dolllover

Sorry to hear your food was so bad. I guess I'll find out if I have a decent chef on my upcoming Viking cruise. On my Avalon cruise the food was good but not great and we did get lobster so I don't get why Viking had to be so cheap and not serve seafood.

That's one of the reasons I may never cruise on Uniworld. I need to be able to have decent wifi for work. It worked all right on my latest Avalon trip.

We did the castle excursion and we liked it a a lot. Didn't see many kids and we didn't feel like it was geared to kids.

Yes you can get rough water but not like an ocean cruise.

I have no idea if the other cabins had it as bad as we did.

I know some people did hear noise but not the grating sounds we had. I don't know if it's because it's an older boat. I would take ear plugs just in case.

We loved the town of Antwerp so you would miss it if you took the optional excursion to Brussels. The ones that I talked too weren't thrilled with the excursion to Brussels but maybe it was the guide they had. We didn't do that one because we were staying in Brussels at the end for a couple of days.

I just got back! Had a great time. My room number was 315. I would switch rooms if you're staying in that one because of the noise when we encountered rough water. It was pretty bad.

Also I would wait until you get on board to book optional excursions. If you book online and change your mind you can't switch or get your money back but you can when booking on board.

We had great weather and the tulips were in bloom!

Have a great trip. We loved it.

I would also stay a couple of days before and after in Amsterdam and Brussels. Both great cities.

BTW our CD was fabulous and she earned and deserved every bit of the suggested gratuity.

That's how I felt about the crew. They were amazing.

Thanks. (I assume thats per person for 7 nights?) ...Trying to figure out how much cash to carry with me since I thought I read somewhere that they want tips in cash.

 

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Sorry I wasn't clear. That was total for the both of us not per person.

I get the discount from my TA. Btw, going on Avalon Waterways cruise this week. Can I ask what the daily tip rate is now? Did you use dollars? (I didn't see it in the documents. )

 

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I don't remember the daily rate but the suggested amount for the crew was in the ball park of 168.00. for the CD it was suggested a separate amount of around 50.00. I willingly tipped the crew the suggested amount but didn't tip the CD for the way he handled a couple of pretty bad issues.

Thanks for responding. I added a last minute optional excursion that I could of used some onboard credit.

Is it common practice to be getting onboard credit for river cruises from your TA? I book trips a lot with my TA and noticed I didn't get any onboard credit for my recent Avalon cruise. Before I ask her about it just wanted to see if others received any.

I'm happy to read this! Sailing around Greece on the Quest in 2018.

If money is no object go with Tauck but for me personally I would choose Viking. You will pay quite a bit more for Tauck. To the person that said you get what you pay for implied that by choosing Viking you're getting an inferior product which is ridiculous IMO. I know 3 people personally that continue to use Viking and are very happy with them and they could easily afford a more expensive line.

I almost always purchase insurance when I book a trip because of the pre existing clause knowing fully well I would not get my the insurance money back if I cancel a trip. I just roll it over to another trip in the future.

Thanks everyone! Lots of great ideas. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

We haven't done the excursions, but we have visited Volendam and Edam on our own last year. We took a bus to Marken, then rode a ferry to Volendam, and finally took a bus to Edam before returning to Amsterdam. We hit Volendam around lunch time on a Saturday, and it was a mob scene. There were large crowds and we were somewhat overwhelmed. We decided to move on and walked directly from the marina to the bus stop and headed for Edam. Edam was a lot quieter, and we enjoyed walking around the old town and having lunch before catching our bus back to

Amsterdam.

 

 

If we'd had a guide in Volendam, maybe we would have seen a more interesting side of the town that wasn't so touristy. You might check TripAdvisor and get more info on all three sites.

Thank you! Also thinking of taking the train to Delft on embarkation day to get out of the city. It's an hour each way. Delft may be super touristy as well. I'm hoping to get out of Amsterdam and see more of the countryside.

Have not been to either one but have done some research. Muiderslot looks pretty and geared for families and children. Look at reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

 

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Thanks will do.

Has no one taken these excursions?

We are leaving in a few weeks on a tulip cruise with Avalon and I'm trying to decide which optional excursion to take. One is the castle Muiderslot or an excursion to see the towns of Volendam and Edam. Any help would be appreciated. We will be in Amsterdam a couple of days before the cruise starts but we're pretty booked up seeing other sites.

Tauck is a DEFINITE consideration...they are sometimes overlooked on this board because they are not strictly a river cruise line, they do all kinds of wonderful travel experiences. We have done many Tauck trips (land and river) and have NEVER been disappointed.

At some point I will book a Tauck trip. I've heard nothing but great things from this line.

I've been reading this thread with interest. I want to do this Italy trip or a land one with Tauck.

Yup I'm doing this cruise in Oct. We are going with my in laws. They really just want to do private excursions on this trip since they don't like crowds all that much. I'm torn about the private tours since we pay for the included ones already.

You may be a bit too early for seeing lots of Tulips. I'm concerned for myself as well and I arrive in Amsterdam April 6th with Avalon leaving on the 9th. My TA doesn't think I'll have a problem but both of us may be seeing more Daffodils which are beautiful in their own right. It should still be a great trip for both of us.

Are you planning on seeing Anne Franks house? I want to see that and the Van Gogh museum. If I have time may take a side trip to Delft.

Thank you everyone for responding. I feel better about keeping the aft cabin. I will be all over the place on this cruise to see the view. I'm pretty hyper.In Alaska I used my balcony a lot. My sister tried to talk me out of getting a balcony for Alaska saying it would be too cold to use. I don't mind the cold and was happy I didn't listen to her.

Forget the "drive-by" cruise of Antarctica. Move to an expedition ship and set foot on the White Continent. An event you will never forget.

I knew I would get the "drive by" comment lol. At the prices these expedition ships ask for I'll stick with the drive by.

I booked a sunset veranda state room on deck 8 for Antartica on the Eclipse for Jan 2019.I was wondering if I should change it to a balcony on either side of the ship for better viewing. My TA thinks I should stick with the aft but she's never been to Antartica.Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thank you!!!! Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to everyone.