Tauck VS Oceania

[missella1]

Hi: I am wondering if any of you out there have taken a Tauck tour and if so, please compare your enjoyment of it vs an Oceania cruise. Thanks.

[larablair]

Hello, hopefully I can give you some useful info. I am a tour director. Though I don't work for Tauck I work for another tour operator. Tauck is the 5 star motor coach tour operator. Don't think you can compare a motor coach tour to a cruise. It is like apples/oranges. For one thing, you don't have to wake up at 5a.m. leave your bags out, be ready to take off and go to the next hotel!! No packing and unpacking, same bed every night. YEAHH!!! Excellent food and service. etc. I am doing the Baltics cruise on Regatta, June 20th. Cannot wait. Jeanine

[shoshona2]

Hi Missella 1,

My DH and I just returned from our third Oceania cruise and have taken eleven Tauck Tours, so I couldn't resist giving you our answer.

We have found that the same type of people are taking both. We met two fun couples on Tauck's Asian tour -- Hong Kong to Bangkok in November 2004 and invited them to join us on our Beijing to Hong Kong cruise which just ended on March 31st. Both companies appeal to get well-traveled people since their itineraries are terrific. We are booking Tauck's Dalmation Coast cruise-tour for Summer 2007. We would book another Oceania cruise if they come up with an itinerary that appeals to us. We are awaiting news of a fourth ship and new itineraries.

On both, the food is great and the people we have met are fun and interesting.

Sheila

[Benita]

We have not taken an Oceania cruise yet, but have sailed on Renaissance and about another half dozen cruise lines. Cruising and Tauck are totally different, although Tauck has added some cruise tours.
Tauck is very high level land tours. Great hotels and excellent meals. We have been on 7 of them and loved them all. When you are on a land trip, you arise early, eat breakfast and start touring. You spend more time in a place, so you get to know them in more depth. A few hour shore excursion in Barcelona or Rome does not compare to three nights in a centrally located hotel.

[patlanta]

We've sailed on Oceania and toured with Tauck. Each does what they do well. I would say it depends on your destination. Next year we're taking two 21 day Tauck tours and, while I dislike the packing/unpakcing, you've got to do what you've got to do if you want to go where they're going.

[RetiredinPrescott]

This was a great question and I appreciate the answers posted. My wife and I are taking our first Tauck tour (Grand Canadian Rockies) this summer and our first Oceania cruise this Nov. (Venice to Lisbon). I'm glad to hear that both companies seem to be first rate. We're doing both this year so that we can see if we like one type of trip better than the other. Each type of trip seems to have plusses and minuses as outlined in some of the replies I read.
THANKS.

[shoshona2]

Dear RetiredinPrescott,

Great!!! Our first Tauck tour many years ago was to the Canadian Rockies and it spoiled us for other tour companies. We are now looking forward to our 12th Tauck Tour in 2007!!!

Have a great time.

Sheila

[OBX Cruisers]

Have any of you Tauck fans taken one of their Egypt/Nile tours? They are one of our possibilities for 2007.

[shoshona2]

My husband wants to do that one very much. He knows two of the Tour Directors who are doing it -- one was Matt Curran who we had in Spain and the other one is Rachel Cirincione who he had in Tanzania. Rachel promised to email me with details when she returns in April from her first tour there. Tauck has an "Ask and Share" board there. Go there and post and maybe someone who has returned from the first tours will post. I'm most curious about security issues in Egypt.

Sheila

[caclays]

Would you please send an email to my address of "caclays@hotmail.com" so that I can ask you some questions specifically regarding Tauck Tours? I would prefer keeping them off the Oceania board even though others have written that they are happy with Tauck and none of their postings have been erased.

[dougiefresh]

We have taken 3 Tauck trips, and have been on over a dozen cruises with various lines, only one with Oceania but have signed on for Istanbul to Athens in Sept and Hong Kong to Bangkok Feb '07. So obviously we're happy with Oceania. And we love cruising in general. However, as some of the other postings have alluded to, there are reason to do land trips vs cruises. We do both depending on destination (itineraries).. For example, we chose Tauck Ireland in '05 because we wanted a more in depth and comprehensive Ireland experience. We did a Tauck Hawaii in '04 because we wanted to be able to have a couple days to hang out on each island (we did a 12 day, 4 island, so roughly 3 nights on each) rather than make a quick stop for a day from a cruise ship, as great as that would be for what it is. So you get my drift. (Personally I think people that will ONLY take cruises are missing a large part of travel experience. There's a lot to see in the world that you can't possibly do from a cruise ship: either no line goes there or the interior of a county is just not possible to get to for a one day hit!! Hope my comments help!!

[LHT28]

(Personally I think people that will ONLY take cruises are missing a large part of travel experience. There's a lot to see in the world that you can't possibly do from a cruise ship: either no line goes there or the interior of a county is just not possible to get to for a one day hit!! Hope my comments help!!

Sometimes people that cruise will go back to a Country or port to do more touring.
I find touring on a bus tour more of a hassle and you get to see some scenery as the bus passes by the countryside. Sitting on a bus for hours and having to pack -unpack each day is not for everyone.
I have friends and they love having it all planned out for them ...up at 6am on the bus by 8am etc....

