Tauck River Cruising

Basel

Amsterdam

Europe - All

Europe - River Cruise

Europe River

Excellent

Very Good

ms Savor

ms Inspire

ms Treasures

ms Sapphire

ms Esprit

ms Grace

ms Emerald

ms Joy

Jewel

Tauck is the way to travel!

In December 2022 I took Tauck’s Yuletide cruise on the ms Grace from Amsterdam to Brussels. It had never occurred to me to spend Christmas in another country. I had such a phenomenal time that when I got home, I contacted my TA and had her book me on back to back Yuletide cruises for Christmas and New Year’s this past year. 

I spent 3 days pre-cruise in Amsterdam and then boarded the ms Grace on December 20.  The cruise ended in Brussels and then headed back to Amsterdam where we arrived on January 3.  If you want to know more about the day to day details of my cruise, you can find them here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2979532-back-to-back-yuletide-spirit-cruises-on-taucks-ms-grace/

This review is a summary of my experience, with an emphasis on the pluses and minuses of sailing with Tauck.  I was the only passenger doing back to back cruises, and some of my fellow passengers questioned me as to why I was doing this, especially since I had already done the Amsterdam to Brussels itinerary.  Even though some of the tours were repeats, different guides emphasis different things, and there’s always something new or changing.  I was able to pace myself, so if I didn’t get to see or do something on the first cruise, I could cover it the second time around.  I also didn’t have to make what are sometimes hard choices between excursions.  I wanted to do it all!

Pluses

Tauck is truly all inclusive.  The only things I paid for were a manicure and some laundry.  Items that were included were a private transfer from the airport to my hotel, even though I didn’t book my air or hotel thru Tauck; a transfer back to the airport at the end of the cruise; gratuities to ship staff, drivers, local guides, cruise tour directors, and the cruise director; unlimited complimentary beverages such as wine, beer and premium spirits as well as specialty coffee, water and soft drinks; all meals and snacks (no paid dining); and a choice of 2 included excursions at each port with sometimes an added excursion at night, such as the canal cruise of the Amsterdam light festival. There were no added pay excursions. 

In addition, there were non-advertised extras and surprises such as a Belgian beer tasting and the national fireworks of The Netherlands on NYE in Rotterdam.  When we were in port at lunchtime and couldn’t go back to the ship, Tauck gave each passenger $25 euros to spend how we pleased.  In Gouda, Ghent, and Bruges, one of the cruise tour directors made arrangements with local olibollen and waffle stands for us to have a sweet treat and beverage.  All we had to do was show our ship pass key.  

The bar and dining room staff were always smiling and accommodating.  I don't know how they do it day after day.  Service on the ship was excellent, whether it was the front desk or housekeeping.  Overall, the food onboard was delicious and varied, especially the soups and the Dutch, Belgian, and German specialties the chef worked into the menu.  There was only one bad item, and it was the fish and chips at lunch.  The pollack filets had skin on both sides - they tasted wretched, and because they were fried, it was impossible to pull off the skin.  My dining companion told me I must be "spoiled" if I expected skinless fish filets.  

And best of all, as a solo passenger, there was no single supplement if I booked the lowest category of cabin. I don't mind "aquarium class" on the lower deck, especially when the savings are so substantial.  

Minuses

The tours didn't seem to be run as tightly as last year's cruise. The cruise tour directors were not good at keeping track of passengers on excursions.  As an example, a lady in the group needing assistance got left behind at the bus parking lot in Bruges and had to take a taxi into the city.  No one was counting heads and/or taking down names and calling roll.  I and about 5-6 other people were abandoned in the Royal Delft factory while the others were escorted to lunch.  Another lady had to make her own way back to the ship in Amsterdam when the cruise tour director told her to meet the group outside the Rijksmuseum's gift shop, but didn't specify which one.  I'm especially sensitive to this as a solo cruiser.  Without a cruise companion, it's easy for no one to notice you're not on the  bus or haven't rejoined the group.  

The food tour in Rotterdam was disappointing compared to my experience the previous year.  Last year there were 4-5 stops.  This year we had 2 - poffertjes (small puffy Dutch pancakes) and kibbeling (fried cod chunks).  The only surviving medieval structure, a church, was barely mentioned in passing.  It was the same tour guide as last year, but he didn't seem to be as engaged.  

