A comfortable but very pedestrian tour of Scotland. The hotels were nice, there was lots of food, and the tour director was helpful, but otherwise it was simply by the numbers. Some of the local tour guides were disorganized and boring. Multiple events were around the same battle fought centuries ago. The last couple of days we just wanted the tour to be over. We had much more fun in Glasgow on our own. Not what we had hoped for.

We just finished a wonderful Tauck tour from Montreaux, Switzerland to Brussels, Belgium. In spite of the low water it was a fantastic trip. We switched ships between Strasbourg and Maastricht, Netherlands and it was an easy move. During the day we did a full bus tour of the Rhine Gorge so we saw all of the castles. And, Maastricht was not on the itinerary and it was a gem. Thank you Tauck for a wonderful trip.

I am writing to share concerns about how Tauck handles serious guest-safety issues when they arise during a tour. I am a travel advisor, a Certified Tauck Advisor, and a longtime Tauck customer who has taken multiple trips with the company. Until this experience, I had considerable confidence in the company. What happened on my most recent trip—and, more importantly, how Tauck responded both during the trip and afterward—has raised questions that I believe travelers and travel advisors should be aware of.During that trip, another guest had two separate violent outbursts because another member of the group took his bag off the airport conveyor belt in an attempt to help collect our luggage. Although I never touched his bag, he directed his rage at me – the only solo traveler in the group. The second outburst escalated to the point that he lunged at me and attempted to strike me in front of several witnesses. Although several guests witnessed both incidents, the Tauck tour director only partially witnessed the second incident. While the guest was still in a rage, he was placed on our small bus for our trip to the hotel and then placed in the hotel room next to me. I did not feel safe with this arrangement and asked the guide to move him, which Tauck did not do. These incidents were reported to Tauck management at approximately 10 p.m on a Sunday night and by 7 a.m. the following morning—without interviewing me or any of the witnesses and only having partial information—Tauck decided that the guest would remain on the tour. On Monday morning, I received an email from guest relations saying the matter had “been handled and I should have a nice trip” I responded that I did not feel safe with this guest remaining on the tour and specifically asked what steps Tauck was taking to protect my safety. Despite repeated emails with Guest Relations over the next two and a half days, I never received an explanation of what had been “handled” or what, if anything, Tauck was doing to protect my safety or that of the group. During this same period, multiple other guests independently emailed Tauck and told the guide they did not feel safe with this guest remaining on the tour. With no safety measures communicated to me and the guest remaining with the group, I chose not to participate in tour activities for the next two days in order to minimize my contact with him and reduce the risk of another confrontation.Upon my return, I contacted senior management including the CEO, President and Chairman of the Board and asked them to review what had occurred. I again asked two basic questions: How had Tauck made the decision to keep this guest on the tour without interviewing me or any of the witnesses, and what steps had Tauck taken to protect our safety after making that decision? Despite multiple emails to senior management, neither question has ever been answered.The response from senior management troubled me almost as much as the original handling of the incidents. Despite the seriousness of what had been reported, the existence of multiple witnesses, and the contemporaneous emails from guests expressing safety concerns, senior management did not interview me or any of the witnesses before standing behind the decision to keep the guest on the tour.The involvement of Tauck's outside counsel Jeff Ment was even more concerning. In our initial conversation, he attempted to close the matter while admitting that he had not reviewed the materials Tauck had provided to him and he never asked me what happened. When I pressed for an actual investigation, he refused to interview me and repeatedly refused to interview the witnesses. Tauck ultimately closed the matter without senior management or its outside counsel interviewing me or the available witnesses about what had occurred. That is why I am sharing this publicly.I do not fault Tauck because one of its guests behaved badly. No tour operator can guarantee that another traveler will not become aggressive. My concern is how Tauck responded once it knew there was a serious problem. Within hours of an incident involving alleged physical aggression, and despite contemporaneous safety concerns from multiple guests, Tauck decided to keep the guest on the tour without interviewing the people who had witnessed what happened. For me, this raises a broader issue about Tauck’s willingness and ability to protect its guests when a serious safety issue arises. What procedures does Tauck have in place when one guest poses a risk to others? How does Tauck decide to keep a violent guest on a tour when it doesn’t even speak to the people who witnessed the behavior and took the time to notify Tauck of their safety concerns? Finally what recourse does a guest have when they feel unsafe on a tour and Tauck refuses to articulate any steps they are taking to ensure the group’s safety?Tauck positions itself as a high-end tour operator and travelers should reasonably expect serious safety concerns to be treated with corresponding care and attention. I believe it is reasonable to expect Tauck to investigate what occurred, explain what protective measures are being taken and respond mean fully to guest concerns. If Tauck is unwilling or unable to provide that level of response when a serious safety issue arises, prospective travelers should consider that information carefully when deciding whether this is the company they want to entrust with their safety while traveling.