Everyone has different preferences that is why travelling of any type is so interesting...you meet all kinds of people!!:)

[Dolebludger]

To us, a cruise is a MUCH more enjoyable means of travel, BUT it limits us to visiting areas pretty near the ports, so we miss many good inland sites. We have never taken Tauk, but understand it is about the best bus land tour company. We have taken others, however, that have been more like "death marches" than vacations. Sure, we had the opportunity to see a lot, but I became too ill to enjoy it. So I called Tauk about a tour in Europe and asked just two questions. Could they guarantee me no wake-up calls earlier than 7:30 AM? (I am by no means a "morning person".) And could they guarantee me that all hotels would be air conditioned? ( We've found unairconditioned hotels to be "stuffy" even when it is only 60 degrees outside.) Their answer to both questions was "no." So my answer was "no."

We have taken inland European tours with another couple via a rented car, with some "side trips" by train. We found these far more relaxed and enjoyable (for us) than the bus tours we've taken. If I were still in my 20's or 30's, I think I would really enjoy a good bus land tour like Tauk offers. But I am in my 60's, and that makes a big difference. Even now, I think I would like a land bus tour wherein we would stay at the same place for a good number of nights and take late morning side trips to points of interest from that location --- then move on to another location and do the same. Instead, the bus tour operators operate on a different principle. They change hotels and locations often -- sometimes literally every night -- while stopping at points of interest enroute to the new location. This necessitates all the "packing and unpacking", the early mornings, and the use of unairconditioned hotels at times due to lack of any hotels with AC at a night "stopping point" on their route. But I know of no such operator that uses this "hub and side trip" method. If I knew of one, I'd try it. Until then, we'll continue cruising, and doing our inland trips via rented car.

Thanks,
Richard

[Dolebludger]

Sorry to post after myself, but I just got a mailing from Tauk today about their US and European tours. I looked at one of Ireland and England with interest (as I have problems driving on the WRONG side of the road in doing those places on my own) and noticed this. The tour I was examining had a full day of touring right after the guests arrived at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Now, we know that virtually all flights from the US to Shannon are overnight flights, and arrive at Shannon in the AM, with the passengers only having as much sleep as they could get on the airplane. There was no "hotel for a day and touring thereafter." No, the guests were to get right off of an overnight flight and start the touring via bus right then! If any of you are up to this and would enjoy it, then fine. But we are not. In contrast, our next cruise is booked on Silversea, Stockholm to London. The Silversea air package involves an overnight flight "over the pond" as most do, BUT it is a day before embarkation and provides a hotel in Stockholm when we get there, and we sail the NEXT day. Much more to our liking.

In fact, recalling our only two bus tours in Europe (not Tauk) we got off the overnight flight and started the bus tour immediately. One overnight flight was to Dublin, and we immediately toured Dublin Castle. I only wish that there had been enough of me left to recall the place in detail. All I can actually remember is that many of the rooms were painted in various shades of yellow, and I liked that. To recall more, I have to dig through my photos which I was (by some miracle) able to shoot.

Different people like different styles of travel. I think that those who wish to see the maximum number of sites in the minimum time would really like Tauk. But it is not (by my definition) a "vacation" but instead is an "educational experience." And in the same sense that my US Air Force Officer Training School was an "educational experience." Except that, compared to my last European bus tour (not Tauk) I enjoyed the Air Force school more!

Thanks,
Richard

[annierie]

Hi: I am wondering if any of you out there have taken a Tauck tour and if so, please compare your enjoyment of it vs an Oceania cruise. Thanks.

Hi, I was looking for something on search and stumbled upon this question. I have done cruises and Tauck tours and also Tauck cruises. They are different but the people who love total immersion and pampering but in the wrapping of adventure will love Tauck. They are not cheap to cruise with, but their tour directors and their attention to detail are amazing.

If anyone expresses an interest, I will post my review of a Tauck cruise in the Med on a small ship to let you compare small ship cruising to the mass market trips.

NOTE TO RICHARD: Dolebludger, having done everything from NCL to Tauck to Raddisson, I have to tell you. Tauck is exceptional IF you pick the right trips. We have done those with minimal hotel changes. We have cruised, we have railroaded, and we have ferried with them. All first rate.

We have done a half dozen tours with them. Their knowledgeable tour directors make the trip memorable.

Imagine dinner under the stars while cruising past Stromboli. Imagine sailing into Malta while fireworks blast overhead. How about opening a museum in Malta for 20 people on a national holiday so we can see the underground headquarters of the WW II African campaign and see where Eisenhower worked.

They are really a wonderful family run company.

Annie

[shoshona2]

Hi Annie,

We have taken over 25 cruises and 11 Tauck Tours. We love them both!!!!
We have taken all three Oceania ships and love the size of the ships and the service aboard.

We, too, took the Le Ponant (60 passengers) to the Med and just yesterday reminised about the circling of Stromboli as the volcano was letting off sparks of fire.

Our next cruise will be on Tauck's 95 passenger yacht, the Le Levant, doing the Dalmation Coast. We then await news of new adventures on Oceania.

Sheila

[annierie]

Sheila, when are you doing the Dalmatian coast? We are looking to go on this trip in 2007. We have been looking only at small ship cruising. We were looking for anything smaller than 500 passengers to do this part of the Med. We like the Oceania itineraries but worry about the larger ships with all the add on costs.

We really like the more all inclusive trips, and we wish Oceania would move in that direction.

Annie

[shoshona2]

Hi Annie,

We're booking for summer 2007 -- email me at scorpiosheila at yahoo dot com and we'll chat. They are sold out for summer 2006.
Sheila

[green hornet]

Hi
We took Tauck Great Cdn Rockies trip last year. Fantastic. We took golf clubs, and played Jasper and Banff. Unforgettable golf courses. And we really like the float plane ride from Victoria to Vancouver.

We are taking our first Oceania cruise in Sept. Our friends tell us it is terrific.

Enjoy.