One persons way of deciding on a cruise.

There have been many threads started by prospective cruisers wanting to know what cruise line etc is best for them. This is my exercise, living in Australia, on deciding on what cruise line we'd sail on in 2014. I want to stress that this is one persons perspective and is by no means meant to be a template for everyone. I just hope it helps.

First up we chose our intinary. We want to cruise Southern France in 2014. There are many companies offering many and varied packages so we started a spreadsheet to be able to clearly define the differences being offered. At this point we eliminated those cruise companies that only deal direct in the U.S.A like Vantage, Gate1, Grand Circle etc. Because we really want an all-inclusive holiday we then eliminated Viking as they really do not offer anything that appeals to us. With that done we started our long exercise.

On our spreadsheet were Avalon, Uniworld, Scenic, APT/AMA and Tauck. We started with cabin sizes and found that Tauck sell the smallest standard cabin. We then listed the starting price of all cruises of similar itinary comparing equivalent cabins (apples with apples) and again were surprised that except for Avalon all the remaining companies were very close in upfront cost. In fact APT and Scenic were more expensive than Tauck.

We then looked at what was included in the "all-inclusive" price and found that it has different interpretations by different companies. Avalon include gratuities but little else and in our opinion were not truly all-inclusive so we eliminated them at this point.

We then looked at the carrying capacity of the boats and found that Tauck have a maximum of 118 passengers, APT 148 passengers, Uniworld 159 passengers and Scenic 169 passengers. Why this step I hear people asking? Well, as the boats are almost identical in length and width we think it is important to consider space available outside the cabin area.

The other companies appear on paper to include everything but reading the fine print you find they have different interpretations. Uniworld offer you their brand new boat for 2014 SS Catherine with an incentive of a $600 discount if you pay in full but at at least two ports they offer optional tours not included in the price. To add to this Uniworld do include Transfers to and from the airport BUT only on the start and finish days of the cruise otherwise you have to pay for them. To us this is not all-inclusive so at this point we eliminated Uniworld.

From here on in it became much harder. The remaining three Companies were, in our opinion, truly all-inclusive with all of them including 24 hr open bar, tours etc. Both Australian companies were offering incentives to book with them. Both Scenic and APT had similar fly free deals but only a select few sailing dates and as we wanted to cruise in late August/early September we found there were no deals for us. It is at this point that you have to split hairs. How many fellow passengers do you want to sail with? Is the size of the cabin important? Is the difference between a French Balcony and a real balcony important? Do the reviews on the three companies influence you in any way? Is one company vastly superior to the others? It was at this point when we were looking for that little incentive that might push us toward one company that Tauck offered its Australian clients a free night at either the start or finish of their cruise. That became the difference. The opportunity to stay an extra night in Paris at a 5 Star Hotel was impossible to refuse. We chose Tauck.

River cruising has become so competitive with a lot of companies now offer such incentives as a 24hr Bar to attract customers. All-inclusive is the new buzz word of the industry. We found the exercise to be long but rewarding as we found out little things about river cruising costs that aren't always in the big print of the brochures.

I hope this gives some new cruisers an idea of what we did to select that cruise. CC is like a big vault with a wealth of good sound advice from it's contributors and I hope in a small way so does this thread. If you have any specific questions on our thought process please ask.

Very helpful.....I have already taken the first three steps.

I think I would also add looking at all the reviews after narrowing it down to two or three and looking for a consistency of opinions.

Thanks.

Don

Uniworld - all you have to do for free transfers is to go back to the airport on the first day of the cruise. Ditto the last day to get into town.

Be very wary of pre- and post-cruise extensions. We do much better on our own.

cb

Dear Oz,

Being in the US, we have a wider choice, but your dissertation is very well thought out and should be helpful to others.

You cannot go wrong with Tauck.

Uniworld - all you have to do for free transfers is to go back to the airport on the first day of the cruise. Ditto the last day to get into town.

