Viking Mimir Grand European Tour 7-1-22; "Live"

[StartrainDD]

It doesn't seem like there are many "Live" threads on this board, but I will attempt to do one on our upcoming Grand European Tour.  it has been challenging to get a lot of information since we've booked.  As an example I bought the Rick Steve's Germany tour book and several of our 'ports' Rick has nothing to say about.  I understand docking times can vary based on lock passage and such, but we don't even have a tentative schedule to work with.  As a planner, that is a bit challenging.

 

In any case, I will attempt to post reports when I am able.  Here is our "Getting ready" posting.  I will breathe a big sigh of relief if our first flight takes off on schedule on Thursday!

 

"Pre-travel:

 

We booked this river cruise very 'last minute.' We were on our last day of a Celebrity cruise on June 11 when an e-mail popped in from Viking with a “Flash sale.” Concurrently, the US finally dropped their covid test requirement to fly back into the USA, which allowed us to consider a European trip this summer.

 

Once we were back on land we contacted Viking and our T/A, and completed the booking. Being booked only 17 days before embarkation, there were no options to do a pre or post cruise stay, and no option for air deviations. We are at Viking's mercy.

 

Within a day we received notice that our air had been booked. On the positive side, we are flying from our preferred smaller airport, Palm Beach International. Parking there is very reasonable and it is the closest airport to our house. The flight to Amsterdam is almost something I may have chosen myself, in more 'normal' times. With the current challenges for air travel, I would like more time between flights in Philadelphia (oddly enough, our prior home airport). For the week+ before our June 30 flight I've been checking our PBI-PHL flight, and one time it was delayed to the point we would have missed our Amsterdam flight. Checking American Airline's website, should we miss that flight, there is no other direct flight to Amsterdam, and any potential connection would get us in very late in the day at best.

 

The booked return flight from Budapest is not something I would have chosen, but we will live with it and roll with the punches should any delays occur. I'm sure we will be leaving the Mimir at 3:00 AM to make out 7-ish flight. I was able to update our seat assignments twice so that we do at this time have isle seats assigned on all five flights. American would not let me pay to move to Economy Plus. If they still have any such isle seats at check-in perhaps that will be an option?

 

So for now there is little we can do except continue to monitor flights and keep our fingers crossed that all goes well. We put out most of our clothes on our guest bed today to get a head start on the packing. The next three days are very busy and we do have appointments for Wednesday mid-day for covid tests, even though Viking does not require them any longer."

[sfocruiser]

Thanks for the post, wlll look forward to the updates!   We booked this cruise during the same flash sale (B to A) but we dont cruise until the Christmas Markets.

 

hope you don’t  mind a few questions along the way, which ship are you on?
 

about your ability to upgrade to PE, has your reservation been ticketed?  In our case for an earlier Viking cruise (on United) we could not upgrade until we had a ticket #

 

Again thanks!

[CarrieAP]

We too booked with flash sale after returning from a Celebrity cruise lol. We were on Apex TA to Amsterdam, returned last month. Have never been on a river cruise so will eagerly look forward to your posts. We did spend 5 nights in Amsterdam so not disappointed about arriving day of. Bit anxious but hoping to go with the flow and hope it all works out. Our cruise is 7/27 on the Embla, same direction Amsterdam to Budapest. 

[notamermaid]

Wow, great job by the Viking marketing people. I did not know they did flash sales. It appears the strategy works .

 

10 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

As a planner, that is a bit challenging.

Have you been on a river cruise before? It is quite different from ocean cruising. If you have any time left over I recommend the stickies at the top of this page. Have you had a look at videos of the Grand European on Youtube? Some smaller ports Rick Steves does not cover in his books and videos I gather. They are all relatively touristy though and have English websites (most of them). Times in port are a bit "fluid" and can change at short notice. But as you say, you know that. Not sure why Viking is not a bit more forthcoming with port times. German companies have them online very often quite readily.

 

Thank you for planning to post throughout your adventure. Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[StartrainDD]

10 hours ago, sfocruiser said:

hope you don’t  mind a few questions along the way, which ship are you on?
 

about your ability to upgrade to PE, has your reservation been ticketed?  In our case for an earlier Viking cruise (on United) we could not upgrade until we had a ticket #

 

Again thanks!

We are on the Mimir.

Air reservation was ticketed immediately due to short time frame.  I've tried numerous times until at this point there are no isle seats showing available in PE.  We have isles now and on an eight hour flight I will likely need numerous trips to the lav so the isle is important.  We will check with the agents in PBI if anything opens up.

