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

[Gourmet Gal]

Agreed, I would also prefer to see trout (standard fare), wild Scottish salmon (exclusive enough for a river cruise); alternatively eel, perch or pike (all native to the Rhine) or some lesser known fresh water fish.

 

notamermaid

 

I didn't know Scottish salmon was wild...I thought it was nearly extinct and there is only farmed salmon now.

 

Eel is a little too local for my taste unless served Japanese style. Love perch and pike.

[Gourmet Gal]

I'm going to attempt to talk to the manager responsible for the food when I get back to the ship.

 

Another thing that struck me a bit odd is that we had Spanish and South African wines in Austria one night and last night after being in Germany for a day we had French wines featured. Not that they are bad wines but it doesn't seem to fit with trying to match up food and drink with the regions we are in.

 

 

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Thanks for speaking to the manager! You are so right about the wines...it just seems wrong not to serve the local wines! I so enjoyed local rieslings and gewrtztraminers on our Uniworld cruise.

[Roz]

I didn't know Scottish salmon was wild...I thought it was nearly extinct and there is only farmed salmon now.

 

Eel is a little too local for my taste unless served Japanese style. Love perch and pike.

 

There is a restaurant chain here in Nashville that regularly has wild Scottish salmon on the menu. A bit pricey but well worth it. Much better taste and firmer flesh than the farm raised.

 

Roz

[scluvsrain]

I spoke to the Cruise Director about the overall inconsistency regarding the food. He said that with regard to the local wines that they do not give much focus to the German wines because prior passengers have complained that they are not good, especially red wines so they go to other country wines instead.

 

 

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[Gourmet Gal]

There is a restaurant chain here in Nashville that regularly has wild Scottish salmon on the menu. A bit pricey but well worth it. Much better taste and firmer flesh than the farm raised.

 

Roz

Thanks for the info. I also meant to say that most Atlantic salmon is farmed. I didn't know there was much of a wild fishery left in the Atlantic. Of course I'm partial to wild King Salmon with my second favorite being Sockeye.

[Gourmet Gal]

I spoke to the Cruise Director about the overall inconsistency regarding the food. He said that with regard to the local wines that they do not give much focus to the German wines because prior passengers have complained that they are not good, especially red wines so they go to other country wines instead.

 

 

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I can understand that relating to German reds but the Austrian, German and Alsation whites are terrific. But for reds it would be nice if they could at least source from the continent.

[vino100]

I really am on a Tauck cruise. Here's the best I can do to prove it.

 

 

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Oh my goodness , no one should have thought that you weren't on a Tauck river cruise. I have followed your world cruise blog and the one you are doing for this cruise and your HAL cruise you just finished. You are always honest and fair with your reporting .

 

I really appreciate all the info you are giving us and not just the food.

 

Please continue sharing your observations.

[Daisi]

[quote=Gourmet Gal;53795099

Eel is a little too local for my taste unless served Japanese style. Love perch and pike.

 

Eel is quite common on the East Coast where my family is from, like crab, you go out and get your own easily. I didn't know it was common in Europe. I've never had a taste for it, but I'm not a fish eater either, even though I grew up on the coast.

[bitob]

I spoke to the Cruise Director about the overall inconsistency regarding the food. He said that with regard to the local wines that they do not give much focus to the German wines because prior passengers have complained that they are not good, especially red wines so they go to other country wines instead.

 

 

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We had many local wines on our cruise strange

 

 

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[scluvsrain]

Oh my goodness , no one should have thought that you weren't on a Tauck river cruise. I have followed your world cruise blog and the one you are doing for this cruise and your HAL cruise you just finished. You are always honest and fair with your reporting .

 

 

 

I really appreciate all the info you are giving us and not just the food.

 

 

 

Please continue sharing your observations.

 

 

 

Thank you. I'm a little behind in my blog postings but I'm getting caught up slowly.

 

 

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[caviargal]

scluvsrain, have you seen any improvement to food since your chat with the CM? Hope things have improved!

[scluvsrain]

At breakfast today the mass scrambled eggs were still soft and runny. Bacon seemed crisper. At lunch, I saw a noticeable difference in the temperature of the buffet food. I didn't eat much of it though because we had a smoked beer and sausage tasting in town as part of our tours and I wasn't all that hungry.

 

But when I opened the covers of the warning trays the food inside was super steaming hot! Finally!!