 

Be very wary of pre- and post-cruise extensions. We do much better on our own.

 

cb

This cruise we chose does not have a pre-cruise extension the Paris stay is a part of the overall trip cost and Tauck will pick you up and deliver you to the airport/train station on your actual arrival or departure date even if that is days earlier or later. No need to manipulate anything. Takes a lot of concern and cost about transfers out of the equation.

Dear Oz,

Being in the US, we have a wider choice, but your dissertation is very well thought out and should be helpful to others.

You cannot go wrong with Tauck.

This will be our second cruise with Tauck but this time we really wanted to see what else was available. Hence the long but interesting exercise we undertook.

Rod

Hi Rod,

My husband and I are loyal Tauck travelers, touring with them 3 times and another tour coming up in Sept. We also researched, extensively, as you did, for an itinerary through Southwestern France for 2014. We weighed all options, river and land, and opted for Tauck's land Barcelona to Paris tour, depositing for 2014. We simply couldn't find an acceptable river cruise itinerary that included Dordogne and Carcassone, so another Tauck land tour, here we come!

I just wanted to add that it's good to see others who seriously research and weigh all their travel options!

Thanks for your thorough explanation of how you made your decision. We did similar research in deciding on Tauck for our river cruise. I am sure from all I have read on these boards and on the Tauck Forum that we will not be disappointed with our choice.

Terri

Thanks, Rod, for inspiring such a terrific thread! We've put it out to our readers on Cruise Critic's Facebook AU page as well (http://www.facebook.com/cruisecriticAU).

Best regards,

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

There have been many threads started by prospective cruisers wanting to know what cruise line etc is best for them. This is my exercise, living in Australia, on deciding on what cruise line we'd sail on in 2014. I want to stress that this is one persons perspective and is by no means meant to be a template for everyone. I just hope it helps.

 

First up we chose our intinary. We want to cruise Southern France in 2014. There are many companies offering many and varied packages so we started a spreadsheet to be able to clearly define the differences being offered. At this point we eliminated those cruise companies that only deal direct in the U.S.A like Vantage, Gate1, Grand Circle etc. Because we really want an all-inclusive holiday we then eliminated Viking as they really do not offer anything that appeals to us. With that done we started our long exercise.

 

On our spreadsheet were Avalon, Uniworld, Scenic, APT/AMA and Tauck. We started with cabin sizes and found that Tauck sell the smallest standard cabin. We then listed the starting price of all cruises of similar itinary comparing equivalent cabins (apples with apples) and again were surprised that except for Avalon all the remaining companies were very close in upfront cost. In fact APT and Scenic were more expensive than Tauck.

 

We then looked at what was included in the "all-inclusive" price and found that it has different interpretations by different companies. Avalon include gratuities but little else and in our opinion were not truly all-inclusive so we eliminated them at this point.

 

We then looked at the carrying capacity of the boats and found that Tauck have a maximum of 118 passengers, APT 148 passengers, Uniworld 159 passengers and Scenic 169 passengers. Why this step I hear people asking? Well, as the boats are almost identical in length and width we think it is important to consider space available outside the cabin area.

 

The other companies appear on paper to include everything but reading the fine print you find they have different interpretations. Uniworld offer you their brand new boat for 2014 SS Catherine with an incentive of a $600 discount if you pay in full but at at least two ports they offer optional tours not included in the price. To add to this Uniworld do include Transfers to and from the airport BUT only on the start and finish days of the cruise otherwise you have to pay for them. To us this is not all-inclusive so at this point we eliminated Uniworld.

