bubbulz

On 4/8/2023 at 10:36 PM, Ritabob said:

If you have an extra morning i n Amsterdam you must go to the Aalsmeer flower auction. You will never see so many flowers and plant material in one place anywhere else in the world.

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. 

12 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

 

Oh, our restaurant was Desa, in the De Pijp neighborhood.

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.

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Good point.  Although my TA said that if I was eligible for a credit, the insurance would consider me whole.

 

Anyway, I'm not averse to the idea of partial self-insurance.  So far we have been able to use all the airline credits we have received.  We did have to cancel one trip for medical reasons, but that didn't stop us from ever traveling again.  So I can hope that the next one will be similar...

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. 

7 hours ago, Ritabob said:

If you have an extra morning i n Amsterdam you must go to the Aalsmeer flower auction. You will never see so many flowers and plant material in one place anywhere else in the world.

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

6 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Bubbulz wonderfully superb photography.

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. 

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Since US airlines have waived change fees, my TA advised not to insure the cost of the flights – because the insurance company won't pay me anyway if I get a credit from the airline.  And with hotels cancellable up to 48 hours, there's little risk that I would have to pay them.  So it really does come down basically to the cost of the cruise, with comprehensive dates.

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.

7 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

its a good thing if the impressions are this high early in the season.  Last year when I went for a May1 cruise in Europe (on AMAwaterways) it was clear  the crew was just getting into the groove of it/working together on that ship.  In fact the maitre'd for my cruise came onboard the same day we did due to, as he said "some dropsies in service" on recent cruises and the waiters were shuffled a few times over the week.

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.

53 minutes ago, Ritabob said:

It's god to know you think things have improved since your last cruise with Uniworld.  We felt the same way in 2019. Couldn't point to any one thing, but something was off.

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. 

10 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Love the pics! Did you go into the Atomium? Such a unique structure. 

Yes! Very unique!!

Boarded the boat yesterday and got all settled in. Food has been terrific so far and of course I am eating way too much! Today we had a Brussels city tour by bus, followed by a walking tour and yet another chocolate tasting. Then this afternoon we had a beer demonstration and tasting, and tonight is the welcome dinner. There will also be two other specialty dinners offered during the week that are an extra cost. I had done the progressive dinner on another ship and it was really well done but I don’t feel the need to do it again. 
 

The weather has turned sunny, and the skies are blue. ❤️

(not so sure about adding photos from the phone so we will see how this works…)

Despite a couple of drizzly days, I have really enjoyed my time in Brussels and will be boarding the ship today. I did a five-hour ‘beer and chocolate’ tour yesterday that was outstanding, even though I am not much into sweets or beer. We had a group of about 20 people and the tour was both informative and fun (and tasty!). 

Just wanted to circle back and thank you all for the encouragement and suggestions. The recommendation of Hotel Amigo was spot on. By booking with my AMEX platinum card I got early check in, which was greatly needed after the overnight flight, free breakfast each day, $100 food and beverage credit, a welcome box of chocolates, late check out, and a room upgrade. And the location is perfect!

7 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

Oh thanks so much bubbulz.. I'm so glad you are enjoying it!  You will see many or all of the same sights.  Enjoy every moment.. bon voyage!

Thank you so much! I am also doing a few days on land on each end.

I am thoroughly enjoying your report as I pack my bag to get ready to fly to Brussels for a Uniworld cruise to Amsterdam.