Just completed Tauck’s Treasures of the Mediterranean Isles. Terrific itinerary, lovely hotels, wonderful ship , great ship staff, but I would not travel with them again.First of all it was very expensive- a splurge and while I travel a lot independently and with other companies, this was much pricier. Granted tips were included, shore excursions were included, all drinks were included, but it was still steep and air was extra.Several things factor in to my decision to not use them again: 1) Shore excursions always began late, sometimes fifteen or twenty minutes late. They were not organised. 2) There were a fair number of people on shore excursions that were physically unable to keep up and although the physical difficulty of excursions was rated, people paid no attention and signed up to go when they were unable to physically manage. This was very frustrating. 3) There was a significant percentage of clientele traveling on the cruise who exhibited very entitled behaviors, were loud, demanding, unkind, pushy and really made some of the experience less than enjoyable. 4). The Tauck literature harps on dress code repeatedly. It’s annoying and outdated and there was an air of pretense with some of the passengers. 5) In the three days staying in Marsaille prior to beginning the cruise, there were two tours. One was a walking tour of the Panier District and the other was riding a little tourist train to the Notre Dame de la Garde Cathedral that overlooks the harbor of Marsaille. Both were brief and the cathedral tour was particularly rushed. Breakfast was included each of these days and one dinner meal was included but you were on your own for the rest and the price was such that you might think a bit more would have been included. 6). We had a birthday to celebrate while on this trip. The birthday was on the last night of the trip when the final banquet was happening. I called Tauck about six weeks prior to the trip with the name, date of birth and day of the itinerary of the celebrant. They assured me it would be taken care of. Upon arrival to the ship, I received a note with the wrong name of the celebrant and a request for information as to whether the cake should be in room, at lunch or at dinner. I had to find a Tauck director to correct everything and reinform them of the particular details. They assured me it would be taken care of. The last night when we were entering the banquet hall in Malta for the final dinner, I approached the same Tauck director to remind them of the birthday. They looked very surprised and said, “Didn’t they take care of this on the ship?” I was astounded but diplomatic and reviewed with them that the birthday was not happening while we were on the ship. It was today! Today! We had gone over this. Eventually a desert with a sparkler was provided and a group of wait staff proceeded to the table singing happy birthday and presented this to the celebrant. However it was a real challenge to make this happen.So overall it’s a big NO! Not worth the money and the hype. Mostly it was the entitled crowd- not everybody, but enough to make it noticeable and unpleasant. I don’t need or want that when I travel and money certainly cannot buy class as evidenced by this particular group on this tour. I say go with someone else and spend a little less for greater peace of mind, more joy and significant savings. You won’t regret it.

This is our 6th Tauck trip. We have done both land and cruise trips. Everything and everyone that you come in touch with is as close to perfection as one can get. The exclusive exposure to customized trips to castles, shows, palaces, exhibits is excellent.Yes, Tauck may cost a bit more than others - but you get what you pay for. I can go on & on about our trips but it’s time to go, as our next tour starts in a few trips.