What was the first luxury travel experience you ever had? Would you still consider it luxury today or is your criteria different now? We were a young couple upgraded to a small suite on a Royal Caribbean cruise. We were wowed by a balcony, sitting area and a bottle of bubbly. That was special but now we are more excited by our private yacht charter with 30 friends in Croatia in a couple of weeks!
What sorts of things have you had butlers do for you in a hotel or on a ship? Most recently, our butler on Celebrity (in a Retreat suite) didn't do much proactively. Anticipating needs to me is part of what defines luxury. Can you share some wonderful or disappointing butler stories?
A few weeks ago I had the chance to sit down on camera with Roam by Tauck's Business Development Manager to go through the 2027 itineraries. If you are trying to figure out if Roam is a fit or which trip makes sense for you, the video is a good resource.
FYI- Tauck has no single supplement on their river cruises in Category 1. A single or solo supplement is when a cruise line or tour company charges more than the per passenger price when only one person is traveling. For example, if the price is $3000 per person (based on double occupancy) and only one person wants to book, that solo traveler might be charged $4500 or even $6000. The companies do this to make up the revenue they could have received if the space was booked by 2 people.
Tauck is unique in that they have rooms on their river ships specifically for 1 guest with no single supplement. These have to be reserved early because they are very limited. Solo travel is getting more popular so they book up.
For land departures, there are many dates that have "solo savings" with a lower supplement.
Because they have such great terms, Tauck is a great choice for traveling solo and you often will meet other solo travelers.
Disney Cruise Line has Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Royal Caribbean has Perfect Day at Coco Cay (and not so much Labadee anymore). NCL has Great Stirrup Cay. Other cruise lines have them as well. Which is your favorite and why? If you could create the perfect cruise day island, what would it have?
If you have traveled with Tauck before, booking any 2027 land journey or river cruise before July 31st gets you a complimentary hotel night either before your trip begins or after it ends. Requires a deposit at booking, subject to availability, and cannot be combined with other offers.
If you are new to Tauck, a Certified Tauck Advisor can extend this same benefit to you for 2026 or 2027 travel with no deadline to worry about. Feel free to drop a comment or send me a message if you have questions or want help taking advantage of it.
What hotels make you just want to stay on the property and never leave to explore the town or city it is in? A few that come to mind for me are La Casa de La Playa in Riviera Maya and the Four Seasons Orlando.
Did you know that that Tauck offers Gorilla trekking?? Anybody out there do one of these?
The Mountain Gorilla Safari: Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda itinerary is 16 days ;Mountain Gorilla Safari: Tanzania, Zanzibar & Rwanda is 13 days. Both are small groups with up to 24 guests. Game drives in 6 passenger open top vehicles with window seats for everyone,
Here are some of the inclusions for the 16 day option:
A rigorous, challenging private Gorilla Trek in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park to interact with endangered Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat more than 7,000 ft. (2,130 m.) above sea level;
Multiple-night stays in the legendary Serengeti National Park, Maasai Mara game reserve, and Amboseli National Park, with daily game drives
Hot air balloon ride at dawn over the Masai Mara game reserve, followed by a champagne breakfast in the bush
Private lecture by an elephant researcher in Amboseli National Park
Visits to Ol Pejeta Conservancy; the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Animal Orphanage; the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Museum; Kigali's Genocide Memorial Museum
Overnight in a lodge built into the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, called Africa's "Garden of Eden," for its great views of the wildlife-rich wilderness and one of the oldest sites of habitation by our human predecessors
Private barbecue dinner under the stars at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club
Weaving demonstration in a Kenyan village
A two-night stay at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club within view of Mount Kenya
Wow...
What have been your favorite welcome amenities? Or the lamest? Bonus points for pics! I loved this rose in a beautiful wine bottle and amazing chocolate mousse cake at the Four Seasons Orlando.
Recently stayed here before a cruise. There's a complimentary shuttle to the cruise terminal- just select your tie at the concierge desk after you check in. The shuttle was very nice and prompt but doesn't hold a ton of people. Hotel is brand new with several restaurants and a great pool deck. I'd definitely stay here before or after a cruise again. There's also a great rooftop bar.
