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Happy to have you follow along! I’m sure your weather will be better than ours. Thanks for the encouragement for Rob and getting new knees. I’m sure it will make a world of difference so I’m happy to convey another positive experience. DS will be busy on an expedition but DD, although also busy with exams, is dishing out a dose of guilt that she won’t be joining us.

1995 on a Greek ship from Barbados to Spain. My first and only TA.

I used to really like her show “Pitching In” so I am really looking forward to it.

I hope you enjoy your upcoming Avalon River cruise. We took Scenic on an 11 day Seine voyage in August 2019 and fell in love. Disclaimer: both DH and I are not big-mega ship people. That’s just us. So we think anyone who prefers boutique hotels over the large chain hotels will enjoy the river cruise experience. We really enjoyed how you get to know most of your fellow passengers and staff. They really went above and beyond, in our experience, to learn your individual preferences and routines.

Thank you. Rob is now, finally, on the list for knee replacement (s) and when we return he will go on the cancellation list so it may happen sooner than later 🤞He was deemed too young until recently so he has suffered for decades. we are a bit worried about all the walking but he is bringing the kt tape and pain cream. Hopefully the weather won’t be rain every daytime we can’t control that.

Thank you! And yes they sure have! Our son was 7 on our first HAL cruise to Alaska and our daughter 10. Now he is 6’4” and towers over all of us. We made such good family memories onboard the BHBs!

My condolences on the loss of your wife. Glad to hear you enjoyed your Avalon experience and thank you for sharing what it was that made it special. We did have a lot of Aussies onboard in 2019 but being Canadian, we enjoyed that. If I remember correctly, it was Australians and Americans that were the most passengers then Canadians, Kiwis, British and a few other countries sprinkled in. This time, with 2 Canadian chefs, we assume that the bulk of the passengers will be Canadian but we will find out! The boat sold out quickly once the special culinary experience was announced.

Thanks so much Jacqui. It has been a long and eventful 5 years. We are looking forward to celebrating our anniversary and putting some of those negative events behind us.

No, unfortunately not. We leave on Saturday and the eclipse is on Tuesday. It’s huge news and many schools are closed for the day as the timing of the eclipse is just after the schools let out for the day. The Boards are erring on the side of caution. Correct. It is only a partial eclipse in our area. I think Niagara Falls is panicking a bit as over a million people are expected. They are having events on Tuesday like an open air concert. But you are correct, it is too early to say if the skies will be clear.

Thank you so much for this! An information desk is perfect as all I got at the Paris Weston was shrugged shoulders.

Thanks so much! I have been looking at Google Maps to try to figure out how to get places since we have 3 days before we board Scenic Jade. My biggest question has to do with transfers to the ship. In Paris we were given zero information (which I relayed back to Scenic directly after the cruise) about the transfer and as a result people started hanging out on any surface that could be sat on before 10:00 in the morning. It was a gruelling 3 hour wait blocking the whole lobby. So I am hoping that this hotel is better equipped to handle river cruise transfers and has more places to sit.

Yes they are very different. I remember some members of this board being curious and asking questions. So if a river cruise is something you may be considering and you have questions on how it compares to a HAL cruise I’m willing to take pictures and answer questions to the best of my ability. Why did we choose Scenic? Well just as I did before choosing HAL, I did an analysis of costs, inclusions, cabin types, etc. Looking at cost only, Scenic was one of the most expensive in 2018 but with cost of inclusions factored in, it quickly became one of the most cost effective. We will be on the Scenic Jade. It is 135 m in length and takes 163 passengers in 80/82 cabins on 3 decks with 55 crew. Its gross tonnage is 2721. It has 3 restaurants plus in room dining for most cabins, a lounge with bar, a salt therapy lounge, a sun lounge, a wellness centre and a fitness centre.

We are in the bullseye for up to 20 cm on Tuesday, apparently. We are in the snow belt, about an hour north of Toronto’s airport on top of the Niagara Escarpment.

The above is a link to my live thread for our upcoming river cruise. I will try to answer questions and provide as much information as possible. After many years of sailing HAL as a family of 4 I can no longer cruise due to a medical condition. This will be our second river cruise, the first one was in August 2019 on the Seine. And it will just be DH and I as DD is working on her Master’s in Occupational Therapy and DS is about to graduate college with all the qualifications for search and rescue. He will be canoeing in Southern Maine while we are in The Netherlands. We loved everything about HAL but since we can no longer sail the oceans we are loving cruising rivers. Of course we would love to board a BHB but see how a (much) smaller boat compares!

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.

Thanks! I’ve been watching too but not all winter. We live on top of the Niagara Escarpment so in the snow and tornado alleys. I guess I will just pack like I would for a vacation in Ontario but include hat and mittens for the windy areas. Thanks for the warning about wet cobblestones!

Yes, that’s it. It was really a win/win for me since I now walk with a cane so there are many cooking demonstrations and talks onboard.

Well we first booked a Christmas Markets river cruise in November of 2019 with the best of intentions and much excitement. Well you all know what happened. That trip was switched to a South of France voyage but an unexpected brain surgery put a hault to those plans. After recovering I switched back to a Christmas Market cruise for 2023 but my doctor would not allow me to go only because it would be winter and the possibility of slippery cobblestones. So here we are, less than a month away from embarking on our Scenic Tulip Time plus Belgium tour which was changed by Scenic into a Chef’s Culinary Tour. Our first River cruise was the 11 day Seine voyage also on Scenic in August of 2019. Being Canadian, cold doesn’t affect us as much but this winter has been less harsh. Does anyone know if The Netherlands has had a warmer than average winter? I don’t want to be too warm! I found the public rooms of the Senic Gem in 2019 to be cool with the air conditioning but what about April? I guess layering will be the key. We are flying to Vienna post voyage for 4 days then flying home from there. I will post a live thread but right now I’m stuck on what to pack.

Yes Fort Lauderdale has noise restrictions due to all the condos around the port, which is why I was surprised to hear the horn blast 3-4 times upon departure.

Well I can finally be included! But unfortunately for us it not an ocean cruise which I am medically not permitted to enjoy anymore. But come April 10, 2024 DH and I are embarking the Scenic Jade for an 8 day river cruise entitled “A Chef’s Culinary Adventure of Belgium and The Netherlands with Chef Lynn Crawford and Chef Lora Kirk”. We had originally booked their Tulip Time adventure which was switched to this specialty cruise. We will then fly to Vienna to extend our trip.

I watched you depart Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday just after 7:30 and was surprised the captain did toot the horn 3-4 times. A good sendoff!

@kazu we have never been PG fans and not for lack of trying. 3 ships, 3 dinners and 1 lunch and all sub-standard from what I would expect. Even after our vow renewal it was embarrassing service and running out of food. On Westerdam DH and I arrived for our reservation only to bypass open tables to be seated in a side room with a group of at least 12-18 people at a large table. We couldn’t speak as we couldn’t hear each other. We couldn’t even hear the waiter but they wouldn’t move us until I said we would forgo dessert as it was such an unpleasant environment.

Almost to Toronto @kazu! That blackness is Lake Erie.

I see the flight is scheduled to leave at 5:20. That’s a long delay but better than yesterday when the flight was cancelled. I wonder what’s going on as the weather is perfect at YYZ. Maybe it’s the pilots making a statement? Sorry you are caught in whatever it is.