Tauck is known for their tours, but since we’ve been docked and attending conference events, we haven’t experienced a Tauck tour. That changes today! Each ships has planned their own excursion for the day and I’m really excited to see what we have in store with Tauck.
I’m so grateful that our tour doesn’t leave until 1pm. (Most of the other tours started in the morning.) It gave me time to eat breakfast, eat brunch, and get ready. It also gave me some time to check on my husband's journey to Amsterdam.
Brian was supposed to arrive at 8:30am, but a long delay in Cleveland caused him to miss his flight by two minutes. He sprinted off one plane then hopped on a shuttle. The shuttle approached his gate with his flight to Amsterdam and he saw something you don’t want to see. It pulled away from the gate without him. Delta booked him on a flight to London instead, but he had to rush to make that one too. The plan was to fly to London and then fly to Amsterdam. He arrived in London, but the Amsterdam flight was cancelled. He then flew to Brussels then to Amsterdam and then finally arrived to the ship. People think visiting all four parks at Walt Disney World is tough. How about four countries, and four flights on four different airlines in one day! The good news is that he did make it before our river cruise, but the bad news is his bag did not.
While Brian is on his journey, I’m on a Tauck Tour. The tour starts on motorcoach buses that pick us up right in front of the ship. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a coach bus and pretty quickly I remember how terrible my motion sickness is on them. Luckily, it’s a short ride, but I wish I had taken my motion sickness medicine. We’re off to the Straat Museum, a flea market, and will go on a canal cruise.
The Straat Museum is an art museum filled with street art. The artwork is mostly on giant canvases and the style between the pieces is quite different. We have a private guide for our group and it’s so good that we did. She explained the artwork and gave us more information about the artists. I can appreciate it even more with the explanation. We have a coffee break with an authentic snack: Gevulde Koeken. The snack is a Dutch cookie that contains an almond paste. It was absolutely amazing! I ate half the cookie and saved the other half to share with Brian when he finally gets here.
The Flea Market is next door to the museum. Tauck is all about little surprises and we are given a little surprise here. A token to enter the flea market and some spending cash!! It was fun shopping with Tauck’s money. A prize is given for the person with the most outrageous purchase. A man on the tour buys a fertility statue that wins the prize. It was pretty funny.
Our final part of the trip is a canal cruise. The boat is a short walk from the flea market and they are ready for us. Champagne is offered when we board and the tables are filled with Dutch snacks, water, and wine. It’s a lovely ride around the city and much more peaceful than walking among all the bicycles. No frog skills needed. My favorite snack was the cheese! It was so amazing, but I’m not sure what kind it was.
Tauck’s rich guided tour history is apparent on this excursion. Everything was flawless. The bus was huge, spacious, clean, and new. Gabriella, our guide, did an excellent job explaining what was to come and preparing us. We each received an audio headset for the trip and these were tested before we left. Also, they told us they have extras if one of ours should malfunction later. Our art guide was already waiting for us when we arrived and the coffee and cookies were discreetly setup while we toured the museum. There was a bathroom and it was free. Providing the token and money for the flea market meant we didn’t have to wait in line. The boat was ready for us with champagne already poured and snacks already out. It wasn’t a particularly small group, but having everything run seamlessly made it feel small. Overall, I was really impressed with how Tauck operates their shore excursions.
Brian has finally made it! I meet him on the bridge to guide him to the ship. There are several buildings in front of the port and only a couple of ways around them. Brian is obviously tired as he had a long journey. He had scheduled a private running tour of the city for midday and the guide graciously offered to push it back. Brian drops off his backpack and changes into running gear. He packed his essentials in his carryon which included a full running outfit with variants for different weather. We have a different idea of essentials because I find out later that he packed his medication in his checked bag.
While Brian runs a half marathon, I attend my last dinner for the EXPO. We are on Viking Sigrun! The meal was delicious. I have a little pizza type flatbread as my appetizer, beef tenderloin for my entree, and creme brûlée. The actual names of these dishes were much fancier, but I can’t remember the names.
The night ends with a special party. I received a golden ticket for the party earlier in the week, but in reality you didn’t need the ticket to enter. You do, however, need the ticket to win the raffle! They raffled off three river cruises this evening. Unfortunately, I was not one of the three. The theme for the party was 1920s which was fun and I was one of a few dressed in 1920s attire for the party.
Comments