laverendrye

Wienerwald was founded in 1995 by Friedrich Jahn in Munich. That business crew pretty fast but in 1982 they had to file for bankruptcy. All restaurants had to be closed (including 880 in the US). They returned but mainly in Germany and Austria. In 2003 Jahn had to file for bankruptcy again. The chain was back in 2005. Another bankruptcy in 2007. The two daughters bought the name back and started as a franchise. Currently there are still 24 restaurants in Germany, 9 of them in Munich.

 

steamboats

I remember Wienerwald from the 1970s when I was living in Germany. I always thought that the chicken had a fishy taste, presumably because they had been fed on fish meal. My best memory of roast chicken in Germany was the legendary Hühner-Hugo in the Düsseldorf Altstadt back in the 1960s--it was beyond delicious. Sadly that establishment has been closed now for many years.

What is the difference between th D and E cabins that is worth $200-$300 for the D cabin? The square footage appears the same.

Which line? Which ship?

Thanks so much for the photos of Freiburg. It's my favourite small city in Germany, likely because we lived for three years in the vicinity many years ago and visited it often. When taking visitors there, we always pointed out the Hinternentblößer to their great amusement.

Sad when you think of all the great regional food. Do you think they are purposefully trying to cater to senior Americans with little travel experience?

 

 

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Bingo!

Start with this pinned thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2415906

I wouldn't worry about trying to take a train if you miss your connection. Presumably you will be arriving at FRA early in the morning and there will be plenty of later flights during the day. As well, your ship will likely not be leaving Basel until the evening or in some cases, the next morning. As well unless you only have carry-on luggage, your bags will have been shipped through to Basel-Mulhouse, and you will likely be unable to easily retrieve them at FRA.

I've just booked a Douro River cruise with Emerald for May next year. The Emerald Radiance launches this May and is fully booked for this year, so I will be interested in later comments from those who will have taken this cruise, but also from those who have travelled with Emerald on other itineraries.

I took a Douro cruise with Uniworld in 2012 and enjoyed it very much, but the rest of our group has not been there and I am certainly happy to do it again. I am a great fan of Uniworld and have cruised with them 5 times; I might have considered doing the Douro with them again. However the price difference between Emerald and Uniworld is incredible, at least for Canadian customers. For a similar cruise and similar cabin it is about C$3,000 per person and the only difference that I can see is that Uniworld includes all drinks, while Emerald only includes beer and wine at lunch and dinner.

I know that Uniworld, Viking, AMA and perhaps others all charter their ships from the Portuguese company Agua Azul and on my last Douro cruise all the staff, including the cruise director were from Agua Azul. I understand however, that Emerald and its parent Scenic have had their own ships built so that the cabins and facilities are similar to Emerald and Scenic ships elsewhere. Perhaps they do their own staffing as well. I don't know whether this will make any difference or not. I certainly had nothing but praise for the staff on my Uniworld cruise but will be interested in any comments on Emerald in this regard.

Basel is a strange airport, because it is actually Basel Mulhouse.Freiburg airport. That means that it is partially Schengen (Mulhouse is in France and Freiburg in Germany, both Schengen, and Basel is in Switzerland - not Schengen). You exit different doors into different countries. I don't know whether that makes any difference to connections or not.

 

I guess the big question is, since Basel requires a connection wherever you are coming from, whether flying into Zurich (non-stop from North America) and taking a train to Basel might be a better solution, and probably as fast. You have to be prepared to deal with your luggage however, and the train fare probably wouldn't be covered by the cruise line.

This is incorrect. Switzerland is a Schengen country which means that there is no passport control when arriving from another Schengen country such as France or Germany. It is not a member of the EU, so there are customs, but these are a mere formality.

On the question of connections, I would be uncomfortable with 90 minutes at Charles de Gaulle but I think that Frankfurt would be manageable, and I have done this on a number of occasions, as Frankfurt is a very convenient European hub for me. The main delay at Frankfurt will be passport control which sometimes can get jammed up, and it does make a positive difference if your two carriers are part of the same airline alliance. However, my latest flight into Frankfurt was last September and I recall that after arriving on an overseas flight at 0820, I was through passport control, had collected my bags and was in the airport train station by 0900.

Let me throw in another option. I did the historical triangle that goes from Hoorn by steam train to Medemblik, then by steam boat to the outdoor museum at Enkhuisen. I had a museum pass which covered both the steam train ( which is considered to be a museum and has a small musuem at the train station in Hoorn) and the steam boat as well as entrance to the open air museum at Enkhuisen. There were lovely views of tulip fields from the train. I did the whole thing as a day trip out of Amsterdam, and quite enjoyed it.

Good suggestion, especially the outdoor museum at Enkhuisen. I would avoid Volendam and Zaanse Schans like the plague and although Edam is picturesque, it's small and doesn't justify a separate trip. I also agree with the suggestion of a day-trip to Delft, the city of Vermeer and porcelain.

