Tauck Reviews 76

Douro River cruise, excellent.

Booked a summer cruise out of Nice 2023. Had to cancel seven months prior to the departure date. Had made a $3000 deposit that Tauck refused to return or apply as a future credit.

Never will travel on them again

Tauck sells a Guest Protection Plan (GPP) it states is intended to protect the customer in the event that the customer decides to cancel a trip. What they don’t tell you is that they will keep the premium paid even if Tauck chooses to cancel your trip. If Tauck cancels a trip, they will maintain the amount paid in an account for a limited period of time. If the customer does not use those funds on another trip at the expiration of that time, Tauck declares the customer’s money lost and refuses to refund it. Most notable is the fact that Tauck is the only entity we dealt with throughout the pandemic who did such a thing. All others refunded all monies in full, including “insurance” premiums paid to them, when the company cancelled trips and cruises. After having pursued all reasonable avenues, I was today informed by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that Tauck still refuses to change this practice.

Very disappointed Tauck tour( currently on). The food: dinner menu: Entree: 1 Red beans & Rice. 2. Crawfish etouffee. Cash bar. That’s. Most dinners are disappointment. Cost: Average $1000+/day/couple.

I was on two Tauck tours last year: Jordan and Egypt and Rhine Oktoberfest cruise.
Both tours were superb.
Local guides were used at every stop.
We were really pampered: luggage pick up at our room when we moved.
On the river cruise, all tips and alcohol are included in the price.
Both were truly first class trips.

I was going to complain to their HQ, but could not find a direct route. However, having read the negative feedback from recent clients on the hugely expensive trip on the Grand New England tour, it looks like I got lucky! Having booked last autumn for next September, my health detriorated, and I needed to cancel. I understand the T&C regarding cancelation but did ask the Tauck might refund my deposit of £400, if they resold the spaces. Seeing that the 29 Sept 2023 tour is now sold out, I asked if they would repay as a sign of goodwill. NO WAY! came the reply. This is sharp practice as they get paid twice over. BTW my health seems to be improving, but I will give Tauck a miss on our next trip to New England.

I am updating my review of Tauck to be 5 stars because while it did take a long time to work out my refund for the missed days of our trip due to Covid infection 5 days into our Ireland tour the company has refunded all of my additional expenses and the cost of our missed days of the trip. I will be a returning customer as they have restored my faith in customer service!!

Our Grand New England tour was a huge disappointment, and we will never use this tour company again. The guide was totally unknowledgeable of all of the sites we visited, she was incompetent at coordinating travel for a small group, and she said and did offensive and inappropriate things throughout the trip. Worst of all she sent out our personal information in an unsecure email when we specifically told her not to do so,
This company is completely unwilling to take any constructive feedback from its customers or take seriously the egregious problems they have with their tours. Don't waste your time or money with them.

Our recent Grand New England trip was a huge disappointment from the quality of services provided by our Tour Guide, the quality of Hotels and services provided by them and food services at hotels and optional sites. This was our first and last experience with Tauck. Their management was advised in detail of our complains and their response was a verbal apology and a certificate for a $250 discount on future Tauck tours as an incentive to use their services again. I'm pretty sure they knew we would never book a tour with them again so they really offered nothing to compensate for their failure to provide a high quality trip that warrants the prices they charge for services provided. This company is seriously relying on repeat customers and the reputation they had in the past. If you want a 1 Star travel experience, book with Tauck!

We just returned from 14 days in Portugal and Spain. Overall the trip was enjoyable and the guide was superb. Though on that subject, after spending $15K for the trip, we were told we still needed to tip the guide and driver an additional $500 because they depend on tips for the “majority” of their salary. This is ridiculous; Tauck should pay them what they’re worth and not ding the clients extra, unless each person wants to give extra.
HOWEVER, I’d say Tauck is for people who really don’t care what they see as long as they stay in 5-star hotels, don’t have to handle their luggage, and have plenty of time to shop. I sent a letter to Tauck outlining 10 major deficiencies in our trip, including a flight that we were supposed to take from Lisbon to Seville that was canceled—we took our bus for 9 hours—no refund; we were downgraded from a hotel in Seville we were supposed to stay in— no refund. There were numerous “must see” sites that were not included that we had to seek out on our own and pay extra for (e.g. Granada Cathedral, Royal palace in Madrid, the Queluz Palace in Lisbon). Poor scheduling had us in the Prado Museum during peak time—after the impossibly crowded tour, the guide told us when to come later when practically no one was there; we did and enjoyed it. Tauck doesn’t provide any meals on some days, and way too much food on other days—they should balance this. There were just too many cites missing, when it would have been so easy to include them (even if optional for those who didn’t want to go shopping). We were there to see the important cites. One whole day was wasted in Marbella doing nothing—and that’s at a cost of $1000. At least there should have been a guided option to go somewhere interesting—even a walking tour of the old town—but there was nothing except a mediocre beach. Then there were three times we were taken to uninteresting Jewish Quarters in bland areas. Why? We feel we did not get sufficient value from the experience considering the price of the trip. We had very high expectations that Tauck did not meet. We will not travel with Tauck again. We learned our lesson.

4th Tauck Tour and will never use them again. Booking my own trip was a nightmare. Inconsistent answers, long wait times on phone, and insisted they pick me up at Charles de Gaule...never showed up. Said there was a laptop for use by passengers...not true and my cell phone broke so I was out of touch with everyone. 2 Covid passengers and the worst was the raw sewage that came up from my shower the last day of the trip...no wonder my room stank the whole time. I never wanted to go anywhere this year because of Covid and disastrous airline performances all summer, but Tauch said I would lose my deposit from a cancelled trip last year and I had to book a European River Cruise. So, between Delta Airlines (Tauck booked me) and this cruise I came home tired, angry, upset.