Due to wind and weather conditions, we docked in Antwerp instead of Ghent.  That meant we had to choose between Ghent and Bruges. Originally we were supposed to do both on Christmas Eve.  Last year we missed docking in Ghent for the same reason.  Tauck should just dock in Antwerp and adjust the itinerary accordingly, given the weather at that time of year.  

Passenger mix - this is something Tauck has no control over, but I'm mentioning it because it was a negative for me personally.  Last time there was a sizable contingent of solo cruisers, along with couples and a few family groups.  This time there was a handful of solos, and several large extended families along with some smaller family groups.  People weren't very willing to share tables, so I ended up eating by myself or with the same 2 ladies who were also sailing by themselves.  I enjoy meeting new people and eating with different groups of passengers, and that just didn't happen on this cruise.   

In summary, Tauck delivers a quality product and cruise experience without nickel and diming the passengers.  I plan to continue to sail with them.

Christmas and New Year's in Holland & Belgium

Jost Van Dyke

I was on the December 20, 2022 Yuletide Spirit sailing on the ms Grace from Amsterdam to Brussels.  It was an outstanding cruise featuring Winterfest in The Netherlands and Belgium.  It wasn’t marketed as a Christmas market cruise, so the focus was a bit different although we did have the opportunity to visit a couple of winter festivals in The Netherlands and a few Christmas festivals and markets in Belgium.   

Pre-Cruise 

I spent 3 days pre-cruise in Amsterdam at the Doubletree Centraal Station. Great hotel in a good location for cruisers and for getting around the city.  I’m a Hilton Honors member and checked it out on my first visit to Amsterdam.  Wonderful service that reminded me of the way things used to be pre-Covid.    

I booked my flights through Tauck.  Even though I came in 3 days early and wasn’t staying at Tauck’s hotel, they still sent a driver to meet me at Schipol Airport.  That was a nice touch.  I booked 2 activities online for my time in Amsterdam.  On Sunday I took a morning tour of the Rijksmuseum and on Monday I did an Amsterdam food tour.  Enjoyed both immensely.   

Passengers 

There was a nice mix of passengers.  Several families, about 12-15 solos like myself, and the rest were couples.  All were Americans to the best of my knowledge, with the exception of 2 British ladies.   

The Cruise 

This was my first Tauck cruise.  Prior to this I took 3 river cruises with Uniworld.  I found the 2 lines to be more alike than different.  I like Tauck's lowest category cabins (no single supplement for solos) better than Uniworld's, but I think Uniworld's food is better overall and there's more variety.  Tauck's "aquarium" class cabins have larger windows and are above the water line.  I will say Tauck's soups are outstanding and unique - cream of chestnut soup and mustard soup, for example.  

The 4 cruise directors were all helpful and informative and went above and beyond to make passengers feel welcome and comfortable.  There were Christmas activities onboard such as a Secret Santa gift exchange, cookie decorating, Christmas carol karaoke, etc.  And the ship was beautifully decorated for the holidays.  

All the excursions I participated in were outstanding, and each city we visited was unique and offered something different.  It would be hard to  name a favorite.  All were well done.  

The dining room service was sometimes a bit off at dinner.  For instance, if the hostess seated me at a table where people were already seated, she wouldn’t give me a menu or let the waiter know she had seated someone else.  One night our table wasn’t offered rolls, and we had to flag down a waiter for wine.  Two of the ladies already had wine.  The waiter poured wine for the third lady but didn’t offer me any even though it was clear both wine glasses were empty.  It could take a while to get tea or coffee with dessert if it arrived at all.  Not sure if the dining room service issues were due to staffing shortages or inexperienced employees.  I will say the waiters were good about asking if we wanted something off the menu for breakfast instead of the buffet or in addition to it.   

Itinerary 

Our itinerary included Amsterdam, Gouda (pronounced How - da), Rotterdam or Delft, The Hague, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels.  There was only one change to the itinerary due to wind and water levels that involved spending 2 overnights in Antwerp instead of one, and then being bused to Bruges and Ghent.  I only visited Bruges as it was going to be too long of a day to do both.  Be prepared to do a lot of walking and I can’t stress enough about wearing comfortable walking shoes. For example, in Bruges the buses aren’t allowed in the city center so we had to walk a mile in and a mile out, in addition to hours of walking around Bruges, most of it on cobblestones.  My hips and knees were screaming at me that night, and I had to take an Aleve and drink a martini in order to be in shape for the next day’s activities.   

