TR: Uniworld Bordeaux River Cruise & Amsterdam Pre-Cruise (Oct 2015)

Thursday October 8, 2015 - Flying to Amsterdam

My wife and I are going on a river cruise for the first time for our 23rd wedding anniversary. This is our trip report.

We've cruised Crystal, Disney, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Celebrity but this is our first river cruise. We're a little anxious about it, as we've found out Bordeaux is somewhat small when it comes to river cruising. You go up one leg, go back, go up another leg, go back. Here's a map of the trip:

We have a pre-cruise in Amsterdam for 2 nights. Tonight we flew from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam. At Dulles, they gave us a free pass to the First Class lounge. Lounges in the US are not nearly as good as in foreign countries. We're flying direct to Amsterdam (that was part of the reason we decided to pre-cruise in Amsterdam, as there are direct flights Amsterdam-Bordeaux as well Dulles-Amsterdam). Normally we layover in Frankfurt on flights to Europe and I kind of miss that as I like the lounge (kind of like an amuse-boucheof the trip). But the United 1st class lounge at Dulles was pretty good. Here are pictures of the offerings:

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Friday October 9, 2015 Amsterdam Pre-Cruise (Morning and Afternoon)

We took a bike tour in Amsterdam this morning. We often take a bike tour after arriving in Europe, as it gets our blood going and otherwise we'd probably go to the hotel room and crash.

I thought these house boats on the canals were cool, especially this contemporary looking one. Our tour guide said one of these boats is 200,000 - 300,000 euros (including registering the boat so you can park in in the canals) and you could get a nice apartment for that, so they don't save you any money, it's more a lifestyle thing (if we lived in Amsterdam we'd definitely go for one of these boats).

And the tour guide said this is the smallest home along the canals. It reminded us of the place from Harry Potter.

After the tour we had lunch at a restaurant called The Seafood Bar. My wife got the moules and frites. This is what she always gets at least once in Europe.

I got the frito misto. We washed the meal down with a bottle of inexpensive Vin de Pays Rose.

The restaurant was next to a square with an outdoor book market.

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WOW...your pictures are awesome:) I am going to Amsterdam in

April for the very first time.....sailing on my first River Cruise too.:D

What hotel in Amsterdam did you stay at during your visit?

WOW...your pictures are awesome:) I am going to Amsterdam in

April for the very first time.....sailing on my first River Cruise too.:D

 

What hotel in Amsterdam did you stay at during your visit?

We're actually still here, the W Amsterdam. Our cruise begins on Sunday. I'll post some pictures of the hotel.

We loved Amsterdam last month! Great memories, thanks and enjoy your trip :)

Thanks for posting and looking forward to your cruise pictures. We've visited Bordeaux on an ocean cruise so we spent much less time there than you will. Looks like you're having a blast in Amsterdam! Enjoy!

We're actually still here, the W Amsterdam. Our cruise begins on Sunday. I'll post some pictures of the hotel.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise:D

Wonderful photos, I can't wait to see the rest of your report!

Amsterdam is my favorite city out of all we traveled! Safe travels.

How strenuous was the bike tour and how long is it? Can a novice biker rider do the tour?

How strenuous was the bike tour and how long is it? Can a novice biker rider do the tour?

I personally think OP was awfully brave doing a bike tour in Amsterdam -- those bikes scared me! There is so much traffic (vehicular, bikes and pedestrians) on very narrow streets and sidewalks that getting from point A to point B can be mighty challenging.

If you should also be taking a cruise on Uniworld they offer bike excursions. My DB and SIL did two bike tours (one 20 miles the other about 15 if I remember correctly) on a Uniworld Budapest to Amsterdam cruise this summer. The cruise director announced that they were not for folks "who haven't biked in 10 years' probably because they expect everyone to keep up. The groups were small (6 - 8 or so) but that could also have been due to the extreme heat (95 degrees). DB and SIL are both experienced bikers (my DB especially does at least 10 - 15 miles a day) and had no problems. The bike tours are provided by a vendor who also provides the bikes. Uniworld also has touring bikes on each ship that you can take out on your own (and go at your own pace) when you are in port. DB and SIL enjoyed doing that a couple of times.

