TauckBridges London and Paris Tour

[tufbuf]

It would have been nice but maybe we can do an late spring pre-cruise trip to RSM's resort in Vermont to get us in a "Sound of Music" frame of mind.

I decided to go ahead and book the trip this morning so I could take advantage of the "Gift of Time" offer that expires on 9/30. We'll receive a free pre-night at the Budapest Marriott and a free post-night at Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The Tauck agent told me that their negotiated rate at the Marriott is $205 and for the Bayerischer Hof it's $660 per night, so that's a nice little perk. DisFan10, any information or suggestions about the cruise or excursions that you would care to share is most welcome. And anyone else who is familiar with the area, hotels, activities, or restaurants please chime in too. All on ship and on shore meals are included in the trip, I believe, but we'll have the pre and post days on our own to fill.

Oh wow, Bobo! Did you book the Danube family cruise??? Tell me all about it when you get back!!! I am seriously considering this trip but waiting for my daughter to turn 12.

 

[sayhello]

It would have been nice but maybe we can do an late spring pre-cruise trip to RSM's resort in Vermont to get us in a "Sound of Music" frame of mind.

I decided to go ahead and book the trip this morning so I could take advantage of the "Gift of Time" offer that expires on 9/30. We'll receive a free pre-night at the Budapest Marriott and a free post-night at Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The Tauck agent told me that their negotiated rate at the Marriott is $205 and for the Bayerischer Hof it's $660 per night, so that's a nice little perk. DisFan10, any information or suggestions about the cruise or excursions that you would care to share is most welcome. And anyone else who is familiar with the area, hotels, activities, or restaurants please chime in too. All on ship and on shore meals are included in the trip, I believe, but we'll have the pre and post days on our own to fill.

Oooo! Congrats on booking this cruise, Bobo912! Sounds great! I look forward to hearing your report about it.

Sayhello

 

[marcemch]

It would have been nice but maybe we can do an late spring pre-cruise trip to RSM's resort in Vermont to get us in a "Sound of Music" frame of mind.

I decided to go ahead and book the trip this morning so I could take advantage of the "Gift of Time" offer that expires on 9/30. We'll receive a free pre-night at the Budapest Marriott and a free post-night at Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The Tauck agent told me that their negotiated rate at the Marriott is $205 and for the Bayerischer Hof it's $660 per night, so that's a nice little perk. DisFan10, any information or suggestions about the cruise or excursions that you would care to share is most welcome. And anyone else who is familiar with the area, hotels, activities, or restaurants please chime in too. All on ship and on shore meals are included in the trip, I believe, but we'll have the pre and post days on our own to fill.

Congrats to you on booking this trip! I've had my eye on this trip as well, but it does cover two cities I've been to (Salzburg, which is FABULOUS!) and Munich, but other than that, the itinerary sounds great. Will be interesting to see what you think of the river cruise genre of vacation - I can see the kids really loving the freedom of the boat in the evenings.
I was confused about Tauck's offer of the "gift of time" - it seems like last year, they extended it later for the Tauck Bridges trips, and I was assuming that it would be the same this year. Now I'm concerned, but they haven't even posted all of the 2012 trips yet for Tauck Bridges, so it seems like it would be unfair for them to only offer it through 9/30. I'm still secretly hoping that they'll come out with an Ireland itinerary for Bridges that includes the Ring of Kerry for 2012, but probably wishful thinking...

 

[Bobo912]

Oh wow, Bobo! Did you book the Danube family cruise??? Tell me all about it when you get back!!! I am seriously considering this trip but waiting for my daughter to turn 12.

That's the one! DS's 12th birthday is on the first day of the cruise, so he'll be able to do the white water rafting.

Oooo! Congrats on booking this cruise, Bobo912! Sounds great! I look forward to hearing your report about it.

Thanks, sayhello. I'll be sure to post about the trip, at least as a comparison to ABD - don't want to get too far off topic.

