Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

... And what about the Christmas market cruises?

notamermaid

By notamermaid,
in River Cruising

 Share

Recommended Posts

kimshoes

kimshoes

Posted
Posted

Yes, thank you “notamermaid” for helping me put things into perspective. We have made the decision to cancel our upcoming Danube cruise now that Austria is in lockdown and Bratislava has cancelled their markets. Our other two stops were in Bavaria which means no markets there either. We have such happy memories of three other Christmas market trips so we shall get out our mugs and have gluhwein and enjoy time with family here in Texas and plan our next trip. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zermatt

Zermatt

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, sjde said:

Zermatt- We didn’t get off an AMA ship. We cancelled a week ahead of time but some in our group decided to go and they start tomorrow. 

Sjde, 

Sorry I misunderstood originally.  I hope your group has a wonderful time but I'm curious if they took a modified itinerary.  We are still booked on Dec. 11th for the Iconic Christmas Market Cruise and it has been modified greatly.  We can change to other ships but they are not on the Danube.  We are awaiting the latest decision from AMA for our cruise to decide what to do.

 

Could you please update this blog when you receive information from your group?  Thanks in advance.

Maybe we will sail together next year for the Christmas cruise. 🙂

Have a wonderful holiday !  

Zermatt

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BQEC

BQEC

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Zermatt said:

Sjde, 

Sorry I misunderstood originally.  I hope your group has a wonderful time but I'm curious if they took a modified itinerary.  We are still booked on Dec. 11th for the Iconic Christmas Market Cruise and it has been modified greatly.  We can change to other ships but they are not on the Danube.  We are awaiting the latest decision from AMA for our cruise to decide what to do.

 

Could you please update this blog when you receive information from your group?  Thanks in advance.

Maybe we will sail together next year for the Christmas cruise. 🙂

Have a wonderful holiday !  

Zermatt

 

Zermatt. Interesting. Thanks for posting that your itinerary has been greatly modified. I am on Captivating Rhine 12/23 sailing and no word from AMA. But lots of recent changes AMS where we have a 2 day pre. Germany also up in the air. The air force is moving ICU patients from South to North due to lack of beds. Will update with any news from AMA. Best wishes. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

Posted
Posted

According to a post on FB AMA has notified all passengers with cruises starting until Dec 1st. They continue after this Thanksgiving weekend.

 

So far all Rhine river cruises are a go. The AmaMagna is having a longer stay in Passau and then run through Austria without stopping and adding two more stops in Hungary.

 

steamboats

Link to comment
Share on other sites
notamermaid Excellent Advice! Rare

notamermaid

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Speyer Christmas market is on, operating with 3G rules (English website is outdated):

https://www.speyer.de/de/veranstaltungen/weihnachtsmarkt/

 

News in the regional paper is that from 29 November (the new state wide regulations come into effect then) it will be 2G and the market closes at 6pm with immediate effect.

 

Neuwied (North of Koblenz) Christmas market is on, checked personally. Not romantic, stalls okay, nice crêpes. Some nice shop windows.

 

Still have not managed to see Koblenz.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sjde

sjde

Posted
Posted (edited)

Update on the AMAPrima Christmas market cruise leaving from Basel today. 


The flight was nowhere near full. ( New York to Munich)
 
They combined 3 cruises together, one is an Australian group from the Danube, but that group is going to get off in Strasbourg. I think they came from Vienna. 
Right now there are 68 passengers and 51 crew.

Makes me wonder if it was never near full or if many just cancelled in the last week or two. 
 
The only itinerary change so far was an excursion choice- Colmar now instead of Freiburg, I think.
They’ll know more tomorrow. 
Edited by sjde
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, sjde said:

Update on the AMAPrima Christmas market cruise leaving from Basel today. 


The flight was nowhere near full. ( New York to Munich)
 
They combined 3 cruises together, one is an Australian group from the Danube, but that group is going to get off in Strasbourg. I think they came from Vienna. 
Right now there are 68 passengers and 51 crew.

Makes me wonder if it was never near full or if many just cancelled in the last week or two. 
 
The only itinerary change so far was an excursion choice- Colmar now instead of Freiburg, I think.
They’ll know more tomorrow. 

We did a stop in Colmar on our Tauck CM cruise in 2014. One of my favorite stops. Patten’s army liberated the city during his March from Normandy to Germany. My Daddy was one of those soldiers. It was very emotional for me wondering if he walked the same streets I walked.  Hope you enjoy the lovely area…I did….

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jenA4tx

jenA4tx

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, sjde said:

Ours was not modified but our AMA ship is on the Rhine-it goes from Basel to Amsterdam. It’s a 10 nt cruise and I noticed next year it’ll be  a 7 nt cruise.

I will keep you updated.

Sjde,  

 

Thanks for posting. We are closely following your updates as we are sailing on the AmaMora, Basel to Amsterdam, Christmas Markets on the Rhine, leaving Dec 2.   We have decided to enjoy the cruise and embrace any changes that may arise.
 

In 2019 we were on the AmaViola’s Iconic Christmas Markets sailing the Danube.  It was a wonderful trip.   Hope you have a fabulous cruise. 
 

J

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

Tauck cancelled our Christmas Market cruise at the beginning of 2021 - otherwise we would have been on the Rhine now, sniffle. But we have postponed to the end of November 2022 - really hope that runs and all the markets are open!x

Wish they would cancel ours scheduled for December 13-20, Brussels to Amsterdam. I’m not going but holding out to cancel hoping they will make a decision this week. I really don’t see how it can go forward with all the restrictions and cancellations. Antwerp and Ghent are two stops that have already cancelled their markets, the Netherlands with 5 pm closures of everything…will not be the trip we envisioned.  This would have been my third CM with Tauck.  They are not the company of 4-5 years ago in customer service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
notamermaid Excellent Advice! Rare

notamermaid

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Four more Christmas markets close: Kaiserslautern, Landau, Neustadt, Neuwied. The new two 2G rules are too strict for the organizers, basically. The Association of the vendors wants to sue!

Them and us - the outdoor vendors loose out against the indoor supermarkets. It is scientifically speaking ridiculous to close outdoor venues and pack people into theatres -which by the way is per new rules limited to 50.

 

By the way, the cases of fully vaccinated people in hospitals in Germany is rising a lot. So much for "get vaccinated and all will be fine". :classic_sad:

 

The mood is not good!!

 

notamermaid

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
notamermaid Excellent Advice! Rare

notamermaid

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The Christmas market in Freiburg has closed. It has been turned into an arts and crafts market, this means no alcohol, no food, no attractions. It is a compromise, the vendors now stick to the same rules as ordinary shops. A good idea I find!

 

Strasbourg now has 3G and fines will be imposed. Vendors have to be vigilant as their huts will be closed if they do not make sure the customers leave the hut area before they take their masks off and start eating and drinking.

Info from SWR regional news.

 

Basel Christmas markets are on: https://www.basel.com/en/events/christmas/christmas-market

 

notamermaid

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Blue Eyes

Blue Eyes

Posted
Posted
On 12/1/2021 at 11:13 AM, worldtraveller99 said:

Have you spoken with them Blue Eyes? Did they say when they will make a decision? 

Pulled the plug today and cancelled our trip…all 6 of us.  According to Tauck rep they plan to go forward with all of the Yuletide Spirits trips. They did refund our money minus the trip insurance premiums. We can book a trip within 2022 and use that insurance credit.  Delta gave us a credit for our airfare with no penalty for canceling. We are all so sad as we planned this trip in January 2019.  We’ve done two previous CM tours and loved them both….

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...