Aaron Saunders, reporting for Avid Cruiser’s Live Voyage Reports
Today, I stepped aboard Tauck’s new ms Inspire for the first time at the Port of Amsterdam. And what a beautiful ship she is!
The ms Inspire still has that “new-ship” smell to her. She’s the largest river cruise ship that Tauck has ever constructed, yet she only holds an additional 12 guests than its other ships — for a grand total of 130. Most ships this size can hold nearly 200 passengers. What you get is a ship that feels far more intimate and spacious than her size would suggest
Getting here was, in typical Tauck fashion, a snap. My KLM flight from Vancouver touched down just after 10 a.m. local time, and despite a recent spate of unfortunate baggage accidents, my luggage was the sixth piece dispensed on Carousel 12 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. From there, Tauck’s representatives were waiting just outside the baggage area, and I was whisked to the Inspire along with three other guests.
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When I embarked the Inspire, there was Arthur Tauck, Jr., greeting guests personally in the Lounge as a light lunch was being served. Enormously friendly and personable, Tauck stated that he loved two things about this exciting new ship: the amazing showers in each stateroom and the meticulous attention to detail.
He was right on both counts.
Simply put, my Loft Stateroom is one of the coolest features I’ve seen introduced in river cruising since Viking pioneered the Aquavit Lounge aboard its Viking Longships in 2012. My jaw hit the floor when I entered my 225-square-foot Loft Stateroom aboard the Inspireand craned my head up to see the loft seating area, complete with a window spanning a full story in height.
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An avid traveler and an award-winning journalist, Ralph Grizzle produces articles, video and photos that are inspiring and informative, personal and passionate. A journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ralph has specialized in travel writing for more than two decades. To read more cruise and port reviews by Ralph Grizzle, visit his website at www.avidcruiser.com