Tauck ms Savor Ship Tour
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
By the time you read this, we will have expanded our knowledge of Europe River Cruising by sailing on one of Tauck’s newest river routes—Three Rivers Danube, Main and Rhine. Our ship will be the 135 m (443 ft) ms Savor.
Full disclosure: for the first time in 30 years, we were invited to experience the Tauck product for free—every other of our 26 river cruises, we have paid to go on the cruise. We want to emphasize that this in no way influences our opinions and it is especially true of this first report on this ship tour. We will write two more blogs, one focused on the excursions and one devoted to food, as one day or so of food is not enough to fully rate this area.
So, let’s take a tour of this ship and learn about its facilities and staterooms.
Overview of the Savor and the Tauck Fleet
The Savor has 67 staterooms for 130 guests, the second fewest guests on any 135 m rivership in Europe (only 4 former Crystal ships, 2 with Riverside and 2 with Uniworld only have 110 onboard).
This standard 3 deck ship has 45 crew to look after the guests. Three other sister ships, the ms Inspire, the ms Joy and the ms Grace have almost the exact same lay out with different color schemes. There are 7 different categories of staterooms on these 135 m ships.
Here is a picture of the ms Savor, docked in Frankfurt, Germany.
Tauck has four 110 m ships (361 feet) in their fleet. They are the ms Emerald, the ms Sapphire, the ms Esprit and the ms Treasures. These ships carry 98 to 104 guests with 36 crew members. They have 49 staterooms.
Tauck Treasures sailing on the Danube
The Swiss Emerald rafted next to the AmaCello
The Swiss Emerald
Reception Area Swiss Emerald
The Swiss Emerald in Port
The other Tauck ship, the ms Andorinha, sails on the Douro River in Portugal. As with ships on the Douro River, it is a smaller ship, 80 m (263 feet) that holds 84 guests in 42 staterooms. It has a 36-person crew. This ships are smaller due to the smaller locks on the Douro River.
Tauck leases their ships from the Scylla company—only the Tauck 4 onboard tour guides are Tauck independent contracted employees, yet they feel overwhelming happy with this relationship. It is evident Tauck treats them well—they have a 20 year successful partnership.
The crew are members of Scylla organization. In talking with members of the crew, they really like the partnership with Tauck. It seems quite beneficial for both companies.
Decks and Staterooms of the Savor
The Emerald Deck
The Emerald Deck (lowest deck) has crew quarters and 14 fixed window staterooms. Unique to all river cruise ships, the 8 loft cabins (225 sq feet, category 3) actually have an innovative seating area on a raised loft that extends up to the second deck. It gives the usually small, cramped staterooms on the first deck, a very spacious and open feeling. The other 6 staterooms are only 150 sq feet and do not feature this loft concept.
These next photos are of Stateroom 102, a loft stateroom :
This is the loft area. The large windows make this area seem more open than most fixed window staterooms on every other river cruise line.
The Ruby Deck
The Ruby deck (2nd deck) has 29 staterooms. It has 3 small (150 sq feet category 2) staterooms; 16 large (225 sq feet category 5) staterooms; 8 large (225 sq feet category 6 staterooms); and 2 190 sq feet staterooms.
These next photos are of our Stateroom 220 (category 6):
The beds face the French Balcony (sliding glass patio style windows). This ship has only French Balconies in staterooms that has balconies. To my knowledge, only Avalon does the same for all staterooms, as does Tauck.
There is a nepresso coffee maker and a small refrigerator in the stateroom.
This is the sitting area in our cabin. In a nice touch, Tauck welcomes guests onboard with a bottle of champagne. The single flower is real, with a small water tube attached to the stem of the flower to keep it alive.
There are 2 shower heads in our shower —the traditional European spray head which with tube so you can be set or removed to use up close while showering and an overhead rain shower head.
This is a seat in the shower for those who might need to sit while showering.
