Just Back.. Our Bloomingly Beautiful Tulip Time Cruise Aboard Avalon's Imagery II. Full trip report with tons of pix!

[Sleep7]

We made our way back to the ship as all aboard time was 6:15

 

[Sleep7]

Every evening at 6pm to 7pm there was a complimentary Happy Hour. 

Cheers to a great upcoming week!

 

 

[Sleep7]

At the Happy Hour we all met our Cruise Director Bram who was terrific!! So enthusiastic and friendly and FUNNY!! He was perfect.. just the guy for the job.

 

 

 

Included was our safety drill from the inside warmth of the lounge which was great.

 

 

 

Met the Captain and all the Department heads.

 

 

 

 

 

And then dinner and onto bed.. it had been a first rate first day with VERY VERY little sleep.😴

 

[Sleep7]

Day two dawned in Nijmegen.. say that 3 times fast!😁

 

[Sleep7]

Oh my..  the daily breakfast buffets.. everything was amazing!

 

 

 

 

"Fixin's" for the hot cereal.

 

 

Omelettes anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

[YoungDubFan]

I leave in the Tranquility II at the end of April. Thanks for sharing. This is helping build my excitement.

[Sleep7]

As our included tour we chose the half a day guided tour of the Airborne Museum of Hartenstein commemorating the 1944 WWII Battle of Arnhem. This was the battle that the movie "A Bridge Too Far" was based on.

The museum was OUTSTANDING. What at first looked like it would have been just a regular museum ended up being one of the highlights of the cruise.

The upper floors had fascinating memorabilia from both sides but it was the basement that was really a wow.  It had been turned into a life size and life like battlefield detailing the horrors of war that was on a scale as something that Disney would have created.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

First you "parachute down" onto the battlefield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A sobering epilogue to a sobering experience..

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Some cheerful daffodils outside the museum.

 

dills

[Sleep7]

And then onto a military cemetery.

It was a day that truly reminded you of the horrors of war and the heartbreaking sacrifices that are made.😢

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

18 minutes ago, YoungDubFan said:

I leave in the Tranquility II at the end of April. Thanks for sharing. This is helping build my excitement.

Oh yay!! So glad to help with the excitement YoungDubFan.  You are going to have the most wonderful time! 😃

[Sleep7]

Back to the ship for lunch.. the sausage was particularly delicious swathed in mustard.

 

[Sleep7]

We walked around rainy Nijmegen in the afternoon.

 

 

FEBO.. the modern Automat.

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Happiest Hour of the day! From 6pm to 7pm.. CHEERS!🍷🍺🍹

We sat back and enjoyed the scenery and then our daily Port Talk from Bram at 6:45 just before dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Sleep7

[KathyK13]

Awesome photos!  Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip

[Sleep7]

Oh! Forgot to mention.. While I love my Iphone 13,  Sam's Pixel 6 Pro has the most amazing editing feature.  You can literally erase something (or somebody) with a swipe of your finger.

AMAZING.  I hope this nice fellow passenger was not insulted..😉

Now you see him..

 

 

Now you don't. MAGIC!

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

13 minutes ago, KathyK13 said:

Awesome photos!  Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip

Oh thanks so much for your sweet compliments KathyK13!!

Plenty more to come!😃

Edited March 27, 2023 by Sleep7

[Sleep7]

And so ended our delightful day two.  We had a lovely dinner with our lovely new friends.. 👋Hello Tulsa and Hello Seattle.👋

A few random observations about the ship.

First of all I absolutely LOVED the two different color towels which if you are not a towel sharer (I am though💁‍♀️) is a fabulous idea.

 

 

Also this high tech water machine in the aft lounge is fantastic.  At the touch of a button you can get still or sparking.. cold or hot.. flavored or not.

 

 

 

[jbirds]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[Daisi]

Thanks for your review, looking forward for more. To bad you didn't have the best of weather, but glad you made the best of it.

[Sleep7]

One definite difference I noted in the 7 years between our cruises was the definite move on Avalon's part towards being earth friendly which of course is a good thing!  Besides the AvalonGo app replacing the paper Daily Newsletter  the toiletries in the bathroom have gone green too.

 

2016

 

 

2023

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

5 minutes ago, jbirds said:

Thank you so much for sharing!

Oh you're so welcome! Thanks for sharing our adventure too.😍

[Sleep7]

3 minutes ago, Daisi said:

Thanks for your review, looking forward for more. To bad you didn't have the best of weather, but glad you made the best of it.

👋Hi Daisi!  I remember you from the CC river cruise board way back in 2016 when I reviewed our Rhine cruise on Avalon.  Yep.. the weather was pretty stinky but we still have a wonderful week. Thanks for your compliments.🤗

[Sleep7]

So each night there was a "Bistro Dinner" offered which was usually a buffet style abbreviated version of the dinner in the restaurant. It was served in the lounge at 7:15 after the Happy Hour crowd went down to dinner.  It was perfect if you were tired or just wanted a lighter and quicker meal.

Here are some of the menus..  I didn't bother to take a screen shot of the menus every day.. I thought a representative sample would do.

 

The Bistro Dinner menu.

 

 

The regular dinner menu.

 

 

And here is the lunch menu too.

 

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

😊Day 3 and beyond still to come.. will continue early tomorrow morning. 

It's 11pm right now on the Imagery II and I'm still on ship time. 😴