bubbulz

Apparently it is the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa. Looks quite nice!

Anyone know which hotel Uniworld typically uses these days in Lisbon? I have a question in to my TA, but in the meantime, thought I would ask here. Thx.

On previous cruises, my husband and I always gave an extra Euro or two to local guides who we felt did a good job. But that’s just the way we are. On my recent Uniworld cruise, I noticed some people tipping the local guides but I’d estimate that an equal number did not. In Nuenan, we were told specifically that all of the guides in the Van Gogh museum and doing tours in the town were volunteers so we should consider a small tip for them since they volunteer their time. I always kept Euros on hand, and the staff on the ship were always happy to exchange bills for coins. (FWIW, I always gave extra tips to my waiter and anyone else I felt went ‘above and beyond.’)

I booked a 2 hour cruise with Pure Boats. I had booked it beforehand based on personal recommendations, and they did have very nice boats. The boats could be completely under cover in the case of rain, but also had sections that could be removed during nice weather. It was an impressive operation, and I would recommend them highly.

Photos from my Amsterdam food tour … We started with apple pie at a pub Bill Clinton once visited for several hours and went on from there to chocolate, Brazilian coffee, cheeses, and a stewed meat sandwich (it was described to us more eloquently and was absolutely delicious). We also had bitterballen with mustard and stroopwafels and fresh sausage from a local butcher. It’s all been wonderful but it’s definitely time to get back into my routine with the personal trainer and fresh veggies for lunch. (Oh, and apple pie isn’t just for dessert here.) The red tulips were vibrant even from the air when flying out. And that’s a wrap for this time… Looks like I may be doing the long postponed Douro cruise next.

I did ask about the flower auction and I was told that it is not the same since Covid. Since everything had been shut down, they pretty much moved to doing it all online and even now that everything is back open it’s not the same as it used to be.

We had enjoyed it at Tempo Doeloe the last time in Amsterdam but it looks like that restaurant may have closed.

Banks Mansion has a complimentary happy hour and breakfast that I neglected to take photos of so far. In any event, they had a great selection this morning of salmon, salads, cold cuts, breads, cheeses, coffees, eggs made to order, cereals, juices, and yogurts. Last night included wines, salamis, cheeses and breads/crackers. Needless to say, I am not starving now that I have left the ship.😉 I walked around Amsterdam and bought souvenirs at a couple of the rubber duck stores (who knew this was a thing?) and also went to the flower market to browse. All in all, a nice unstructured day.

I love getting my laundry done as a complimentary service as a repeat cruiser, but it is also bittersweet seeing it arrive as I know my cruise is coming to an end. Leaving the boat yesterday was organized and straightforward and I took a taxi to my hotel in Amsterdam after breakfast. I had a great lunch at the Dutch Restaurant and then I did a two hour canal tour. Dinner was at an Indonesian restaurant near my hotel (Indrapura) that I enjoyed so much I will go back for the rice table tonight.

We did this on the SS Maria Theresa and it was wonderful. I also spoke with several who did it on the River Queen recently and they said it was excellent. A lot of it is about the food, but quite honestly I think most of it is about seeing parts of the ship that guests normally do not get to visit. You have various courses throughout the ship, from the laundry and kitchen to the wheel house to the staff quarters and engine room, etc.

We would have lost over $8K in 2020 without the insurance to cover the flights so it was a good investment for us. Everyone has their own level of risk tolerance.

I had heard about it and definitely will look into it more since I’ve got a few more days.

Awww, thank you. Just my trusty little iPhone. I considered bringing my SLR but decided not to at the last moment.

And, of course, the highlight of the trip. The weather gods were with us and gave us temperatures of almost 60° and bright blue sunny skies. And lots of tulips. We went early in the morning and beat the crowds; there was quite a traffic jam to get in to Keukenhof Gardens as we were leaving. As we drove in, we were met by massive fields of tulips of all colors. I’m looking forward to flying over them in a few days since the airport is nearby.

There is a factor here that I do not think you are considering. What happens if you or your spouse become unable to travel? What is the value of any credit and airline might give to you? In the past when I have made claims against a trip insurance policy, I have just had to verify that I was not receiving any credit from the airline since you cannot claim both.

It was somewhat the same here in terms of the crew becoming the well oiled machine it would be by the end of the season, but the food and the crew’s attentiveness more than made up for any glitches.

I felt the same on the last one. On this one, it was obvious that there were a lot of new crewmembers, but the customer service level was up overall despite that and the food was over the top wonderful in general.

I am not a big one for taking photos of my food, but I have to say that every single dish of every meal on this cruise has been fantastic. I honestly was not that impressed with my last Uniworld cruise several years ago, which was my third one with the company, and I was concerned that perhaps things were going downhill. Everything on this cruise has been stellar.

Excited to see this since we sail tonight to Amsterdam and will visit Keukenhof Gardens tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed the rain stays away.

Today we sailed in the morning to Schoonhoven and arrived after an early lunch. I took advantage of the free morning to schedule a massage and facial and just take in the scenery as we passed by a number of windmills. For the afternoon we had the choice of a bus ride to the Kinderdijk windmills or doing a walking tour of Schoonhoven. I chose the latter and we visited the Dutch silver museum and a craft center. Although the day was bit overcast, it didn’t rain at all and temperatures stayed above 50°.

Van Gogh village day / Nuenen and Heusden

I’ve been a bit remiss with posting updates, but only because it has been very busy with full schedules. The weather turned pretty dreary again yesterday, but at least it was not pouring rain. In the morning we were bussed about an hour to Nuenen for a Van Gogh “village day“ with a country lunch at a mill. The brand new van Gogh village museum was not due to open quite yet, but they let us have a pre-opening tour that was very well done. Then in the afternoon we met the ship in Heusden. We went into several shops on a walking tour, and if the weather had been more cooperative, I would have wandered around for much longer. Now we are on our way to Schoonhoven and the Kinderdijk windmills. Skies are still overcast but dry. More photos to come but here’s one I just took out the window as we were cruising.

“If it’s Tuesday, this must be…” Oops, no it’s Wednesday and we are at Maastricht, our first stop in the Netherlands. We had a walking tour this morning or there was an option to visit the American cemetery. It is a charming little town with lots of shops and sidewalk cafés and it was nice that we could step right off the ship into the old town. The week is going quite quickly and tonight there is a 70s party after dinner. The weather has continued to cooperate, with highs in the low to mid 50s. Fingers crossed that this stays the course and we have tulips before we leave. (Or maybe I will just have to stay in Amsterdam until they bloom! 😉)

Visited Antwerp yesterday, our last stop in Belgium before entering the Netherlands. We once again had sunny but crisp weather and had a walking tour with tastings throughout the town. In the afternoon we had a chocolate making demo. As usual the food is over the top and I keep forgetting to take pics. 😉 In the late evening I enjoyed watching from the comfort of my cabin as we traversed the locks.

Yes! Very unique!!