The Diamond Deck
The Diamond deck (3rd deck) has 22 large staterooms (300 sq feet category 7) and 2 smaller staterooms (190 sq feet, category 5).
These first photos are of stateroom 301, a category 5 angled 190 sq feet cabin:
The shower in this room is noticeably smaller in the triangler shaped shower room as compared to other shower areas in other staterooms on the ship.
One nice feature of all stateroom sink areas onboard is good storage space for your grooming items inside the mirror cabinets above the sink.
This is a 300 square feet stateroom, # 304 (there are 16 similar rooms on the third deck):
The couch can be made up to a sleeper sofa and the category 7 cabins can sleep 3.
There is no bath tub in this category 7 stateroom.
The walk in closet is very spacious.
Onboard Facilities
On the first deck is the fitness room, the hair salon, massage room, and a spa area.
This is the Hair Salon
This is the Massage Room
This is the Spa Area
The fitness room has 2 exercise bikes, free weights, and 2 treadmills
2nd Deck Facilities
On the second deck is reception area, Tauck Desk for tours and excursions and the gift shop.
The Reception Area
The Atrium View from Deck 3.
The Gift Shop
The Tauck Desk
The Panorama Lounge
As with all river cruise ships, the Panorama Lounge is where most of the guests hang out, when not in their stateroom, or on tour.
The Dining Facilities
There are 2 dining facilities on the ship. The main dining room is the Compass Rose. The stern dining room is Arthur’s, named in honor of the founder, Arthur Tauck.
Here are some pictures of the Compass Rose:
Breakfast
In the Compass Rose, you can select from the buffet or order off the menu.
Here is the breakfast menu. I selected eggs benedict and French toast. Both were excellent!
The breakfast buffet area
The juice bar area
The picture above and below are of the special featured breakfast area. It is a very similar full English breakfast station.
My breakfast choices above and below in these 2 pictures.
Lunch
Lunch is offered in two forms. There are items from a buffet line or some items can be ordered from a menu. There’s a featured suggestion from a special preparation area/carving station.
Here was a lunch meal, selected from the featured lunch item—carbonara.
The carbonara was very good, the noodles were properly cooked and the pancetta excellent. Although I usually am not a fan of a creamy style sauce, this was well prepared and did not overwhelm the dish, as we have experienced with one of our favorite dishes while in Europe, so well done!
Salads, other lunch items and desserts were available from the buffet area. I chose the berry cobbler and black forest cake. Both were very tasty!
Dinner
Dinner is a 4 course meal. The menu provides choices of a starter, soup, entree and dessert.
Each night there are 2 wines, a white and red selections to pair with the meal. They are regional wines.
Executive Chef Salad
Potato Mustard Soup
The Veal dish
Chocolate Lava Cake
The cheese plate
Arthur’s
Arthur’s is a more casual dining venue compared to the Compass Rose. It features more American style cuisine, as compared to the European style cuisine of the Compass Rose main dining room.
Here are 4 pictures of Arthur’s :
Breakfast at Arthur’s
I could have selected items from the small breakfast buffet pictured above but I chose the ham and cheese omelette pictured below, which was quite good.
Arthur’s Lunch
Arthur’s Dinner
The Top Deck
The top deck has a small pool, putting green and seating area (some are shaded). Here are some photos:
They also use the top deck in good weather for a barbecue. They served grilled brats and hamburgers, barbecued ribs, salads, sauerkraut, and fried potatoes.
I decided not to provide a photo, as I overload my plate with the meats and potatoes. It was good fare but a little cumbersome to eat as my eyes were bigger than the optimum space on my plate.
For dessert there were 7 types of homemade ice cream.
Here is a picture of the event:
Our Final Thoughts
This is a very good river cruise ship. It is elegant, comfortable and has all one needs for a luxury river cruise. The food so far has been tasty (we will provide a much more detailed report in a future blog) and drinks are plentiful, as it is an all-inclusive fare.
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.
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Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@visitdd.com . We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 52 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
