ms Esprit for Tauck

Amsterdam to Budapest via Tauck

September

Pros: Excellent service, great excursions, extremely enjoyable atmosphere

Cons: None worth mentioning

Recommended: Yes

We were impressed with the arrangements through Tauck for this cruise which went off extremely smoothly. We enjoyed the congeniality of the crew and the passengers made possible by this small boat concept cruise. The excursions were great and the accommodations aboard ship were far more than adequate. We plan to travel with Tauck in the future.

First Tauck Tour

May

Pros: Tauck cannot be matched with unique touches that make the tour special like dinners in a magnificent palace with extraordinary opera singing and white glove treatment. The one in the Pallacini Palace was a once in a lifetime experience. There were two other dinners in palaces, including the farewell dinner. Nice to dress up like a

Cons: Not enough prior explanation and focus on how much walking is necessary. Saying you need good walking shoes is not enough and we were not prepared for the frequency of long walks. One especially bad experience was in Regenseberg where we boarded the boat, but only after a two mile walk to the ship. Tauck should never allow that to happen. It was unacceptable. The other big problem was the Intercontinental Hotel in Prague. It was not up to Tauck standards and I told them so. I gashed my leg on a coffee table in the lobby waiting for our friends to go to dinner, and I bled profusely. A hotel clerk came over and handed me two band aids and abruptly went away. My wife and friends were aghast! If it wasn't for our friends on the trip who ran up to their rooms to get me antiseptic, gauze and a large band aid, I would still be bleeding. When the bleeding finally stopped, we went to dinner. WhenI got back to the hotel, I complained to the manager who apologized and asked me what could he do. I replied train your staff better.

Recommended: Yes

I gave you most of my comments and was even more comprehensive on my evaluation to Tauck, including an additional page of both good and bad constructive comments. Too long to repeat here. Tauck is obviously a first rate tour company, and their special touches set them apart from all other tour companies. As I mentioned, the Intercontinental Hotel in Prague was not up to Tauck standards and they should change hotels there. While the opposite was true of the Four Seasons Hotel in Budapest which was fabulous; wish we could have spent the extra night there instead of the Intercontinental. If we decided to do another Tauck tour, I would spend about 2 months walking to get in better physical condition for their walking tours which are very strenuous, and then you add in cobble stone streets, and your legs begin to kill you. One comment about the airplane flights. While you got us a very good fare during the few months up to the trip, when the original fares were outrageously high, the return flight was very bad, and we would prefer to spend a few hundred dollars more to avoid a very early morning flight from Europe (6:15 AM flight from Budapest to Amsterdam) required a 2:30 AM wake up call, luggage pickup at 3:15 AM and two connecting flights with baggage pickup in Atlanta, go thru customs and two layovers. We spent 23 hours traveling to get home, and will not do that again even if it means a few hundred dollars extra to avoid this nightmare.

From ms Treasurer to ms Esprit

October

Pros: Great lighting on our 2nd ship and larger bathroom

Cons: eating times/tours were too early in morning

Recommended: Yes

1st time on a river cruise. Even though enjoyable and the Tauck staff was wonderful, have decided this style of travel isn't my favorite. Did like small ship with fewer people.