Trip experience



Plan to take this trip in Aug. Would love to hear from someone taking it before then, noting any suggestions/advice they can share.

Comments

  • Planning to go in Aug also. Would also like feedback.
  • edited July 2011
    teepe2 wrote:
    Plan to take this trip in Aug. Would love to hear from someone taking it before then, noting any suggestions/advice they can share.
    My husband & I are going in Aug. also can't wait.. We travel with another couple .. Both of us are from Missouri. Been looking @ the weather in Paris they have some cool nights need to take a jacket..This is our 2nd trip with Tauck, we went on The Christmas Market trip last Dec. great trip...
  • We are traveling with a group total of 7. 5 from the East Coast and 2 from LA. This is our first Tauck tour so we hope it is good
  • We are thinking about this trip for 2012. We have done the Danube, Rhine/Moselle, and the Strasbourg-Prague cruises with Tauck. The boats and its crew and the food are outstanding.

    Is the top deck open for the entire cruise? Also, does the boat dock at the towns you are visiting or do you have to board a bus to tour the towns?
  • We took this trip from September 27 - October 10. We had not taken a Tauck river boat trip before but we had traveled to Machu Picchu/Galapagos and China with Tauck in the previous 2 years. We had a marvelous time on this trip. The Swiss Emerald river ship is beautiful and the Scylla crew is excellent. We love that virtually everything is included in the tour price. Not having to worry about tipping or transfers is a huge plus. We thought the food and wine were superb. Some of the highlights include: visit to the medieval Italian village from Monte Carlo; the camargue ranch trip; the wine and food tastings across the board; the local guides; our three Tauck tour directors: Rui, Simon, and Veronica plus Esther the cruise director; and sitting on deck watching the beautiful scenery and low bridges go by. We were lucky to have fantastic weather for the river portion of the trip. While it was gray in Paris, it didn't rain and Paris is divine under any circumstances. I really enjoyed seeing many of the small towns along the Rhone and Saone and Tauck figured out how to draw out the best in each of them. The pacing was perfect and when this vacation was over, I felt like I had both experienced a lot as well as relaxed -- not an easy combination to achieve. We are going with Tauck to Africa next fall, but we will definitely cruise Europe's rivers with them again.
  • We are planning to take this trip in June, 2012 and are most appreciative of your wonderful comments, btoohill. We have taken a previous river trip from Amsterdam to Budapest and although not with Tauck, it was wonderful so we are greatly looking forward to our first adventure with this company. Many people we have spoken with feel they are just THE best so I am sure we won't be disappointed. All of you who have posted discussions have nothing but the best to say about your travel experiences with Tauck!
  • btoohill:

    I know what you mean about Tauck river cruises - they are wonderful aren't they!

    Thanks for your review.

    I noticed your comment about low bridges. Was the top deck open all the time for viewing? If not, how many days was it closed?

  • On our French Escapade trip, we traveled south to north and there were three afternoons of cruising where many of us took up residence on the top deck for the afternoon. On two of the afternoons we could use all the top deck spaces but there were a few times during the afternoon when one of the staff would come up, position himself at the front of the sundeck, and tell us when to duck. The afternoon that we cruised through Lyon, where I assume the bridges are lower, they closed the sundeck (the top area behind the wheelhouse) but they had chairs and tables positioned on the other top deck area in front of the wheelhouse. We were asked to duck a few times and for one of the bridges we were directed to get down on the floor. All of the bridge action and ducking or sitting on the floor made for a very festive atmosphere, and a sense of comraderie, adding to the fun on the trip. So, during this trip there was never a time when we couldn't sit out on the top of the boat.
  • Thanks for the info.
  • Our journey from Monte Carlo to Paris begins July 13th, 2012 and we are looking forward to the trip. This will be our 6th tour with Tauck. All previous tours have exceeded our expectations. We are sure this will be a well guided tour.
  • Planning to go in Aug also. Would also like feedback.

    My husband are also taking this cruise on Aug.8th, ia anyone leaving that date also? We just picked up our documents yesterday & are really getting excited on going. We are leaving from Orlando, Fl.

    Eileen Ryan
  • For those who have stayed with Tauck in Paris at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, how was the hotel, (staff, food, room, a/C, etc)?
  • We didn't stay at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe with Tauck on our London/Paris trip last summer, but I've read very good reports about the hotel. I'll try to locate the reports and let you know where I read them. In the meantime, go to www.tripadvisor.com and check out the hotel.

    Sheila
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