Throughout the cruise and excursions we were awash in cheese, chocolate, sausages, stroopwafels, and fish.  The hot waffle I had from a vendor stand in Bruges and the oliebollen (literal translation - oil balls) in Gouda stand out in my mind.  Not to mention the puffy little Dutch pancakes (poffertjes) with butter and powdered sugar  I had the opportunity to eat twice. 

Weather 

The weather was pretty much what I expected - cold, wet, windy, and dark.  Did I mention wet?  The most useful items I packed were a compact umbrella, lots of socks, gloves, and athletic shoes with thick soles for staying out of the water.  Some people were prepared and others weren’t.  The worst weather we encountered was the evening we were in The Hague.  It was rush hour and dark and raining, making it almost impossible to see the bike lanes and puddles.  I spent all my time at the Mauritshuis Museum as I needed an indoor activity.   

Flights 

As I previously mentioned, I had my TA book my flights through Tauck.  Going over I was on American Airlines, Nashville to Philadelphia and then Philadelphia to Amsterdam.  I had a 4 hour layover in Philadelphia that turned into 2 hours due to delays in Nashville.  It took me about 40 minutes to get from the gate where we landed to the international terminal.   

I returned home from Brussels on December 27 on British Airways.  Despite dire warnings, I made it back on schedule.  The saving grace was I flew direct from Heathrow to Nashville, bypassing the East Coast weather mess and of course I wasn't on Southwest.  I got up at 2:15 am so I could make the flight from Brussels to London, then had a 6.5 hour layover at Heathrow.  It was a L-O-N-G day.   

Miscellaneous 

The last time I visited Europe was in 2018.   A big change I noticed on this trip was the number of businesses, including small mom and pop shops, that only take credit and debit cards.  I was told this came about as a result of the requirement to have contactless payment during the peak of the Covid epidemic.  It was also easier to use my AMEX card.  I carry 2 cards with me, one AMEX and one Visa.  The only place I couldn’t use my AMEX was for a canal boat ride in Bruges.  I brought some leftover euros with me to get me started, but didn’t have a need to get any additional from an ATM. 

I ended up with a zero balance on my onboard account.  All food, drinks, excursions, tips, and transfers were included.  

Conclusion 

Tauck is a class act, and I will definitely consider them for future river cruises.  This was definitely an itinerary I would consider doing again, and I heard other passengers echo the same sentiment.

Cheese and Chocolate - Yuletide River Cruise Through The Netherlands & Belgium

We did a fabulous Rhine river cruise with Tauck.  We left from Basal Switzerland to Amsterdam.   We felt Tauck provided fabulous service, a wonderful river boat and good excursions.  Really 5 star.

Joyce Taucks cruise director was fantastic.  Dusaw Bajac the Maitre de on the ship saw that I got the perfect Strawberry drink after a previous one was not very good.   He even sent a waiter to track me down as I was watching the castles on the river to offer me the drink.  The food was excellent, better than I remembered on our previous Tauck Blue Danube cruise.  

Tauck provided a wonderful schedule each day of activities.  Arthurs was open and we enjoyed eating lunch and snacks there.  Entertainment on the ship was great.

We kept being thanked by all involved for cruising during this period of time.  All Tauck staff and ship staff wore masks even though on some of passengers did. .  We were not aware of covid being present on this cruise.

We just had a river cruise with the Tauck on Ms Grace - Christmas Markets from Amsterdam to Brussels on December 6th 2021.

And we had the best experience ever!

It was not our first river cruise, we had done one before with Adventures by Disney. And I find these two companies comparable both by price and by the level of experience offered. We chose Tauck for the itinerary, as no one other company offered this itinerary.

We read reviews, so we knew the experience would be good. But we still were pretty impressed. In our uncertain time, with Covid and decline in service in travel industry and everywhere else - it's so refreshing to get such a great experience as we had with Tauck.

The ship was great. The cabin review is in the specific cabin review section. We had a loft cabin type on the Emerald deck. 