 

From here on in it became much harder. The remaining three Companies were, in our opinion, truly all-inclusive with all of them including 24 hr open bar, tours etc. Both Australian companies were offering incentives to book with them. Both Scenic and APT had similar fly free deals but only a select few sailing dates and as we wanted to cruise in late August/early September we found there were no deals for us. It is at this point that you have to split hairs. How many fellow passengers do you want to sail with? Is the size of the cabin important? Is the difference between a French Balcony and a real balcony important? Do the reviews on the three companies influence you in any way? Is one company vastly superior to the others? It was at this point when we were looking for that little incentive that might push us toward one company that Tauck offered its Australian clients a free night at either the start or finish of their cruise. That became the difference. The opportunity to stay an extra night in Paris at a 5 Star Hotel was impossible to refuse. We chose Tauck.

 

River cruising has become so competitive with a lot of companies now offer such incentives as a 24hr Bar to attract customers. All-inclusive is the new buzz word of the industry. We found the exercise to be long but rewarding as we found out little things about river cruising costs that aren't always in the big print of the brochures.

 

I hope this gives some new cruisers an idea of what we did to select that cruise. CC is like a big vault with a wealth of good sound advice from it's contributors and I hope in a small way so does this thread. If you have any specific questions on our thought process please ask.

Thank you for your kind words Carolyn. I find it a lot of fun planning a holiday. We've booked our Cruise for 25th August 2014 with Tauck and now we only have 13 months waiting time to look forward too ... :D

Rod

There have been many threads started by prospective cruisers wanting to know what cruise line etc is best for them. This is my exercise, living in Australia, on deciding on what cruise line we'd sail on in 2014. I want to stress that this is one persons perspective and is by no means meant to be a template for everyone. I just hope it helps.

 

First up we chose our intinary. We want to cruise Southern France in 2014. There are many companies offering many and varied packages so we started a spreadsheet to be able to clearly define the differences being offered. At this point we eliminated those cruise companies that only deal direct in the U.S.A like Vantage, Gate1, Grand Circle etc. Because we really want an all-inclusive holiday we then eliminated Viking as they really do not offer anything that appeals to us. With that done we started our long exercise.

 

On our spreadsheet were Avalon, Uniworld, Scenic, APT/AMA and Tauck. We started with cabin sizes and found that Tauck sell the smallest standard cabin. We then listed the starting price of all cruises of similar itinary comparing equivalent cabins (apples with apples) and again were surprised that except for Avalon all the remaining companies were very close in upfront cost. In fact APT and Scenic were more expensive than Tauck.

 

We then looked at what was included in the "all-inclusive" price and found that it has different interpretations by different companies. Avalon include gratuities but little else and in our opinion were not truly all-inclusive so we eliminated them at this point.

 

We then looked at the carrying capacity of the boats and found that Tauck have a maximum of 118 passengers, APT 148 passengers, Uniworld 159 passengers and Scenic 169 passengers. Why this step I hear people asking? Well, as the boats are almost identical in length and width we think it is important to consider space available outside the cabin area.

 

The other companies appear on paper to include everything but reading the fine print you find they have different interpretations. Uniworld offer you their brand new boat for 2014 SS Catherine with an incentive of a $600 discount if you pay in full but at at least two ports they offer optional tours not included in the price. To add to this Uniworld do include Transfers to and from the airport BUT only on the start and finish days of the cruise otherwise you have to pay for them. To us this is not all-inclusive so at this point we eliminated Uniworld.

 

From here on in it became much harder. The remaining three Companies were, in our opinion, truly all-inclusive with all of them including 24 hr open bar, tours etc. Both Australian companies were offering incentives to book with them. Both Scenic and APT had similar fly free deals but only a select few sailing dates and as we wanted to cruise in late August/early September we found there were no deals for us. It is at this point that you have to split hairs. How many fellow passengers do you want to sail with? Is the size of the cabin important? Is the difference between a French Balcony and a real balcony important? Do the reviews on the three companies influence you in any way? Is one company vastly superior to the others? It was at this point when we were looking for that little incentive that might push us toward one company that Tauck offered its Australian clients a free night at either the start or finish of their cruise. That became the difference. The opportunity to stay an extra night in Paris at a 5 Star Hotel was impossible to refuse. We chose Tauck.

