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Tauck is 6 stars -- perfection -- but never again


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Oh. I also found out from speaking to management yesterday, that our chef is not vacation relief. He is a regular chef and he had been on vacation and he returned to his regular ship, which is the one I'm on.

 

 

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scluvsrain - are you going to do your own review with photos when you are done? If so please let us know. I plan on doing a live review of our May 2018 Tauck Seine Paris - London river cruise. Would love to see your full review. Hope you are enjoying other aspects of the cruise.

 

 

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HBCcruiser - I write a travel blog. I am running behind but am about to start my blow by blow review beginning in Budapest. You can find the link in my signature or http://www.scluvsrain.blogspot.com.

 

Sometimes I post live from commentary on CC but usually it's just through my blog.

 

 

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HBCcruiser - I write a travel blog. I am running behind but am about to start my blow by blow review beginning in Budapest. You can find the link in my signature or http://www.scluvsrain.blogspot.com.

 

Sometimes I post live from commentary on CC but usually it's just through my blog.

 

 

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Thanks!

 

 

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The food has not improved. It is still inconsistent. I will

Say, however, that our farewell 6 course dinner last night was quite good. Lobster Thermador or Filet or Ravioli were the entree choices. I had the filet and it was very tender with a nice sauce.

 

 

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The food has not improved. It is still inconsistent. I will

Say, however, that our farewell 6 course dinner last night was quite good...

 

'inconsistent' and 'quite good' is not what people are paying for and certainly doesn't qualify as '6 starts - perfection'.

 

I'm so sorry to hear that this aspect of the cruise has not been up to expectations, I hope everything else was as good as it should have been.

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The itinerary was very good although to be honest I would have preferred less stops and more time at each stop. I would have preferred less than 68 locks. An overnight in Vienna would have been wonderful. I always felt rushed in the towns we visited. We hardly had any days where we could use the sun deck - not because of weather but because of having to be low enough to cross under bridges.

 

Great things - the three Tauck directors - Joe, Patricia and Iris - were outstanding. Loved all three of them.

 

 

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Do you think a different itinerary would have less locks and longer stops ?

 

Even though some of the food has gotten better , I can't get the pictures you posted with the food in those warming trays out of my mind. Yuck !!

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Any itineray that sails from the Danube to the Rhine (or vice versa) will have lots of locks. On my Vienna - Basel cruise we also had very little use of the sun deck. I too found it somewhat frustrating.

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Do you think a different itinerary would have less locks and longer stops?

 

Even though some of the food has gotten better , I can't get the pictures you posted with the food in those warming trays out of my mind. Yuck !!

 

None of the other popular river itineraries in Europe have as many locks as this one, and they don't restrict use of the sun deck as badly as this one -- that is one reason the Main-Danube itinerary is last on my list.

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I think there are quite a few locks on the Rhine and Moselle itineraries. Both are more than 12 days long, too so a lot of locks. We always sleep with earplugs when traveling and the locks don't bother us at all. During the day, it's just part of the fun of traveling and stepping outside your comfort zone. The river cruises just don't cover the same distance as ocean cruises and I hate to say it but it goes with the territory. You have to go with the flow or it will be annoying. River cruising isn't for everyone.

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Well I love River cruising and we have done most of the major rivers of the world. Yes small cabins but scenery is very interesting.. The only really bad river cruise was a barge trip and the ship really needed refurbishing. very very tiny cabin. But We usually spend all our time in the lounge or deck.

but as for Tours... we hate walking tours. We take the bus to town and strike out on our own having done our homework and having fortified ourselves with maps. We meet up with the bus to go back to the ship.

I like to do my own thing always. Usually its no problem. And some days (like on the Mekong or Nile..) we just stayed on the boat and relaxed.

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I made it home but turned around after two days and flew to New York for the weekend.

 

I have not finished updating my blog that will include the rest of my comments about the river cruise. I'm a little slow sometimes, to finish things up.

 

I will say that overall I enjoyed the river cruise. There are definitely things that I did not enjoy - those damn locks - and the inconsistent food quality and service, and sometimes feeling rushed in a port, but overall it was good and I'm happy to have experienced it. I might consider going on another one but for sure never again on the Danube!!!

 

I wanted more time in Vienna. I loved how clean Germany was. I loved all the things to do, visit and see in Budapest, but I was not a fan of the people in that city. I found them rude and sullen.

 

I bought a cuckoo clock on my travels and I think it will serve as a very nice memory of my trip. When it gets here. (I had it shipped).

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
I made it home but turned around after two days and flew to New York for the weekend.

 

I have not finished updating my blog that will include the rest of my comments about the river cruise. I'm a little slow sometimes, to finish things up.

 

I will say that overall I enjoyed the river cruise. There are definitely things that I did not enjoy - those damn locks - and the inconsistent food quality and service, and sometimes feeling rushed in a port, but overall it was good and I'm happy to have experienced it. I might consider going on another one but for sure never again on the Danube!!!

 

I wanted more time in Vienna. I loved how clean Germany was. I loved all the things to do, visit and see in Budapest, but I was not a fan of the people in that city. I found them rude and sullen.

 

I bought a cuckoo clock on my travels and I think it will serve as a very nice memory of my trip. When it gets here. (I had it shipped).

 

 

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Looking forward to reading your blog regarding the rest of this cruise.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very interesting I am currently on board Avalon Expression doing the same route. I would have to say the food and wine has been excellent and I am comparing it to Oceania who I have travelled with. In most cases we have parked up in town or just on the edge, buses were provided but we have walked back on almost every occasion. There is never a guarantee given of where you are going to be parked as it will depend on river levels, other boats and who gets first. This is our first river cruise and we are enjoying it, although I am almost cathedraled out!

