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You didn’t miss anything Jacqui. I do believe they refer to all cabins as suites but we booked a junior suite that is above the standard and balcony suites but below the royal and panorama suites. So we get a few more amenities than the two lower suites like the complementary pressing of two garments a day, the afternoon delivery of canapés and the wine pairing dinner with the captain. In suite dining is available to balcony suites too. Host Jazzbeau is correct, the photo doesn’t show the fourth leg. Those chairs are almost too comfortable, as is all the furniture in the lounge. There is also a variety of seating so you can find something to suit your taste: low and slouchy, swivel club chairs, and higher chairs that don’t make sore knees bend. they made me a separate dessert tonight- a chocolate hazelnut cake! Very impressed.

We made 3* Mariners until I fell ill. I usually tell people if they are comfortable in boutique, smaller hotels then they will probably enjoy a river cruise. I will try to be balanced in my posts but if you have any questions please ask. As for packing, keep in mind the weather where you are going and if windy pack for layers. That said, try not to overpack as the cabin comes with an umbrella, slippers, robe, hairdryer, laundry bag, walking sticks and shoe shine cloths. There is also an amenity kit in the bathroom. There are 2-3 dressier dinners depending upon which deck or cabin category you are in. They say a suit jacket for men (no tie required) and a dress or nicer outfit for ladies. Since I didn’t want to bring more than one pair of dinner shoes I brought blouses and pants. People are very casual during the day and some are casual at dinner. But I brought two pairs of comfortable walking shoes so I can alternate..

To compare embarkation is fruitless and unfair. It is an apples to oranges situation. They both float but one holds 1,200 - 2,000 passengers and the other 163. So no queues, no paper checking, no security screening. We got our ID cards at the concierge desk and were escorted to our cabin. We then had a drink in the lounge followed by lunch. Crew were standing in the lobby greeting every new passenger. It is so nice to be back aboard a floating vessel! I already attended a stroopwafel demonstration and had a meeting with the head chef, restaurant manager and the bar manager to review my dietary restriction.

The safe at the Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station was over my head!

We had to cross through the Scenic Jewel to get to the Jade. They are going Amsterdam to Basel. Unfortunately, all places seem to have done away with individual toiletries. We stayed at a Ritz Carleton recently and even they had the multi-use bottles. In 2019 we had individual soaps, shampoo, conditioner and body wash but they told us back then they would be getting rid of them for environmental reasons. Thank goodness the safe isn’t on the floor as I couldn’t use it then!

We walked from the hotel to the boat in about 10 minutes. Arrived just after 11:00. So much different than arriving on a big coach! I had forgotten how attentive the crew are; they nearly trip over themselves to serve no matter if that is in the lounge, restaurant, room attendant. I told DH he has to start referring to me as “my lady” 😂 We left our luggage and carryons with one of two Scenic reps in the hotel. We arrived before the luggage so we sat and had a drink then lunch. I just attended a Stroopwafle demonstration. I need to be in the dining room for 5:30 to discuss Mr dietary restrictions with the chef and the restaurant/bar manager.

I quilt and make bags, purses, totes, etc. Fabric is always my souvenir of choice.

Clarification: we just spoke to the Scenic rep downstairs in the lobby. There are two Scenic boats leaving Amsterdam today. We are requested to have our luggage downstairs by noon. There is a shuttle running to the boat beginning at 2:00. But the boat is moored very close by and she said we can walk over for 11:00 and enjoy lunch onboard. That sounds like a plan!

It’s embarkation day 👏👏. And it is sunny! I already scoped out the procedure and there is no comparison to our experience in Paris in 2019. Then there was zero information given to us and the hotel had none. As a result, people started filling every available space in the lobby with their luggage before 10:00 am for a 2:00 pick up. We only found out the timing by asking people who were already in the lobby. It was madness. Now a Scenic representative will be in the lobby tagging luggage to be transported to the boat. We then are free to do whatever we want until 2:00 when the transfer will pick us up from the lobby.

I like how you think!

Yes you are correct, the floating flower market is on the canal next to the tower. Our canal cruise captain told us to avoid that flower market though as you are as likely to get a bag of onions in place of bulbs! Not sure about that, but that’s what he said. I see the rail but honestly hadn’t noticed it as not all canals have it. I wonder why? There seems to be a lot of things going into the canals either intentionally or not 😂 he said few people drown nowadays but it does still happen. Most recently were 3 males in their late teens and very early 20s. Given those public urinals are all at corners of bridges right beside the canals I can see one reason 🤷🏻‍♀️

DH agrees! But if he wanted to go to menswear shop then…fair is fair!

Today was another great day. The brief rain held off until we were back in our hotel but it was windy and a high of 12 C. On recommendation from a fellow CC member I had booked a canal cruise via Captain Dave who now ownes the 1928 teakwood boat that used to belong to the Dutch royal family. Our captain, Jan, was full of interesting facts as he guided the electric boat through the canals. For instance, an average of 40 bikes/week are thrown into the canals by vandals; the homes have such big windows as there are no side windows; there are over 1600 bridges in the city and he doesn’t recommend visiting the Red Light district as it is now considered an embarrassment for the city as over 50% of the girls are from sex trafficking. The cruise lasted 90 minutes and we really enjoyed it. We then walked to a haberdashery so I could browse and then on to do a bit of shopping. A good day and we saw the Senic Jade as we returned to the hotel

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to know that other river boat companies provide the same experience.