 

River cruising has become so competitive with a lot of companies now offer such incentives as a 24hr Bar to attract customers. All-inclusive is the new buzz word of the industry. We found the exercise to be long but rewarding as we found out little things about river cruising costs that aren't always in the big print of the brochures.

 

I hope this gives some new cruisers an idea of what we did to select that cruise. CC is like a big vault with a wealth of good sound advice from it's contributors and I hope in a small way so does this thread. If you have any specific questions on our thought process please ask.

Thank you so much for your analysis. It made very interesting reading for me.

We have chosen to do some river cruises in 2014 with Scenic. We have already got 21 days of Scenic travel on our account and after these cruises will have over 60. This will entitle us to limousine transfers from home to the airport and if you travel for 20 days or more you can get an additional night pre or post of the trip.

Can you let us know if took all of these into account when you did your analysis. We believe that it is in our best interests to stay with Scenic at this stage.

Thank you so much for your analysis. It made very interesting reading for me.

 

We have chosen to do some river cruises in 2014 with Scenic. We have already got 21 days of Scenic travel on our account and after these cruises will have over 60. This will entitle us to limousine transfers from home to the airport and if you travel for 20 days or more you can get an additional night pre or post of the trip.

 

Can you let us know if took all of these into account when you did your analysis. We believe that it is in our best interests to stay with Scenic at this stage.

Scenic were in the equation right up until the end as they had some flight deals going at the time but they weren't available for the time frame we had planned for our holiday. We haven't used Scenic in the past so that enticing situation you have with them didn't enter into our thoughts.

I've always thought that there were no bad cruise company choices just personal decisions and in your case you have a very good reason to continue to travel with Scenic as we did to use Tauck again.

Have a great holiday.

Rod

Rod -

Great evidence of critical thinking.

We have only looked briefly at Tauck, as the cost difference (at least here in Canada) is significant. And, cost does play a large role in our final decisions. Maybe if we win that lottery.... :D

That being said, our TA is going to an information evening with Tauck, and she is going to ask them what the significant difference in price point gets you. She has promised to report back - so maybe we will be Tauck customers sometime in the future.

We are doing the south of France with Avalon next June. Cost was a major factor with us - and we got a great early booking incentive when we did book. (We had a deposit down with Scenic, but they cancelled the itinerary we were interested in....). Our TA did manage to get our gratuities covered for the trip - so that was an extra savings. Our cruise will coincide with the Jazz Festival in Vienne - so should be fun!!!

Thanks for sharing your "selection process" with us.

Fran

We have never seriously looked at Tauck as an option as we are independent travelers and for us, the additional inclusions are things we either would not use or prefer to do on our own. The price point of their river cruises is quite high and for the difference between Tauck and AMA, our preferred line, we can pay for the cost of the our week on the ground in Europe.

I can understand why some would prefer the one stop shopping, inclusive approach and be willing to pay a premium for it. However, I do not find researching and arranging transfers, tours, hotels, etc. to be stressful; I find it an enjoyable part of our trip.

We prefer to have PRIVATE transfers, tours, etc. We never participate in the additional/optional group excursions offered on board. We prefer to invest in a private guide in the cities we are interested in and see exactly what we wish to see, as opposed to a planned group tour.

We have had wonderful experiences with private guides in Europe as well as private transfer companies.

Bar drinks being included would be nice for some, but our bar tab is small on a river cruise. We enjoy wines and pick up local wines to drink aboard. The lines we have traveled, Avalon and AMA, impose a small corkage fee to enjoy our wine of choice in their public areas, which we are happy to pay.

I think it is very important to not only consider to not only look at the inclusions of a particular line when making a comparison, but to rate the components that matter. For us, the added inclusions built into the price of a Tauck cruise are things that are not important to us and that we much prefer to do and plan on our own.

Thanks so much for the detailed analysis...will come in handy!!!