Friday October 9, 2015 Amsterdam Pre-Cruise (Evening)

This evening we had an evening tour of the Red Light district. Our tour guide was Kimberly, the guide recommended by Rick Steves.

The tour started at 8pm. We walked the 10 minute walk from the W hotel to the revolving door of the Victoria Hotel across from Central Station. Along the way we got a snack. At the suggestion of our friend Ralph who grew up in Amsterdam, we stopped in a Febo. Febo is a chain of fast food places where they display food in columns of glass windows. You put in the listed price, open the door, and take out your food.

We got this fried dumpling called Bami for 1.6e. It's fried noodles, chicken and vegetables -- kind of like chicken soup in a fried ball. Delicious. Febo is good for a quick snack. Here in Amsterdam they have McDonalds and KFCs all over the place. Febo is just as tasty, probably no unhealtier, and you get some of the local flair.

The red light district was actually like Febo but with people instead of food. Girls stood in windows (of every variety and category; they were even color coded, red for girl girls, blue for boy girls). The guy knocks, she opens the door, they negotiate a price, he enters and and she closes the curtain.

The area is packed with tourists. It's awkward and embarrrassing but you can't take your eyes away as the deal goes down. Then the curtain opens and the guy hurries out. Our guide said it's 50e for 15 minutes. But the stats say (apparently someone keeps stats) it only takes 7 minutes. The guide said the locals say "it takes that long?"

After the tour our guide bought the group a drink. I regret I don't remember the name of the place, but it was a beer and whiskey bar. I was impressed with the lineup of bourbons. I always have a hard time finding bourbons in Europe. When I mentioned that, the bartender shrugged and said "We're a whiskey place."

How strenuous was the bike tour and how long is it? Can a novice biker rider do the tour?

Not strenuous at all. It seems Amsterdam is mostly flat. Mostly had to watch out for people and other bikes, but not difficult at all.

Enjoying your preview:D....I should have looked more closely in your

first post about the date....you sail tomorrow:D

Not sure if you are old enough to remember this but the pictures

of the food looks like a modern version of something in NYC many,

many years ago called an "Automat":D.....put money in a slot and take

food out.....this food looks much tastier though;)

Thank you for the beautiful pictures and interesting commentary! I look forward to your cruise review as we had a hard time choosing whether to do Bordeaux or Provence and we decided to do Provence. It will be nice to see what Bordeaux has to offer. Maybe we will do it next time! Bon voyage!

Excellent posts and photos.

Keith

Enjoying your preview:D....I should have looked more closely in your

first post about the date....you sail tomorrow:D

 

Not sure if you are old enough to remember this but the pictures

of the food looks like a modern version of something in NYC many,

many years ago called an "Automat":D.....put money in a slot and take

food out.....this food looks much tastier though;)

That's just what I was thinking. I am a native New Yorker and loved the automat when I was a kid. It was my personal Pie machine. [emoji1]

Denise

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

More on Thursday Night & the W Amsterdam Hotel

(reposting with corrected pictures)

After getting back to the W after the red light district tour we were confronted with a huge line of people trying to get into the W. Today was literally the opening day of this hotel and its 6th floor bar/nightclub was the place to be in Amsterdam. Since we were guests, the staff immediately let us get into the hotel (of course). Rather than going to our room on the 2nd floor, we decided to check out the nightclub on the 6th.

Wrong move. The place was packed with 20 and 30 somethings dressed to impressed. Normally DW and I would get a drink and people watch for a while, but with the jet lag we didn’t have the energy to fight for a place to sit (although the W staff offered to find us a place to sit; I’ll have to say, it seemed everyone at the W recognized us and were incredibly friendly and helpful).

So, we ended up going to the room and ordering a pizza from room service. The pizza was pretty delicious.

