| Tauck talks tough on new vessels

Europe’s latest riverboats, ms
Inspire and ms Savor, will be 25
metres longer with 10% more
capacity.
TAUCK CEO Dan Mahar has declared its two
new “Inspiration Class” ships are set to “raise
the bar even higher” for rival river cruise lines.
Revealing the names of the newbuilds, he
said Inspire and Savor would be stretched by
23%, compared to Tauck’s four existing ships,
but without a similar increase in passenger
numbers seen on other companies’ fleets.
Measuring 135 metres in length, as opposed
to 110 metres, the upcoming vessels will each
accommodate a maximum 130 passengers –
not 190 passengers, as carried by other lines’
ships of the same length.
“That’s an additional 46% passengers aboard
ships of the exact same length,” Mahar told
CW.
“You simply can’t deliver the same relaxed,
intimate atmosphere when you put nearly 50%
more passengers into the same space.”
Those fighting words were followed by an
assurance that the new ships would uphold
the company’s “industry-leading guide-toguest
ratio” with more service staff than any
other river cruise line.
“Each Inspiration Class riverboat will have a
Tauck Cruise Director and three Tauck directors
aboard to attend to guests’ needs,” Mahar said.
“By contrast, other ships carrying far more
guests are often staffed by just a single cruise
director.”
The Tauck directors will also accompany shore
excursions, with guests divided into small groups
of no more than 25 and guided by a local expert.
“River cruises offer incredible opportunities
for authentic, in-depth explorations of each
destination, so we place tremendous emphasis
on ensuring that our shore exclusions – all of
which are included in our cruise prices – are
absolutely world-class,” said Mahar.
Mahar claimed that other cruise lines
routinely have groups of “100 or more” led by
a single local guide.