Share your most unique or enjoyable excursions

[papa B me]

We took our first river cruise last July on Uniworld down the Rhine and truly enjoyed the walking tours, cathedral tours, and castle tours. But we found we most enjoyed excursions that were truly unique. I thought it would be helpful for cruisers of all lines to share the most unique or enjoyable excursion they have taken. Please share the line and itinerary the excursion was on and whether the excursion was included or optional.

 

I'll start: On our cruise with Uniworld(Castles Along the Rhine) last summer the most unique and enjoyable initially sounded the worst and we almost didn't take it. It was a vinegar tasting tour. Uniworld took us by bus to a small vineyard that produces more varieties and flavors of vinegar then you can imagine. You put on Medieval hooded robes and go into a candle lit cavern where the barrels of vinegar are aged and begin to hear the history of vinegar and the vinegar making process. You then move into a candle lit tasting room with more history on the medicinal uses of vinegar and taste half a dozen or more different flavored vinegars in beautiul glassware along with bread and chocolates. It was a lot of fun and really hard to describe and nothing like taking a bottle of vinegar out of the cubbard and having a sip-lol.

 

We are taking the Uniworld Venice Lagoon tour next year and one of the most unique excursion is going to be St Marks Basilica in Venice afterhours for a lighting ceremony while the history is being shared.

 

Both of the excursion above are included.

 

There are so many varied river cruise lines and itineraries today(and more it seems every year) that I thought it would be interesting to hear about excursions that may be beyond the norm from the various lines as those of us that are addicted continue to plan further river cruise adventures

[Talisker92]

Prior to the trip, we received an e-mail from Vantage offering an optional tour of the asylum Van Gogh stayed at before going to Auvers sur Oise for the last days of his life, and the hilltop town of Les Baux. We had no interest in the asylum, but we looked up the town on the internet. We had our fill of hilltop towns on our Portrait of Italy tour a few years ago, so we passed.

It turned out the town was having an exhibition on Van Gogh and Gauguin paintings called Carrieres de Lumieres (Careers of Enlightenment) inside an old quarry

Each year the Carrières invites visitors on an extraordinary audio visual journey made possible by cutting-edge technological equipment and methods developed by Culturespaces and its multimedia partners: 70 video projectors, 3D audio adapted to the specific characteristics of the site, etc. More surfaces used in the show to give it more breadth and extend this artistic journey.

. That really interested us, especially since we would be going to Tahiti, where Gauguin painted, for our anniversary. Also, we had just finished reading a book called “The Last Van Gogh” about the last months of his life. I got on the internet and found a taxi service that would take us there.

 

We were totally immersed in the images projected onto all the surfaces of the rock. They are now using twice the number of video projectors in order to cover twice the wall area. The ground is completely covered, too, and becomes a vast carpet of images.

The accompanying music matched the mood of the paintings. I recognized some pieces by Grieg and Rachmaninoff, among others.

The Gauguin paintings were also spectacular in their projections.

 

The exhibit lasted 35 minutes, and we sat and watched it 3 times! It was absolutely fantastic, and sure beat scrambling over cobblestones in a hilltop town. The taxi showed up at the appointed time and took us back to the ship.

 

[papa B me]

Sounds like a great experience. Thanks for sharing!

[Hydrokitty]

It's a dead heat tie....Vantage land and cruises (2) to Egypt and Jordan. In Egypt the sunrise balloon ride over the Nile and Jordan riding a camel through Petra. Just writing this has caused me to wander off again. :)

Edited July 16, 2015 by Hydrokitty

[Host Jazzbeau]

It turned out the town was having an exhibition on Van Gogh and Gauguin paintings called Carrieres de Lumieres (Careers of Enlightenment) inside an old quarry. Each year the Carrières invites visitors on an extraordinary audio visual journey made possible by cutting-edge technological equipment and methods developed by Culturespaces and its multimedia partners: 70 video projectors, 3D audio adapted to the specific characteristics of the site, etc. More surfaces used in the show to give it more breadth and extend this artistic journey. That really interested us, especially since we would be going to Tahiti, where Gauguin painted, for our anniversary. Also, we had just finished reading a book called “The Last Van Gogh” about the last months of his life. I got on the internet and found a taxi service that would take us there. We were totally immersed in the images projected onto all the surfaces of the rock. They are now using twice the number of video projectors in order to cover twice the wall area. The ground is completely covered, too, and becomes a vast carpet of images. The accompanying music matched the mood of the paintings. I recognized some pieces by Grieg and Rachmaninoff, among others. The Gauguin paintings were also spectacular in their projections. The exhibit lasted 35 minutes, and we sat and watched it 3 times! It was absolutely fantastic, and sure beat scrambling over cobblestones in a hilltop town. The taxi showed up at the appointed time and took us back to the ship.

