tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam, a review

so much to choose
Post Reply
User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam, a review

Post: # 1691Post drib »

executive summary. If you are not an executive, please skip to "day 1," below.

Tauck
  • Pre-trip Good
  • Tour Guides (Dina, Iris, Andrea) Excellent!
  • Cruise Director (Vincenzo) Okay

    The Ship
    • Cabin Excellent
    • Public spaces Excellent
    Service
    • Cabin Excellent
    • Dining Room Very Good
    • Bar (and everything else) Excellent
    Dining
    • Buffets (breakfast and lunch) Very Good
    • Dinner Very Good
    • Desserts Excellent
    Tours
    • Pre-cruise (Milan) Good
    • Special events
      • The Last Supper Super
      • Schloss Vollrads Very Good
The Rhine Excellent

Ports
  • Milan (I know it's not a port, Alan F!) Very Good
  • Basel/Zurich Very Good
  • Breisach (Alsace region) Excellent
  • Heidelberg Very Good
  • Rudesheim Excellent
  • Dusseldorf Okay
  • Amsterdam Good
Overall, Tauck was very good, but the product on the whole was not compelling. If we were to take another river cruise, we would try something else, maybe Crystal for the right itinerary. However, I wouldn't hesitate to try Tauck again for something other than a river cruise.

======

day 1, milan, the duomo, the galleria, and beef cheeks

Pre-cruise hotel: C. The Principe di Savoia is an old hotel with many nice old elements, like the tiny but beautiful elevators. The bathrooms are deficient in some ways because it is difficult to retrofit such an old space into a modern one. The shower floor was slippery, even though it has speed bumps. Someone is going to hurt themselves! (I noticed that the separate bathtub, on the other side of the long, narrow room, had an actual pull-cord alarm. I would probably bleed to death trying to get to the alarm after I slipped in the shower!) In the bedroom area, we had a very pretty fresco above the headboard.

Image

Pre-cruise hotel breakfast: A. Very good food*, and even better service. I could have included this in the category above, but that wouldn't be fair to the breakfast crew. I don't want to nitpick, but I did notice that they were still serving matzoh, instead of bagels, although Passover ended the evening two days before!

Pre-cruise materials given in Milan: B+. It would have been better if I had them before I left home.

Pre-cruise planning: F. On our departure from the hotel, the porters are going to pick up our large bags at 5 am, inside the room! Usually bags are left outside the door in the hall. I guess they are worried about theft, but how creepy is it that someone is going to enter our room while we are sleeping? Later, at dinner, I pointed out to one of the Tauck guides that most people dead-bolt their room doors, and this is apparently a problem they had not considered. I went to sleep that night with a baseball bat in my hand.**

Welcome dinner: C. The hors d'oeuvres were plentiful, but not particularly flavorful. (Mostly, they tasted like pastry shell, and then there was a tiny ice cream cone, which I expected to be sweet, maybe strawberry, but was some kind of paste.) By the time the Tauck guides started to speak, there were 81 of us standing around now for more than one-half hour. Many, I observed, were over 75+ years old. So the welcome speech should have been done while we were sitting at dinner. The dinner was typical banquet food. There was a tasteless appetizer, even though there were two sauces. (It included a flavorful olive tapenade, though, if you like that sort of thing.) The risotto was was good, but with vertigo-inducing plating. And the beef cheeks, were tender, with flavor, but I noticed that no one at our table of twelve cleaned their plate, including moi. (Not Italian, I know. How come no one knows how to say "please" in Italian? Think about it.)

Welcome dinner name tags: D. Few were left attached to their namesakes.

The first day, overall, I'd give Tauck a C grade. (My only point of comparison is one A&K tour, which was excellent, but of course it was a much smaller group. I don't remember about the name tags - probably didn't have them. And it was one of the other guests that pointed out to me, that Tauck prides themselves in not having name tags.)

======

I met all three Tauck tour guides in the hospitality room. Each deserves an A+ and their own like button.

- -

======

* Penny does not like runny eggs, but there was an omelet station available for people who like sedentary eggs.

** Alternative fact #1. That's what she said #1.

*** There will be references to umlauts in this thread. Not to be confused with omelets, umlauts are the symbols sometimes used over vowels and are rarely runny. On the other hand, there is no such thing as an umlaut station. I have no idea what I mean by that.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 2, milan, the castle, the eataly, and the last super

Post: # 1692Post drib »

There is good news and bad news this morning. The good is that when I went out for my walk at 6:30 am, it was not raining, and there was some sun coming through the clouds. The bad news is that the hotel breakfast room was over-extended from all the new guests. The food was the same, but service was terrible, and I had to eat my second plate (fruit only), new plate on top of old, and with a dirty fork! (I know, I use too many exclamation points!)