Hotel Bennett is my favorite hotel in Charleston. Super cute champagne bar with lots of pink marble, super comfortable rooms (very Four Seasons-esque) and definitely worth it to upgrade to the Kings Club which is really elevated. Great location too.
Do they have any specific menus on Celebrity in any of the restaurants when they are in Alaska? I'll be on Solstice in August.
If you cruise frequently, how do you respond to friends or acquaintances who are so negative about cruising (but also have never been on one)?
I'm a huge fan of Croatia so did some research comparing these two options for families.
Adventures by Disney visits both Croatia and Slovenia. (This is a land vacation so very different itinerary from the Adriatic Cruise ABD briefly had.) This one begins in Ljubljana, Slovenia (a hot spot in Europe) before flying to Dubrovnik. Experiences include the Ljubljana Castle with costumed storytellers, Lake Bled by traditional pletna boat, a herdsmen settlement in the Alps, oysters on a floating platform in Mali Ston Bay, and kayaking Dubrovnik's ancient walls.
Tauck Bridges Croatian Coast Family Voyage is also brand new for 2027. This features 7 nights onboard the private yacht Lupus Mare, island hopping to five Croatian islands including Split and Diocletian's Palace. I was disappointed ABD did not include Split. Since you are on the yacht there are no long motorcoach days or packing and unpacking. Experiences include river rafting, a 200-year-old living history estate on Hvar, kayaking in Mljet National Park, and daily Adriatic swim stops with a water slide, jetski and sea bob off the back of the boat. Max 34 guests.
Happy to answer questions on either.
Quick review of the Gaylord Pacific San Diego. I spent a week here for a conference and it is a big convention hotel but also great for families. I could see families spending 2-3 nights here as pre or post cruise out of San Diego or as a base for visiting some of the sites in San Diego. No great beach right here but the water park and pool areas are great. There's a big wave pool with huge movie screen, a lazy river (my favorite resort feature), big water slides in a large resort pool, a kiddie pool with more slides, a lap pool and hot tubs. There's also poolside food and beverage service. The resort has a bunch of restaurants. The Italian was very good and I loved the Caesar salad at Marzul. The speakeasy was also really cool and I loved my drink- let me know if you need help finding it. Rooms were large and comfortable and elevators worked great for such a large hotel.
I've been doing a deep dive into Roam by Tauck's itineraries and wanted to share one I'm excited about (even booked it myself). Roam is Tauck's newer line designed for people who are in a busy season of life but still want to travel well. Smaller groups, flexible days, and enough breathing room to actually unwind. It's built for Gen X travelers who don't want to be herded but also don't want to plan everything themselves.
The itinerary: 8 days, 7 nights on the Douro River
You sail from Porto through the Douro Valley, stopping at Régua, Pinhão, Folgosa, and Pocinho before returning to Porto. The whole thing is aboard an intimate riverboat carrying just 84 guests.
What makes this special is the daily flexibility and great inclusions. Every day has built-in choices so you move at your own pace. In Porto you choose your morning: a port house tour and tasting or a food-focused walk through a local market. Afternoon: surfing lesson on the Atlantic or a scenic bike ride along the Douro. That same structure carries through the entire week, with options that range from active hikes through terraced vineyards to yoga with the valley as your backdrop to simply staying on the ship and doing nothing at all.
The signature moments are genuinely special. Dinner at DOC on the banks of the Douro, where two-star Michelin chef Rui Paula elevates traditional Portuguese ingredients into something extraordinary. A private night excursion to prehistoric rock art at Penascosa in the Côa Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, after dark with no crowds. A hike through the vineyards above Pinhão ending in the village of Provesende, which feels completely untouched.
All meals included, unlimited wine, beer, and spirits on board, gratuities fully covered, and even the bathrooms are stocked with Portus Castelbel products. The details are that thoughtful.
The ships and the dates
There are only three sailings of this itinerary across two sister ships:
August 2026 and June 2027 aboard the ms Andorinha
October 30, 2027 aboard the ms Saudade
Both ships were custom-built from scratch specifically for the Douro, but the ms Saudade is brand new, debuting in 2027. Inspired by Portuguese tile work and local craftsmanship, it' will be stunning. October on the Douro is also harvest season, which makes that sailing particularly special. The vineyards are at their peak, the light turns golden, and the quintas are alive with work that's been happening in this valley for over 2,000 years.