 

We'll be doing this as an included excursion on our AMA Provence and Spain cruise in September. Thanks for the detailed description! This has really whetted my appetite for the tour.

[Di Princess]

HI, PAPA,

 

What a great thread! Not on a river cruise but on-my-own in Oz, after a NZ-OZ cruise.

 

It was the Great Barrier Reef. I took a Balloon ride and was picked up at 4 AM in a mini-van with about 10 other pax. It was wonderful, floating over the pineapple fields. I only spoke to the Tour Guide because all the others were Japanese and spoke no English. However, we did smile and bow. ;)

[papa B me]

Thanks to those who have shared so far. I should have said in my original post to please share any diy excusions as well. We did the Anne Frank museum on our own while in Amsterdam pre cruise and it was an incredibly moving experience. We made reservations months in advance and scheduled one of the English presentations before touring the house which really added to the experience

 

We also spent time post cruise in Switzerland and went to Trummelbach

Falls in Lauterbrunnen which is a glacier water fall inside a mountain and it was spectacular.

[caviargal]

Great thread and so many wonderful experiences that come to mind.

 

- Christmas Day on the Zugspitze, with clear blue skies and gorgeous views! We took the train from Munich and made our way to the top via a cog train, a couple of chair lifts and some walking. A day I will never forget.

 

- Sailing on a ferry packed with locals on our way back from St. Wolfgang to visit the Christmas markets. The entire day was fabulous and a gentleman there with his family asked how we ended up there as they do not see many Americans.

 

- A life changing visit to Dachau, where I have been twice, 38 years apart.

 

In terms of river cruise excursions, we were delighted with our visit to a truffle farm last year to watch a dog in action. We also enjoyed our hike up the vineyard last week in Tain Hermitage, with a reward of wine and goat cheese at the end. There were only 9 of us and it was a very nice experience.

[Ozjohnno]

I had to give this a lot of thought as, like many others, I've had many great experiences on my travels overseas. After much thinking I decided that of all the excursions my favourite would have to be the time we spent at a farm/ranch in the Camague in Southern France as a part of our river cruise on the Rhone. Tauck have this arrangement with the family who train young men and young bulls in the art of bull fighting french style. We had a tremendous time watching a "training session" where it all ends when an old bull with a bell around his neck comes into the arena and escorts the young bull out. We had one of the finest lunches I can remember as a part of a "group excursion" and our time there was something I'll never forget. I regularly go back and look at the photos of that day.

 

Thanks to the OP for giving us all a chance to re-live our favourite memories.

[roaming_kiwi58]

Our most memorable experience on a river cruise would be the after hours visit to St Mark's Basilica while on the Uniworld Venice trip last year. An amazing place, and this visit was so much better than our previous time there, when we had to battle with the crowds of tourists. The guide, Susan, was also brilliant.

 

Many other great experiences during many years of travels would include:

 

A South American land tour which only came off after years of trying to persuade my husband to go! The trip far exceeded expectations in many respects. Iguacu/Iguazu Falls was maybe the biggest WOW factor we have ever had. Cuzco on Christmas Day was also pretty amazing, with everything lit up in the main square. We had been to Machu Picchu on 24 December, stayed overnight in Aguas Calientes and taken the train out on Christmas morning.

 

Even though our visit there was decades ago, on one of our early trips to Europe, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria still comes to mind.

 

In Egypt seeing Abu Simbel close up, then the view from our cruise boat on Lake Nasser. Luxor was a pretty amazing sight too. On the same trip, Petra in Jordan.

 

Jokulsarlon in Iceland, where we went on boats across a lagoon full of icebergs, to get a closer look at a glacier.

 

Going up to Jungfraujoch in Switzerland via the train through the mountain.

 

We love history and architecture, so many cities of Europe have appeal for us - Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Dubrovnik, Venice. Hard to pick a favourite.

 

Oh, we count ourselves lucky to have experienced so many of these places!

[Talisker92]

Since it was Christmas Eve, a group of us from the boat went to Christmas Eve Mass at St. Stephen’s cathedral. We were lucky enough to get seats as it became quite crowded. It was quite dim in the cathedral, but just before the Mass began, the lights came on! It was spectacular, with a huge ornate cupola!

 

The service was quite interesting, as it was in Hungarian, but Kathy could follow parts by the rhythm of the service.

We passed a beautiful side altar on the way out,and as we left the cathedral it was snowing! This was Kathy’s first White Christmas! We passed a car whose trunk was snow covered, so I wrote our names in the snow. I did not think about it at the time, but I can imagine the owner of the car seeing that!