I was planning to wait until later in the year to make a decision, but the 2 free hotel nights was too good to pass up. Plus the idea of going to Africa kept creeping into my head, and with the huge amount I spent on vacations this year, I thought it might be a wise to go ahead and book something that isn't quite as pricey as Africa. Also, thought it would be a good idea to go with something completely different than the Galapagos and SWS trips that we took this year. Being based on the ship in the Galapagos worked out well too, so I thought another cruise where there wasn't so much packing and unpacking would be nice. And it's much easier on the kids than riding a bus between destinations. I think it will be a lot of fun.

 

[Bobo912]

Congrats to you on booking this trip! I've had my eye on this trip as well, but it does cover two cities I've been to (Salzburg, which is FABULOUS!) and Munich, but other than that, the itinerary sounds great. Will be interesting to see what you think of the river cruise genre of vacation - I can see the kids really loving the freedom of the boat in the evenings.
I was confused about Tauck's offer of the "gift of time" - it seems like last year, they extended it later for the Tauck Bridges trips, and I was assuming that it would be the same this year. Now I'm concerned, but they haven't even posted all of the 2012 trips yet for Tauck Bridges, so it seems like it would be unfair for them to only offer it through 9/30. I'm still secretly hoping that they'll come out with an Ireland itinerary for Bridges that includes the Ring of Kerry for 2012, but probably wishful thinking...

Thanks, marcemch! The gift of time offer that I had only applied to the river cruises, exotics, and small ship cruises (Bridges, Culturious and World Discovery in each category). I'm sure you got that offer too. The other Bridges 2012 itineraries have been slowly making their way on to the website for the last week or so. I've received the free hotel offer periodically over the last couple of years, each time with a different set of itineraries and different expiration. I suspect that now that most of the remaining TB 2012 trips are up on the website there will be another gift of time offer for them. I almost hesitated for fear that they would come up with a new itinerary that I like better than the Danube cruise. But it looks like fun, I've never been to any of the cities, and DS liked it when I forced him to read it (but he pretty much likes everything). I know all of the returning trips were on the website last year before they announced the new 2011 Alpine and Amalfi coast trips, so maybe there's still a chance for an Ireland trip. That's one I would be interested in too!

 

[DisFan10]

It would have been nice but maybe we can do an late spring pre-cruise trip to RSM's resort in Vermont to get us in a "Sound of Music" frame of mind.

I decided to go ahead and book the trip this morning so I could take advantage of the "Gift of Time" offer that expires on 9/30. We'll receive a free pre-night at the Budapest Marriott and a free post-night at Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The Tauck agent told me that their negotiated rate at the Marriott is $205 and for the Bayerischer Hof it's $660 per night, so that's a nice little perk. DisFan10, any information or suggestions about the cruise or excursions that you would care to share is most welcome. And anyone else who is familiar with the area, hotels, activities, or restaurants please chime in too. All on ship and on shore meals are included in the trip, I believe, but we'll have the pre and post days on our own to fill.

Hi Bobo912,

I'm sure you'll enjoy the riverboat cruise, even without Elisabeth. The ship is beautiful and there are all sorts of distractions for the kids. There is also a computer available for guests to check email, but there are connectivity issues depending on the location of the ship. They also have laptops you can check out, but again, connections are spotty.

For your pre-tour stay in Budapest, you can spend some time visiting Buda castle and the surrounding area. It's just a short walk across the Chain Bridge and up on the funicular. (You can walk up for free, but it's challenging).

There is also a Segway tour that you can take. Their office is located on the same street as a McDonald's, which is just a short walk from the hotel. There is also a pedestrian-only shopping district near the hotel which is full of shopping and dining options.

During the cruise, there is only one long motorcoach ride from the port of Linz to Salzburg (and return). It was about 2.5 hours, but we made a pit stop about midway at a coffee shop/convenience store along the autobahn.

I think your DS will enjoy the whitewater rafting experience. It's not TOO difficult, but none of the instructors spoke much English. Therefore, it's important to pay attention during the safety session before you get in the rafts.

For our post-stay in Munich, we took a Gray Line Hop On/Hop Off tour that covered all of the highlights. We ate lunch at an authentic and historical German restaurant called Haxnbauer. We also enjoyed dinner at Trader Vic's inside the Bayerischer Hof.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

As for Tauck's 2 free hotel nights, it is quite a bargain and incentive. I wish AbD would show the same appreciation to its past guests!