8 hours ago, CarrieAP said:

We too booked with flash sale after returning from a Celebrity cruise lol. We were on Apex TA to Amsterdam, returned last month. Have never been on a river cruise so will eagerly look forward to your posts. We did spend 5 nights in Amsterdam so not disappointed about arriving day of. Bit anxious but hoping to go with the flow and hope it all works out. Our cruise is 7/27 on the Embla, same direction Amsterdam to Budapest. 

We were on the Summit.  We cruised the Emerald Princess T/A in April and the stress involved in returning to the USA made us commit to "Never again" until the testing requirement was dropped by the USA.  We have been to Amsterdam before.  We would very much have liked a few extra days in Budapest though!

8 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Wow, great job by the Viking marketing people. I did not know they did flash sales. It appears the strategy works .

 

Have you been on a river cruise before? It is quite different from ocean cruising. If you have any time left over I recommend the stickies at the top of this page. Have you had a look at videos of the Grand European on Youtube? Some smaller ports Rick Steves does not cover in his books and videos I gather. They are all relatively touristy though and have English websites (most of them). Times in port are a bit "fluid" and can change at short notice. But as you say, you know that. Not sure why Viking is not a bit more forthcoming with port times. German companies have them online very often quite readily.

 

Thank you for planning to post throughout your adventure. Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

We sailed Viking's "Tulips & Windmills" about eight years ago.  That was very different from ocean cruising but it was a terrific way to see those sights.  Notamermaid, I've been following your "River level" posts and thank you for those.  Not really sure what everything means but overall I get the sense that water levels are mostly manageable (at least for now).

 

Thank you all!

[notamermaid]

4 minutes ago, StartrainDD said:

We sailed Viking's "Tulips & Windmills" about eight years ago. 

Oh nice, then you are well acquainted with rivers/canals and Viking . I have just seen this short youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ura3HuQwzEE

 

It made me jump and stop right there at 2:01. It is Mespelbrunn Castle! One of my dream destinations, meaning I have been dreaming to go to this moated castle for many years. Never worked out. It appears this is an excursion with Viking this year. Lovely!

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/video/destination-insights/schloss-mespelbrunn/play.html

The voiceover lady struggles just a tiny bit with the region name Spessart, but that is understandable. Nice video, now I want to visit it even more.

 

notamermaid

 

[StartrainDD]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Oh nice, then you are well acquainted with rivers/canals and Viking . I have just seen this short youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ura3HuQwzEE

 

It made me jump and stop right there at 2:01. It is Mespelbrunn Castle! One of my dream destinations, meaning I have been dreaming to go to this moated castle for many years. Never worked out. It appears this is an excursion with Viking this year. Lovely!

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/video/destination-insights/schloss-mespelbrunn/play.html

The voiceover lady struggles just a tiny bit with the region name Spessart, but that is understandable. Nice video, now I want to visit it even more.

 

notamermaid

 

I do not find an excursion to Mespelbrunn on "Myviking."  Of course, it may be 'sold out.'  If I see this on the ship I will let you know!  Very nice video and loved the story about the 'three strong boys.'

[sfocruiser]

3 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

We are on the Mimir.

 

 

You'd think I would have picked that up from the title!   To fast to reply I guess.    

 

About your seats two suggestions.   At least with Star Alliance during the check-in process there is another option to upgrade.  completely separate from the standard method.    

 

Also at the gate ask the Gate Agent about folks you have had their upgrades clear.  Passengers who have their upgrades clear typically have status on the airlines which means the seat they originally had was probably a good one  i.e. Exit Row etc.  And might be a good seat to switch to.    I am very tall so I am always scouring a way to more leg room

[rcaruso]

47 minutes ago, StartrainDD said:

I do not find an excursion to Mespelbrunn on "Myviking."  Of course, it may be 'sold out.'  If I see this on the ship I will let you know!  Very nice video and loved the story about the 'three strong boys.'

Other excursions should be an option when you get on the ship.  Also is need any info about any ports that Rick Steve's doesn't cover, just ask, I may be able to help and also Not a Mermaid.

 

Please keep us posted when on the Main River.  I would like to know if you stop in Karlstadt in the morning to drop off people going to Rothenburg.  If you do, a short stroll in Karlstadt (a walled town) is nice.

 

Have fun!

[notamermaid]

22 minutes ago, rcaruso said:

Please keep us posted when on the Main River.  I would like to know if you stop in Karlstadt in the morning to drop off people going to Rothenburg. 