[cormike1]

I have always been thrilled to see a street/building, etc. in a city we are visiting that I recognize from books that I have read. "The Diary of Anne Frank" was a book we had to read in school and I was very move by it. It was at the top of my wish list when we went to Amsterdam. I let the others go ahead as I couldn't hurry through. I remember thinking where is the tree Anne looked through the window at as I missed it. I went back a bit and found that you could not go up there but there were mirrors that were set up so you could see the tree through the window. I was so moved thinking that Anne was there at one time and that was where she wrote in her diary. I can't explain how moved I was to be standing in her home!

[CPT Trips]

Two DIY experiences in "smaller" museums.

 

Antwerp's Red Star Line Museum, tracing emmigration to the U.S. Excellent multimedia displays. Timed entry, tickets available on-line.

Remagen's Bridge Museum, about the crossing and also POW camp established there. Pretty basic, low tech. Verify opening hours in advance.

You can find them easily by doing a web search. If you visit keep an open mind and be prepared to have what you thought you know challenged.

ETA: The Roman Ship Museum in Mainz - http://web.rgzm.de/en/museums/museum-of-ancient-seafaring-mainz.html

Edited July 17, 2015 by CPT Trips

[travelfirst]

I have always been thrilled to see a street/building, etc. in a city we are visiting that I recognize from books that I have read. "The Diary of Anne Frank" was a book we had to read in school and I was very move by it. It was at the top of my wish list when we went to Amsterdam. I let the others go ahead as I couldn't hurry through. I remember thinking where is the tree Anne looked through the window at as I missed it. I went back a bit and found that you could not go up there but there were mirrors that were set up so you could see the tree through the window. I was so moved thinking that Anne was there at one time and that was where she wrote in her diary. I can't explain how moved I was to be standing in her home!

 

I read the book also and went to see where she had lived when I was there. It was nice to see the rooms, etc that she had written about.

[4774Papa]

We loved the home hosted meal in Kiev on our Vantage Russian river cruise with pre-cruise tour to Kiev.

We learned all about how the KGB functioned in the Soviet Union and how Chernobyl went down in Ukraine.

[banditoo]

Our best port excursion was in Saigon (HCMC) where we were lucky to have an overnight stop at Phu My port outside Saigon on an ocean cruise. The excursion was so fantastic that we are going back to Vietnam next year and doing a Mekong River cruise and land trip of Vietnam and Cambodia. Our excursion in Saigon was a small group tour that I organized after research on cruise critic and trip Advisor. The first day we did a Saigon City Tour with Vietnam Vespa Adventures on the back of motorbikes. What an amazing way to explore the city..we saw all the highlights, local markets, temples, pagodas and were able to get into little back streets that larger tour groups or buses would miss. The drivers and guides were excellent...very informative and lovely young people. The second day we did a tour on the back of the motorbikes again but this time out into the Mekong Delta countryside. Had another amazing day. Our group of 12 from the ship was put together in advance from our cruise critic roll call and ranged in age from 15 to 72 years old....mostly Australian...we Canadians were unique! Everyone, even the most apprehensive (funnily enough the men of the group :eek:), agreed that this was the best excursion experience they had ever had. We loved it so much that I am already planning some different tours again by motorbike when we return next year. :D

[Hydrokitty]

Since it was Christmas Eve, a group of us from the boat went to Christmas Eve Mass at St. Stephen’s cathedral. We were lucky enough to get seats as it became quite crowded. It was quite dim in the cathedral, but just before the Mass began, the lights came on! It was spectacular, with a huge ornate cupola!

 

The service was quite interesting, as it was in Hungarian, but Kathy could follow parts by the rhythm of the service.

We passed a beautiful side altar on the way out,and as we left the cathedral it was snowing! This was Kathy’s first White Christmas! We passed a car whose trunk was snow covered, so I wrote our names in the snow. I did not think about it at the time, but I can imagine the owner of the car seeing that!

 

Wonderful romantic story!!!! Love it.

[papa B me]

I should have never started this thread. It's causing me to add some additional trips to my growing list and rethink the order of some that I have planned. It may also force me to retire early to get to all the places I want to go. Come to think of it though I better keep working so I can afford to keep going around the world.

 

Keep the stories coming. This has been fun.

[Hydrokitty]

I should have never started this thread. It's causing me to add some additional trips to my growing list and rethink the order of some that I have planned. It may also force me to retire early to get to all the places I want to go. Come to think of it though I better keep working so I can afford to keep going around the world.

 

Keep the stories coming. This has been fun.

 

No no Papa.....this was a GOOD thing!! :D It's gotten all of us thinking about trips we've taken and things we've done and seen and that leads to reliving them....Thanks a bunch!!!! :D

 

As for your predicament about early retirement....many of us have been on that trip....all I can advise is take the most strenuous trips first....the ones where you need legs to see everything like....Egypt, Africa, China, Greece, Russia...as my DH pointed out: we can see the Louvre in wheel chairs but you have to climb that hill to see the Parthenon!!