We have never seriously looked at Tauck as an option as we are independent travelers and for us, the additional inclusions are things we either would not use or prefer to do on our own. The price point of their river cruises is quite high and for the difference between Tauck and AMA, our preferred line, we can pay for the cost of the our week on the ground in Europe.

 

I can understand why some would prefer the one stop shopping, inclusive approach and be willing to pay a premium for it. However, I do not find researching and arranging transfers, tours, hotels, etc. to be stressful; I find it an enjoyable part of our trip.

 

We prefer to have PRIVATE transfers, tours, etc. We never participate in the additional/optional group excursions offered on board. We prefer to invest in a private guide in the cities we are interested in and see exactly what we wish to see, as opposed to a planned group tour.

 

We have had wonderful experiences with private guides in Europe as well as private transfer companies.

 

Bar drinks being included would be nice for some, but our bar tab is small on a river cruise. We enjoy wines and pick up local wines to drink aboard. The lines we have traveled, Avalon and AMA, impose a small corkage fee to enjoy our wine of choice in their public areas, which we are happy to pay.

 

I think it is very important to not only consider to not only look at the inclusions of a particular line when making a comparison, but to rate the components that matter. For us, the added inclusions built into the price of a Tauck cruise are things that are not important to us and that we much prefer to do and plan on our own.

I wasn't going to reply to this but the more I read your dissertation the more I believe that you either really don't like Tauck or you found my reasoning to be truly faulty. When I started this thread a few months back it was written as one Australian's thoughts in deciding on which company to choose for our 40th Wedding Anniversary cruise in France. I thought I had clearly stated that it was not a template but just one persons analysis.

I believe your response is full of contradiction but I'll leave that up to others to decide. The one thing that really stood out is this ....

"We prefer to have PRIVATE transfers, tours, etc. We never participate in the additional/optional group excursions offered on board. We prefer to invest in a private guide in the cities we are interested in and see exactly what we wish to see, as opposed to a planned group tour."

Why on earth do you take a river cruise if you prefer a private guide? Why would you turn down a free transfer? Why do you talk about all-inclusive being more expensive when you include the additional costs of a private guide and private transfer? To me that's an insult to the guides that the cruise company has employed.

You obviously have your reasons for your type of holiday as I do mine but I also think you have other threads that you could have stated your travel style on other than one that was designed as a personal experience. I'm somewhat glad that .....

"We have never seriously looked at Tauck as an option".

We have had wonderful experiences with private guides in Europe as well as private transfer companies.

Not to hijack the thread, but Caviargal, didn't you have a real nightmare experience with a Prague transfer on your last trip? I am in the planning stages and interested as I can't seem to find that info.

And ozjohnno, I really appreciated your sharing of your approach to deciding on your cruise line. This will be our first river cruise and we used a very similar strategy. As you can see from my signature, we are not "loyal" to any particular line. We seem to pick our destinations first and have had wonderful experiences with many varied cruise and land vacations.

Oz,

Like the way you decide who to take. I will use parts of it along with my way of deciding.

I agree with you on the Caviargirl post. If you don't mind throwing money around then just rent your on boat to cruise the rivers. I can see you as the snobs of the trip.

 

"We prefer to have PRIVATE transfers, tours, etc. We never participate in the additional/optional group excursions offered on board. We prefer to invest in a private guide in the cities we are interested in and see exactly what we wish to see, as opposed to a planned group tour."

 

Why on earth do you take a river cruise if you prefer a private guide? Why would you turn down a free transfer? Why do you talk about all-inclusive being more expensive when you include the additional costs of a private guide and private transfer? To me that's an insult to the guides that the cruise company has employed.

 

You obviously have your reasons for your type of holiday as I do mine but I also think you have other threads that you could have stated your travel style on other than one that was designed as a personal experience. I'm somewhat glad that .....

 

"We have never seriously looked at Tauck as an option".