I am the only person in Milan wearing shorts! (And perhaps in all of Italy !!!).

We are off to see the first organized Tauck tour in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ....

======

... and we are back.

The big Tauck bus bled black leather benches. There were three buses for 81 people, although only about 20 in our group, so it was quite roomy in there. The windows were all very clear, and the large windshield was practically unobstructed. We had good views all around. The buses were all showroom new - I could tell by that distinctive new bus smell.

It was a short drive to Sforza Castle, through heavy Milanese traffic. The bus then did the most amazing parallel park ever - which I assume was assisted by new technology. (What a world!) And then we had fun storming the castle.

We had a local guide for this tour. She was very good, but just couldn't stop talking - so difficult to ask a question. I finally interrupted her to ask about Leonardo's Horse, which she claimed was never built. But there is a horse - it's just five miles west, and was built 500 years after Leo designed it. It is a very large horse. Here is a link to a description of it, followed by a photo of the world's tallest filing cabinet:

Leo's horse

Image

The filing cabinet is in Vermont and has nothing to do with Leo's horse, but I blog with the photos I have, not the photos I want to have.

The group proceeded to the Duomo and the Galleria, which we had visited yesterday, so we ditched them!

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Penny took a photo of a duck for Foster. Then we paid 20 Gyro (pronounced "euro") to see Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta. That seemed fair since Michelangelo was the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle*. Still, fuck you Rick Steves, for telling me that it was only 5 Gyro each.

Image

Mikey's unfinished Pieta

Then, Penny and I walked back toward the hotel, intending to have lunch at The Eataly, a three story food park and market. But it was still before noon and no one would feed us there. (There is no "I" in Italy and no "Eat" in Eataly!) We found a nice restaurant instead, where they refused to serve me ossobuco. So I had just the asparagus soup, and Penny had a big salad. But what made this restaurant great was that they brought me the check when I asked for it. This is more difficult than you would think in Gyrope.

Day 2 continues with a Tauck special tour of The Last Supper and dinner at Acanto in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ....

======

On November 13, 1967, Miss Brannigan, a stern taskmaster, with eyes in the back of her head**, gave me a low grade on my Algebra notebook. The work was all correct, but my handwriting is only writing in the same sense that Mr Parker's tires, from "A Christmas Story" were tires. The next marking period, I typed my Algebra notebook, and this is what Miss Brannigan wrote about it:

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent!
A plus plus!
Wow!
It must have taken you a long time to do this!

I know, Miss Brannigan uses too many exclamation points! But that is not the point of this story. My point is that the evening of day 2 was "Excellent, Excellent, Excellent! A plus plus! Wow!"

Leo's mural is fabulous, as you would expect from the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle***. (It must have taken him a long time to do this!) My photos won't be ready until we get home, so here is how I'm sure they will look, taken from Wikipedia:

imgx

After our special viewing, we returned to the hotel for a fashionably Jake-and-Kait-late dinner at Acanto. We started with yummy Kir Royales, made with Veuve Clicquot, and then ordered the tasting menu, but not paired. Everything was wonderfful. The flavors were all tasty, and the plating beautiful ****, each course offering a totally unique experience. I'm not the guy that takes photos of food, but I regretted not having my camera with me.

tasting menu

So, a very good day and a phenomenal evening. My grade for Day 2: five thumbs up out of four! (How is that even possible?)

======

* Once, in Florence, at the Uffizi, the guide was carrying on and on about how great Botticelli was, so I asked her if he was so great, why wasn't he a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?

** Once, Miss Branigan was facing the blackboard when she called out to Alan F to stop his "infernal pounding" on the desk. To this day, Alan insists that he had only lightly tapped the desk with his fingertips, one time.

*** Michelangelo (orange), Leonardo (blue), Raphael (red), and Donatello (purple), Robin's favorite. I still got it!

**** One of the plates was white and free-flowing, made to look like it was spilling into the table. This reminded me a bit of novelty barf, or worse, but I didn't let that image ruin what was a lovely, and reasonably-priced dinner for such a thing.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

quick stats

Post: # 1693Post drib »

  • USA 73 *
  • Brits 3
  • Aussies 2
  • Kiwis 3
TG 81 (total guests)

USA by State: OK 4, CA 19, MA 2, PA 4, MN 2, FL 9, VA 6, RI 2, MD 2, CT 4, MI 1, AL 4, NJ 4, SC 2, WA 1, DC 1, ID 2, CO 2 and OH 2. (No, I'm not going to sort them in alpha order.)

