An estimated 20 members of the Tauck family joined company executives and local dignitaries in Bingen am Rhein, Germany on Saturday to christen Tauck’s newest riverboat, the ms Savor.
Liz Tauck Walters, a Tauck Board Director and daughter of company Chairman Arthur Tauck, Jr., served as godmother to the Savor, reciting a traditional blessing and cutting a ribbon that sent a bottle of champagne crashing against the ship’s hull.
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| Tauck Chairman Arthur Tauck, Jr., ms Savor Godmother Liz Tauck Walters and Captain Michael Szekely |
The launch of the ms Savor and the ms Inspire have together increased the company’s river cruising capacity this year by a total of 55 percent. European river cruising continues to be the fastest-growing segment of Tauck’s business.
Inspiration Class
The ms Savor and ms Inspire make up Tauck’s new Inspiration Class ships, and they join Tauck’s four existing Jewel Class ships, the ms Treasures, ms Swiss Jewel, ms Swiss Sapphire and ms Swiss Emerald. Like the Jewel Class ships, the Inspiration Class vessels carry fewer passengers and have more service staff than ships of the same size operated by other river cruise lines. (We hear that the 443-foot-long Inspiration Class ships carry 130 guests, while other lines’ ships of the same length carry 190. Each ship has a Tauck Cruise Director and three professional Tauck Directors to care for those 130 guests.
Perks on the Inspiration Class ships include a second onboard dining venue, Arthur’s, with its own dedicated kitchen. Named for company Chairman Arthur Tauck Jr., Arthur’s serves American steakhouse-style selections and provides a more casual option to the fine dining in the ship’s main dining room, the Compass Rose.
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| Loft Suites |
Notable accommodations on the Savor and Inspire are the eight “loft” cabins on each ship’s lower (Emerald) deck. These 225-square-foot cabins have a raised platform seating area located against the ships’ hull/outer wall with a correspondingly higher ceiling immediately above. The higher ceiling, in turn, allows the use of a much taller window than can normally be incorporated into lower-level cabins. The middle portion of this window can be opened electronically for fresh air, and being taller, the window allows plenty of natural light to fill the cabin.
The ships also have 22 300-square-foot suites with two French balconies with floor-to-ceiling windows, a pull-out couch, walk-in closets with built-in drawers, and a bathroom with a rain shower. Along with the suites, the newbuilds also have 32 225-square-foot cabins, as well as an additional 13 cabins ranging from 150 to 190 square feet. For solo travelers, four of the 150 square foot cabins are set aside for guests traveling on their own.
Itineraries
For 2014, the ms Savor will sail on two Tauck itineraries, “The Blue Danube” (12 days, from $4,790 per person plus airfare) and “Danube Reflections” (10 days, from $4,590 per person plus airfare). Both itineraries aboard the ms Savor are fully inclusive, will all shore excursions, gratuities, onboard drinks, wine and beer, entertainment, taxes, port charges, airport transfers and more included in the cruise price.
Besides launching two new ships, Tauck is also launching four new river cruise itineraries this year, including its first on the River Seine in France. Tauck will launch two additional river cruises in 2015, the 23-day “Belle Epoch: London to Monte-Carlo” on the Seine, Saône and Rhône rivers, and the 8-day “Castles on the Rhine: Family Riverboat Adventure.” The latter itinerary is the third river cruise created specifically for families by Tauck.
For more information, visit www.tauck.com.