I haven’t boarded yet so I am going on my memory of our 2019 Scenic cruise. I hope to be balanced but it won’t be until the end that I can truly summarize the main differences between an ocean going ship and a river boat. There are many differences and size and experience are two of the “biggest”. Our experience in 2019 had no issues with drinks running out or with lack of service so I can not comment specifically, other to say all drinks were free flowing and all but the very top shelf brands were included. If you are looking to be entertained in a different lounge or bar on a river cruise you will be disappointed. Space is the limiting factor. Dare I say the focus is more on the itinerary and where you are and the excursions you choose and not the ship itself. I interpreted the excursions as our entertainment and was quite tired after dinner so an hour or two talking with new acquaintances worked well. But that’s just me. As I said in my first reply, I am unfamiliar with your specific rating system. If there is something specific you would like to know about then please ask and once we board on Wednesday I can find out as much information as I can…hopefully report back in a balanced fashion.

Thank you for sharing your experience. My DH would have been left with similar ratings in 2019 regarding the drink situation if that was our experience. Thankfully the bar and wait staff issues must have been rectified by 2019 and staff in general were tripping over themselves to provide us with whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted it. I don’t recall them running out of anything. I agree, there is no comparison when it comes to entertainment. But I figured with less than 200 passengers, it is a completely different experience than an ocean cruise and entertainment is one of the largest and most obvious differences.

Our first full day in Amsterdam. Once again the weather was fantastic. We thought it was going to rain but it didn’t and it was way warmer than expected. We went down for breakfast and were surprised to find the best laid out buffet in our memories. It had something for every taste/culture from fruit and yogurt to sliced meats and cheese. From baked cod to eggs and bacon and waffles of course. I had booked a private WWII walking tour with a local. Turns out our guide, Ben, is a retired university history professor with experience in foreign affairs and espionage! He was amazing! Not your typical happy tourist tour but that isn’t what I was looking for. Since my 3 uncles served in Europe and 1 was in The Netherlands, I was very interested to fill in the gaps of family history. It was fascinating and I learned more than a few things. Enjoy some pictures.

We are in a city view room which, to us is worth it. The other side of the hallway has no view to speak of. Originally I booked us into a deluxe king (I think) without breakfast because my Scottish blood runs thick and the cost I felt was too high. We received an email on April 1, one week before arrival, with a number of upgrades available. They wouldn’t guarantee any until digital checkin but when I did that April 6 I saw that the room upgrade was granted and I could choose which king corner suite I wanted. I was informed at checkin that the breakfast was denied because the king corner suite comes with free breakfast. The hotel itself is good. Location for transportation is amazing. And you can walk everywhere if you don’t have mobility issues like me. Of course it is European so the bathroom could use a bit more space but for 3 nights it’s just fine. I am a Hilton Honours member but not high in points so I don’t know why received the email but it was a nice surprise as was breakfast this morning. It is extensive with variety of choice and quantity of items.

I did manage to capture one tulip farm while flying into the airport

Our walk on Sunday wasn’t far as we had to carry our essentials but sure was pretty. We weren’t really hungry but went upstairs to the bar area with a spectacular view. We could have been seated outside but it was windy and we were both just wanting our bed. I collapsed around 6:30 and our son phoned from a hospital in Maine 😳 at 10:30 local time. That woke me for just over an hour. today is a historical walking tour I booked privately.

Greetings from Amsterdam! We arrived just before noon on Sunday and were greeted by above average temperatures and sunshine! Not expected but very welcome. One of the big differences between booking a Scenic River cruise and a HAL cruise, is that if you opt to fly in early and stay in Scenic’s choice of hotel (even if you book it yourself and provide them with your confirmation number) all transfers are included. In this case it means staying at the Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station. By booking myself, I used my Hilton Honors cash & points and got a king room for 3 nights for half the cost of Scenic’s rate for 2 nights in a basic queen room. Then a week before arrival I requested an upgrade to a king corner room for €25/night which includes breakfast that would have cost €21/person per night. DH heard the concierge tell someone that the cost for a taxi to the airport would be €115. Instead of paying that twice, we were met in the airport and brought to the hotel and on Wednesday will be brought to the boat. The following Wednesday we will be returned to the airport to fly on to Austria. More photos are on my life thread on the River Cruising board.

Well here we are and the weather is amazing. I can only hope it holds. We flew premium economy on Air Canada from Toronto direct to Amsterdam and sailed through customs in less than 5 minutes. Luggage took about 20 minutes and we were out of the secure area and being met by a Scenic representative and driven to The Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station. We must have passed 50 river boats from all brands, even some I had never heard of before. Economy flights were included in our river cruise fare so we only paid the difference with Scenic’s purchasing power. We arrived just after noon but couldn’t check in yet. I chose to upgrade the room to a corner king for €25/night and saved €21 each on breakfast. I booked the hotel myself instead of going through Scenic as I am a Hilton Honours member and I could get 3 nights using cash and points for half of what they charged Scenic for 2 nights in the smallest queen room. I gave our TA the booking number so we still qualify for free transfers from airport to hotel, hotel to ship and ship to airport. So we went out for a little walk to enjoy Amsterdam on a sunny Sunday afternoon and now we are in an amazing room (if you don’t look at the carpet) with a spectacular view.

We were 50 minutes late plus some but we had real crockery!

Yeah, their on time record is the worst. But we have little other choice unless we go with a non Canadian carrier.

Update. The tumbler in the lock is broken so we have to destroy the lock to get it open. 😢 we have one more so that’s an issue for when we return. Right now it is getting into the suitcase.