Just saw this on a Belgium travel forum.

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Christmas market and NYE forwards in Antwerp cancelled.
The ice rink, the Ferris wheel and the Winterfoor just take place.

We canceled our land trip to Belgium yesterday and our friend in Belgium sent an email today Ghent canceled their Christmas Markets and she expects others to follow.

I think our land trip to Belgium for Christmas Markets is biting the dust!

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I forgot to mention the August trip is supposed to go through the Corinth Canal!

Ss

Our next cruise is Windstar from Bordeaux to Amsterdam in May followed by SeaDream Venice to Athens in August! Both have stops we have been before but not a problem I will get to see Mont-Saint-Michel!!! Still planning on visiting Belgium in December (a DIY trip)!

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Thank you Mercruiser!

Ss

Does Windstar dock anywhere near Central Station like most of the river cruises?

Thank you,

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We took the train from Munich to Nuremburg, then a taxi to the ship. Very easy I am not a fan of luggage on a bus!

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Roz,

My husband feels your confusion, last night we went to the websites for European travel!  When all was said and done I only need my vaccine card and to complete a Passenger Locator Form for Belgium online 48 hours before travel.  At this time I do not need a Covid Test (I am only flying through Amsterdam) but will need one to come back!  Richard is not traveling with me on this trip as he will likely not had the booster shot, I got mine almost 3 weeks ago.

Best of luck!!!

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Our trip to Bermuda this summer was a little stressful because you complete a form that has to be approved by Bermuda!  We had sent the negative test results and our vaccine info, we found out we were approved for entry 15 minutes before we made the trip to drop off our pets!  Part of this was we needed to take a 2+ hour bus ride to Boston where we stayed in an airpot hotel.  The flight was too early  for the first bus.  This weekend we work on my info to be sent for my Dec. Belgium trip.

🐾 crossed for you Roz!

I am flying into Brussels via Amsterdam in December so I get your problems Roz.  I am working on the details of of this trip the covid test is not a problem but I guess I have to complete health forms for both countries!

Deana

Before our Windstar cruise years ago we stayed a few nights at St. George Lycabettus and loved it! We were able to walk to the metro and the views of the Acropolis were stunning.  This is where we plan to stay at the end of our August cruise on SeaDream next year!

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We love Windstar and our Baltic cruise 2018 was on the Star Breeze before the change. It was a little dated but was one of my favorite ships! Our 5th cruise with them was cancelled due to Covid last December but we have the Bordeaux to Amsterdam booked next May. Great food and the service is wonderful!!!

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Are the Christmas markets going to happen in Belgium this year? The hopes for our December DIY trip starting in Amsterdam and flying out of Schiphol when we finish is not looking good! I was worried about this when I made hotel reservations I could cancel without penalty,  We were getting ready to make air reservations about the time Covid ticked up!

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It was a while ago and it must have been in the Netherlands and only happened once and was only like this while we got off. I am sure it was not Ghent (or near there) or Antwerp.  This was about 10 years ago now and I thought at the time this was a pain for me and I did not really have any mobility issues.  Out of a total of 8 river cruises this was the only time I have ever seen this. It seemed one of the ships did not want us walking the the main area!

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21 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Even if they don't actually move the docking location, ships can rearrange positions so that the earliest to depart is on the outside. You might depart a ship right next to the dock, and come back to find it in third position.

Or in fourth position! On one of my river cruises (Tulip and Windmills Uniworld) numerous times we rafted and we had to go up and down to get on and off the ship.  Also wet gangways get slick when damp!!!

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1 hour ago, KathyK13 said:

I'm hoping (although my hopes are diminishing) that within the next few months infections here decline and US travelers are able to gain entry with no restrictions other than proof of vaccination.  We are supposed to fly into Budapest 12/3, and spend a few days before our Vienna to Nuremberg cruise.  Right now Budapest has restrictions similar to Amsterdam's.  We have until October 22 to decide if we want to postpone until next year.

Budapest is lovely all decked out for Christmas!

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Our December trip is looking like it is not going to happen!  We were planning on flying into Amsterdam for a few days of seeing friends and visiting museums! Then off to Brugge by train...

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Schneeballen in Rothenburg!

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

A day trip to Rothenburg part 5

 

From the Klingentor we quite literally just wandered through the streets, taking in the different building styles, their ages and what might be available for indoors sightseeing. So much to choose from, also as regards price range in hotels and restaurants. For a small late lunch we in the end settled on a café in the market square. Yes, the coffee was a bit pricey, reflecting the nature of this being a tourist spot, but it was good, the service friendly and fast and everything we ate was tasty. This is the market square with the town hall:

 

Talking of food. There is a speciality sweet pastry which we did not try this time, but it looks like this (a bakery with an online shop!): https://www.original-rothenburger-schneeballen.de/

 

Not much time for shopping with so much to look at, but I did browse through an antiques shop and bought a little something. There are plenty of souvenir shops of course and my next visit will have to include a good look around the Christmas museum and the Christmas shop.

 

And now I proudly present my photo of one of the most photographed timber frame buildings in Europe (I reckon). Yes, I just had to because everybody takes one . Do not leave the town without. The Plönlein:

 

My tip: check out that Chocolaterie shop on the left, the shop window was adorned with stuff that I would have liked to buy and eat but there just was not enough time (and it was a bit too hot for chocolate to stay in good condition). By the way, the Lindt shop in Rothenburg has closed down.

 

Here is another one of the many half-timbered houses:

 

Particularly fascinating architecturally I find the bastion at one end of the town, an advancement in military strategy and extension to the older town wall defenses.

 

Then it was time to head back to the car, past the church and along the town wall again.

 

Notice something in the photos? Something that is not there, I mean. Crowds. Herds of tourists. For a place that is so popular it was quiet, really quiet. Yes, a few people overtook us with a smile and at a distance on the town wall walk. And I waited one minute for a couple of photographers to finish at the Plönlein. And a reasonably distanced group of canon admirers walked through the bastion. But that was it. No Asian group tours, no obvious river cruise tourists. Very pleasant. But in my heart I know it was wrong for it to be this way. This place would not be in such good shape if it was not for foreign tourists and I got the feeling they were glad to have people back to admire the town. The effort that has been put into the restoration and upkeep of the old buildings is enormous. The day we were there we saw a town full of friendly service, sunshine and no rush. I hope you find this too when you go. I highly recommend the place.

 

We will be back.

 

notamermaid

 

The second picture is the Romantik Hotel Markstrum where we spent two nights own our own before we took the train for a Christmas Market cruise starting in Nuremberg and ending in Vienna.

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Really good restaurant in Prague with Czech food. We had dinner there on a do it yourself land trip in December 2019.

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Svejk Restaurant U Karla

Very sad we are scheduled on SeaDream to cruse through the canal in August 2022.

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"We thought we were going to be on a fully vaccinated boat. That is not the case. On our bus trip to Venice we heard the couple in front of us say that they would probably be doing less traveling in the next few years because they didn’t want to get vaccinated. They did not wear masks on the bus even though you are supposed to wear masks indoors in Italy."

How did these people get into Europe?

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Raining again in NH! The daylillies like it!

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Thank you notamermaid for great pictures! We are just back from a trip to Bermuda, short trip for east coasters.