Tour Companies - Tauck, Globus, Prism Holidays

[Amy]

DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniv. in Sept. 2004, and if my parents agree to watch the boys for 2 weeks (they're "thinking about it"), we're hoping to fulfill one of my dreams and visit Germany. I've already started collecting tour brochures and so far I've found 3 different tours that sound good.

Have any of you traveled with either Tauck, Globus or Prism Holidays? Please tell me the good and bad about them. Tauck is the most expensive, Globus and Prism include airfare (at least from NY) in their prices, and they're much more reasonably priced than Tauck. But will we be shelling out money all the time to pay for "options"? Are the tours pretty much as described in the brochures? Anything in particular we should look out for?

This will be the most expensive vacation we've been on, probably the only time I'll ever get to Germany, and I don't want to be sorry. Thanks for your help!

 

[LoriKay]

I don't personally have any experience, however, my aunt and uncle have used Tauck a number of times for overseas trips and love them. Knowing my aunt and uncle I'm not surprised to hear that Tauck is the most expensive of the three! Good luck with your planning.

 

[jfranklyn]

I've taken Globus numerous times. They have always been wonderful (including a very unfortunate incident one time when our bus burned with all our luggage in it in Ireland). We've used them to California, Ireland, Europe, and Scandinavia. Their guides are always extremely knowledgable. The drivers are fantastic. Sometimes the people on the bus can get a little annoying, but that will be with any tour, I imagine. My uncle used to take Taulk all the time, but they are VERY expensive. The tour with Globus will be EXACTLY what is listed in the book, with maybe a few extra things thrown in. You'll know before you go which optionals are available and you'll be able to plan in advance to take them. Some of them are worth every penny, some aren't. Do your research before you go. Any other questions I'd be glad to answer!!!

 

[Amy]

Thanks for your replies!

Bumping to page 1 for the evening crowd......

 

[shortbun]

I retired from the travel industry after 29 years last May. I sold
lots of tours. Globus is good and they will offer optionals during the tour for cash only. Their hotels are usually nothing special and mostly well located. Their tour guides are good-not great and
move around a lot so often do not know the language and the regular people at hotels/shops/sights. Take a close look at the itinerary for "visits" versus "entrance" or "admissions." Some of the sightseeing is driveby or photo stop and not entrance. Globus is considered first class and Tauck is considered deluxe-a superior rating rests between them for companies like Cartan. Tauck hotels are much better-their rooms are usually with a view or
well located in a nicer hotel with some charm. Tauck's tour guides are usually regulars in their region and know lots of trivial bits of info as well as normally being fluent in the languages of their region. Also-watch for more meals and better meals being included. while Globus includes all breakfasts-it may be limited menu or coffee and roll and Tauck could be off the menu. Same goes for dinners-Tauck often goes out while Globus chooses the hotel or doesn't include dinners. Tauck used to include some lunches too. Germany isn't that difficult to maneuver so Globus might be your cup of tea-not as much inclusions and more free time could be a benefit. I've never heard of Prism. Could be that they are local to your area or new in the last year or renamed. Whatever, be sure they have USTOA and ASTA guarantees or bonding. Also-always buy insurance from a separate company. If
the soft travel market adversely effects a travel company and they
are not financially able to provide services-only a detached insurance will do you any good. Have fun in Germany-it's really
fun!

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the "insider" view, shortbun. Sounds like as long as I read the itinerary carefully, we'll be ok. I definitely want to go inside Neuschwanstein, so I've already learned to watch out for "viewing" the castle vs. "visiting" the castle in the descriptions.

jfranklyn, how scary! I hope no one was hurt when the bus burned! What did you do for the rest of the tour?

 

[jfranklyn]

Oh, Amy, it was ugly!! We were 6 days into a 14 day tour when it happened. The bus had had mechanical problems the night before, and the driver had been working hard to get it fixed. I was in the front of the bus, my two friends were in the back of the bus (you rotate around the bus as to where you sit each day). I was the first one out, but they were the last. By the time they got to the front of the bus, the seats they were sitting on in the back were engulfed in flames. It was by far the scariest moment of my life. But having said that, it's a GREAT story to tell!! No one was hurt (a little sooty, but nothing serious) - anything that didn't leave the bus with a person was completely destroyed. Globus took us to a hotel, via another bus, we regrouped, and they took us to a local town - gave each of us $250 in cash, and told us to get what we needed to survive. So we went to a local department store and bought suitcases, underwear, clothes, etc. Then we were able to claim the rest through insurance. They originally told us that we would have to give the $250 back when we got our settlements, but they never followed through on that. The hardest part were people who lost passports, airline tickets, etc. That was tough - but the tour company was very good with helping everyone get what they needed.