texasstar

Aren't you glad you are on the small ship!  Your trip sounds fantastic.  Enjoy!

Edinburgher, it was a low key excursion, in that it was mainly just walking in the town.  It is a quaint little town and the views were exceptional.  The excursion went to Motovon also, where we had lunch at a restaurant that was famous for truffles. Every course, even the ice cream had truffles. It was in 2017, so my memory is a little sketchy.

We were there on a Windstar cruise and took the ships excursion because there was no other option. It is a lovely town and we had lunch at a "truffle " restaurant, which the area is famous for.

If you are considering a small ship cruise, you might want to check out Windstar also.  They do not go to Antarctica, but have many other very nice destinations.

I have not done a Christmas  market cruise because I do not like to be cold, but I have been on 3 AmaWaterways cruises and one Scenic.  I would highly recommend AmaWaterways. 

You are also in control of your destiny.  You can choose your flights, choose your seats, and only have one person to deal with if a problem comes up.

We used French Country Waterways, 20 years ago.  We really enjoyed it.  The cabins are very small.  There were only 11 people on our trip.  The food was exceptional, the staff was a delight.  It went so slow that you could walk between locks or bike if you wanted to.  I am sure it is expensive though.  Less people, more cost.

Is  Chace no longer using Expedia as their travel portal?

Katmu, don't worry about that.  They generally have a "gentle walker" group.  There will be others in the same situation as you.

On 6/12/2023 at 12:30 PM, OliveOil2330 said:

Thank you for your input, lots of information for sure.  Our dates are Sept. 22nd to Oct. 2nd but in 2025 due to major surgery I have had so not ready to go abroad just yet.  We are also thinking when we end the trip to do a few days in Florence/Tuscany before returning home.  

 

Really appreciate all you info......  

If you have not been to Florence and Tuscany, defiinitely add this to yor trip.  It is one of our favorite places.

I will second Jazzbeau's recommendation concerning Lucerne.  You don't want to miss this, if you are in that part of the world.  You can take the train from Lucerne directly to the airport.  The train station is within walking distance of some of the hotels.

Canal Archive, definitely look at AmaWaterways.  I have been on Scenic and 3 AmaWaterways cruises. Ama  Waterways guides were much better at accommodating the gentle walkers.  Granted the Scenic Cruise was last year, when they were struggling to get tour guides, but we were left behind  several times.  The tour guide was going so fast, we did not even know where she was.

We did this on our own.  It was not expensive.  It was great to see the old men playing chess in the pool.

I would recommend the Madison in St Germain.  It has recently been remodeled and is a lovely smaller hotel.   

If you think it could be your last trip, go for it.

If you are flying out of PDX, Delta has a non-stop flight to Amsterdam and British Air has a non-stop flight London Heathrow.  Both airlines should have connections to your destination, however, overseas airfare is very expensive now.

See if the cruise line will let you purchase the transfer, but then do the hotel on your own.  AmaWaterways allowed us to do that.  We stayed at the Hilton Old Town, which was a very nice hotel and within walking distance of everything.

RG306, Thank you!

6 hours ago, RG306 said:

We were on the Wonder in September and spent two days pre-cruise at the Kimpton Epic and two days post there as well.  The location is excellent, very walkable and close to many sites.  We were able to walk or use the hop on hop off bus to get to everything we needed.  It was nice to not be directly on Las Ramblas but be very close.  There is a nightly happy hour, bikes available for use.  And we had an excellent massage and facial.  We had a wonderful time in Barcelona as Canadians, everyone we met was warm and friendly.  We met locals, expats, and international visitors during our stay.  We avoided restaurants and bars on the main streets/tourist traps and found some highly rated and hidden gems that I'm happy to recommend. 

Would love to hear your restaurant recommendations.  Thank you.

Just want to give Southwest Kudos for being speedy about reimbursing expenses from the fiasco over the holidays.  They had a problem, and they are working diligently to rectify the extra expenses that people incurred.  I turned in my receipts a little over a week ago.  I received the reimbursement today,  plus 50,000 miles for the two of us.

You should be able to get tickets to Mount Pilatus the morning of your tour.  We went in the morning, so not sure how early you will be arriving.  The ticket office and embarkation is across the street from the train station.  It is a beautiful trip.

We really enjoyed Motovun several years ago.  The scenery is beautiful.

We also went to Utah beach and Omaha beach on Scenic.  I suggested that they skip Utah beach because the whole day felt very rushed.  We were there the day after D Day.  A ceremony was happening and we were not allowed to stay and watch it because we had to "get back on the bus.'  The whole day was a disappointment, because we were rushed at each stop.

Delta is doing the same thing.  Delta Skymiles are useless for overseas flights.  The amount of miles they want for a ticket is absurd, and they don't even have any options except for very long flights.

On 10/5/2022 at 8:43 AM, ROWSE said:

Thank you for replying!  We only have 1 hour 40 min. and I know it is short for Amsterdam, that is what worries me.  We will just hope for the best.  

We were there in May.  They were very good about rushing people through that had quick connections.