Tauck Small Ship Cruise to Portugal and Spain
Feb 16th, 2017, 05:40 PM
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Tauck Small Ship Cruise to Portugal and Spain
Hello, my husband I are considering the Tauck small ship cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona (or vice versa depending on dates). Last year we took a fabulous river cruise trip with them on the Danube and loved it. The small ship cruise uses Windstar and I can't seem to find any reviews about these trips. If you have taken one of these small ship itineraries with Tauck (or a competitor), please share your experience. I would like to know how the ship was, service, food, staterooms and such.
One thing that puzzles me is that Tauck notes on their site that the ship holds 212 people but 40 will be from Tauck. Does that mean that other tours are on the same ship? No problem with that, just want to understand how they do it.
Thanks in advance for any input regarding this trip!
Deb
One thing that puzzles me is that Tauck notes on their site that the ship holds 212 people but 40 will be from Tauck. Does that mean that other tours are on the same ship? No problem with that, just want to understand how they do it.
Thanks in advance for any input regarding this trip!
Deb
Feb 16th, 2017, 11:38 PM
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Yes, others will be on the same ship with you. Tauck will have their own representatives on board traveling with your group of 40 "Tauck guests" - you'll go on Tauck sponsored tours and partake in Tauck sponsored activities. While on board the ship you will free rein of the entire ship and all it has to offer.
Feb 17th, 2017, 01:41 AM
#3
Which Windstar ship is the Tauck cruise on?
We've been on 2 .....Windspirit (approx 140 people)and Windsurf(approx 300 people) both sailing ships.
We are also looking at the Lisbon to Barcelona cruise in Sept. on Star Pride, motor yacht. I see that several of Windstar ships offer the same itinerary.
Tauck is top of the line so I would think all your land tours are included.
If you book the same itinerary with Windstar itself you will choose your tours separately.
We like the smaller size of Windstar ships. Obviously you have less restaurants, entertainment,etc on board but what you have is excellent.
The service...the crew will know your name, likes, etc by the 2nd day.
The food on both of our cruises was wonderful.
The cabin was a decent size & very comfortable.
With a smaller amount of passengers you get to know each other quickly, you don't have to rush to the restaurant/bar to get a good seat.
On/off is so easy compared to a ship with thousands.
Many times you get into the smaller ports the large ships can't get into or they have to tender into while you are docked like a private yacht.
The ships are older but have been redone beautifully.
Ex. of service: Our cruises were 5 Years apart. On our 2nd night our dinner server said that he remembered us & what wine I liked. Yes, impossible for sure but obviously they looked it up on the computer and made the effort. Nice touch. Actually we did remember him,where he was from and his family.
We loved the sailing experience but are now considering Star Pride, a motor yacht so I'll be watching for comments here.
We've been on 2 .....Windspirit (approx 140 people)and Windsurf(approx 300 people) both sailing ships.
We are also looking at the Lisbon to Barcelona cruise in Sept. on Star Pride, motor yacht. I see that several of Windstar ships offer the same itinerary.
Tauck is top of the line so I would think all your land tours are included.
If you book the same itinerary with Windstar itself you will choose your tours separately.
We like the smaller size of Windstar ships. Obviously you have less restaurants, entertainment,etc on board but what you have is excellent.
The service...the crew will know your name, likes, etc by the 2nd day.
The food on both of our cruises was wonderful.
The cabin was a decent size & very comfortable.
With a smaller amount of passengers you get to know each other quickly, you don't have to rush to the restaurant/bar to get a good seat.
On/off is so easy compared to a ship with thousands.
Many times you get into the smaller ports the large ships can't get into or they have to tender into while you are docked like a private yacht.
The ships are older but have been redone beautifully.
Ex. of service: Our cruises were 5 Years apart. On our 2nd night our dinner server said that he remembered us & what wine I liked. Yes, impossible for sure but obviously they looked it up on the computer and made the effort. Nice touch. Actually we did remember him,where he was from and his family.
We loved the sailing experience but are now considering Star Pride, a motor yacht so I'll be watching for comments here.