The Tauck personal on the cruise was phenomenal. The ship seemed to be managed by other company - Scylla. Though the ship does have permanent Tauck signage on it. But the point I am trying to make here that I want to review right now - not the ship crew, but particularly Tauck people who were managing all the touring. They all were somewhat locals to Europe, and it was a big added plus as they always were able to provide an insider perspective on the things in Europe. But they were overall amazing - in organization, knowledge, efficiency and were just great people! All different, and all just great!

We were also very grateful that even with all the difficulties in travel industry right now and all the Covid restrictions, our experience was almost not impacted at all - due to a great organization of the tours! Highly appreciated really!

The crew on the ship was also great! The ship was extremely clean and overall beautiful. The food and drinks were top notch.

We were VERY positively impressed by Tauck, and definitely will give them a priority over the other companies when we would be choosing our next river cruise experience! Thank you!

 Great river cruise experience!

My best friend and I decided to do this Xmas Market cruise shortly after her husband died. We were fortunate to be able to book a lovely suite, 308, just several months before the cruise. Someone must have cancelled - lucky us! This was my fourth trip with Tauck and my friend's first.  I expected it to be special and for all to go well and was not disappointed. She was amazed by the ship, the service, the tour directors, the lovely meals and our suite.  It was so well designed, clearly a lot of thought given from everything to bedside tables with charging outlets to the beautiful and spacious bathroom to the roomy walk-in closet with plenty of shelves and hangers. The public areas on the ship were decorated beautifully for the holiday season and the Dutch chef and her team had even made stunning displays from gingerbread (see photos). Early in the cruise, we were each given 10 Euros to buy an ornament at the Xmas Market in Achen.  These were added to the tree in the lobby and then we took them home at the end of the cruise. As others have noted, the smaller number of guests that Tauck accommodates on the ship means there is a roomy feel in every space and especially in the dining room and the Panorama Lounge. There was never a time when every table was used. The food throughout our cruise was Michelin quality, beautifully presented and served professionally. The breakfast buffet and omelette station provided an excellent start to the day's activities. The service overall on the ship was exceptional - friendly, efficient, helpful at all times. Our tour directors were knowledgeable and even though we had local guides in each town, we had a very thorough overview from the tour directors before we arrived in each location. They were there to be sure everyone enjoyed themselves and we did!

Xmas Markets, Beautiful Cities and Towns, and a Gorgeous Ship!

We wanted a “get away from it all” break so chose a quiet river cruise. The ship cabin and staff were all excellent. The organisation by Tauck is first rate. Yes it is expensive but you are taken care of from the moment you land to the moment you depart. 

We chose the ship because it had a second dining venue. That’s available all the time except the one really formal evening. Basic choices but nice to have a choice of venue. 

The alcohol is all in. So if you want to drink champagne for the whole week you can. The beer liquor and wine choices were all good but not exceptional. Glenlivet 12 yo was the best scotch. 

The clientele was 99% older well travelled Americans. 

We did some of the daily tours but some days just did our own thing. The tours were all well organised. 

I would highly recommend but just warn that if you are under 50 and not American you will stand out.

Pricey but Good 

We had such a good time on this cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. "Castles on the Rhine" by Tauck Bridges - our group had lots of grandparents, parents (like us), teens and even a few intrepid younger kids. It was so carefree. 

Tauck truly takes care of everything. That leads to a somewhat planned experience which individuals may or may not like. On this trip I surrendered to it, and it was wonderful.

The cruise directors Michael, Anke, Felix and Teresa were delightful. Absolute professionals, they really went out of their way to ensure that everyone felt taken care of. They were also great with the kids' activities both on-board and off (soccer games in port, science museum, parties & games on board.) They also encouraged the kids to make friends.

My favorite excursions were the bicycle ride in Koblenz and the dinner at Burg Satzvey Castle. My favorite city on the cruise was Basel, the embarkation point - so many lovely museums, easy walking, trams if your feet got tired. Even though it rained on our day in Lucerne & Mt Pilatus, we had a lot of fun there. Strasbourg was absolutely gorgeous.

The food was great! High quality and many choices for all, including kids. Wine choices and bar service were also excellent.

The only (minor) disappointment: a couple of the local tour guides were not outstanding - I liked the ones in Strasbourg and the bike guides in Koblenz, but the walking guides in Cologne and Amsterdam were just "eh." I ended up turning off my earpiece vox and just enjoying the sights and the Van Gogh museum. But this is a minor quibble. Tauck did an outstanding job. I would absolutely recommend this cruise.

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