Rhine River Cruise
Rhine River Cruise
November 2009
Stuart and I went on our second European River Cruise in November and had another wonderful time! Previously we sailed the Danube from Nurenberg to Budapest with Uniworld River Cruises. This time we sailed with Avalon Waterways on the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam.
Avalon Waterways is one of the Globus Travel’s family of brands and we sailed on one of their brand new ships, the Creativity. The Creativity carries 140 passengers in large, well appointed cabins. The standard cabins are 172 square feet and the largest of any river boat in Europe. Our cabin, as most on Avalon ships, had a French balcony – wonderful for viewing castles along the Rhine and for feeding ducks while in port in Amsterdam!
The cabins have ample storage space, a full length mirror (maybe a disadvantage by the end of the cruise!), a safe, and flat screen TV. The bathroom is roomy for a river boat with a nice shower and plenty of hot water.
The lounge on the Creativity is forward on the boat with windows all around and a small outdoor area, wonderful in nice weather. The dining room is below the lounge and is nicely decorated with nice large windows. There is also a wonderful sun deck with a hot tub, great for scenic cruising. In nice weather they sometimes grill hamburgers, etc. for lunch on this deck.
Both breakfast and lunch are buffet style with plenty of selections. Dinner is table service at around 7:00 or 7:30PM. It is open seating so you can sit wherever and with whomever like. The food was very good with appetizer, salad, soup, entrée and dessert. The appetizer and salad were the same for all, but you had a choice of soups, entrees, and dessert. The food was excellent and the staff very friendly and attentive. They are very helpful with special diet requirements as I am on a gluten free diet and they made sure it met my needs. In fact, one night the chef came running out of the kitchen to be sure I didn’t have a cookie with my ice cream! One of the best things about dinner of course, is the complimentary wine! There was always a selection of a white, rose, or red from various areas of Europe.
Those who have been on a river cruise know the best thing about river cruising is seeing the wonderful cities and quaint villages of Europe without having to pack and unpack every day. You mostly cruise at night and arrive in another wonderful city or village to explore in the morning. We sailed from Basel, Switzerland Sunday night and awoke in Strasbourg, France the next morning. Strasbourg is situated on the border of Germany and France and is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. We had a nice boat tour around town and then a walking tour through the La Petite France district in the morning. Back to the ship for lunch and then went on an optional wine tasting tour to Alsace region of France (Strasbourg is the capital) in the afternoon. (The tours are another great thing about river cruising - a tour (usually about ½ day) is included in the price with optional tours at an additional cost.)
The next morning we were in Heidelberg, Germany and had a wonderful tour of the imposing ruins of the Heidelberg castle above the city and the old town with our excellent guide, Bertroud. He also guided us to his favorite beer hall where we enjoyed a little refreshment.
We arrived in Mainz, Germany on November 11 and at 11:11AM their holiday carnival began! It was quite festive with everyone in costume and marching bands to the Schillerplatz. We also toured the Gutenberg Museum and saw a demonstration of how the printing press worked and an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible. After the morning in Mainz we sailed on to Rudesheim, a pretty little Rhine Valley wine town, where we enjoyed the little shops and a Rudesheimer coffee (German version of Irish coffee) at the Rudesheimer Scholss.
.
Thursday morning we spent cruising the Rhine Gorge, the most beautiful stretch of the river, with beautiful castles everywhere! We passed the legendary Lorelei where sweet songs of the local beauties lured enchanted sailors to their doom. In the afternoon we docked in Koblenz, the 2000 year old cultural and business center of the Middle Rhine and where the Rhine River meets the Mosel River. We had a nice walking tour of Koblenz with another excellent guide (all of the Avalon guides were excellent). We finished our tour in Koblenz as we did in most ports, with a beer or wine in a bar, this time in a wonderful old place recommended by our tour guide.
Friday we were in Cologne and of course visited the magnificent Gothic Cathedral which took 600 years to build and dominates the skyline. Our last port was Amsterdam. In the morning we went on a canal boat tour with highlights pointed out by our tour guide. We chose to go on the optional afternoon tour to Edam and Volendam. Edam with its quaint tiny homes on small canals with hand drawn draw bridges is unforgettable. You have to call the bridge man to come open the bridge and then he rides his bike to the next bridge to open it, and so on. How wonderful to see up close and personal one of the remaining 1,000 windmills now protected in the Netherlands. Volendam is an old fishing village with a pretty view, but mostly made up of tourist shops now. A toddy warmed us up on that cool, blustery day.
We chose to spend two nights in Zurich prior to our cruise and two nights in Amsterdam afterwards. We always recommend arriving at least one day early for a cruise in case of flight delays. It also gives you a chance to see more of the embarkation city. It was our first visit to Zurich and we enjoyed getting to know the city by walking through the old town, visiting several museums, and taking a boat tour on the lake. We also enjoyed a delicious Swiss dinner of fondue and rachelette. After our two days in Zurich we took the train to Basel to board the Creativity.
Though we had been to Amsterdam before we chose to spend two nights after disembarking. We checked into our hotel, and immediately went to the Anne Frank Museum. The museum usually has long lines, but be being there early we did not have to wait. It is truly a moving experience to be in the place where Anne Frank spent over two years and wrote her diary.
We love to travel and we love to help people plan their travels. Let us know if we can help you with a river cruise or other vacation to remember.
