Please help. 1st time cruiser

[Judy1985]

Hello

 

My husband and I are about to book a river cruise and it is the first time we have traveled outside of the United States and I was wondering if the pre cruise days would be a good choice. I am concerned about making the cruise port terminal on time, but also the cost of the pre cruise days. Please advise. Thank you so much for your help.

[acwmom]

Have you determined which cruise you will be going on? Which city you will be leaving from? We always like to get in a few days early and explore either the city of embarkation, or something nearby.

It also helps with the jet lag.

 

We just did Uniworld's Castles along the Rhine. We landed in Zurich, took the train to Lucerne for a couple of nights, then the train to Basel, to start our cruise.

 

You can always find out which hotel the cruise line uses, and make your own arrangements to stay there. There may be an option for a transfer to the ship.

 

 

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[Host Jazzbeau]

If you have decided on an itinerary, it would help us help you if you would share the starting and ending cities. If you haven't, please look at the Stickies at the top of the page that are designed to help new river cruisers.

 

But in general, yes: it is a good idea to fly into the departure city AT LEAST one day in advance [in case your luggage has an alternative vacation in mind :)] and better 2-3 days [to give your bodies a chance to catch up to your new location, and in case there is another airline IT meltdown etc.]. Especially because all river cruise embarkation cities are interesting places that will reward a few days' exploration.

[gnome12]

Unless you use the cruise line's extension, it is a good idea to spend at least one extra night in the embarkation city just to be comfortable. Getting to the ship is easy; they are at most a simple cab ride from your hotel, and some are even walking distance.

 

Cruise line extensions are really expensive, but if you are uncomfortable on your own in Europe it may be worth it for your first trip. That said, in Amsterdam everyone will speak English, and the ship is likely docked very close to the centre of town.

[JMorris271]

If you have the time to spend for a pre or a post cruise trip, set it up yourself or through the your agent. That is what we have always done and love it. The prefabricated cruise options are too restrictive and expensive. You have much more latitude as far as your flights go as well.

 

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[steverhodes]

Hello

 

My husband and I are about to book a river cruise and it is the first time we have traveled outside of the United States and I was wondering if the pre cruise days would be a good choice. I am concerned about making the cruise port terminal on time, but also the cost of the pre cruise days. Please advise. Thank you so much for your help.

 

The pre-extension is good way to get know first city better, get rid of jet lag and give you a buffer should you have plane delays going over. Advantage of using cruise company rather than doing it on your own is you can still get the transfers included from the airport, which would be recommendedsince this is your first trip out of the US.

[notamermaid]

As you are worried about making it to the cruise port terminal on time it sounds as though you might be happier with a pre-cruise stay. It reduces your anxiety, especially as it will be your first trip outside the US. I am sure it can really feel like an adventure dealing with slightly other cultures than your own and other languages.

 

I remember how nervous I got when my train had a delay and I thought I might miss my train connection to get to Passau embarkation port.

 

Some people DIY booking air and hotels but some prefer the more comfortable way of booking with the cruise company. Sometimes you get better deals DIY but especially booking your flight with the cruise company you might be happier with to ease your mind.

 

Perhaps ask your agent what they can do for you?

 

Perhaps you might like to give us your embarkation port, or have a look round the river cruise ports section where there are some recommendations for hotels.

 

notamermaid

[Roz]

I was very apprehensive on my first river cruise since I was traveling by myself to Europe. The travel agent I booked the cruise with did a wonderful job of putting together a great pre-cruise pkg. for me in Budapest that only cost a few hundred dollars. I was grateful for the extra time to explore the city, and adjust to the new time zone.

 

Have you talked this over with your TA?

 

Roz

[Judy1985]

Hello

 

The departure city is Basel to Amsterdam. I am concerned about the price and time when deciding if I should book pre cruise travel, but if it is easy to get from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to the cruise port then maybe one day is enough time? Judy

[gnome12]

It will be very easy to get from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the airport.

[Judy1985]

Thank you. The travel agent is recommending the pre cruise travel.

[SuiteTraveler]

Thank you. The travel agent is recommending the pre cruise travel.

