Tauck tour on MS Switzerland II

[vettecruiser]

Hi all --

 

I'm new to cruisecritic, but found tons of information here last year for my first European cruise from Venice to Barcelona. I'm just about to book my first river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam in early October with Tauck tours on the MS Switzerland II, but am having a difficult time finding information on this particular boat (ship?), which looks older in the pictures. I understand from some earlier posts that it is probably operated by Scylla, but does anyone have any further information, good or bad, to share about either the Switzerland II (or the Swiss Diamond or Swiss Emerald) or Tauck before I mortgage my house, dogs and car? Thank you!!:confused:

[cmthomas]

Hi and welcome to this nice little corner of river cruising!

 

I am a big fan of Tauck having traveled with them 9 times all over the world. Before we took our first river cruise I looked at their offering on the Switzerland and compared it to the other lines doing the same itinerary.

 

It was very difficult for me to justify the substantially higher cost so we decided to use another company and were delighted with the result.

 

If you read enough of the posts on this forum I think you will come to the conclusion that many people have a preference for a particular line or ship upon which they have traveled but when all is said and done it boils down to itinerary, included features, price and availability. The differences among the companies offering river cruises to the Americna market are minor and all seem to be regarded very highly. Tough to go wrong!

 

Hopefully someone who has been on the Switzerland will be able to give you a first hand report but whatever you decide I am sure that it will be enjoyable!

 

Clarence:)

[BJS]

Hi all --

 

I'm new to cruisecritic, but found tons of information here last year for my first European cruise from Venice to Barcelona. I'm just about to book my first river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam in early October with Tauck tours on the MS Switzerland II, but am having a difficult time finding information on this particular boat (ship?), which looks older in the pictures. I understand from some earlier posts that it is probably operated by Scylla, but does anyone have any further information, good or bad, to share about either the Switzerland II (or the Swiss Diamond or Swiss Emerald) or Tauck before I mortgage my house, dogs and car? Thank you!!:confused:

We booked a 2 for 1 on the Viking Spirt last week. Leaves Budapest on Oct. 15th for 14 nights. You can check out their web site and figure the cost. The total is what they say per person plus the port charges for the second person. You can also call them and ask for Promo 06P for the Grand European Tour. When I called they said they'd opened another sailing on Oct. 4 for this itinerary but not sure if that one starts in Amsterdam and goes to Budapest.

 

Lots of good comments about Viking on this board.

[steamboats]

Here´s the website of Scylla Tours:

 

http://www.scylla-tours.com/html_gb/index.html

 

They mainly charter their boats. Some of them are offered by a German tour operator too.

 

steamboats