Which prompted me to wonder where the elusive excursion to Mespelbrunn may be from. I reckon Wertheim. Rothenburg is usually from Ochsenfurt when coming from the Budapest direction, but coming from the Amsterdam direction Karlstadt makes more sense.

 

1 hour ago, StartrainDD said:

I do not find an excursion to Mespelbrunn on "Myviking."  Of course, it may be 'sold out.'  If I see this on the ship I will let you know! 

Thank you.

 

By the way, Rothenburg is one of the most touristy places you can think of, but so worth going to if you like old German stones .

 

@rcaruso Been to the Main recently but have still not made it to Karlstadt. But that topic will be for the "water cooler".

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by notamermaid

[StartrainDD]

Yesterday's flight from PBI-PHL was delayed by 30 minutes.  We would have still made the PHL-AMS flight but it would likely have already been mostly boarded by the time we would reach the gate.  This delay occurred despite the plane arriving early in PBI and no weather issues on either end.

 

Today's flight has been canceled.  Sure isn't helping my stress level!  Thursday's weather in PHL is showing as clear and sunny, and hotter than Florida.  On the other hand, we are supposed to have thunderstorms.

 

Checking seat maps it appears that every seat on both of our Thursday flights is now assigned, there are no open seats showing at all. 

 

This morning an e-mail came in from Viking with a "Travel emergency hotline" phone number.  I printed a copy and will take it with us.

 

 

[StartrainDD]

Yesterday I received an e-mail from American Airlines offering to change our flight, but the link would not work, and then it said to contact our travel advisor.  I spent an hour on the phone with Viking Air and at the end of that, nothing changed as they said American was offering them no options without huge added costs.

 

This morning we received texts and e-mails from American informing us that our PBI-PHL flight was canceled.  I immediately went on line to rebook.  They gave us 19 options for flights on Saturday, July 2.  Well, that doesn't work as we wouldn't arrive in Amsterdam until Sunday, July 3, and our cruise leaves on Friday, July 1!

 

I found ONE option for tomorrow, June 30.  So now we leave PBI at 7:30 in the morning to fly to Dallas, where we have a 45 minute connection (same terminal thank goodness) to a flight to PHL.  We will (assuming all goes well) now have a four hour layover at PHL, but I can deal with that.  As soon as these flights were confirmed I received an offer to volunteer to change our flights.  Of course, now we are in middle seats, and I even paid a small amount for DW's middle seat to be near the front as with a quick connection I did not want her to be in row 30!  My row 19 is far enough back.

[miltonplane88]

On 6/26/2022 at 9:23 PM, StartrainDD said:

It doesn't seem like there are many "Live" threads on this board, but I will attempt to do one on our upcoming Grand European Tour.  it has been challenging to get a lot of information since we've booked.  As an example I bought the Rick Steve's Germany tour book and several of our 'ports' Rick has nothing to say about.  I understand docking times can vary based on lock passage and such, but we don't even have a tentative schedule to work with.  As a planner, that is a bit challenging.

 

In any case, I will attempt to post reports when I am able.  Here is our "Getting ready" posting.  I will breathe a big sigh of relief if our first flight takes off on schedule on Thursday!

 

"Pre-travel:

 

We booked this river cruise very 'last minute.' We were on our last day of a Celebrity cruise on June 11 when an e-mail popped in from Viking with a “Flash sale.” Concurrently, the US finally dropped their covid test requirement to fly back into the USA, which allowed us to consider a European trip this summer.

 

Once we were back on land we contacted Viking and our T/A, and completed the booking. Being booked only 17 days before embarkation, there were no options to do a pre or post cruise stay, and no option for air deviations. We are at Viking's mercy.

 

Within a day we received notice that our air had been booked. On the positive side, we are flying from our preferred smaller airport, Palm Beach International. Parking there is very reasonable and it is the closest airport to our house. The flight to Amsterdam is almost something I may have chosen myself, in more 'normal' times. With the current challenges for air travel, I would like more time between flights in Philadelphia (oddly enough, our prior home airport). For the week+ before our June 30 flight I've been checking our PBI-PHL flight, and one time it was delayed to the point we would have missed our Amsterdam flight. Checking American Airline's website, should we miss that flight, there is no other direct flight to Amsterdam, and any potential connection would get us in very late in the day at best.

 

The booked return flight from Budapest is not something I would have chosen, but we will live with it and roll with the punches should any delays occur. I'm sure we will be leaving the Mimir at 3:00 AM to make out 7-ish flight. I was able to update our seat assignments twice so that we do at this time have isle seats assigned on all five flights. American would not let me pay to move to Economy Plus. If they still have any such isle seats at check-in perhaps that will be an option?