 

The travel agent is recommending it because she gets extra commission on selling it. Basel is a lovely city and it is easy to get around. Fly in so that you arrive in Basel at least 24 hours before the start of your cruise and spend the night in a hotel. This way, if your flight is delayed, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I would say that Basel is interesting enough to spend several days there. Choose a hotel you will enjoy and then print out the name of the hotel and the address and keep this with you. When your flight lands, you can take a taxi from the airport to hotel and if the driver can't speak English, just show him the hotel name and address on your print out. For Amsterdam, I think a lot of people in Amsterdam speak English and I have not needed my print out there , but it is still good to have just in case. In Amsterdam, we like Hotel Okura - although there are many, many great hotels to stay in there and so many wonderful Michelin starred restaurant. I don't know if you like Japanese food, but in Hotel Okura, there is a great Japanese restaurant called Yamazato - you will need reservations if you want to go, but their Kaiseki menus are FANTASTIC and change seasonally! The food is so good, well, it's a good thing this restaurant is not in my town because I would be going there constantly and it's expensive. LOL! But yes, that restaurant is great! Of course, Amsterdam has many other types of great restaurants if this doesn't appeal to you. There is a 2 Michelin starred restaurant, also in Hotel Okura called Ciel Bleu - I haven't managed to go there yet, but I know it will be amazing:

https://www.okura.nl/en/culinary/yamazato/

http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/amsterdam/michelin-starred-restaurants-amsterdam.htm

[papa B me]

Your TA may very well have the motivation of being paid on the extension but that doesn't mean that it is always bad advice. I have done both cruise sponsored pre cruise stays as I am in 3 weeks in Milan Italy, and I have done my own either in the city of embarkation or a city within a days travel.

 

To be honest it depends on your personal budget and comfort/stress level for your first trip to Europe. Our first trip I went back and forth and finally decided on the cruise company precruise package. Was it more expensive then I could have done it myself? Certainly. But what I received for the extra money was the peace of mind of seeing the cruise rep with my name on a sign as I exited immirgration in Amsterdam then a private transfer to the hotel. There was a representative from the cruise line waiting for us at the hotel to give us an overview of what would be happening both pre cruise and during the cruise. She was there each day of the pre cruise to answer questions, resolve problems, coordinate luggage, recommend restaurants and provide several tours that we would not have known about on our own. Then the transfer to the ship was provided seamlessly.

 

However the part I like the best is our first evening there was a cocktail reception with everyone participating in the pre cruise. We met several couples and shared our dinners with them before going to the ship. By the time we arrived at the ship we had made several friends that enhanced the enjoyment of the cruise.

 

You will overwhelmingly be told on CC to save the money and do it yourself. And I don't disagree with that if that fits both your comfort level and budget. But don't hesitate to compare the two and if you decide as I did on our first trip that its worth a little extra for the peace of mind, don't let it bother you that others disagree. Either way you have a great experience coming.

 

Have a great trip and fun planning.

[Roz]

Agree with previous poster. My TA made a commission on my pre-cruise pkg., and rightfully so. She did a bang up job. Saved me a lot of time and money.

 

Roz

[Daisi]

I agree with Papa B.... although we are doing our pre-cruise stay on our own for our own reasons, I would consider the cruise line's option as well. When we started planning ours, we were looking to go to some places where my DH was from, but after doing a lot of research, and checking the area out on Google streets, he no longer wants to go... all the places he remembers are gone, so it just wouldn't be the same. I purposely chose a hotel on the "edge" of town to make driving in a foreign area easier, but now we will get the advantage of experiencing public transit, which will be an adventure in itself. The extra day is nice to get over any jet-lag you may experience, and if there is any luggage problems or flight delays, you have an extra day to deal with it. Also, if budget is a concern, the pre-stay from the cruise line will sometimes have things to do that you would have to try to arrange in advance, so more things that someone else looks after for you. You don't say when you are looking to cruise, so if you don't have a lot of time to check things out, the pre-arranged stay could be a lot easier as well... I've had a good year to plan, and am still looking into things to do!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did a post-cruise stay with the cruise line on our first river cruise, and I would do that one again because going from Basel to Lucerne to Zurich (with sightseeing along the way both times) was so much nicer with someone else handling the details. But for just Amsterdam -- the train to Centraal Station [for the Doubletree] or a cab direct to your hotel is so easy, the Euro is so convenient, and there is no language barrier -- we did that on our own and never felt the need for handholding.

[tulok]

We did Basel on our own. The SBB train station in Basel is steps away from hotels and trams. We stayed at Hotel Victoria, right outside the train station. The city trams main stop is in front of the hotel. You can catch trams going any directions and they are color coded. The hotel will give you a free trams card to hop on and off. We just hopped off when we saw a reason to stop. Or rode it around and on the way back hopped off to see sights we wanted to see.

We flew into Zurich and took the train that was inside the airport straight to Basel SBB. It was very easy and everything was in English.

I agree, decide what you are comfortable with, but I wanted you to know Basel is an easy city to visit.

We just caught a taxi waiting outside the train station to the Viking dock. It was about $15 USD

(Inside the train station upstairs was the best sandwich, I have ever had. A great sandwich shop with window tables that over looked the tracks)