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Amsterdam to Basel: Ira on the Rhine.


I_r_a
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Have a great trip Ira, we are on the Imagery II in May for the same trip...can't wait. Looking forward to your impressions of....well everything!

 

Enjoy, and hope you and Mrs. Ira stay nice & healthy this time.

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Oops! Didn't make myself clear in the above. I have posted an earlier reply on the Fodor site to say I'm doing the same itinerary on Avalon's Imagry II in reverse early next May (before I clicked on your link to here) Enjoy!

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Looking forward to hearing about your trip! We are planning to do a Rhine/Moselle tour next year.

 

Same here, Vantage in November.

 

Who are you sailing with?

 

Ira- Enjoy your trip. Are you in a suite? I really like how the rooms are arranged, with the bed facing the window.

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The Artistry II is currently moored in Gent. Presumably she will make her way to Amsterdam tonight or tomorrow to pick you up I_r_a. And many other happy holidaymakers as well. I hope you have a great time and meet interesting people.

 

notamermaid

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Hi All,

 

Wednesday, Oct 11; we are in Amsterdam.

 

It was a very uneventful journey from home (picked up by a local limo service) to ATL, where we breezed through Security, had a glass of wine and a cheese tray, watched the ground crew load the plane (Airbus 330) and finally boarded.

 

Having reached an age where discomfort is no longer an adventure, we flew Comfort (aka Sky Priority) - a definite improvement over Cattle Class.

 

The flight over was, most of the time nearly motionless and quiet except for the almost constant dinging of pax signaling the FAs, the woman in front of us who kept coughing; the man beside us who sang - quite audibly - to whatever songs were being pumped through the headphones he never took off, and the woman behind us who, after I did manage to doze off, awoke me with a monster sneeze that caused the airplane to shudder. (Isn't that a nice, long sentence?)

 

Almost no sleep for the whole flight for either of us.

 

We landed. We taxied toward the gate, and we taxied toward the gate, and we taxied toward the gate, and we finally got there, about 25 min after touchdown.

 

Quick trip through Immigration;

 

Long walk to baggage claim;

 

Quick pickup of luggage;

 

Short wait for a cab, and we are off - into heavy, slow traffic. An accident had closed 2 of the 5 lanes on the main artery.

 

This slow pace gave our driver the opportunity to get to know us better, except that he spoke English very rapidly with a Dutch accent that was flavored with an Arabic overlay, and about all we could say was "Would you please repeat that"?

 

We finally arrived at the Singel Hotel - almost. The City is in the midst of repair the walls of the canal, se we had to stop at number 87 and walk to no. 17 - over cobblestones, pulling our suitcases with the little wheels. (Did I mention that as part of our new geriatric style of travel we had brought, instead of our normal 2 small and one large suitcase, 2 large and one small suitcase a backpack and a tote bag.)

 

Arriving at the hotel - tired and out of sorts (fortunately no one asked us for any sorts) we discovered that the entrance is six steps below the street.

 

However, the lovely staff helped us with the baggage, fed us, did yoeman's work to get our room ready early and did all but tuck us in for a nap.

 

We were planning a jaunt to Hoorn. Cancelled

 

I've cancelled our reservations for dinner in favor of a quick bite at a place around the corner.

 

Weather is very overcast with light rain and wind.

 

I hope we will be in better condition tomorrow.

 

Ira

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Dh and I are not geriatric, and we still canceled our first night's plans in Amsterdam. It's hard to want to go out and be adventurous in the cold and rain! A good nap in the room and a filling dinner around the corner was perfect in the end. Have a great trip. We did our Rhine cruise last month and had a great time.

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My two cents about flying to Europe on an overnight flight. We flew to Amsterdam from Boston a few weeks ago for the beginning of our Rhine and Moselle river cruise. We are both healthy and are 70ish and neither one of us slept a wink. You forget all the walking between gates etc. It's truly exhausting. We have been to Amsterdam before so we decided to go directly to ship no precruise in Amsterdam.. On previous trips to Europe we tried not to nap and stay awake and retire early not this time! We just wanted to lay down and sleep ..Unfortunately rooms were not ready until midafteroon... We unpacked showered ate an early lunch and relaxed before dinner.. we retire early the first evening after dinner.. It never gets any easier first day is brutal😬😬

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Sat, Oct 14 Very early AM

 

We are now on the Rhine; pushing very hard uphill, even though on a map we are going South.

 

After sleeping most of Wednesday, we had dinner at a tapas place - Joselito's - where we had tuna/potato salad, fried sardines, meatball, omelet, white anchovies, octopus and a beer each.

It wasn't Barcelona, but it was pretty good.

 

Thursday we went walkabout for a while, bid farewell to the lovely folks at the Singel Hotel and picked up a cab at the taxi stand around the corner.

