When things go sideways

After testing positive for Covid on one of their back- to-back tours, 9-time Tauck guests Dick Chun and his wife had to cancel their Norwegian Fjords & Coastal Treasures small ship cruise. They appreciated the full refund and extra assistance we offered them, pleasantly surprised by our mission to “always do the right thing.”

“Everything has been outstanding! I can’t wait to share my new first-hand experience with my clients and encourage them to book more Tauck! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Linda Zerfas, Nexion

Robin Tauck’s keynote address at the USTOA’s 50^th Anniversary Conference

Doing what’s right for our guests has been a mainstay for Tauck since our first tours back in 1925. In 1972, we were a driving force and founding member of the USTOA (United States Tour Operators Association). In November, the USTOA celebrated its 50^th anniversary at their annual conference, and asked Robin Tauck to be one of four keynote speakers. She kicked off the event with a few words about the organization’s Vision, then and now, and summed her talk up with a nod towards its long-standing motto, Integrity in Tourism, saying that “Commitment, Confidence, Collaboration, Community and a high respect for the Consumer is who we are; these are the enduring pillars of the United States Tour Operators Association.” Today, as the only remaining founding member of the USTOA, we are proud to share the same values at Tauck.

Peter Tauck takes the mic

Travel is a real family affair at Tauck, with four generations of the Tauck family sharing Arthur Tauck’s legendary love of exploring the world. Many family members have started out their travel careers as Tauck Directors! And much to the delight and surprise of our guests on tour, they enjoy taking Tauck trips too. This summer, Peter Tauck relived his days as a Tauck Director when he took the microphone on a sightseeing excursion on Egypt: Jewels of the Nile and shared family stories our guests were thrilled to hear. Take a look at the video!

Reconnecting with our partners in London is an annual affair

Tauck President Jennifer Tombaugh, as Chairman of the Board of Directors for ETOA (European Tourism Association), and a former member of the Advisory Board, travels to London annually to attend the Global European Marketplace, ETOA’s influential annual travel trade event. While there, she reconnected with Celia Sandys, Winston Churchill’s granddaughter, to thank her for partnering with us. Jennifer was joined by Tour Architects Brenda MacKellar and Sanjith Mukund – and Celia was joined by her daughter Sophie – for a most enjoyable reunion.

Five things you may not know about St. Patrick’s Day

So that our guests enjoy the inside scoop on the places we visit, we partner with expert guides who share personal anecdotes and insights that enrich their explorations. We invited our Galway guide, John Byrne, to our weekly company meeting on St. Patrick’s Day via Zoom to do the same for us. Little did we know that he would dispel some myths about this true “Irish holiday.”

1. St. Patrick wasn’t Irish.
2. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in America.
3. St. Patrick is not referred to as Pat or Patty in Ireland.
4. Corned beef and cabbage is not a thing in Ireland.
5. Pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day until the 1970s when the law was repealed and revelers could raise a glass to St. Patrick.

Sliding into the Salt Mines for dinner

Giving new meaning to the phrase “pass the salt,” Tauck Directors Armin Geiger and Carmine Sannuto sped down the miners’ slide in Berchtesgaden Salt Mines to make sure everything was on track for our guests’ special dinner on The Ultimate Alps & Dolomites.

“These are just the tip of the iceberg to the personal touches, caring service and outstanding team you have assembled. They are so caring and constantly anticipating and providing the unexpected and in the proverbial ‘putting oil upon a rough sea’ to smooth our journey.”

– Charlie Gibbons, Guest

Bridging the generations for 20 years!

We understand how fast time flies, especially when it comes to watching our children grow. It’s hard to believe that Tauck Bridges will be 20 years old in 2023, virtually the same time span attributed to a generation. When we first set out to create multigenerational family journeys, we christened them under the Tauck Bridges banner, choosing the name Bridges from our goal of bridging the generational divide through shared travel experiences. From the letters and testimonials we’ve received over the years, from both the kids and the adults, these trips were not only the “best family vacations ever,” they forged priceless family “bonds and memories that will last for the rest of our lives.”

“For eight years we were able to travel on eight Tauck Bridges Tours with our daughter and her son who is our only grandson. Since we live in Puerto Rico and they lived in Maryland these really helped us reestablish strong bonds and memories that will last for the rest of our lives”

– Heriberto Pagan and Nancy Marin, Guests

Our 30th anniversary sailing the Med

For a family of sailors who grew up sailing the New England coast, the 30th anniversary of our Treasures of the Mediterranean small ship cruise in 2023 is an important milestone. Thirty years ago, we pioneered destination cruising, focusing on the best way to experience the places we sailed to, rather than the shipboard experience which is what many large cruise ships are all about. This cruise and the ones that followed were a departure from the “bigger is better” trend in cruising – and exemplified the kind of intimate sailing adventures our guests enjoy most. In 1993, when we had the opportunity to captain a small ship cruise aboard Ponant’s Le Ponant in Europe, we were thrilled to chart a course for adventure on the open seas, sails billowing, cares cast overboard and ready to follow the wind to hidden harbors inaccessible to large ships. We channeled Napoleon on Elba, played Vivaldi as we approached Bonifacio, sailed past Stromboli as its lava flows lit up the night, discovered an amazing Greek amphitheatre in Taormina, and relived knights’ tales in Malta. We made changes to our original itinerary as we made more Mediterranean discoveries on Sardinia and Sicily, and debuted our new Treasures of the Mediterranean Isles last year aboard Ponant’s Explorer-class ships. We are still proud to partner with Ponant on this and other destination-inspired small ship cruises in Europe, the US, Antarctica, Arabia, Japan and the Panama Canal!

Welcome back to Japan

It’s been a few years since we operated Cruising the Land of the Rising Sun, and we are excited that we’ll be there to welcome spring in Japan, when the cherry blossoms are expected to be in full bloom in late April. In 2023, we’ll be cruising between Osaka and Tokyo aboard Ponant’s Le Soléal. We’ll be exploring peaceful gardens, taking tea and visiting bustling markets, temples, museums and more, learning about sumo wrestlers, geishas, flying squirrels, and beer, pausing at poignant sites like Nagasaki and Hiroshima where the world changed forever. We’ll even cruise to a fish market in Busan, South Korea, an incredible cultural experience in itself. We are also restarting our Essence of Japan land journey, enriched with in-depth discoveries during stays in Japan’s culturally rich cities. Japan just reopened its borders to international travelers in October so you might imagine that guests who’ve been waiting since 2020 to join us in Japan are excited about making their dreams come true in 2023!

Shores of Eastern Canada & New England is bookended by overnight hotel stays in Manhattan and Quebec City, and features a 10-night cruise aboard a glamorous Silversea yacht to Boston, Newport, Bar Harbor and Halifax, culturally rich, centuries-old cities that speak volumes about daily life, from their founding to their current delights today. Departures in September and October are a bonus, with peak foliage at that time of the year.

Setting sail in January, 2023, Portrait of Arabia: The Emirates, Qatar & Oman cruises aboard a Ponant ship between Muscat and Dubai where two-night stays immerse you in ancient traditions from luxury hotels. This itinerary includes palace and mosque visits, dhow cruises and falconry, shows you ultra-modern skyscrapers and forts hundreds of years old, takes you out in the desert and to a wildlife park on an ocean beach, contrasting sights that present a full picture of this exotic destination. And even though they operate at different times of the year, the moderate temperatures both destinations enjoy average in the mid-70s during the day and the high 50s at night!