The maximum on the ship is 98 passengers, and it is supposed to be a sellout. But perhaps many guests are paying the solo supplement*, or maybe each Tauck guides get a guest cabin instead of a crew cabin. Anyway, this is many fewer than on our Uniworld river cruise. It is also fewer than Crystal's new river ships. But Crystal reports many more crew ... so many more, I kind of wonder if they are not padding their stats with off-ship personnel, like their own bus drivers, and so on. (Many "many"s in this paragraph, I know. Don't judge me!)

======

For context to Bodog's comment below, I originally posted 75. The correct total for the USA is 73, although not counting the Aussies is worth considering.

======

* Subsequently, Andrea told me there were a lot of singles, but there was no single supplement, meaning they all paid double. :shock:

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 3, lake como, bus numbers, and iron chefs

Post: # 1694Post drib »

The day started with a 90 minute ride to Lake Como. You could argue that the day started with breakfast, just as it did in day 2. But then why not say that the day started when I got up to pee? So just stick with the program, okay?

People describe the shape of the lake as an upside-down letter "Y." But to me, it looks more like a porter sneaking into my room at 5 am to steal my bags.

The weather was nice when we arrived. We boarded a boat which took us first to the town of Bellagio - no doubt named after the Las Vegas hotel. It's a small shopping town, with a few resorts nearby, and no public bathrooms. (Good thing I didn't start the day here!) It reminded me of Anacapri on the Island of Capri, except that Capri is an island, and Anacapri is high-up with amazing views. Anacapri is nothing like Bellagio. I don't know why anyone would say that it was.

Anyway, I had my first gelato here, and Penny bought some crap.

Next, back on the boat, we headed to the only island in Lake Como. (It reminded me of Anacapri!) The island is Isola Comacina. As far as I could tell, the only thing on the island was a restaurante, pardon my Italian. The restaurante is Locanda dell'Isola Comacina, and they served us a nice family style lunch - not my family, and probably not even a family from Capri, which is in southern Italy. Somewhere, in northern Italy, there is a family that eats like they do on old Isola Comacina.

After lunch, we cruised around the lake some more, but by now it was raining.

There were three buses, the same good-smelling buses from the day before, and they all had Tauck placards on the front. Penny and I needed to return to the same bus where we left our stuff. It wasn't on the first bus, which I checked in the rain. It wasn't on the second bus, which I checked in the rain. But the third bus was just right! So one demerit Tauck. Every cruise tour I've ever taken - probably more than 100 of them - puts a bus number on the placard so you can return to the same bus! *

Today was all about the scenery. I'll have some photos later, including an amazing coincidence to my mother, who visited Lake Como once, back in 1965!**

Image

The rain continued into the night. We are about a mile from our destination restaurante, to which we had planned to walk ... but not in the rain. Long story short, we could not get a taxi at the hotel. So that's the second strike for the Hotel Principe di Savoia.

We had dinner at Nobu. It sucked for what it costs. We had the same experience in London once, which was also expensive, sucked, AND had flies! I thought we should give them another try because Nobu on the two Crystal ocean ships is always excellent, and has no flies. (To be clear, flies are not on the menu.) The Armani ice cream, with Baileys, for dessert was very good at Nobu Milan, though. It should be for 30 Gyros!

Finding our umbrellas after dinner at Nobu was truly memorable. I don't think I can describe it in a short story. It needs its own thread, maybe its own forum!?!?!?!

======

* Subsequently, I realized that the placards were all different colors. But what do you have against the color blind, Tauck? ... and also, the sight blind. Seeing-eye guide dogs can't see colors either! (Well, yes they can, but they tell scientists that they can't just to mess with them.)

** 1965 vs 2018:

Image imgn

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 4, a train ride, and a boat docked

Post: # 1695Post drib »

It's 5 am the day after The Great Train Ride. I am in our cabin on ms Treasures. And the Internet speeds are 14.87 mbps download and 1.85 mbps upload.

The train ride to Basel is 242 miles and takes 4.5 hours including stops. The scenery, after crossing the border to Switzerland, is Swisstacular! Tauck purchased two first class coaches for only we lucky 81 guests, so it was very comfortable. The wi-fi wasn't working, though, so I was forced to be sociable against my will. Fortunately, we sat across from S & D, who entertained us the entire 242 miles and 4.5 hours. They reminded me of something ... what was it? Oh, I know ... this:


The ship, what I've seen of it so far, is very pretty, but the ship is not 100% complete from its recent renovations. There were a lot of workman on the top deck, installing carpet for the putting green and such. Uh oh! The night table alarm, which I did not set, just went off. Lucky I was already awake and had the consciousness of thought to turn it off by smashing it on the floor and then removing the batteries.

