river cruise with Tauck but my readings on them suggest to me that Your choice should be o.k.  I also did a river cruise Holland & Belgium at Tulip Time on the Crystal Bach. Crystal is not in river cruise business anymore but their ships are still in service.  Crystal had 5 river cruise ships.  Two of their ships are now used by Uniworld, their new name are S.S. Victoria and S.S. Elizabeth. One excellent point about these ships is that there is only 110 passengers vs 150 to 190 on other cruise lines ships and all ships have the same size therefore more space per passenger on Crystal ships.  My experience on both lines, Crystal and Uniworld, were similar, all inclusive, excellent service, food and excursions.  Enjoy your cruise in June! I am looking forward to read your future review.

Agreed. The largest river ship (owned/operated by Scylla) that Tauck uses carries only 130 passengers. While I typically sail with Seabourn, I had no issues with Tauck River - it's just a different feel/vibe for river than ocean. One great thing (perhaps due to split between the Tauck staff and the ship staff) about Tauck is that if something does wrong (i.e., water levels, strikes, etc.), they go above and beyond to make things as right as possible. You should feel very comfortable with a Tauck booking.

Best, jdk