We enjoyed staying at the W. Again, the staff was very friendly and attentive. Here are some pictures of the 6th lobby/bar/restaurant area:

Here’s the pool (it’s not heated yet, but they say it will be soon; it overlooks the palace):

Breakfast at the W is great. Kind of pricey at 35e, but as Starwood platinum members we got it for free. You order an entrée and top it off from a buffet. Both days I got steak and eggs. Steak is really good here because the restaurant, Mr. Porters, is a steak place with dry aged steaks hanging in the big glass refrigerator. Here’s my steak and eggs, DW’s dippy eggs over focaccia, and pictures of the buffet.

Here are pictures of the W breakfast buffet (this site limits the # of pictures in any post so I had to split this up into 2 posts):

Friday October 9 - Viator Amsterdam tours & herring sandwich

On Friday we had 2 Viator tours, of the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. It was alot of art to see over 6 hours but we only had the day. We used Viator earlier this year for a tour of the Louvre and D'Orsay. We like them because their guides are fluent in english (often kids from the US; we've reached the age where almost everyone else is a "kid") and tell the story behind the art, not just the art, and also stories about the museum.

For example, one thing you notice quickly in Amsterdam are the bikes. The roads are full of bikes instead of cars (for us this was one of the great appeals of Amsterdam). Our guide told us bikers are a powerful lobby in Amsterdam. An example is this enclosed bike path connected to the Rijksmuseum. During a recent renovation, the museum wanted to relocate the bike path. The bikers said no and won. So the renovation took years longer as they had to completely redesign the space to keep the bike path at its current location.

We walked back to the W after the tour. Another good thing about the W hotel (along with the attentive and friendly staff, the breakfast, and the W vibe), it is centrally located so you can walk to almost everything. Along the way back to the hotel I had to try a herring sandwich (as recommended by Rick Steves). It was excellent, mild tasting and not at all fishy. The pickles are a must. The slight sweetness rounds out the flavor.

Finally, here is the road next to where we bought the herring sandwich. You see people and bikes but no cars. That's our big take away from Amsterdam. If we ever come back and stay for any length of time, the first thing we're going to do is rent bikes.

Next up is flying to Bordeaux and boarding the ship. As I write this we've already been on the boat for 3 nights. A big take away for us so far. With ocean liners, the ship is the destination. Yes you go places, but you can be happy with all the amenities on the ship. With a small ship like a river cruise, the destination is the destination. There's not alot to do on ship so you better like where you're going or you're going to be bored if you stay on the ship. The good thing is, we are much more active with this river cruise than on any of our big ship cruises, because there are 1 or 2 excursions every day. That's a big surprise for us.

We loved Amsterdam and look forward to going back!

I personally think OP was awfully brave doing a bike tour in Amsterdam -- those bikes scared me! There is so much traffic (vehicular, bikes and pedestrians) on very narrow streets and sidewalks that getting from point A to point B can be mighty challenging.

 

A few weeks back I did a Segway tour through Amsterdam. We used the bike lanes, sometimes the road. Pretty scary, but all in all a blast. Those things can go pretty fast! I don't recall a lot of what was being pointed out over the headset because you're so focused on not wrecking.

n2wdw, thanks for posting about your trip.

Not sure if you are old enough to remember this but the pictures

of the food looks like a modern version of something in NYC many,

many years ago called an "Automat":D.....put money in a slot and take

food out.....this food looks much tastier though;)

Actually now that you mention it I do remember those places. But I don't remember if I ever ate there. I guess a recent take on this are the wine bars where you get a squirt of wine by swiping your card.

A few weeks back I did a Segway tour through Amsterdam. We used the bike lanes, sometimes the road. Pretty scary, but all in all a blast. Those things can go pretty fast! I don't recall a lot of what was being pointed out over the headset because you're so focused on not wrecking.

 

n2wdw, thanks for posting about your trip.

We actually thought the pedestrians were more at risk than the bikers. Bikes seem to rule in Amsterdam which we think is one of its charms.

My only issue is with the mopeds/scooters in the bike lanes. The bikes certainly are one of the attractions of Amsterdam, I love seeing a parent w/ 3 kids on a bike. Scooters, not so nice.