Going Live on Scenic "Chef's Culinary Adventure of Belgium and the Netherlands with Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk"

[Daisi]

I hope you are feeling better soon, sorry that you had to start your trip this way. Hopefully you will have a great day at Keukenhof.

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

Wow, that’s quite a story!  Glad they could accommodate you. In Paris we went to Sainte Chappell, the cathedral with surrounding stained glass. A similar situation as you encountered happened when I couldn’t climb the stairs to the upper cathedral where the main stained glass is. We were brought over into a connected building and used that elevator. Only thing was, when we went to leave, a bunch of able bodied people noticed and crowded in the elevator until it wouldn’t go until some got out. One person had the nerve to tell me to get out as I could always get the next one but she would be told to take the stairs!

 

The cruise director is trying to secure a wheelchair or scooter for me so I can see Keukenhof Gardens next Tuesday. 

It would truly be a shame to miss Keukenhof Gardens. My fingers are crossed that they are successful getting you either a wheelchair or a scooter.

[Canal archive]

My daughters hired one for me when we went to Disney California, such fun 🤩 (I know not for anyone who has to use one all the time but to help for a short period yes)

[Mosey1]

On 3/31/2024 at 7:55 AM, 1of4 said:

Greetings from still cold Canada where nothing is blooming because it keeps snowing!  But this time next week DH and I will be in Amsterdam enjoying 3 days pre- cruise before embarking on our long postponed river cruise. We booked a Christmas markets cruise in November 2019 for 2020…well you can guess what happened so we switched that to the south of France travelling in 2022 but I had brain surgery in March that year and wasn’t allowed to travel. So we switched back to a Christmas market trip for 2023 but my doctor didn’t want me to go if ice and snow was a possibility so…ta-da…we booked this Windmills,Tulips and Belgium Delights River cruise which then turned into this culinary experience and we couldn’t be happier. 
 

We embark on the Scenic Jade on April 10. I booked into the Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station in Amsterdam as we get free transfers if we stayed at this specific hotel. Since I use a cane and DH needs two new knees, we felt this was a good idea. 
 

I have a WWII tour and a canal tour booked pre river cruise and we are flying to Vienna post cruise. So come along and join us if you are interested. I will start posting daily beginning Saturday when we fly out of Toronto. 

We are doing Scenic Basel to Amsterdam in 2025.  Curious what the WW2 tour you booked is in Amsterdam.  We have previously visited the Dutch Resistance Museum and loved it

[Maisyboo]

Hope you feel better soon .Your sewing is amazing.Do you crate from patterns or copy original? Interested in your examples from posted photos .

We leave for Viking Rhine in 3 days .Thanks for posting .

[1of4]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It would truly be a shame to miss Keukenhof Gardens. My fingers are crossed that they are successful getting you either a wheelchair or a scooter.

Wheelchair rented!  Everyone on the boat is supportive and wouldn’t let me miss it!

 

 

[1of4]

Thank you!  I hope you enjoy your cruise. 
 

The tote is called the Waterlily Tote, original size (not mini) by Blue Calla Patterns. The sling I made for DH is called The Triple Sling by Country Cow Designs and is a quick sew. I posted the link for the pocket infinity scarf but it is a free pattern by Patterns for Pirates. It was one of their free holiday patterns a few years back. 

[Canal archive]

Great! I’ve seen similar happen on a Scenic cruise before and I’m sure it would happen across the river cruising community. I hope you get some super pictures, enjoy.

[1of4]

1 hour ago, Mosey1 said:

We are doing Scenic Basel to Amsterdam in 2025.  Curious what the WW2 tour you booked is in Amsterdam.  We have previously visited the Dutch Resistance Museum and loved it

If you have an interest in history and specifically the German occupation of Amsterdam then this is a somber and eye opening experience. I found it through TripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188590-d1758423-Reviews-or320-Amsterdam_in_World_War_II_Walking_Tour-Amsterdam_North_Holland_Province.html

 

our Guide was Ben but there are no bad reviews of any of the guides or the tour in general. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

Wheelchair rented!  Everyone on the boat is supportive and wouldn’t let me miss it!

 

 

👍 I'll e looking forward to your pictures. My wife's camera was going constantly. She and I were especially excited when we found a tulip variety named after the early Dutch settler family that were her maternal ancestors. (In fact it was still her late Mother's maiden name.)

[kazu]

On 4/11/2024 at 1:49 PM, 1of4 said:

Well wouldn’t you know it…I fell down an exterior wet stairway and landed hard. I may have

to go to a doctor tomorrow as my left foot, right knee and left hand are swollen and in pain. 

 

I am so, so sorry for your tumble, Gail. 😔. I pray that nothing is broken and you can recover quickly.

 

 

 

On 4/11/2024 at 5:41 PM, 1of4 said:

We are staying aboard but are trying to switch our flights to return home on Wednesday direct from Amsterdam instead of flying on to Vienna. 

 

I am so sorry to hear that you have to change your plans.  Health is first of course, but you have waited so long for this cruise and trip.  My heart breaks for you both 💔 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

Wheelchair rented!  Everyone on the boat is supportive and wouldn’t let me miss it!