It doesn't matter. Most travel is at night and for the scenic daytime cruise through the Rhine Gorge you will want to be up on the top deck as the castles are on both sides of the river.

You must however be at an airport that has the nexus function available.

 

This Ak trip doesn't go into Ak any further north than BC on the panhandle. So no real issues ..I could almost walk home. Lol.

 

Still looking for someone with an idea of who can be contacted other than X 1-800. To clarify

 

Thks

You can use a NEXUS card for entry in a non-NEXUS lane where NEXUS kiosks aren't available. You simply won't receive the expedited entry that the NEXUS kiosk offers.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/faq-eng.html

Nexus is OK for border crossings. If you have to fly back or take the Skagway excursion into Canada . You'll not be able to use nexus to fly home from the US.

That's simply not correct. Of course you can use Nexus to enter Canada from the US (or elsewhere) by air if you are a Canadian or US citizen.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/air-aerien-eng.html

The times of departure and arrival will not be posted on-line in advance, as they can vary due to river conditions, lock traffic, and the harbourmaster's directions in each port. You will get the times in the daily program published the night before: the departure times are set, but the arrival times are always noted as "estimated". In checking my daily programs from this cruise (Basel-Amsterdam) last September, most departures are around dinner time (6 to 8 PM) and most arrivals are early in the morning. There are some notable exceptions, when the ship departs mid-day for cruising on particularly scenic parts of the Rhine and Moselle. If you have a specific port in mind, I can tell you when we arrived and left, but these times will vary from what you will experience, not only because of the factors above, but also because you will be travelling in the opposite direction. You will have one overnight stop in Trier.

One other thing to keep in mind using debit/credit cards overseas.... notify your bank about your travel plans. Not sure how the US banks deal with it, but we have had our cards "cautioned" because we suddenly have charges on our card that are well out of our normal area. A quick call has fixed it, they just want to be sure that it's us using our cards, but we have had fun trying to get cell service in some areas to make that call.

My card (TD Visa) stopped requiring notification a year or two ago. None of the major Canadian banks now require it:

http://canada.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/call-issuer-before-travel-1264/

As it happens, I was on the River Queen in Amsterdam twice last year, with both cruises ending there. I'm fairly familiar with Amsterdam having visited many times over the years for business and pleasure. The first cruise was in the spring, Tulips and Windmills, and we were among the few who chose the "Do as the Locals Do" walking tour which was interesting and enjoyable. In the fall, I ended a Rhine/Moselle cruise from Basel there. This time I took the Van Gogh Museum tour, and both it and the Rijksmuseum tours began with a canal cruise (about an hour or so) ending up at the Museumplein where the groups headed off to the respective museums. We returned by bus to the ship in time for lunch. I thought this was just about the right amount of time for the Van Gogh Museum as I planned to save the Rijksmuseum, which I had not seen since the renovations were complete, for another day. In the end, I spent about 6 hours there, but you can certainly visit the highlights in less than that.

As you have three days on your own, I suggest that you visit the Rijksmuseum then. The Anne Frank House is certainly worth a visit, but reservations must be done long in advance. Places in Amsterdam that I have enjoyed recently include Rembrandt's House, which has been restored in the past few years to look as it was in his time there, the Amsterdam Museum and nearby Begijnhof, and the Museum Van Loon, a grand canal house which belonged to one of the city's patrician families (we visited it on the walking tour). You might also want to make a day trip to one of the nearby historic cities such as Delft or Haarlem, but Amsterdam has lots to offer if you are visiting for the first time. If you enjoy classical music, there are concerts most evenings at the Concertgebouw. I took in an opera in the very modern opera house which forms part of the city hall complex.

I enjoyed the River Queen very much. It's an elegant looking ship and although the staterooms are small with no balconies, the public rooms are fine and not decorated in the over-the top way that some Uniworld ships tend to be. The service is impeccable and the meals are excellent. I hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks I will check with customs about the cheese and I'm bringing it back to Canada not US.

You can bring up 20kg of cheese into Canada! But the agent can impose duties on values over $20, though I don't think that is likely for small amounts. Here is the full list of Food, Plant and Animal Products allowed:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/travellers/what-can-i-bring-into-canada-/eng/1389648337546/1389648516990#a2

I would look for an itinerary which includes the Moselle as well as the Rhine. The scenery is gorgeous, much more so than the Rhine (except for the Rhine Gorge with a castle at every turn--but that's one half day or so of sailing). For this year, however, you don't have much choice. The only Uniworld ship that sails the Moselle is the River Queen which doesn't have balconies, and so far as I know AMA won't have a Moselle itinerary until 2018. That leaves Scenic, which has a very interesting itinerary which differs from the standard Amsterdam-Basel route, as not only do they cruise the Moselle, but they spend several days in Belgium and the Netherlands with stops at Antwerp, Veere, Arnhem and Maastricht. In Germany, it does not stop in Cologne but rather in Xanten. If you want a shorter cruise without the Moselle, then any of those three lines should meet your needs. Uniworld has only one ship with balconies on the Rhine, SS Antoinette, but the others have several.

