Tauck Family Cruise experience?

I'm looking for family vacation options. Dh and are are fit 40-somethings with 4 kids, ages 17, 17, 14, and 11. I've been looking at Adventures by Disney, but came across the Tauck family river cruises in my searches.

Anyone here have any experience with Tauck and specifically their family itineraries? My kids are good travelers, but I'm most concerned with my youngest. As the only boy, ds can get bored.

Tauck are certainly one of the few genuinely 'family friendly' river cruise lines, but you might want to wait until your oldest two are over 18 as it will give you a lot more options on the way you split everyone up across rooms/cabins:

Can my child stay alone in his/her room?

In compliance with our partner hotels and for the safety and security of our guests, children under 18 years of age must be booked into the same room as an accompanying adult.

What's to stop us from booking two triples then putting the older girls in one room once we get there? They are responsible and I'd have no problem doing that. If they did happen to be located on the other side of the hotel, dh and I could easily split up if needed.

What's to stop us from booking two triples then putting the older girls in one room once we get there? They are responsible and I'd have no problem doing that. If they did happen to be located on the other side of the hotel, dh and I could easily split up if needed.

I don't believe any river cruise line has cabins that hold more than two pax

What's to stop us from booking two triples then putting the older girls in one room once we get there? They are responsible and I'd have no problem doing that. If they did happen to be located on the other side of the hotel, dh and I could easily split up if needed.

Nothing to stop you shuffling everyone around once you've got the rooms and what you suggest will work for the majority of the hotels, but it was more the ships I was concerned about.

Even there it may not be an issue if you had planned to book a couple of the high end suites, as those are the ones which can accommodate more than two people.

I don't believe any river cruise line has cabins that hold more than two pax

Tauck do have such cabins, for example, the category 7 suites on the new Inspire class ships.

Triple and quadruple accommodations in Categories 1 and 6 on ms Savor consist of two adjacent, but not connecting, double cabins. Triple and quadruple accommodations in Category 7 on both ms Joy and ms Savor consist of a suite featuring a pillow top queen-sized bed (with optional twin-bed capacity) and a full-sized pull-out couch. Please note that Category 7 suites accommodate a maximum of three adults over the age of 18. ms Savor and ms Joy Cabin Notes: Only the following adjacent cabins in Categories 1 and 6 can be joined to create triple or quadruple accommodations aboard ms Savor – Category 1: 111 + 113; 112 + 114. Category 6: 216 + 218; 217 + 219; 220 + 222; 221 + 223.

From their website. If the grandparents went, we could also put the teens in with them, in the suites.

Are you talking about one of the Tauck Bridges Tours? If so, they are aimed specifically toward kids. They know how easily kids get bored and what makes them happy. If you can, book one of those departures.

Yes, specifically the family Danube cruise. The price for a cat 7 per person is sig lower than any other category besides a cat 1.

Just need to get dh to agree.

Yes, specifically the family Danube cruise. The price for a cat 7 per person is sig lower than any other category besides a cat 1.

 

 

 

Just need to get dh to agree.

As long as the kids know that it's nothing like an ocean cruise you'll be fine.

Yes, specifically the family Danube cruise. The price for a cat 7 per person is sig lower than any other category besides a cat 1.

 

Just need to get dh to agree.

In that case, YES, then definitely do it. Tauck Bridges program has the expertise to keep the youngins' busy and interested. It's what they do and they're really good at it. What a wonderful experience you'll be giving the kids! It expands their horizons and they learn SO much from vacations, especially from one in Europe. Enjoy it and convince that DH! ;)

I'm looking for family vacation options. Dh and are are fit 40-somethings with 4 kids, ages 17, 17, 14, and 11. I've been looking at Adventures by Disney, but came across the Tauck family river cruises in my searches.

Not sure if this had been announced when you were looking, but Cruise Critic just added this news item:

Disney, AmaWaterways Team to Bring River Cruises to Families

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6299

It looks like just what you're looking for.

Thank you Host Jazzbeau for the interesting link. Certainly opens up a new target group.

May I point a mistake in the article: connecting cabins are not unique to this new ship or the river cruise world. The ship I travelled with, the Belvedere has them and Arosa also offers them at least on the Arosa Brava, but possibly on other ships as well. Arosa also offers family-themed river cruises, possibly only to the German-speaking market.

notamermaid

Perfect timing, right? I'll have to look into that. I had researched river cruising for dh and I a couple years ago and decided AMA looked like the right fit for us already.

Hmm...