 

 

 

Well done - go ahead and enjoy.  I’ve been in that boat (so to speak).  CC friends call it “the wheel chair cruise”).  I hope you can enjoy things as much as possible with it to assist you. 🤞 

[1of4]

Yesterday in Veere DH visited the Waterworks then took a walk around this very pretty town. This is what he had to say about his excursion:
 

We are in Veere today. It was a powerful trading town in the 1600's and 1700's as it was then on the North Sea and had deep trading relationships with Scotland. Now with the land reclamation efforts of the Netherlands over the last few centuries the North Sea is a distance away. We visited the Delta Works a massive engineering project in the late 60s and early 70s that concluded in 1997 for the installation of dykes, dams and very large surge barriers to protect the inland from incursion by the North Sea.UPDATE Driver stopped to let us see the Delta Works from the North Sea side.

 

The chefs were at it again on Thursday with a very entertaining demonstration for cooking with cheese.Friday we had an oyster tasting. 

 

Canapé’s are delivered to our room every day at 4:00. 
 

Today, Saturday, we are in Rotterdam and DH is going to Ghent. He has one job and he better do it well: buy chocolate! 😂 

[Second seating]

In my opinion the best chocolate shop in Ghent is Chocolaterie Luc Van Hoorebeke 15 Sint-Baafsplein.

[1of4]

Thank you for this. The message is being passed along! 🍫 😋 

[1of4]

Update…we are docking in Antwerp today, not Rotterdam!

[Canal archive]

We went to the Delta Works with Scenic really something special, chocolate ohh yes please. Those two chefs look a lot of fun not names heard of in the U.K. but will definitely look them up. Maybe we can swap chefs two of yours for two of ours!

[1of4]

Okay, the time has come to speak about the inevitable dirty laundry. Scenic includes 1 kg of free laundry. In 2019 it was one bag. Our butler told us on the first day that 1 kg is generally half a bag. 
 

Being in a junior suite, we also get 2 items pressed daily included. The top suite(s) get unlimited laundry the pressing. 

[Mrs Miggins]

I wonder if anyone can help with a small question.  In the past Scenic have offered us a free gift of a backpack or a travel bag.  Last year that was discontinued and a £50 per person OBC was offered instead - according to our friends.  We are booked on a Bordeaux cruise at the beginning of July.  We have done this before and really loved it.

However I cannot find any reference to the £50 OBC.   It may well have been discontinued but would anyone have any information ?

[puppycanducruise]

15 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Wheelchair rented!  Everyone on the boat is supportive and wouldn’t let me miss it!

 

 

Enjoy Keukenhof.  I hope you won't need the wheelchair for long.

[pontac]

In the past Scenic included  chauffer driven limousine between home and airport, plus backpack. This year neither are available, and the interim OBC has also gone.

 

That's what  the very helpful lady at Scenic  told me when I booked cruises this year . But they have been offering huge discounts, which I hope you got.

[pontac]

On 4/11/2024 at 9:25 PM, notamermaid said:

It's as flat as a pancake down there at Kinderdijk. An odd kind of place, so different from my river up here.

 

Maybe because they're not rivers? They're holding ponds, the windmills pump water up to one, then pump up to a higher one before pumping up again, out of the polder and into the river.

[pontac]

On 4/11/2024 at 5:49 PM, 1of4 said:

Kinderdijk Windmills (children’s windmills). There is no definitive explanation for the name. 

 

At the entrance to Kinderdijk is this statue

showing a baby in a crib with a cat. The story Kinderdijk tells is that in a long ago flood the mill workers found the crib with a baby alongside the dike, carried there by the flood. So that incident gave the name 'kinder' to the dike.

 

The cat was said to have prevented the crib from being sunk by moving from side to side to present the higher side to the waves.

[Canal archive]

Latest offer private door to door chauffeur transfers, it’s gone back to being a perk rather than for everyone. Oh and automatic OBCs have been discontinued so could come back as a perk. In all but top of the range cabins.

Edited April 13 by Canal archive

[1of4]

In 2019 we received two backpacks and a padded folder containing all our trip information. This time we received nothing ahead of time and no OBC although it was included on our first switched cruise post Covid but when we had to switch again because of my brain surgery it disappeared from our records. 
 

We received two very nice water bottles in our cabin which I believe everyone received. 

1 hour ago, Mrs Miggins said:

I wonder if anyone can help with a small question.  In the past Scenic have offered us a free gift of a backpack or a travel bag.  Last year that was discontinued and a £50 per person OBC was offered instead - according to our friends.  We are booked on a Bordeaux cruise at the beginning of July.  We have done this before and really loved it.

However I cannot find any reference to the £50 OBC.   It may well have been discontinued but would anyone have any information

[1of4]

44 minutes ago, pontac said:

In the past Scenic included  chauffer driven limousine between home and airport, plus backpack. This year neither are available, and the interim OBC has also gone.

 

That's what  the very helpful lady at Scenic  told me when I booked cruises this year . But they have been offering huge discounts, which I hope you got.

The limo is still an available on some promotions but no good to us as we live too far from the airport so they take a token amount off. In 2019 there was a range of freebies depending upon the loyalty level of guest. But we received free airfare so that was a real bonus.