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Tauck's Swiss Jewel river cruise ship |
Tauck is expanding its 2010 European river cruise offerings with the company’s first-ever itineraries to highlight the annual Christmas markets in Germany and France. Tauck will offer two new cruises, on the Rhine and Danube, with two departures of each cruise to operate this December.
“Besides visiting the most popular Christmas markets in towns along the Rhine and Danube, we’ve included overland excursions to markets in Aachen, Germany, in Colmar, France, and in Salzburg, Steyr and the ‘Christmas village’ of Christkindl in Austria,” said CEO Dan Mahar.
Mahar added that other Tauck touches include onboard cultural performances and local crafts demonstrations, lectures and walking tours, cooking demonstrations highlighting traditional gingerbread and cookies, and the services of a Tauck “Shopping Sherpa” who will ship guests’ market purchases to their homes.
Guests will also enjoy a number of meals ashore, including Christmas lunches in Vienna and Salzburg. In addition, Tauck will host a tree-trimming party aboard each riverboat, and the Lido Bar will be transformed into a holiday “ski haus” where guests can enjoy seasonal treats and glühwein, the traditional mulled wine of the region.
Tauck’s new “Christmas Markets Along the Rhine,” (eight days, from $1,990 per person, double, plus air) visits markets in Germany and France as it travels south from Cologne to Basel aboard Tauck’s MS Swiss Sapphire on a December 5 departure. (A northbound departure following a reverse itinerary begins on December 12.) The new “Christmas Markets Along the Danube” (eight days from $1,990, per person, double, plus air) departs December 4th aboard the MS Swiss Jewel, traveling eastward from Nürnberg to Vienna. A reverse itinerary traveling west begins on December 11.
Tauck’s Christmas market cruises, like their other river cruises, are virtually all-inclusive, with all gratuities, meals, shore excursions, airport transfers, beer and wine with onboard meals, and more included.
Visit www.tauck.com.