 

So for now there is little we can do except continue to monitor flights and keep our fingers crossed that all goes well. We put out most of our clothes on our guest bed today to get a head start on the packing. The next three days are very busy and we do have appointments for Wednesday mid-day for covid tests, even though Viking does not require them any longer."

Bon Voyage!!

[CastleCritic]

this airline saga is already sounding painful.

 

American Airlines is a good chunk of the reason why I still haven't managed to do Budapest->Bucharest (now booked for the 4th time next May on the AmaMagna).  AA...well British Airways canceled my flight from London to Bucharest and had no option the same day 'can we get you there the day after...uhh Im catching a cruise that day so no...." At least in my case they did it weeks ahead of time and I ended up doing the main instead.

 

But hey thats (maybe) better than one of my covid reschedules which changed a RDU->Heathrow->Budapest flight to JFK-London-Budapest.....New York is an 8 hour drive from here.....

[StartrainDD]

Covid test results received.  Negative as we expected. 
 

Packing essentially done. We will put everything in the car tonight. 4:45 AM departure tomorrow!

[loge23]

Awful about your air itinerary, DD. We live on the Treasure Coast as well and usually find it easier over all to fly out of MCO or MIA when we're going abroad. I realize that's not so easy either, but a car service to either airport is a bullet we're willing to bite to avoid an odyssey. Amsterdam, is tough from here anyway with no direct flights from FL as far as we know. I suppose direct MIA-CDG, or MCO-Gatwick and a hop to Amsterdam from there would be the most direct if you went that route.

Anyway, we're looking forward to hearing about your river cruise! Bon Voyage!

 

[StartrainDD]

We made it to Philadelphia!  Next stop, Amsterdam!

 

Thursday, June 30:

 

I ended up waking up five minutes before our 4:15 alarm. We left the house at 4:35 and arrived at PBI at 5:25 after a coffee/tea stop en route. We walked to the terminal from Economy parking and waited in line to talk to a rep from American and check our bags. She told us to stick with our confirmed flights as every flight had over twenty folks 'standing by.' Our bags were checked and we went through the 'no line' at the TSA pre-check side of security. A quick stop at Burger King for some breakfast and we boarded our flight to DFW.

 

I will say it was a beautiful day to fly. Very smooth skies both to DFW and then onward to PHL. Everything was on time in fact both flights arrived a little early. Once at PHL we had lunch in the food court. I enjoyed Chick-Fil-A and DW found a nice Cobb Salad at Smash Burger. We tried to use my Priority Pass membership at the Minute Suites but they had no vacancies. We found a spot to sit and make a few calls and we made our way to gate A20 for our 6:45 flight to Amsterdam. There we found we could charge our phones and I updated this log.

 

If all goes well, my next update will be from the Mimir!

[sfocruiser]

hope your last leg is uneventful.    safe travels.

[StartrainDD]

We made it and are onboard!  Here is the latest:

 

Our flight left on time. I may have gotten an hour or maybe two of restless sleep. Every time I dozed off someone would run into my arm or shoulder. My special ordered reduced lactose dinner was pretty decent. I finished the novel I was reading as the sound quality of the back of the seat entertainment system was too poor.

 

Friday, July 1 – Amsterdam and embarkation:

 

Our flight landed at 7:45. 17 minutes of taxiing brought us to the gate. We passed through passport control and they did not ask for our Covid vaccination cards or the declaration form Viking had us prepare. We were warned on the plane that there could be a wait for our luggage, but when we reached belt 15 one of our bags was already there. Perhaps 10 minutes later the largest bag appeared. We met other Viking cruisers at baggage claim.

 

Once we went through the doors we found Viking reps in their red shirts. They led us to an area to sit for a few minutes and then they came and told us our car was ready. Five of us were transferred over to the Viking Eistla in a Mercedes van. We quickly checked in and were invited to relax in the Viking lounge until our cabin was ready. We enjoyed tea and coffee while we waited. Note we are on the Viking Eistla, but the crew is the crew of the Viking Mimir, and they made certain to let us know that when we checked in!

[Canal archive]

I wonder why!

[rcaruso]

3 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

We made it and are onboard!  Here is the latest:

 

Our flight left on time. I may have gotten an hour or maybe two of restless sleep. Every time I dozed off someone would run into my arm or shoulder. My special ordered reduced lactose dinner was pretty decent. I finished the novel I was reading as the sound quality of the back of the seat entertainment system was too poor.