Our cabin (Category 6, of 7) is 225 square feet. It's a good size compared to some ocean ships that pad their cabin size with balconies. We have a Swiss Balcony, soon to be a German Balcony, and neither takes away any room from the cabin. The bathroom is exceptionally well laid out. (The cups holders, though are attached to the surface of the wall and are oddly square. It looks nice, but what happens when the square peg breaks, and you still have a square fixture? Are they going to put a round peg in that?)

There is plenty of storage space, and the bed is comfortable. The configuration of some of the furniture is not too Feng shui, though. Everything is placed against a wall. So ... at 6 am this morning, I rearranged some things. I moved all the extra pillows and leftover bedspreads from the chairs to the far wall. I moved the square table off the wall and turned it diagonally. I rotated the chairs placed parallel to the table and they are now fully accessible. Yet, there is still enough open space between the table and the bed to dance. So, here I sit, in the corner, with my Chromebook on the table, in full command of the room. This is how all the Cat 6 cabins should be. You are welcome Tauck! *

Anyway, nine stars out of ten for the ship, and :pimp: :pimp: :pimp: :pimp: (four pimps) for the pimped-out cabin.

We had dinner that night with E & S. I had a foo-foo appetizer, which was good and well presented. My main course was a roast beast (i.e. beef), which was thin cut, and not how I like roast beast. The gravy, which was described as having horseradish, had neither horse, nor radish. It had no pop at all. My dessert was good, but E's was better. If this happens again, E is going down. **

The service is not nearly as refined as Regent's, nor as Crystal's, nor as Oceania's. I was repulsed because the waiter took my order before Penny's, and he served my dish before Penny. For dessert, I ordered bleu cheese off the menu (which only listed Camembert). The waiter served me four hunks of cheese, no crackers, no figs, nuts, honey, or anything I would expect from the ocean lines. And when I asked him what kind of cheese it was (meaning what kind of bleu cheese), he responded with "bleu." (It was Roquefort.)

======

* Subsequently, I saw a schematic of the ship, and the way I changed it is similar.

** No, I'm absolutely not going there. Shame on you for even thinking it.

*** More Old Jews Telling Jokes. (Only use YouTube; their web site from searches does not look safe.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25vSk6ZfK14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iF5iuw6iIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSccwX7gV4I

And so on. There should be additional links on YouTube to the right.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 5, zurich

Post: # 1696Post drib »

First breakfast at Arthur's: C. Arthur's is a small, casual, dining area for an express meal or snack.

Second breakfast at Compass Rose: A+*. Compass Rose is the main dining room. It's buffet style for breakfast, but has many special order options, and service is very good. (Penny probably would not agree with my rating because her black tea was not black.)

I was the only person in Zurich wearing shorts! (And perhaps in all of Switzerland !!!).

The drive from Basel to Zurich (pronounced "Zurish" here) is a little more than an hour. The drive from Zurich (still "Zurish") to Basel is about two hours. Even the Swiss have rush hour traffic ... like clockwork.

Tauck provided a walking tour of the Old Town area, which sits at the top of Lake Zurich (pronounced "Lake Zurish"), which was pretty, but not special. We were served lunch at Restaurant Zunfthaus Zur Waag (pronounced "restaurant"), where Tauck had also arranged for a lecture on Swiss banking. But we chose to ditch the lecture, and dessert, so we would have time to walk to Le Corbusier's (the architect, not the dog) last building, a house/museum, that should have looked like this:

Image

But when we got to the house, it looked like this:

Image

The same thing happened to me in Geneva, where after a long walk to see a Corbu (the architect, not the dog) apartment building, all I got from it was a photo of a construction zone.

Image

This story has a happy ending. A construction worker there, saw our disappointment, and then gave us an extensive inside-the-house tour. It was a lot of fun, and he showed us many signature Corbu (the architect, not the dog) touches. Excellent, excellent, excellent, A plus plus, Wow, and five exclamation points for John!!!!!

But wait ... there's more! It was a beautiful walk along the lake. The sun was out, as were many Swiss misses and misters, Swiss kids and Swiss dogs. We saw an opera house, several unique, modern buildings, a sculpture by Henry Moore (or less), and we smelled the sausages and gelatos. (Yes, I can smell gelato a mile away.) Later, we heard that the banking lecture was a dud. So, yes, this was a lucky Friday the Thirteenth for us.