One more thing
My husband and I are escorting a group on the October 30th sailing, with several of our My Path Unwinding advisors and their partners joining us. If that sailing interests you, we'd love to have you along. And if one of the other dates works better, I'm happy to help with those too.
Happy to answer any questions about the itinerary, the ships, or Roam in general.
If you've been thinking about the Canadian Rockies and assumed it was too late to plan for this summer, there are still spots on a few small group departures between June and September 2026.
The Fairmont properties in the Rockies, Banff Springs, Chateau Lake Louise, Jasper Park Lodge, are bucket list hotels for a lot of people, but getting rooms at peak season is genuinely difficult. Tour operators hold allotments that aren't available to the public, which means booking through Tauck is sometimes the only realistic way to actually stay there in summer. Tauck actually includes lake view rooms at Chateau Lake Louise for its guests.
The itinerary includes the Icefields Parkway, Moraine Lake, a helicopter flightseeing excursion over the Three Sisters peaks, time in both Banff and Jasper national parks, and a Parks Canada presentation on the history and folklore of the parks.
If you haven't traveled with Tauck before, this is a good trip to start with. The logistics are straightforward, the parks are extraordinary, and nobody has to drive.
Would love to hear from anyone who has done this itinerary!
I did a deep dive comparison on these two itineraries and thought I would share the details here. Since I am really excited about Roam I thought I would compare it to an Adventures by Disney (ABD) that would be appealing for an adult only trip.
1st up- ABD "reimagined" Sicily and Amalfi itinerary for 2027. The adult only departures for ABD are for ages 18+ You're spending time on Mt. Etna by jeep, going through lava tubes, getting out to the Blue Grotto by private boat. There's a private Sicilian puppet theater experience with a backstage workshop with a master puppeteer (one of the activities designed for families that they keep for adults). Then you move to the Amalfi side for pasta making in Gragnano, ceramics in Vietri sul Mare, and limoncello at a family distillery. The anchor of the whole trip is Herculaneum rather than Pompeii. Less visited, better preserved, and if you've been to Pompeii before you'll understand why that matters. 8 days starting from $6,999pp.
Roam by Tauck's Rome, Sicily and Malta trip is doing something completely different with the same part of the world. It's 21+, capped at 20 guests, and 10 of the 12 days are spent aboard Windstar's Star Legend. The ship carries up to 312 guests total but your Roam group stays at 20 the whole time. You're not moving luggage, you're not spending half the day on a bus, you wake up somewhere new every morning and the day is already waiting for you. The first night in Rome there's after-hours access to a Caravaggio chapel that most people never see. Then a vintage Fiat 500 with your own driver in Palermo, a private dinner at an aristocratic palazzo, and at Pompeii you're with an archaeologist at an active excavation seeing things that were just uncovered. All drinks, gratuities, wifi and most meals included. Starts from $12,990pp, begins and ends in Rome which makes flights simpler.
If you've cruised before and always wondered about guided travel, Roam is about as natural a bridge as exists. If you want real time in Sicily rather than a morning here and an afternoon there, ABD gives you that.
Happy to talk through either one, comment here or send me a message.
Adventures by Disney (ABD) just announced their 2027 land vacation line up. ABD is a luxury, almost all inclusive family friendly guided vacation brand with destinations around the globe and river cruising. They actually designed their vacations based on Tauck Bridges. They are perfect for multigenerational travel and also have adult only departure dates (18+). No, Mickey Mouse does not travel with you but you do have Disney service and VIP access.
New for 2027 are Thailand and Croatia. They also "reimagined" their Sicily itinerary which looks fabulous. I'm a huge fan of both Tauck Bridges and ABD, but ABD has more destinations designed for families than Tauck Bridges. Happy to answer any questions about the pros and cons of each and their itineraries.
A few new US itineraries for 2027
Bryce & Zion 6 nights Small Group- including 2 nights in a glass domed room at Clear Sky Resort near Bryce Canyon (some of these dates are already sold out)
Spring & Fall in Yellowstone Small Group: Just 5 nights, perfect to experience the seasons changing
Seaside New England 7 nights- all small group departures in 2027. Includes a private after hours visit to the Breakers in Newport. Slower pace and quintessential New England.
