Daisi

We could always bring our ice spikes, but not sure how much they would like us walking around in the lobby of the ship with them on. They make a mess on carpets. We have learned to buy cheap Dollar Store "welcome" mats as they have to be replaced every year.

That's one that we have on our list for when we hit the UK. So much to do, so little time. 🙂

@Canal archive, we've been on many steam trains, and the Rocky Mountaineer is on our bucket list for when we finish touring Europe. I've driven from one end of the country to the other (and a lot of the northern and eastern US), so wanting to see more of Europe. We've taken trains in the Netherlands, and Germany, and planning on when our overview of touring by river & bus is done to just plan longer holidays by train in Europe.

@jpalbny, yes, trains are so easy over in Europe. Mind you, we had a real learning curve, as we never used on here either. Avalon announced the other week that for UK travellers, they will book the train instead of flights if desired. I was with my TA when she got the announcement, and we were wondering how we could get them to do that for me...flight to the UK, then train to where ever we would be touring from. We usually fly KLM, and they bus us from the Ottawa train station to Mtl. for our flights. This year, since Air France is now flying from Ottawa, they aren't offering that service, so we are going by train to Mtl. It will be our "new" experience for this trip.

I actually wouldn't mind taking the train instead of sitting in an airport waiting for 3 hours for a connecting short flight. It would cut down on travel time, and also be more relaxing. I wonder if we can get the lines booking flights to work with this - combined flight & train tickets.

My main concern would be the icy cobblestones....and some of the steeper streets!

@Roz326are you on a Viking Ocean or River cruise? The river cruises are never far from shore, which is why they don't have Dr.'s onboard.

Avalon's Active & Discovery are very different, they do a lot of more strenuous activities, and are not the normal shore excursions. This one includes several different hikes & bike rides from the normal excursions. Avalon is going after the active passengers, they may not have much of a gym, but I know some that have been on runs through towns, hikes up mountains etc. @YoungDubFan, I went to another board to see if I could find anything for you, but I see you beat me to it. Good luck, the cruise sounds really great. I looked up some of the parks visited, and the scenery looks fantastic. I'm sure if you find the hikes may be to much, you could probably switch to the normal excursions. Talk to the CD on boarding if you decide to go and they should be able to help out.

@franski, I heard on another board that someone recently had pre-booked a tour and they were the only 2 on it. Avalon went ahead, just they had a car instead of a bus. 🙂

I would highly recommend the Colmar and Alsace trips. If you go to the same town we did in 2018 for the Alsace trip, it's a beautiful town like Colman. Of course, if you like biking, the tours in the countryside should be great as well. We didn't have the option for the Basel trip, so can't fill you in on that.

I always sign up as soon as I can, for 2 reasons. 1) I pay in Cdn. $$$, not Euro's as you do onboard, and the CC gets paid well before the trip, and 2) I want to be sure that I don't miss out on ones that I really wish to do. I believe you can sign up for most onboard, possibly not if you wish to do a bike tour (there are a few bikes onboard, but they will bring in extras to accommodate those who are touring.) or a really popular tour if bussing is limited. Yes, some of the tours do include a bus trip - Colmar (which is well worth it), Alsace wine region, and Heidelberg.

I never realised your Father's Day was ahead of ours as well. We celebrate in June, but this weekend is what is commonly called our May 2-4 (our cases of beer come in packs of 24, called a 2-4) to celebrate Victoria Day. @Canal archive (and any others from the UK), do you just get a bank holiday this weekend, as I don't think you celebrate Victoria's Birthday do you? Enjoy what you can of your weekend @notamermaid, we had a very cool week, but looks like it's going to warm up to 20 so should be nice.....now if only we can get rid of some pesky mosquitos!

If you ever get a chance and are back on this side of the pond, make sure you get tickets to the Musical Ride. We've seen it several times and still enjoy watching.

We were there 5 years ago May 10, and we found it quite hot for wandering around. They had an ice cream cart out that we may have visited a couple of times. 🙂 Weather this year has been cooler, which is good for the gardens as the flowers last longer, but varies yearly.

Sounds as if you are having a great time, enjoy your relaxation.

I know the feeling Jazz, we are ok, the creek is getting high, but it would have to rise 6' almost vertically to get anywhere close to our door. My sister lives along the river up near Ottawa, and is moving stuff to the parents garage (we offered, but they are a bit closer). Luckily we have a self draining basement, so that's one thing we don't have to worry about, but will have to arrange for someone to get to the parents if their sump pump goes. Good luck, it's supposed to ease up today I think.

A full day at Keukenhoff, I'd love that! We got there about 1:30, and had to leave again around 5:00. Could have spent a lot more time, however DH says if we are over again and it's on, we would go back, so guess that's a good thing. Really hope you have a good day for it. Love hearing how Avalon looks after it's guests.

HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, more commonly used when referring to houses. YMMV is Your Mileage May Vary, I guess they mean others may have a different experience?

Sounds as if you got lucky at the airport...first post on another group I belong to was a picture of masses of people lined up waiting to get through security at Schiphol....and then finally getting there only to find out that there were only 3 officers on duty. Mind you, it was the day after King's Day, so maybe there were a few calling in unable to cope? 🙂 Glad to hear you are having great weather, hope it lasts for you.

Have a great trip, we just got our seats booked for our cruise in Sept, so getting excited here. I hear the app is great, and when you get the whisper things for the tours, they also work as hot spots for internet and are great.

Yarmouth NS.... Canada. 🙂

Lol, after having to wait so long after being retired to claim "senior benefits", I'm grabbing all I can get! Unfortunately, I still have to wait several years to get the main ones, but if it means more money for travel, I'm all for it. 🙂

@CastleCritic Just checked the weather in Budapest for the 23rd to 29th, looks like great touring temps - ranging from daily highs of 20 - 16, but nightly lows will be a bit cooler down into the single digits. Not sure where you are coming from, but you may want to pack something to layer so you can start out for cooler mornings and take off for warmer lunchtimes! Have a great cruise, hope you come back and post a review, would be great to hear more on the eastern end of the Danube.

I would love this, fly to London or Paris, then train to where ever the cruise starts! We loved our days on the trains in Germany & the Netherlands, even sneaking in a train trip on our upcoming cruise in Sept (instead of taking a bus to and from the airport). Our transport system here isn't as good or as affordable as in Europe, but now we are seniors, at least we get a bit off. 🙂 Guess that's one benefit of getting older.

It's trying to snow here, not to successful but not nice after a weekend of 30C temps! Just a normal spring I guess. Thanks again for all your help.