Beware of the travel insurance that Tauck partners with from Aon. We bought this insurance specifically to cover a pre-trip positive Covid test. My wife tested positive 3 days before the trip. The insurance company asked her to get a PCR test which came back positive too. They are now denying the claim because she wasn't sick enough to see a doctor. Tauck now says they will not get involved. This insurance company is labeled as its partner. Terrible customer service. We will never again trust Tauck.

Right now waiting for any responses to problems with upcoming tour of Southeast Asia. Lots of call holding and bs. I would never recommend cibt for visas. Disorganized mess with no one ever responding and delays that are not explained and charges to credit card yea reversed but $1400 errors. And visas still not delivered and no explanations.

I recently enjoyed a 10 day Tauck Tour of Tanzania and Zanzibar, Africa. The tour exceeded my wildest expectations. If you are interested in experiencing unparalleled and close up wild animals in their natural habitat this is the tour for you. While the daily safari drives are a bit grueling for my age (67) they are worth the bumpy drive (referred to as an African massage), not to mention the very comfortable accommodations every evening with the best possible views. Our tour guides were superb. They were knowledgeable and eagle eyed at seeing and then quickly driving to see animals doing everything animals due in the wild including hunting and killing prey, caring for their young, mating rituals and much more. We even had a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. Our tour guide, Ivan, was a wealth of information on local customs and traditions. We visited a local tribe and were granted unprecedented access to their daily lives. A visit to the site and museum where Professor and Mary Leakey spent their lives uncovering the “cradle of civilization” where they discovered the bones of the earliest humanoids was an unexpected treat.

BUYERS BEWARE! On day 4 of our 2-week cruise Tauck canceled our riverboat cruise because of low waters in the Danube. All of us understood the problem, but we couldn't understand Tauck's response to it. The company literally left us "high and dry"! They gave us absolutely no support to transfer to other river or land cruises, help with transportation home, or any other kind of assistance. None of us could even get a callback! Why can passengers on the other cruise lines (Viking, Uniworld, etc.) switch to coach tours when the water is low and Tauck has no options at all? We paid a lot of money for this trip and it was a disaster! FYI: We did get a refund from Tauck for the remaining unused days of our trip, but that's it... no letter of apology, no extras of any kind. And... it cost us an additional $8500 to fly home early. SHAME ON TAUCK for treating us all so poorly!

We contracted COVID on the 7th day of our 10 day small group Canadian Capitals tour Aug 2022. We are avid mask wearers and understood the risk. We self tested the afternoon of the 7th day and immediately notified the guide. He came to our room and presented us with a covid policy sheet and picked up our Vox (transistor radios). Said every trip has someone get covid. The next morning we got an email from the company that said basically you are now separated from the group. We would never have risk infected anyone! But at this point we were on our own in French speaking Quebec. Thank goodness for our translator app! We had to locate test site(PCR required for travel insurance), had to make our own hotel reservation changes. I asked the guide if there was a travel agent in the hotel or nearby. He said check with the front desk. We were not given any local information eg. testing sites, maybe a medical sherpa(translator). The day after, got a message from guide that said hope you are feeling well and a reminded do not show for any planned event. Nope you are on your own.

PS They advertise that all gratuities are included. That was not our experience. The day one information said the gratuity for the the guide was to be $10/day for the guide and driver $7/day. in US DOLLARS. We paid him cash when he came to our room.

I have taken 3 tours with Tauck. the first was to Provence France and it was wonderful on every level. the second was to northern France and again the best experience. The third was last month July 2022 Best of the Canadian Rockies. The itinerary was good the accommodation were good and the tour director was the worst. He was unorganized, defensive, and combative. He brought no value to the tour. If you are considering this tour I strongly suggest you avoid any tour run by a man named Pete. I made the best of the situation, however when you pay premium prices this is not acceptable and the tour company did not have any concern, which is also a red flag.

Tauck does an excellent job organizing tours. But they are not the best for solo travelers. They will not tell you if other solos are going at least I couldn’t find out, and I was the only one alone on a recent trip. . Given the profile of the other travelers including some families that had to be attached at the hip every second, which made it uncomfortable for me (ie entitled young adult telling me where I could sit so they were all together) probably will not travel with them again unless they will disclose/have other solos - better to go alone and copy their itineraries!

Very disappointed in Tauck. When Tauck had to cancelled my 2020 tour due to COVID they were the only company that held back $600 of my trip and then dictate how I have to use my money. I lost a Disney trip to COVID and they returned ALL my money, so did hotels, airlines. I complained to Tauck and they don’t care. Boo to Tauck!!! Will never travel with them and recommend nobody else does!

I took a Tauck cruise of Greece called Treasures of the Aegean. The cruise itself was great. All the passengers tested negative for Covid before boarding the ship. However, at the end of the cruise more than 10 percent if the passengers had Covid and had to quarantine. I had known of the risk of Covid, I would never have taken the tour.

First tour to Yellowstone postponed until 2021 due to COVID. Unavoidable so fair enough. Missed the first night in Jackson Hole due to flight delays. Not a great start, but not Taucks fault so my loss. The tour director was wonderful but park restaurants were still closed, so lots of takeout, a buffet that ran low on food but I do realize there were staffing shortages….enough said. Given the price paid I was a bit disappointed but fellow travelers assured me this was all atypical and Tauck is usually fabulous, so decided to give them another try this year and had questions about the Spain/Portugal tour. After trying repeatedly to reach Tauck by phone, I emailed them. Three days later still no response. Not what I consider fabulous and certainly makes me hesitant to use them again despite what my friends say.