For dinner, I had a very nice schnitzel with cranberry sauce. (Generally, at home, I like to say "schnitzel" more than I like to eat it.) And the waiter handed me the menu before he gave one to Penny. This time, Penny noticed it too.

Me and Corbu (the dog, not the architect)
Image
=======

* A+ was my first impression, but it gets old having the same items day after day. And also, there were rarely bagels, and never cream cheese.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 6, breisach, colmar, riquewihr, wine tasting, and foie gras

Post: # 1697Post drib »

The Molton Brown sundry items on the ship are good quality. But the shampoo, in a see-through bottle, is the same color as mouthwash. Still, it is not without flavor, and I would prefer it many other things I might put in my mouth*, for example, Vegemite.

Internet speeds are 9.68 mbps download and 0.88 mbps upload this morning - a peak period, after breakfast.

======

I was the only person in Breisach wearing shorts! (And perhaps in all of Germany !!!)

Breisach, is where matzoh brei was invented.** We didn't get to taste the brei, though, as our tour today was in the Alsace region of France, just across the river. (I wonder if Rose P's family is from Breisach. She makes the best matzoh brei !!)

I was the only person in the Alsace region wearing shorts! (And perhaps in all of France !!!)

======

We have been to dozens of villages like Colmar, in both Europe and the United States, for example, Eze on the Mediterranean Riviera and Solvang on the Pea Soup Riviera. None of those villages are as extensive as Colmar. There is almost too much Colmar! it was overwhelming, and I winced when I saw a bright green train driving tourists through the streets. Still, it was pretty, and colorful, and all decked-out for Easter and Spring. There were stores up and down the streets, through the canals, and up the kazoos, including a large market hall. (The market hall was reminiscent of the one in Budapest, except that Budapest's market hall is much larger and reeks of paprika. Colmar's market hall is nothing like Budapest's market hall!) There were at least two major churches. But we were just passing through; no time to shop. We soldiered on to the next Alsace town, Riquewihr. (There were armed soldiers passing through the streets of Colmar. They wore camouflage which only made them more visible. They should have worn uniforms of bright green, blue and yellow pastels to blend into the Colmar color scheme.)

We had two local tour guides, both very good. One was from Alsace, and the other from Lorraine, two towns in the region that historically do not like each other. And they told jokes about each other, like the one about the Lorraines who could not tie a knot in a pretzel. (I didn't say they were funny jokes, but the Alsacians love that one!)

We had a very nice lunch of local foods in Riquewihr, another quaint, old village. We ate escargot (some more than others) with enough garlic on it to choke the entire population of Solvang, white asparagus and ham, and a flat bread pizza that they called Les Tartes Flambees. There was a hot mustard served with the ham that reminded me of Phillipe's in Los Angeles. (My sinuses are now as clear as they have ever been!) Also good, I didn't have to wait long for the check after eating. Then we went walk-about ... Penny bought some crap, and we both had fragrent French gelato.

The region is known for its storks. You can see them everywhere, whether they are flying, making babies in nests as large as tiny houses, or just being small and plush and sold as souvenirs. (Note to self: Build-a-Stork franchise.)

Image

There were two other stops; one for wine tasting, at the Achillee winery, where we sampled three Rieslings and a Pinot, and one for foie gras tasting, at the Arnold restaurant, where we sampled one kind of liver. That's how they advertised it - a foie gras tasting. Is it even a tasting if there is only one? They should have at least had one fat duck and one fat goose foie gras.

Yada, yada, yada, short story long, the day was nice, but Tauck should have had one bus that went back to the ship earlier.

======

Dinner tonight was with S & D, cat owners M & D from Minnesota (CATS!), and Aussies N & M, at a table for eight, arranged by S&D.

It was the Captain's special dinner - the only one where it was not open seating, arrive when you wish. There was a multi-course menu with wine pairings. One time, the pairing did not happen. and one time, S and I were both mortified when instead of giving me a new knife, the waiter put my used one back on the table. (The Horror!) There were some good dishes, and some not-so-good ones. (The scallops were under-cooked ... and I had to use the same knife as I used on my shrimp cocktail. Where have I read that before?!) But it was fun table, and everyone was happy, except for when I insulted half the world over my disdain for cats. (CATS!) We were the last to leave the dining room, and then the staff gave a loud sigh of relief.

The story of the mystery condiment, I'll save for another post.

You get the dreaded "C" for dinner tonight, Mr Arthur Tauck, but the tour was a solid four storks (out of five). And by the way, Mr. Tauck, I am not the only one who thinks you send too many emails!

