Anyone tried Tauck for river cruise?

[zlato]

On the Grand European River trip, the room at the pre cruise hotel in Amsterdam was very small; however, in Bucharest (end of trip), the room and hotel were exceptionally accommodating (JD Marriott Grand Hotel). We upgraded our room in Amsterdam, but the room at the JD Marriott Grand was very large (included sitting area) and well-appointed. Generally, most pre cruise hotel packages offered by the cruise lines are of the standard category, and, therefore, we always upgrade with the hotel.

[poss]

Thanks for replies.

Zlato-- it's interesting what you say about upgrading. So one does that directly with the hotel rather than through Tauck? Is there always availability, or do you sometimes sign up for the upgrade well in advance?

It surprises me that Tauck, which is supposed to be a "high end" tour company, would reserve standard rooms for their guests. Again, I imagine that many folks don't mind the standard rooms, but we would, especially as we've aged.

[zlato]

Thanks for replies.

Zlato-- it's interesting what you say about upgrading. So one does that directly with the hotel rather than through Tauck? Is there always availability, or do you sometimes sign up for the upgrade well in advance?

It surprises me that Tauck, which is supposed to be a "high end" tour company, would reserve standard rooms for their guests. Again, I imagine that many folks don't mind the standard rooms, but we would, especially as we've aged.

 

Poss: Tauck generally does not provide an option for pre or post cruise hotel room upgrades, and this is, with a few exceptions, true for most ocean or river cruise lines. The cruise lines contract with the hotels for a bloc of rooms which tend to be standard rooms; thus, providing options for upgrades would complicate the contractual agreements. When possible, I upgrade prior to check in at our hotel. For example, wife and I will be leaving in the near future for back2back cruises with embarkation in Harwich, UK. Our precruise package with the cruise line includes a 3 night stay at a London hotel. The cruise line does not provide options for hotel room upgrades, and the hotel would not allow for an upgrade until the reservations department receives the list of passengers staying at their hotel (usually 1 week prior to check-in), thus creating the possibility that an upgrade may not be available at check-in. After exchanging emails and a few phone calls to the hotel in London, I was finally able to upgrade our room from a standard room to a suite. On other occasions, we upgraded upon check-in if the desired room upgrade was available. (We always upgrade). I agree that Tauck and other cruise lines should offer different options for pre or post cruise hotel rooms, and I have been consistent in suggesting this option to Tauck and other cruise lines. I do not believe that traveling to one's destinations or booking a pre cruise hotel should detract from the total trip. Some of upper end travel companies such as A &K and Travcoa do provide hotel room upgrade options when combining land and cruise travel opportunities. In any case, you will love the Tauck river cruise experience once on board.

[poss]

Many thanks for the very clear and detailed reply.

On the tour I'm interested in, about half the nights are on land, in hotels. I.e. it's not just pre and post hotels. That makes things a little more iffy, I think.

And I THINK we'd enjoy river cruising. Not having a king bed might be a problem. We sleep in king at home and all our ocean cruising has been in wonderful kings beds.

I'm truly interested in giving this a try though, and I especially like the fact that it's only half the time on the boat, just in case we're don't love that experience. (But that gets back to being able to secure good hotel rooms.)

Thanks again, zlato: You've been wonderfully helpful.