 

The instructions sent us by Avalon said that we had to be at the Moevenpick hotel before 15:00, and we arrived at about 14:15. After a short wait - all by ourselves in a very large lobby - we were escorted to a very large bus and - all by ourselves - taken to the Aristry II. We were the last people checked in. It seems that almost everyone else had gone directly to the boat from the airport.

 

The rest of the time was spent on boiler plate. Dinner at 19:15 and bed. (Still tired, but not jet lagged

 

Friday AM we went out for a ride around some of the canals - very nicely done - and back to the boat for lunch. Various sorts of salads, meats, pastas, fish, sweets, breads and 2 kinds of ice cream.

 

My Lady Wife and I agree that the food seems to be better and the wines are definitely better since our last trip (Spring 2017).

 

(A minor note: As we were walking down a corridor, we were hailed by a crew member who asked if we had not been on The Impression last year: Yes, we had.)

 

Friday afternoon was spent pleasantly relaxing before dinner.

 

We met a nice couple from Kent th whom we had dinner later. Very pleasant evening. Went upstairs to watch our entrance into the Rhine proper (the speed of the water changes), and were greeted by an unexpected volley of fireworks from the shore.

 

And so to bed.

 

This afternoon we arrive Cologne about 15:30 - but we stay late.

 

More to come.

 

Ira

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Enjoying your trip, it's a good review for our upcoming one next year. I really appreciate the times of the arrivals & tours. I know they will / could be different, but it gives us an ideal. Enjoy your trip, and as Travelchat says...waiting for more!

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Hi All,

 

Oct 16

 

It's a dark night on a river that knows how to keep its secrets....

 

It's about an hour before sunup as we make our way up the shrouded-in-mist Mosel (because we are still in Germany).

 

The passage to Koeln was perfect. Sunny blue skies, calm water, a mild breeze in our face carrying the smell of diesel fumes away from us.

 

Crowds of villagers seemed to greet us as we tied up to the dock just below the Cathedral. As it turned out, though, this was the first really nice weekend in some time and everyone was enjoying the fine weather.

 

At about 16:30, Avalon provided a "Gentle Walkers" guided visit to the Cathedral, as well as a 2.5 hr walkabout. Nothing special, but pleasant. Later that evening a woman remarked to me that the guide had seemed rather eager to leave us.

 

"She is still young", said I, "and it's Saturday night".

"Saturday night?", said she to her friends.

 

How quickly they forget.

 

We had dinner with some pleasant folks, listened to some after dinner music, and so to bed.

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Hi All,

 

Oct 16

 

It's a dark night on a river that knows how to keep its secrets....

 

It's about an hour before sunup as we make our way up the shrouded-in-mist Mosel (because we are still in Germany).

 

The passage to Koeln was perfect. Sunny blue skies, calm water, a mild breeze in our face carrying the smell of diesel fumes away from us.

 

Crowds of villagers seemed to greet us as we tied up to the dock just below the Cathedral. As it turned out, though, this was the first really nice weekend in some time and everyone was enjoying the fine weather.

 

At about 16:30, Avalon provided a "Gentle Walkers" guided visit to the Cathedral, as well as a 2.5 hr walkabout. Nothing special, but pleasant. Later that evening a woman remarked to me that the guide had seemed rather eager to leave us.

 

"She is still young", said I, "and it's Saturday night".

"Saturday night?", said she to her friends.

 

How quickly they forget.

 

We had dinner with some pleasant folks, listened to some after dinner music, and so to bed.

 

Ira, what floor are you on? We depart Brussels Thursday to sail to Amsterdam on the Impression. This will be our third Avalon cruise. We are always downstairs in "Aquarium class". Works for us.

 

Glad you are having nice weather. It will be cool with pm showers for us. Continue to enjoy!

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I_R_A - we just, literally, booked our 2018 cruise Basel to Amsterdam on Viking! So enjoying your travelogue - even though we'll be traveling the opposite direction. Talked our friends from Arizona into going with us (their first cruise...ever) and have referred them to follow you.

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DH and I have just (literally) booked Nov 2018 Basel to Amsterdam on Viking & we talked our friends from Arizona into joining us...they are cruising Newbies. Have been thoroughly enjoying your travelogue. Even though we are a year away from our trip, your messages are so delightful. By they way, we are wintering in Tampa Florida..as a California girl, it is dreadfully hot and muggy...what were we thinking?

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Sat, Oct 14 Very early AM

 

We are now on the Rhine; pushing very hard uphill, even though on a map we are going South.

 

Ira

 

Hi All, Oct 16

 

It's a dark night on a river that knows how to keep its secrets....

 

Crowds of villagers seemed to greet us as we tied up to the dock just below the Cathedral...

 

 

 

Ira -

 

Love your style of writing! Very entertaining, well done.

 

I'm following along, living vicariously through reviews such as yours, until my own Rhine adventure next October.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

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