======

* That's what she said #2.

** Alternative fact #2.

User avatar
bodogbodog
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 57154
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:08 am
Location: Sydney

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1698Post bodogbodog »

Watching the space....

So how is black tea not black?
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1699Post drib »

bodogbodog wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2018 3:31 am Watching the space....

So how is black tea not black?
Welcome refugees from all other fucking message boards!

I think the waiter just misheard. After Penny soaked the tea bag, the tea was yellow.

======

For context, I am editing this as I go, so the original of Bodog's quote of "watch this space" will be gone once I've completed the blog. And since I am the admin of the board, it will not display an edited date, nor message,

Bodog scored a solid B for his post, though. I will be grading everyone's comments from now on. So watch what you post!

User avatar
bodogbodog
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 57154
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:08 am
Location: Sydney

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1700Post bodogbodog »

You are feeling sleepy......

Oh what the hell - have another drink and party on!

Hmmm...yellow tea - very interesting - time for a urine test?
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1701Post drib »

bodogbodog wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:23 pm You are feeling sleepy......

Oh what the hell - have another drink and party on!

Hmmm...yellow tea - very interesting - time for a urine test?
Bodog's post: B

Urine luck! The narrative will continue (above, subject "day 6" ...) from Breisach, later today.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 7, heidelberg and schloss vollrads

Post: # 1702Post drib »

We were docked in Speyer, and Heidelberg is a 20 mile bus ride from there. (It's also a 20 mile walk. Go figure?)

The castle was fine, and it has plenty of history, but that tour was not exciting enough to share more than this one sentence, and this artsy-fartsy photo:

Image

Penny chose not to go on the tour this morning. So I bought her some gelato in old town Heidelberg, and since I didn't want it to melt, I ate it for her. It was delicious!

Then, eureka, bird met statue, and I got a photo of it for my collection. I'll post the photo here later**, but here is a link to the collection, as is.



It is the afternoon here, and we are en route to Rudesheim, as I write. There, tonight, we will have dinner at Schloss Vollrads. I'll write that again. Tonight we are having dinner at Schloss Vollrads. (Schloss is what is happening to the Dodgers. They are 4 wins, 10 scholsses, as I write.)

Today, at lunch, I stole somebody's soup by accident.

And this: we've had perfect weather since boarding the ship, once again proving my assertion that we are somehow divinely sheltered from bad weather while on vacation at sea.* Pay for us to be on your cruise, or invite us to your wedding or bar mitzvah (NO, NO, not "Mitzi Gaynor," spell-check!), if you want to piggy-back off our good weather mojo.

======

Fantastic dinner at Schloss Vollrads last night!

schloss vollrads

Awesome tour and castle. Three course meal - two of the three courses were excellent. (There was another deficiency with the horseradish sauce on the main.) Both the salad, with tempura vegetables, and the dessert, were fab! And everyone got schlossed from Schloss Vollrads' own excellent Rieslings.

92 grapes out of 100. (Minus 1 for the horseradish sauce, -2 for slow service, and -5 for constantly reminding us that this was a Tauck special event. No other river cruise line goes to Schloss Vollrads. Only Tauck does this. It was exclusive to Tauck!)

======

* Alternative fact #3.

**
Image

User avatar
bodogbodog
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 57154
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:08 am
Location: Sydney

Re: quick stats

Post: # 1703Post bodogbodog »

drib wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:02 am
  • USA 75
  • Brits 3
  • Aussies 2
  • Kiwis 3
TG 81 (total guests)
I demand a recount - you must be using a Trump calculator...

Something doesn't add up - 83 or 81?

So the 2 Aussies didn't count?
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

Re: quick stats

Post: # 1704Post drib »

bodogbodog wrote: Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:10 am
I demand a recount - you must be using a Trump calculator...

Something doesn't add up - 83 or 81?

So the 2 Aussies didn't count?
I was using alternative math.*

There are only 73 passengers from the USA, although not counting Aussies is worthy of consideration. I understand that Cruise Critic has started discounting Aussies, as well.

This Tauck ship is fabulous, Bodog. But I don't think the dining options would be to your standards, and the pace of activities would leave you melted in a puddle on the lobby floor, just like the Wicked Witch of the Southern Hemisphere.

I'll write more about today tomorrow, but here's one incredible story about how thoughtful Tauck is, and how well they take care of their guests. Today, in Riquewihr, there were no suitable facilities for a group lunch. So they handed out 20 Gyro notes to each guest to dine on their own. The other day, they handed out 5 Gyro notes to pay for toilets.** If we stay on this cruise long enough, it will pay for itself!