 

Friday, July 1 – Amsterdam and embarkation:

 

Our flight landed at 7:45. 17 minutes of taxiing brought us to the gate. We passed through passport control and they did not ask for our Covid vaccination cards or the declaration form Viking had us prepare. We were warned on the plane that there could be a wait for our luggage, but when we reached belt 15 one of our bags was already there. Perhaps 10 minutes later the largest bag appeared. We met other Viking cruisers at baggage claim.

 

Once we went through the doors we found Viking reps in their red shirts. They led us to an area to sit for a few minutes and then they came and told us our car was ready. Five of us were transferred over to the Viking Eistla in a Mercedes van. We quickly checked in and were invited to relax in the Viking lounge until our cabin was ready. We enjoyed tea and coffee while we waited. Note we are on the Viking Eistla, but the crew is the crew of the Viking Mimir, and they made certain to let us know that when we checked in!

I just checked and the Mimir is sitting in the Vienna shipyard with the Prestige.  We were on the Eistla from Amsterdam to Mainz in 2015 when we ship swapped twice to three different ships due to low water.  Enjoy your cruise and I'll be watching your reports.  Glad you made it!!

[StartrainDD]

Continued notes from embarkation day follow and we are looking forward to a terrific and beautiful cool sunny day today at Kinderdijk!

 

At check in (at about 9:45) we were told our cabin was not yet ready but “Housekeeping knows you are here and it won't be long.” That turned out to be less than accurate. Just before 11:00 I inquired and was told “Not just yet.” Lunch was being served beginning at 11:00 and we invited a couple sitting near us in the lounge to join us. A third couple joined us and we had a very nice lunch, including lamb chops, among other choices. The house wine was very acceptable and we enjoyed a few glasses, as well as a “Coke Light” for myself. We were very impressed with the maître de',

 

When we were finishing lunch at 12:30, I checked again with guest services, and our cabin was still not ready. I nicely told them that we had been onboard since before 10:00 and were told then it would be a short time; this isn't a short time. They promised us it would be ready in 10 minutes. So back to the dining room for one more round of wine. Fifteen minutes later we found the cabin was ready, and one of the guest services folks showed us the cabin. That is a nice touch but we knew where it was...

 

Our luggage was already inside so we set upon the chore of unpacking. There is a 1:30 walking tour that we wanted to join, so no time for showers, etc., before hand. While we were unpacking one of the crew opened the door and said they were “Here to check the cabin.” Well, we are already mostly unpacked...

 

Just a observation... There were not many guests arriving when we did. Even at the airport we were told that they let the ship know we were on the way and they would get our cabin ready. It's not rocket science, do the cabins for early arrivals first. I didn't expect to get into the cabin before 10:00 but don't tell me it would be a short time and then make it three hours later, and then only because I kept asking. After traveling for a full 24 hours, we were ready for a chance to freshen up!

 

The 1:30 walking tour didn't venture too far from the ship but it was nice. We were given the option to leave the tour across from Centrall Station and we took that chance. We had hoped to go to the flower market and grab a slice of real Dutch Apple Pie, but I guess that will have to wait. It began to rain again when we were the other side of Dam Square and we began back, traversing the Centrall Station on the way.

 

Back on board, we got ourselves refreshed and made the very end of the 'cheese and wine tasting' event. Our waiter never got back to us with promised second wines for sampling and did not tell us of any offers on the beverage package. We spoke for a while with another guest who somehow lost his traveling buddy who may have gone on the 3:30 walking tour.

 

There is a 'mandatory' briefing at 6:30, followed by a port of call talk, and then dinner at 7:30. That sounds late after our travel day but we attended.

 

The briefing was well done although I will admit to having a hard time staying awake. We dock in the morning at Kinderdijk at 8:00 and the first tour leaves at 8:15. Those on the Windmills and Cheese making tour will leave the ship and rejoin early in the afternoon as our stay at Kinderdijk is only until 10:30.

 

Dinner was very enjoyable. We sat with a couple from Maine and another couple from Eastern Washington. We both had the sea bass and it was nicely done. Two at our table had the always available steak and they said it was perfectly cooked and tender. The local dessert feature of Apple floppies (fried sliced apple) was small but perfect (and I didn't need more!) After dinner we called it a night and slept extremely well.

 

Note: We found out that the Mimir had encountered some serious engine issues and was in for quite a repair! The Eistla had not yet returned to the fleet and was made ready and used on the cruise prior to ours as it's return to service. The Eistla will apparently be replacing the Mimir until it returns. As all the “Longships” are essentially identical this should have no impact on the cruise.