"An insult to the guides" - really? The provided tours are a basic overview in a group at a pace set by the guide. I am quite sure that they do not know or care who chooses to opt out of the included tours. On my river cruises, 6 so far, there is no list they are given to check off who shows up for the included tour. It is not a school trip where one has to check in.

Not sure why it bothers some that we choose to spend our money on private tours and transfers rather than spend more on a river cruise that has inclusions we will not use.

My preference is to CHOOSE what I spend my money on. We prefer not to sight see in a group that generally goes at a slower pace than we do and whose format is generic to appeal to a broader variety of people.

Tauck bases their prices on their inclusions as well as their overall quality. Therefore, transfers are not free, they are included in their prices, which is higher for a reason.

I am glad that you found a cruise line that works for you. However, your way of choosing a river cruise is not the bible and there are actually people who choose a river cruise that have different priorities than you do.

Oz,

 

Like the way you decide who to take. I will use parts of it along with my way of deciding.

 

I agree with you on the Caviargirl post. If you don't mind throwing money around then just rent your on boat to cruise the rivers. I can see you as the snobs of the trip.

Seems like the snob factor award goes to those who judge others whose priorities do not mirror their own. Must get cold up on that lofty perch of yours.:cool:

I consider carefully how I spend my money and "throwing it around" would be choosing a company like Tauck which includes features we would not use. We prefer to actually spend our money on what we enjoy.

Not to hijack the thread, but Caviargal, didn't you have a real nightmare experience with a Prague transfer on your last trip? I am in the planning stages and interested as I can't seem to find that info.

 

And ozjohnno, I really appreciated your sharing of your approach to deciding on your cruise line. This will be our first river cruise and we used a very similar strategy. As you can see from my signature, we are not "loyal" to any particular line. We seem to pick our destinations first and have had wonderful experiences with many varied cruise and land vacations.

We did, when we were leaving Nuremberg in a blizzard and were on the road for almost 9 hours - often at a dead stand still - in an undersized vehicle. Without the snow it would have been tolerable.

This was the only negative private transfer experience we have had in the course of many trips. Next time we will use the DB bus.

The transfers provided by the cruise line were on the same highway of course and had the same delays, just more space to move around.

BTW, drinks are "free" when you fly first class just like transfers are "free" when you travel with Tauck or some other lines. Same premise, the cost is built into the price you pay.

Seems like the snob factor award goes to those who judge others whose priorities do not mirror their own. Must get cold up on that lofty perch of yours.:cool:

 

I consider carefully how I spend my money and "throwing it around" would be choosing a company like Tauck which includes features we would not use. We prefer to actually spend our money on what we enjoy.

Caviargal, well said, could not agree with you more. By the way did you notice the post was another "one post wonder".

Caviargal, well said, could not agree with you more. By the way did you notice the post was another "one post wonder".

Why has that got anything at all to do with what they write? I, like you, had a first post too. I started this thead for a reason and I found that caviargal lept in with her own agenda to take Tauck and me to task based on her own style of travel. It was painfully obvious that she never really read my OP because if she did she would have read that at the time of my exercise APT/AMA were more expensive than Tauck so her rantings were simply not true. I'm still amazed as to why you'd take a river cruise, at any price, just to ignore most of what you paid for just so you can show the world you like to be independant and do your own thing. Even though I wrote in my OP that this was a personal perspective and not to be used as a template it didn't stop caviargal from replying .. "I am glad that you found a cruise line that works for you. However, your way of choosing a river cruise is not the bible and there are actually people who choose a river cruise that have different priorities than you do." ..... that just shows me and others that all you really wanted was to hijack a thread with your priorities.

If you and others want to display your wealth in this manner then feel free to do so BUT please refrain from flaunting where your silver spoon is stuck in my threads and take you're anti-Tauck rants to another thread.

BTW, drinks are "free" when you fly first class just like transfers are "free" when you travel with Tauck or some other lines. Same premise, the cost is built into the price you pay.

They're also free in economy class as well. Your anti-Tauck arguments are becoming more and more inane.