Amsterdam and Rhine River Cruise 2011 - A Cruise in Review

DISCLAIMER: I admit that this is the first Cruising Experience I have ever had and therefore I am not really in a position to compare this Company against any other. But I loved it so much, was so impressed and had such a great time it won’t be the last!

To put my experiences in perspective and help you see where I am coming from: I’ve been on 7 guided coach tours, and as you already know, a bunch of independent vacations - both extended city stays where we settle into a large city and use it as a home base, and also multiple-city stays were we move on to a new place every few days.

We are budget travellers because I rather go cheap and more often instead of only once and ‘big’.  We fly coach, and unless we luck-in to fancy places (which has happened) we stay in 3 star hotels.

We don’t always stay in hotels that are in the centre or town, we don’t mind staying on the outskirts and using public transportation to get into the city… and finally, I hate shopping so we don’t spend much money on “incidentals”.

I’ve been all over Europe – here’s a look at the European part my Trip Advisor Travel Map (I think my next vacation should be Western France, there seems to be a gap of pins in that region!)

Ok, so now you know about my travel background… on to the cruise now…

I  L♥VED  IT!

We sailed on the Viking Helvetia, and it was perfect on every level.

Now, for experienced cruise-travellers, they may say that this cruise is just as good as any other cruise… and maybe it is! I have no idea, but I can gush about the great time I had and explain WHY I loved it so much.

Viking labels itself as first class travel so am I just dazzled because I was pampered all week?  If I had more experiences with first class travel or with other cruises, would my opinion still be the same? We’ll never know.

The hardest part was finding the boat, because it’s up to the Harbour Master to determine where they can dock, so we were given 3 possibilities. 

I am a little stubborn and I don’t like to spend money on a cab when I can get there on foot or by public transportation.  I have to admit though, that it was not the best walk in Amsterdam that morning (from the train station to the various possible docking locations) because even though our bags are not heavy and roll along on 4 wheels, it was humid, and when dragging bags around, not being too sure where we had to go, we got a little cranky and sweaty!

But we found it eventually, and even though we arrived during the chaotic hustle and bustle of people disembarking from the previous cruise that just ended, and even though the staff was CLEARLY very very busy, they were still very jovial with us and they were full of cheery “Welcome Aboard!”s. Check-in was a breeze.

I read online about a traveller who complained that he was annoyed that Viking didn’t send a cab to pick them up at the airport after a snafu and it was a real problem from them because they didn’t have any Euros. Sorry buddy, that makes you the moron. Be better prepared next time because snafus are a part of life and whether you are right or wrong about what happened, you still need to have some Euros on you when you get to Europe. That’s just plain old common sense!

One funny thing that confirmed to me that we were with an older group when we arrived on the ship (because cruising seems to attract the older set… and I think that the younger set is TOTALLY MISSING OUT!) was when we were told that the cabin would not be ready before 2:30 – 3PM (completely reasonable) so we were welcome to wait in the Lounge! HA HA HA it was not even 9AM! HA HA HA and we were in Amsterdam! As if we’d sit in a lounge all day!  funny.

Regarding the food and drinks, you can read about that in my previous post. In a nutshell, it was always delicious.

The cabins were always clean, all the time. The bathrooms were very nice and modern. The housekeeping staff would start cleaning rooms during breakfast and this annoyed some people because they thought that was too early. I think that’s a stupid complaint because if it bugs you, hang your Do Not Disturb sign on the door and then they’ll do it when you are off the boat on an excursion. That’s what we did. There was also a turn-down service during dinner; no chocolates on the pillows, but fresh towels and a tidy bathroom every time!

The Program Director (René from the Netherlands) was outstanding.

He was approachable, available, personable, and SO SO SO SO funny! He has us cracking up every day.

Now, he was the Front Man that we saw everyday but every single crew member that we interacted with, from the Hotel Manager to the Bartenders to the Restaurant staff etc was beyond reproach. Always friendly, always polite, always agreeable, always professional. 

One “visible” person on the staff who I am sure was sadly overlooked was the musician : Michael. He was great! It was such a nice thing to have soft, soothing live piano music in the Lounge.  I gave “music on board” an ‘excellent’ on my survey and I hope more people did too! Live music. What a nice touch! But I think because it blended in so perfectly, people didn’t even notice what he was adding to the atmosphere.  Sadly, we don’t have a picture of him.

The daily on board activities were well organized. There was always something going on, so we were never bored. Options galore. Cocktail Hour everyday in the Lounge where you could try the daily cocktail. In the afternoons, there was always an activity to participate in, like Dutch Shuffleboard in Amsterdam (my husband won!), how to make a  Rüdesheim coffee in Rüdesheim, a cooking demonstration in Strasbourg on how to make a Tarte Flambé, even a galley tour. Then after dinner, there were lectures, live music, we even got a glass blowing demonstration one night!

The included shore excursions were typical of any organized tour. Exactly what I would have expected from a bus tour too. Local guide, walking tour of the city, bussing out to destinations a little farther afield.

Typically, because we were about 200 people, we would be divided in to groups. As we are leaving the boat, we were assigned a bus number and were divided up into about 4 or 5 groups depending on the need. Logical, since you can’t flood a building with 1 large 200-person group, or expect 1 local guide to guide that many people around town.

What did impress me was that there was always an option for those people who had trouble walking or getting around but still wanted to take advantage of the excursion. In Cologne for example, in addition to the regular included city tour, you could also request to be in a group that would take in the museum, or be a part of the group that does less walking, less stair climbing and less walking on cobble stones.  What a great way to make sure everyone is included!

I can’t speak to the optional excursions because none of them really appealed to me, so we didn’t sign up for any. We didn’t feel like we missed out though because the Lounge and the Sun Deck were always so inviting, and besides, we were always docked in walking distance of whatever city we were visiting at the time. So much better then a budget coach tour that puts you up in a hotel along the highway so you have no other option by to fork over 40 - 50€ for a dinner excursion.

I also liked what they called the Daily Port Talk where the Program Director would give a run down of all the following day’s activities. What was on the agenda, what time we would be leaving, ideas and options for lunch, suggestions on what to do if we were not going to the optional excursion etc. Really informative and it fleshed out in much more detail the itinerary information in our booklets.  During the turn down service while we were at dinner, we would get a copy of this schedule too – printed on very nice paper I might add! I kept them all as souvenirs.  It would include a detailed time line of all the next day’s activities, including what time we arrive and leave if you wanted to watch it all happen from the Sun Deck. It also included a weather forecast and a little more historical information about the places we would visit.

Cleverly, members of the staff also had cameras and took over 400 pictures of our trip! How nice to either complement your own pictures of replace the picture taking burden all together if you don’t like taking snaps!

It was a fantastic vacation!!!

Did I leave anything out?