Annette & Stuart Hostetter
Vacations to Remember
727-492-4479 ahostetter@earthlink.net
November 2009
Stuart and I went on our second European River Cruise in November and had another wonderful time! Previously we sailed the Danube from Nurenberg to Budapest with Uniworld River Cruises. This time we sailed with Avalon Waterways on the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam.
Avalon Waterways is one of the Globus Travel’s family of brands and we sailed on one of their brand new ships, the Creativity. The Creativity carries 140 passengers in large, well appointed cabins. The standard cabins are 172 square feet and the largest of any river boat in Europe. Our cabin, as most on Avalon ships, had a French balcony – wonderful for viewing castles along the Rhine and for feeding ducks while in port in Amsterdam!
The cabins have ample storage space, a full length mirror (maybe a disadvantage by the end of the cruise!), a safe, and flat screen TV. The bathroom is roomy for a river boat with a nice shower and plenty of hot water.
The lounge on the Creativity is forward on the boat with windows all around and a small outdoor area, wonderful in nice weather. The dining room is below the lounge and is nicely decorated with nice large windows. There is also a wonderful sun deck with a hot tub, great for scenic cruising. In nice weather they sometimes grill hamburgers, etc. for lunch on this deck.
Both breakfast and lunch are buffet style with plenty of selections. Dinner is table service at around 7:00 or 7:30PM. It is open seating so you can sit wherever and with whomever like. The food was very good with appetizer, salad, soup, entrée and dessert. The appetizer and salad were the same for all, but you had a choice of soups, entrees, and dessert. The food was excellent and the staff very friendly and attentive. They are very helpful with special diet requirements as I am on a gluten free diet and they made sure it met my needs. In fact, one night the chef came running out of the kitchen to be sure I didn’t have a cookie with my ice cream! One of the best things about dinner of course, is the complimentary wine! There was always a selection of a white, rose, or red from various areas of Europe.
Those who have been on a river cruise know the best thing about river cruising is seeing the wonderful cities and quaint villages of Europe without having to pack and unpack every day. You mostly cruise at night and arrive in another wonderful city or village to explore in the morning. We sailed from Basel, Switzerland Sunday night and awoke in Strasbourg, France the next morning. Strasbourg is situated on the border of Germany and France and is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. We had a nice boat tour around town and then a walking tour through the La Petite France district in the morning. Back to the ship for lunch and then went on an optional wine tasting tour to Alsace region of France (Strasbourg is the capital) in the afternoon. (The tours are another great thing about river cruising - a tour (usually about ½ day) is included in the price with optional tours at an additional cost.)
The next morning we were in Heidelberg, Germany and had a wonderful tour of the imposing ruins of the Heidelberg castle above the city and the old town with our excellent guide, Bertroud. He also guided us to his favorite beer hall where we enjoyed a little refreshment.
We arrived in Mainz, Germany on November 11 and at 11:11AM their holiday carnival began! It was quite festive with everyone in costume and marching bands to the Schillerplatz. We also toured the Gutenberg Museum and saw a demonstration of how the printing press worked and an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible. After the morning in Mainz we sailed on to Rudesheim, a pretty little Rhine Valley wine town, where we enjoyed the little shops and a Rudesheimer coffee (German version of Irish coffee) at the Rudesheimer Scholss.
.
Thursday morning we spent cruising the Rhine Gorge, the most beautiful stretch of the river, with beautiful castles everywhere! We passed the legendary Lorelei where sweet songs of the local beauties lured enchanted sailors to their doom. In the afternoon we docked in Koblenz, the 2000 year old cultural and business center of the Middle Rhine and where the Rhine River meets the Mosel River. We had a nice walking tour of Koblenz with another excellent guide (all of the Avalon guides were excellent). We finished our tour in Koblenz as we did in most ports, with a beer or wine in a bar, this time in a wonderful old place recommended by our tour guide.
Friday we were in Cologne and of course visited the magnificent Gothic Cathedral which took 600 years to build and dominates the skyline. Our last port was Amsterdam. In the morning we went on a canal boat tour with highlights pointed out by our tour guide. We chose to go on the optional afternoon tour to Edam and Volendam. Edam with its quaint tiny homes on small canals with hand drawn draw bridges is unforgettable. You have to call the bridge man to come open the bridge and then he rides his bike to the next bridge to open it, and so on. How wonderful to see up close and personal one of the remaining 1,000 windmills now protected in the Netherlands. Volendam is an old fishing village with a pretty view, but mostly made up of tourist shops now. A toddy warmed us up on that cool, blustery day.
We chose to spend two nights in Zurich prior to our cruise and two nights in Amsterdam afterwards. We always recommend arriving at least one day early for a cruise in case of flight delays. It also gives you a chance to see more of the embarkation city. It was our first visit to Zurich and we enjoyed getting to know the city by walking through the old town, visiting several museums, and taking a boat tour on the lake. We also enjoyed a delicious Swiss dinner of fondue and rachelette. After our two days in Zurich we took the train to Basel to board the Creativity.
Though we had been to Amsterdam before we chose to spend two nights after disembarking. We checked into our hotel, and immediately went to the Anne Frank Museum. The museum usually has long lines, but be being there early we did not have to wait. It is truly a moving experience to be in the place where Anne Frank spent over two years and wrote her diary.
We love to travel and we love to help people plan their travels. Let us know if we can help you with a river cruise or other vacation to remember.
Annette & Stuart Hostetter
Vacations to Remember
727-492-4479 ahostetter@earthlink.net
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