Tauck groups - how do they affect Wind Star sailings?

I notice that my Istanbul-Athens June 4 Windstar sailing has a Tauck group tour on it. Does anyone know what size these groups are? The ship is only 140 some passengers so a group of 40 or so might affect it. How does a group like this affect the dynamics of the cruise?

Are there any issues raised by having a large group of people on the same schedule? - I.e. tender access or crowding if you go up for breakfast at the wrong time.

Of course, a group of 40 can affect the cruise experience on a small ship.

A group from the NAACP would have an affect. 40 winners from a radio station promotion would have an affect. 40 guys from an HIV positve support group would have an affect. I've been a victim of corporate bookings in confined spaces and it can be a killer.

The bunch you're wondering about are probably quite diverse and you'll never know they're part of the same package. Of all the possiblities, this one almost seems like an asset.

I notice that my Istanbul-Athens June 4 Windstar sailing has a Tauck group tour on it. Does anyone know what size these groups are? The ship is only 140 some passengers so a group of 40 or so might affect it. How does a group like this affect the dynamics of the cruise?

 

Are there any issues raised by having a large group of people on the same schedule? - I.e. tender access or crowding if you go up for breakfast at the wrong time.

I don't agree. We were on a Windsong in 2000 from Istanbul to Athens with a group of 70 from a brokerage firm each of whom received the cruise free for individual sales. They were clickish and I was hit on 3/4 times about signing up for accounts with them. I asked Windstar how to find out when this occurs to avoid this situation in the future and was told it was information not given out.

The Tauck group is a commercial tour group. It is completely different than a cruise that has a "special interest" group. With Tauck it is "Joe Q Public" that has signed up - not 70 to sales people from a brokerage that are looking for new accounts.

In my opinion, the only impact MAY be that everyone on the Tauck "tour" is booked on a specific shore excursion and therefore the excursion may have limited "extra" seats. However, in my experience, if there are enough people, Windstar will arrange for a second (or third) bus to handle the people.

Go ahead and just enjoy the cruise. You should not have a problem.

From reading the Tauck site, I'm pretty sure that Tauck runs their own excursions for the people in their group so their people taking up space on the ship excursions shouldn't be a problem. If anything, it could go the other way - fewer people booking excursions could cause some to get cancelled for lack of interest, but this sailing is close to full which should leave plenty of non-Tauck people. Also, I usually do independent excursions or get a private guide so I'm not so concerned about that.

On ports where we are tendering, Tauck might be trying to get all their people off at once for an excursion so it seems like that could cause a wait to get tendered.

I guess I also have a picture of the typical Tauck demographic as an older and perhaps more timid traveler that might not be accurate.

New,

I'm sure you and your husband will have a wonderful time regardless of the Tauck group composition. Tauck sells to the general public so it should be a diverse and interesting lot. If the "Star" has two simultaneous tenders as the "Surf" had, then your wait will either be minimal or nonexistant. They can pack a lot of people onto those little boats if you recall! Enjoy and bring back a full report (especially which cabins have the least external noise). My parents spent their 35th anniversary (some years ago;) ) in Santorini and said it is beautiful beyond compare. I am considering the same itinerary in mid-September!

Johnny

The next thing you should probably do is call Tauck and ask them how big their group is (and express your concerns) Tauck is a very good tour operator (actually, one of the best...we have traveled with them). A small group would probably fit in well with the rest of the passengers. However, if the size is overwhelming, then you might want to speak to Windstar about rescheduling your trip.

Dime there wouldn't be much point in doing what you suggest unless I was willing to cancel my cruise plans altogether. Partly due to the Diamond cancellations all the Windstar Istanbul-Athens (and vice versa) cruises are sold out or much higher cost than when we booked, there could be a significant airline ticket cost increase if we have to change dates and from the Tauck site, it looks like all the Windstar Istanbul-Athens and Athens Istanbul sailings have Tauck groups.

I'd be most interested to hear from others who have been on Windstar ships that had Tauck groups in the past - feedback I haven't gotten yet. The biggest downside of liking small ship cruises is the small pool of active participants on the boards. But based on my extensive experience of one big ship cruise and one small ship to date :) , the small ship upside more than makes up for that.

How did you find out there was a Tauck (or any other) tour group on board?

During 1 Windstar cruise, we experienced a Washington DC radio station promo trip (advertisers of the radio station were given the trip for free). While most of the group was well behaved, their leader was the most obnoxious person I've ever met. The biggest inconvenience we noticed was when they closed the upstairs outside bar(Windsurf) for a few of their private parties at 5:00 PM. My wife and I like to stay on deck until 6 or 6:30 and enjoy the best part of the day in the sun before dressing for dinner.

We're heading for the "surf" again, end of June and asked Windstar if there were any groups and don't think we got a straight answer.

Love Windstar ships and their cruising experience

I don't recall what brought it to my attention. It may have been someone posting here with a question about the Tauck tour or it may have been something I ran across when googling Windstar when I was first thinking of taking them or when I first started looking for options for a Greek island/Turkey cruise. Tauck is a tour company that sells to the public so you can go to their site and see that they have tours that include the Windstar cruise. It is easier to find out about than some random group on a trip like your radio station experience.

I know what you mean about enjoying the early evening on deck. It was nice on our Wind Surf cruise to hang out at the Compass Rose and watch the sunset.

Tauck does sell to the general public, but my experience is that it usually attracts a much older crowd: 70+. Of course, there will be exceptions to this in every group.

We have traveled with and met many folks in this age group. If they are interested in traveling at this age, they are usually still very physically active, well-traveled, and lots of fun. This group will be very different than a promo-group "given" a free cruise.

Enjoy!!!:)

Please respond after the cruise, as we are considering a Greek Isles cruise in 2007 and are researching :confused: various cruise lines for the best situation. It will be a group of about 12 friends.