Family run river cruise line Tauck has always prided itself on creating an intimate, club-like atmosphere on board its ships, but now a major renovation effort is set to enhance the fleet even more. With many operators hosting capacities of up to 200 guests on each vessel, Tauck has always kept these numbers much lower in order to offer more space. The proposed upgrade plans to reduce the capacity of five ships from 118 guests to just 98, creating more room on deck and increasing an already impressive staff to passenger ratio.

It is the Jewel class ships in the fleet that will be receiving the refurbishments (MS Esprit, MS Treasures, MS Swiss Jewel, MS Swiss Sapphire and MS Swiss Emerald). The plan is to reduce the amount of cabins on each ship’s Ruby Deck from 30 to 20. Currently, these measure approximately 150 square feet in size, but when the work is done the new accommodation will boast a massive 225 square feet, boosting the space per guest by 20%.

This is not the only change that will be taking place, though, as the operator has also outlined its intent to honour its founder with a new dining venue. Arthur’s will be a nod to Author Tauck, who carried out the company’s first tour in 1925, and will replace The Bistro. The menu will be revamped a little but will still offer casual fare that contrasts against the fine dining experience that can be enjoyed in the Compass Rose, the other restaurant on board.

These upgrades will happen at the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, with MS Swiss Emerald and MS Swiss Sapphire going into dry dock first and the other three following once they re-emerge. Adding to the excitement is the fact that Tauck plan to rename all five of these vessels, however, they are keeping the new monikers under their hat for now.

This all comes at a busy time for the cruise line as they have already added new itineraries and shore excursion venues for 2016 and are also getting ready to launch two new Inspiration class ships (MS Joy and MS Grace) later this year. They will be sisters of MS Inspire (pictured above) and MS Savor.

We have a wide range of Tauck river cruises available for you to choose from. For more information, call our friendly team or get in touch by using our online contact form.