 

Tonight I ate Italian in the Bistro. They are the specialty dinners offered separately from the regular dining room. Last week was French and this week is Italian. There were two choices - Osso Buco or Tagliatelle ai Funghi. I had the Osso Buco. I've had this dish only once before and remember it as being good. Tonight's was very flavorful and very tender. It was served on a bed of risotto which was bland until I put some salt on it, then it was great. The starters were just meh, some bruschetta that was bland, a creamy shrimp salad that tasted okay and the best of the starters was the minestrone soup. Soup is pretty subjective. Dessert was tiramisu or cheese plate. I chose tiramisu. It was very good. So overall I think I rate the dinner as B+. The red wine was delicious! Loved it the best along with the entree.

 

I'm having some trouble uploading photos tonight. We keep going through locks and service is a bit spotty. I will try to upload some tomorrow.

 

 

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[Mark_T]

Thanks for the honest and frequent updates.

 

I'm sorry you are having to deal with these food issues on what should be a flawless cruise.

 

I'm sensing that our next cruise is now more likely to be with Crystal than Tauck...

[scluvsrain]

Here's a picture of the Osso Buco

 

 

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[scluvsrain]

And the shrimp salad, one of the starters.

 

 

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[scluvsrain]

And the bruschetta. I thought the bread would be lightly toasted but it was not. It was soft and everything tasted bland.

 

 

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[scluvsrain]

To get off the food subject for a moment, let me add some other observations as a first time river cruiser:

 

On this itinerary we pass through 68 locks. 68. 68!!!! That's s whole lotta locks. We pass through them all day and all night too. I'm generally awakened every time we enter one because the boat's engines downshift and sometimes the side thrusters are employed. I go right back to sleep and I do feel generally rested each morning so I guess I can't consider them a detriment.

 

If you like cocktails and then wine with dinner and perhaps after dinner drinks, the ship is here to please. It's all included and you can indulge as much or as little as you like. Service is a bit inconsistent though. Sometimes the second you sit down a server will come to you and ask what you'd like. Other times you wait and wait and no one pays any mind to you. A roll of the dice I guess. Our bartender does make excellent cocktails. [emoji3]

 

Our cruise director says "ciao for now" every time he speaks over the intercom and after a few times I now cringe while I wait for the phrase to come. Silly of me, I guess I should lighten up. A lot of the guests always laugh when he says it.

 

We do go on buses at most of the ports on this itinerary but they are usually very short rides into town - maybe ten minutes or so. Then we start our walking tours. Yesterday in Bamberg there was a 7 mile bike tour option which 30 of us enjoyed. It was lovely. Today we get a choice of Wurzburg or Rothenburg. I'm choosing Rothenburg because it's the famous Christmas town and I'm also on the hunt for a cuckoo clock. However, this will entail a 90 minute bus ride one way. We've been prepared and no one seems to mind. We also get to stop in wurzburg for a wine tasting on the way back.

 

That's all for now.

 

 

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[dolllover]

I wonder if these food issues have anything to do with cut backs on some of these lines. I know with our past Avalon cruise the cutbacks were noticeable.

[caviargal]

I wonder if these food issues have anything to do with cut backs on some of these lines. I know with our past Avalon cruise the cutbacks were noticeable.

 

Our last Avalon cruise was 5 years and the cutbacks were obvious then. Our first with them was in 2008 and our last was 5 years ago, as it was very disappointing.

[Roz]

And the bruschetta. I thought the bread would be lightly toasted but it was not. It was soft and everything tasted bland.

 

 

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I've never had bruschetta on soft bread, that's just an improper preparation. Has nothing to do with cutbacks.

 

Roz

[Gourmet Gal]

Why do they need to cutback when they can just raise prices? Seems like business is booming!

[jpalbny]

The definition of bruschetta is (AFAIK) toasted or grilled bread. The name applies, regardless of what it's topped with... So this isn't bruschetta. It's bread with different toppings. If the toppings were tasty, I'd forgive them. ;)

 

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[scluvsrain]

The definition of bruschetta is (AFAIK) toasted or grilled bread. The name applies, regardless of what it's topped with... So this isn't bruschetta. It's bread with different toppings. If the toppings were tasty, I'd forgive them. ;)

 

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They were not tasty. Left one was red peppers. Center was something that perhaps resembled pesto, right was small diced tomatoes, no sauce or marinade. Overall, very bland bruschetta.

 

 

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[jpalbny]

Scluvsrain, I remembered that you said it wasn't tasty. I've been following this thread pretty closely because I've been so surprised by your bad experience with the food. What a shame, but glad everything else was better than that.

 

I meant, "Had the toppings been tasty, I would have forgiven them the untoasted bread." And my point was that you can't technically call it bruschetta if the bread isn't toasted.

 

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[Mark_T]

And my point was that you can't technically call it bruschetta if the bread isn't toasted.

 

Agreed, very basic error in preparation.