 

The guides apart from one have been excellent and very knowledgable even when we have been in small towns with not much to see. Locks don't bother us and we have slept right through most night apart from the odd lock where the Capt didn't get the entrance quite right and we brushed the side, other than that absolutely fascinating. Enjoyed the towns along the Main and it was much quieter than the Danube which is chocked full with cruising boats.

 

Would I do it again, certainly. Would I do it again with Avalon without question.

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We did the Rhine Amsterdam to Switzerland river cruise on Tauck last year. We have done about 7 ocean cruises, mostly on Princess in the past. We thoroughly enjoyed our river cruise and are now booked for the Danube on Tauck from Budapest to Prague. Some have asked about the bus rides and wished they could just walk off the boat for the excursion. There are places that we visited where that is not possible. Such as on the Rhine we went to Stuttgart, probably an hour's drive from the boat. But along the way we saw parts of Germany. Even if you are on a bus, you are still seeing the country that you are visiting. Tauck's buses are their own and are very new and very comfortable. At the end of our Rhine river cruise we stayed two nights in Bern, Switzerland on land where we traveled up the mountain to the top of Europe. It was a wonderful experience, and we got to see a beautiful part of Switzerland. As to ocean versus river cruising, I like both. With ocean cruising you can't get into the heart of a country, whereas with river cruising you are seeing the interior of the countries rather than just the outskirts that you can reach from the seaport. We also took a Viking China riverboat cruise. It was such a wonderful experience, and I would highly recommend it. A wonderful way to see China. As far as cabins on the Tauck boats, we had a Class 7 which was very spacious. Food was wonderful. The smaller boat gave us a chance to really get to know the other passengers onboard. We chose our river cruises based on itinerary. The Danube itinerary on Tauck is more preferable than the Viking for us. Each company, Tauck and Viking, do an excellent job.

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We have returned from a Tauck River cruise on the Saone and Rhone. I am sorry to say my wife and I were greatly disappointed for several reasons.

1)At the Fairmont in Monte Carlo Tauck placed all of us on the third floor which Fairmont informed us is the designated smoking floor. The Paris Intercontinental Grand's rooms were old and small.

2)The food on the ship ranged from good to poor, The fish was very poor quality: tilapia for lunch, and what looked like compressed cod one evening for dinner. Most dishes were served with cream sauces that were heavy. Even the pasta for lunch, while al denti seemed to always done with a cream sauce.

3)They took us to Nice on the bus between Avignon and Monte Carlo and dropped people off for 2 1/2 hours in a light rain with no list of restaurants. Why could they not have left us off at the Chagall or Matisse museums?

4)Everyone (all 71 passengers) had been to Paris before; but they started the cruise with a 9 AM bus tour of the city in heavy traffic.

I have included the negatives here, but will write a full review in a few days which will praise the beauty of the ship and the quality of the staff. To me it often seemed like a bus tour on a boat; as we can easily get by in French and have often gone to France on our own, for us,this trip was an error.

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We have returned from a Tauck River cruise on the Saone and Rhone. I am sorry to say my wife and I were greatly disappointed for several reasons.

 

1)At the Fairmont in Monte Carlo Tauck placed all of us on the third floor which Fairmont informed us is the designated smoking floor. The Paris Intercontinental Grand's rooms were old and small.

 

2)The food on the ship ranged from good to poor, The fish was very poor quality: tilapia for lunch, and what looked like compressed cod one evening for dinner. Most dishes were served with cream sauces that were heavy. Even the pasta for lunch, while al denti seemed to always done with a cream sauce.

 

3)They took us to Nice on the bus between Avignon and Monte Carlo and dropped people off for 2 1/2 hours in a light rain with no list of restaurants. Why could they not have left us off at the Chagall or Matisse museums?

 

4)Everyone (all 71 passengers) had been to Paris before; but they started the cruise with a 9 AM bus tour of the city in heavy traffic.

 

I have included the negatives here, but will write a full review in a few days which will praise the beauty of the ship and the quality of the staff. To me it often seemed like a bus tour on a boat; as we can easily get by in French and have often gone to France on our own, for us,this trip was an error.

 

 

 

Wow-ok. Sorry you were disappointed. I wouldn’t want to be on a smoking floor, either, but was that requested by Tauck or done by the hotel?

Poor quality food would be disappointing. Did you ask for pasta or fish WITHOUT sauce? I would be shocked to hear that they refused to prepare without the sauce, if asked. If so, that would be something that I would take up the ranks.

Finally, were you unaware that there would be a tour of Paris? I’d think that would have been in the itinerary, yes? Are you suggesting it should have been cancelled because people had been there before? I don’t understand the complaint here...

 

 

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Interesting thread. If you had been to Paris before why didn’t you just skip the bus tour and do your own thing? The itinerary is sent to pax in advance so there shouldn’t be too many surprises. As for Nice, The Matisse museum is not in the central area of the town but is easily accessible by city bus or taxi - the ship’s shuttle unfortunately is not a taxi. On all my cruises I‘ve never been given a list of restaurants unless I ask for recommendations from the concierge. Other than the quality of food it seems many of your issues could have been avoided or mitigated. After encountering the first heavy sauce it is so easy to request sauce on the side or none or ask if there’s an alternative. I’m no fan of Tilapia either but isn’t salmon always available? Salt cod croquette’s are a very traditional dish in Europe....I would have been so happy but it is understandable if it’s not your favorite. Other than the matter of your personal taste was the food generally not well prepared? If so I would be concerned about the direction Tauck is headed in light of the other recent comments on this thread.

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