Bodog's post: Incomplete

======

* Alternative fact #4, subcategory math.

** How come pay toilets aren't priced according to how they are used? Wouldn't one dollar (or whatever) for number one, and two dollars for number two be a more sensible approach?

User avatar
bodogbodog
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 57154
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 1:08 am
Location: Sydney

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1705Post bodogbodog »

Almost as good an effort as booking on the Crystal cruises immediately after their dry docks - that scored us some lovely future cruise credits last year. But I like Taucks style - paying for you to go to the toilet is very generous - I will put it in the suggestions box on my next Crystal cruise :-)

Did you consider that they may have only given you the 20 Euros - to "dine alone" - and not all passengers for the convenience of other guests :drink: :dance:
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

Re: tauck, rhine enchantment, milan to amsterdam

Post: # 1706Post drib »

bodogbodog wrote: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:59 pmDid you consider that they may have only given you the 20 Euros - to "dine alone" - and not all passengers for the convenience of other guests :drink: :dance:
Excellent point, A, but they gave Penny 20 Gyros too, and she is the class of the family.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 8, rudesheim, player pianos, and the lorelei

Post: # 1707Post drib »

Rudesheim (with an umlaut over the "u") is the ancestral home of Daniel Ruettiger, whose story was told in the movie "Rudy."*

If you have read this far - well, one, shame on you! - you should already know that I always wear shorts. And if you didn't (read this far), stop pretending that you did. Please. You look silly. And anyway, I only wear shorts during daytime; I wear my big boy pants in the evenings.

I am writing this before today's activities, because I am an omniscient, shorts-wearing narrator. Plus, I already have today's program in hand.

======

We walked to the "quintessential wine village" at schnell pace with Dina. (The others rode in on the "tschoo-tschoo" train.) We were all delighted by the Musik Kabinett "a private collection of music-making machines of every possible description from the carillon to the harmonium Yes, it was charming, but there were too many notes.

We "return{ed} to the ship on foot (10-15 minutes) or by mini-train leaving from in front of the Musik Kabinett at 11:45 and 12:45."

We "Enjoy{ed} a lazy, leisurely afternoon cruising the most castellated {**} Rhine Valley - UNESCO-designated World Heritage Area.

And at "14:45 Lorelei Party" , we join{ed} us on the Sun Deck for a specially-designed cocktail to toast the infamous Mermaid of the Rhine."

======

Blogging can be a grueling, tiring business, and I certainly created a lot of gruel here. This being day 8, I thought it was time to start slacking off. That is why I wrote the pre-cog blog entry, above, and I did not intend to write more today. However, Rudesheim is exceptionally scenic, and the music museum is exceptionally incredible, so I am making this exception to my slacker phase. Here's more ...

I took a lot of video at Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum, and I will compile that in a single video when I get home. (My friend Jon, who is following along now, likes scratchy, old music.) A minor part of that exhibit was what I enjoyed most. Watch this first, and then I'll continue the story, below.


That song bird, above, was my grandparents', later my mother's, and now mine. I love that thing! It's probably from the 1950s or before, and it is not in great shape, but they sell new ones of these at the museum, 650 gyros and up, and they also repair old ones. (Thinking about it.) The new ones are exactly the same build - the bird is a little different, but that's probably because it is the most damaged part of the heirloom.

Siegfried Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum

The views from a landmark statue on the hill way above Rudesheim are spectacular. It could only have been better, if a bird had landed on top of the statue. Photos to follow ....

Penny bought some more crap. I saw a few other guest wearing shorts today. And lunch is in ten minutes. I might not blog more today because I am, after all is said and done, a slacker at heart. ("You're a slacker McFly!")

======

I want to write something nice about lunch today since it was excellent. I didn't realize, until the soup incident (see day 7), that hot soup is by order only. (Breakfast and lunch are always buffet style. This was true on our Uniworld cruise too.) So I ordered soup for the first time, a corn chowder, and it was as corny as Kansas in August. Then I ordered my main course at the pasta station - prepared by the executive chef. He cooks the pasta, flambes it, then swirls it inside a large wheel of Parmesan cheese that has been cratered specifically for this technique. Then he plates it, and I add my choice of condiments, bacon, more cheese, and chives. It was awesome ... but not as awesome as the dessert selection for lunch today. That included an eclair with a chocolate mousse center, and my favorite, bread pudding, which was topped by meringue. I couldn't choose just one, so with the wisdom of King Solomon, I chose both.

