One hundred and thirty-five metres on the Rhine and the Mosel
The ms Grace left the Vahali yard in Belgrade in 2016. One hundred and
thirty-five metres, 67 cabins in Tauck configuration, 130 travellers. The hull
is certified for more: the shipowner lists 142 berths across 71 cabins, and
the operator removes four to widen the rest. The difference shows in the
corridors and in the dining room.
Twenty-two suites of twenty-eight square metres, eight duplex cabins across
two decks whose windows genuinely open. The lift serves every deck except the
sun deck, which is better than on the shorter hulls of the fleet.
What the measurement showed
Thirty-eight departures in our inventory, four in 2026 and thirty-four in
2027. The ship covers the Rhine and the Mosel, two waterways the itineraries
often combine since one flows into the other.
No major refit has been published since she left the yard. Ten years with no
announced overhaul is not an anomaly on a well-kept river hull, but an absence
of information is not proof that nothing happened.
The other ships in the fleet
The ms Joy covers the Danube. The ms Inspire holds the Rhine. The ms Savor shares the same one
hundred and thirty-five metre hull. The ms Lumière is the 2026 newbuild on the
Rhone.
Who owns this ship
Not the tour operator. Tauck owns no hull in Europe: the fourteen ships we
sell under its colours belong to Scylla AG, a Swiss shipowner based in Basel,
and are chartered to it exclusively.
This is not an accounting detail. In 2026 the shipowner took one of these
hulls back for its own cruise brand. The ship changed name and company, and
the operator could do nothing about it. A charter is renewed; it is not
owned.
What is included and what is not
This operator goes further than most. Gratuities to the ship's staff, to
local guides and to the cruise director are included in the fare. So are the
shore excursions, all of them, and none is sold as an option aboard.
Transfers and luggage handling follow.
On board the ship, house wine, beer and standard spirits are included all
day. Ashore, in a hotel or an outside restaurant, the rule does not
necessarily follow.
The international flight to the starting point is not included, nor the air
taxes that go with it. Internet access is provided in a basic form, where
available: that is the operator's own wording and it deserves to be read as
written.
Accessibility: read this before booking
The operator writes in plain terms that its European river itineraries
cannot accommodate wheelchairs or mobility scooters. Narrow hallways,
unavoidable stairs, difficult ground on excursions. This is not a stylistic
caution, it is a refusal.
It adds that it provides no walking assistance and no help at meals, and
that anyone needing such help must travel with an able companion. It also
reserves the right to require a doctor's certificate of fitness. Mobility
scooters are barred from every one of its trips, river or not.
No number of adapted cabins is published, for any ship of this fleet,
neither by the operator nor by the shipowner. We can therefore promise
nothing, and we will not.
Booking this trip from Quebec
This operator's contract designates the law of the State of Connecticut and
the courts of that state. It provides for no arbitration, but it has you waive
class action and punitive damages. The only registration it publishes is
Californian. Nothing establishes that it holds a Quebec licence.
Your protection therefore comes from here. Voyages AquaTerra holds a licence
from Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur, your payments move
through a trust account, and the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel
Agents covers your file as the law provides.