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks DisFan10! I'll be sure to check out all your suggestions. I know absolutely nothing about Budapest or Munich.

 

[Bobo912]

Congrats to you on booking this trip! I've had my eye on this trip as well, but it does cover two cities I've been to (Salzburg, which is FABULOUS!) and Munich, but other than that, the itinerary sounds great. Will be interesting to see what you think of the river cruise genre of vacation - I can see the kids really loving the freedom of the boat in the evenings.
I was confused about Tauck's offer of the "gift of time" - it seems like last year, they extended it later for the Tauck Bridges trips, and I was assuming that it would be the same this year. Now I'm concerned, but they haven't even posted all of the 2012 trips yet for Tauck Bridges, so it seems like it would be unfair for them to only offer it through 9/30. I'm still secretly hoping that they'll come out with an Ireland itinerary for Bridges that includes the Ring of Kerry for 2012, but probably wishful thinking...

I was a little surprised that there were no new trips this year. My historical knowledge of TB is not very long, but I know they've had new trips the last couple of years. But maybe it's because of the wide range of offerings they have that aren't specifically family trips or maybe they've dedicated their resources this year to the Ken Burns collaboration. Or could just be the safer thing to do with the economy being bad. I would like to see them offer a TB version of the Australia, Vietnam/Cambodia, or Ireland. Seems like that would be pretty easy since they already have those itineraries and would just have to tweak them a little for the younger crowd.

 

[Bobo912]

Congrats to you on booking this trip! I've had my eye on this trip as well, but it does cover two cities I've been to (Salzburg, which is FABULOUS!) and Munich, but other than that, the itinerary sounds great. Will be interesting to see what you think of the river cruise genre of vacation - I can see the kids really loving the freedom of the boat in the evenings.
I was confused about Tauck's offer of the "gift of time" - it seems like last year, they extended it later for the Tauck Bridges trips, and I was assuming that it would be the same this year. Now I'm concerned, but they haven't even posted all of the 2012 trips yet for Tauck Bridges, so it seems like it would be unfair for them to only offer it through 9/30. I'm still secretly hoping that they'll come out with an Ireland itinerary for Bridges that includes the Ring of Kerry for 2012, but probably wishful thinking...

marcecmh, have you received the new TB brochure in the mail yet? The "gift of time" letter is in the package and the the deadline is 12/30/11. The trip we've already booked is included, so I didn't really have to rush before the 9/30 deadline for the river cruise offer, but that's okay. I'm happy with our choice anyway. They did include 3 new trips, although they don't appear to be strictly TB trips. They seem to be World Discovery itineraries listed as "family friendly departures". I think that is a wonderful idea. No big investment for Tauck to come up with new itineraries, but maybe bring the trips to the attention of a younger group and consolidate into a few departure dates the families who would like to have other kids on the trip.

 

[marcemch]

marcecmh, have you received the new TB brochure in the mail yet? The "gift of time" letter is in the package and the the deadline is 12/30/11. The trip we've already booked is included, so I didn't really have to rush before the 9/30 deadline for the river cruise offer, but that's okay. I'm happy with our choice anyway. They did include 3 new trips, although they don't appear to be strictly TB trips. They seem to be World Discovery itineraries listed as "family friendly departures". I think that is a wonderful idea. No big investment for Tauck to come up with new itineraries, but maybe bring the trips to the attention of a younger group and consolidate into a few departure dates the families who would like to have other kids on the trip.

Yes! I just got the TB brochure today and was excited that the "gift of time" offer had been extended till the end of the year. Will give me time to figure out what I want to do - maybe ABD will come up with a discount offer of some sort by then too so they could be in the running. Was happy to see more options with the "family friendly" departures too - decisions, decisions!
On another note - one of my photos I submitted for the photo contest last year made it into the catalog! What a surprise! (page 23 - the kids with the sequoia root). Wish it translated into a trip discount!