I'll post some photos of the castles along this stretch of the Rhine later***. As Nixon often said, let me say this about that: The Lorelei is a whiny, little bitch. (Nixon only said that first part - "Let me say this about that." He may have once said that Martha Mitchell is a whiny, little bitch.)

Tauck upped their service game at dinner tonight. It was like they were reading my mind, or my blog. Is that possible? (Nah.) The pastry chef continued to amaze with a deconstructed Black Forest cake. One day, when I am sentenced to death for literary crimes, I want that for my last meal. (For dessert, that is. For my main course, I want to go back in time for my mother's chicken soup. And while I'm there, I'll write a note to future me saying not to blog.) This blog is deliberately smilie-lite because I sometimes overuse them. The pastry chef, however, deserves this one. :bow:

The answer to tonight's "Guess the Mystery Bread Spread" Jeopardy! question was "What are kidney beans?"

And finally, the on-board entertainment was from off-board, a lederhosen-wearing, fearsome foursome, named The Sandy Quartet. They are not as good at naming things as they are at entertaining. (But there were four of them in the quartet. I counted.) They are crazy good. They were able to achieve almost 100% participation in a conga line. (I had to recuse myself to get the video.)


======

* Alternative fact #5.

** That's what she said #3.

***
Image

Image

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 9, dusseldorf

Post: # 1708Post drib »

Internet speeds this morning are 8.05 mbps download and 1.76 mbps upload.

Dusseldorf also has an umlaut over the "u."*

This is an unusual day as we are still sailing in the morning, and do not go on tour until the afternoon. One of the tours involves drinking, one of the tours involves eating, and one of the tours involves exercise. (It seems to me that they could have combined all three tours into one.) I think we will just go out on our own.

======

Dusseldorf was kind of a letdown, even if everyone we met was named Rolf:


And that's all I have to say about Dusseldorf.

Bitte, baby.

======

Dinner with S&D and E&S tonight, so they can confirm this: service was impeccable, they did everything right, and everyone enjoyed their courses.

I had a beef carpaccio, which was not as good as we get on Crystal at Prego, but still very good. Mulligatawny as my second course. And linguine with seafood as my main. Dessert was peach Melba, which included a brittle. Tonight was an A, same as last night, although I might not have posted a value. I'm not sure what scale I will use for my final, cumulative score yet, but Tauck has shown vast improvement since day one. Could be that the early faux pas were on account that the ship just went through a transformation and we are the maiden voyage on it.

======

* I can cut and paste an umlaut, for example, Düsseldorf, but that would show me down. Besides I like writing "umlaut," almost as much as I like saying schnitzel.

User avatar
drib
dribnut
dribnut
Posts: 1592
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:03 pm

day 10, amsterdam

Post: # 1709Post drib »

To tell a family secret, my grandmother was Dutch.*

The Tauck tour today was on a canal boat including lunch on the boat. While the lunch was good, I don't see the point to having lunch on the canal boat. It was hard to enjoy the sights that way, and because it was a covered boat, with windows all around, it was difficult to take a good photo. Did I like the tour? Oh no, I did not. The (Amster)Dam canal boat tour with lunch gets a D grade. Better would be to have lunch on the ship, where I can steal delicious soup, and then go on the canals in an open boat.

======

I just received our wake-up call, and I'd like to note that the cabin phone is new. The cabin phone is new and corded. The cabin phone is new and corded and lightweight. The problem with a new, corded, lightweight cabin phone is that when you pick up the handset, the base jumps around like a nervous Chihuahua.

The damn cabin phone gets a D grade - spared from an F only because it is a working phone.

======

After the canal boat tour, many continued on with Tauck at special interest museums, like the Hand Bag Museum. There is no matching Shoes Museum, so fashionistas that were are, we opted to go out on our own to the Van Gogh Museum. The Van Gogh Museum was excellent - although I've seen the more famous of his paintings elsewhere around the world. This from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris:

Image



If you ever visit the museum, be advised that you should not ask the docents where they keep the severed ear. In fact, leave all your ear jokes at home. Ear today, gone tomorrow - they don't think it's funny at the Van Gogh Museum. And Penny bought some crap at the museum store. (Actually, it is very nice crap this time.)

======

Our last supper was very good, and despite handing me my menu upside down again, service was very good.

Well, that's it! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post or email me.

All the photos, video, and pdf files from this trip here:

======

Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl,
But she doesn't have a lot to say
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
But she changes from day to day

I want to tell her that I love her a lot
But I gotta get a bellyful of wine
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl
Someday I'm going to make her mine, oh yeah,
Someday I'm going to make her mine.

======

* Alternative fact #6.

Post Reply