[StartrainDD]

Saturday, July 2, Kinderdijk and actual “River Cruising!”

 

The alarm woke us from a very deep sleep at 6:00. About 6:20 I went upstairs to bring coffee & tea back to the cabin. I was surprised by the number of fellow passengers already up and about. Even on early port days I rarely saw many out & about before 7:30 on our recent ocean cruises.

 

We went to the dining room at about 7:20. It was already quite busy. We sat with a couple from British Columbia who had nearly finished their breakfast. Breakfast can be ordered off a menu however nearly everything is available on the 'buffet' including an omelet station. I will admit to having some unease about the buffet as it is self serve, and the last two years has likely made me skittish about handling 'shared utensils.' I ordered an omelet and did handle the utensils to get a few breakfast sausages.

 

We were already docked at Kinderdijk when we went to breakfast. The program director announced that tours would begin as scheduled at 8:15. We were ready for our group E tour and disembarked shortly after 8:15 (tour time 8:20). We had a terrific guide, a 65 year old local gentleman who volunteers a few days a week at the site. Kinderdijk is a UNESCO world heritage site and he was much more informative than our previous visit in 2013.

 

We went inside the old pumping station, which is in the process of being restored and put back to use, hopefully in 2023. Part of the station is a small gift shop. We also went inside the caretakers workshop where our guide gave us a great education on Dutch heritage, windmills, trading ships, and pirates. It was informative and fun. Walking down to the operating windmill open for tours is very pretty and picturesque, especially on such a nice day. I was surprised to find water lilies growing, apparently very happy. It was also neat to see folks fishing in the canals among the windmills, making an iconic “Delft Blue” scene come to life.

 

The windmill itself is so impressive, especially the main oak beam, over 300 years old, that turns in the center of the mill. Time was getting short (a disadvantage to being in group E!) so we walked ahead of our guide, listening to his commentary, to have a few extra minutes in the gift shop.

 

We did make purchases in both gift shops, and were among the last group to return to the Eistla. We left our bags and jackets in the cabin and went upstairs for some coffee and tea. We also grabbed seats at an Aguavit patio table that was mostly shaded by the forward awning. We really enjoyed sitting there while the Eistla pulled away. Friends from last night's dinner joined us and stayed with us through lunch.

 

We witnessed many 'different' things over the next few hours. At the confluence of the canal/rivers, there are 'road signs' on the point of the land telling boaters which waterway is what, just like highway signs. Speaking of highways, the rivers and canals truly are the regions 'highways,' the amount of boat traffic is incredible. Barges and transports of every type pass constantly. High-speed water buses went buzzing past the ship, and the passengers seem to really be enjoying the ride! One we were a bit into the countryside, we saw cows, horses, and people on the sandy shores of the Waal River. Cows literally just feet from sunbathers (this being a Saturday). Can't imagine anyone doing this back home!

 

We passed an operating windmill in Dordrecht and I shot some video. The awning was pulled back (due to the wind?) so we moved into a shaded table further into the Aquavit terrace. 45 minutes later it was lunch time and the wine flowed. Cider is one of the 'beers' included during lunch and dinner and the German cider they serve (Somersby) is the best cider I have ever enjoyed from a bottle. I had the burger and some German sausage that was being cooked on the grille. Everything was very nice. DW enjoyed a shrimp salad.

 

After lunch we returned to the cabin to store our purchases and hang up our jackets. We asked the hotel manager if we would have much actual 'daytime cruising' as the trip goes on and he told us yes, quite a lot, as we need to cover 1300 KM during the trip. So this will be a very different experience than our prior “Tulips & Windmills” adventure!

[CastleCritic]

yes Ive had issues with being an early arrival on most of my amawaterways cruises as well..

 

the last one we flew to Paris on a flight they booked, set up a transfer for...and there were only 80 guests on the prior cruise (and only 50 of us coming on board) and we still sat from 10a to 2pm before getting a room...and then immediately crashed as soon as they let us in the room.

 

No its not their fault that we got there that early but you'd think they would try to do something about it considering I think only about 3 couples arrived really early.

 

They did feed us at least and we wandered around the Eiffel Tower area a bit but jet lag sucks and that didnt last long....

 

The amount of river traffic on the Rhine is insane...

 

Hope your trip continues well.

Edited July 2, 2022 by CastleCritic

[LTC]

Thanks for your great review! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your cruise!