Notamermaid. Funny about the umlauts. They show up in the preview, but not in the final post.

As I recall, it is a short cruise of about an hour or so under the famous bridges of Porto. It takes you only a short way up-river and then to the mouth of the Douro before returning to the ship's berth at Vila Nova de Gaia.

I have cruised five times with Uniworld and they are now my choice for river cruises. Two of these cruises have been since the all inclusive policy was instituted, and I must say that no additional tips were expected or needed. I found that the service was superb, from staff addressing one by name to knowing your choice of drink,even after the first day. One other thing to note is that the inclusive tipping policy also applies to the local guides and drivers on the excursions, though I have occasionally tipped a particularly good local guide.

I have always found the dining room excellent both in the quality and variety of food offered. There is always a local dish available, a vegetarian menu, a "low calorie" menu and several standard choices such as steak or chicken for those who don't wish to choose the regular menu.

I don't use the self-service laundry, as after your first cruise, Uniworld offers free laundry (one bag per passenger per week), and it is usually delivered the same day. Even so, I think I would pay as there are better things to do with one's time on a cruise than washing clothes.

I can't comment specifically on the River Beatrice as my cruise on the Danube was on the River Princess, a slightly smaller ship, from Bucharest to Vienna (the trip actually started in Istanbul). However they are similar ships and I agree with others that the Uniworld beds are particularly comfortable.

The cruise ships actually dock in Vila Nova di Gaia, just across the river from Porto. However it is only a 10 or 15 minute walk to cross the bridge to the old town in Porto. There are lots of hills on either side however.

There are choices for excursions at almost every stop, but so far as I can tell they are all included and unlike some other cruises there do not appear to be any of what Uniworld calls "optional excursions" at additional cost. Aside from the day trip to Sintra I don't recall any other extra cost tours on my cruise.

If you have any questions on the proposed excursions I can offer some suggestions.

I took this Uniworld cruise a few years ago, but a "Do as the Locals Do" tour was not offered. I'm not sure why it and the city tour are offered at the same time, as the afternoon of Day 2 is shown as free. You can find the details of both tours on the Cruise Companion (look under the "Already Booked" menu.)

My choice would be the city tour, as it takes you out to Belèm and the Hieronymites Monastery among other sights. The "Do as the Locals Do Tour" is shorter and you can easily do those things on your own.

Day 3 is shown as a free day in Lisbon, which it was on my cruise. However, Uniworld in fact offered an optional day tour to Sintra and Cascais which I took and quite enjoyed. There is much to see in Lisbon though and you may want to spend your time there. (I returned at the end of the cruise and spent another 3 days).

It's a great cruise and I hope you enjoy it.

The Rhine port area where cruise ships dock is largely industrial and at some distance from the centre of the city. I'm not aware of any restaurants of the kind you are looking for around the docks. Most ships provide a regular shuttle from the port to central Strasbourg, where there are countless good restaurants to be found.

I travelled with Uniworld on the Douro in mid November and except for a couple of rainy days, the weather was sunny and the temperatures quite comfortable. Most mornings there was heavy ground fog, but that usually lifted by 10AM.

I would go again in November.

From my experience travelling in India, even before the demonetization crisis, I found US$1 bills very useful for tips and small cash transactions. I also think that $20 bills would be the largest useful cash to take, as it will be difficult to change a $100 bill (except perhaps on the unofficial market), and transactions that size and over might be better done with a credit card. I note from the Uniworld notice that the Oberoi Hotel will only change $20 per guest per day. I didn't have any difficulty with credit card transactions throughout my visit. I did use recommended ATMs but that could be difficult now until demonetization is sorted out. The most useful Indian notes were 100 ($1.50) 500 ($7.50) and 1000 ($15.00) but these are apparently now very hard to find.

Have a great trip.

I think we'll just order up some brand new 5s, 10s, 20s, and a hundy or two from the bank before we go, stop at the window at the airport if there's not a long line, check with the hotel desk, and call it a day.

 

The guides that emailed us are on a tour with a group right now, so I'm guessing their information is good. Your friend was probably traveling solo and had advice as to where the ATMs with money were and had the ability to get to them. Our guides are dealing with groups of 18 (or however many) and there's probably no way to facilitate money changing for a group.

 

My cousin, who received the same email, is a little concerned about the 'slightly pleasant 91F' comment. They're from upstate NY, and there's a reason they head back up there from FL in April :D I have already packed little packets of powdered pedialyte and gatorade. I don't know if it will be as unbearable as Cambodia, but those packets in our water bottles saved us on that trip.