bunnybear

I wanted to verify that there are washing machines on the Marina. Are they coin operated or what do we need to bring. Do we need to bring our own soap?

It will certainly affect how I pack for a 14 day cruise in July.

We did a similar cruise a few years ago and just took out a little money from each country at an ATM, Russia being the exception (we pre-purchased Rubles from our bank). Given the sanctions with Russia, I would be concerned about ATM machines working properly with US bank cards... We also had a small stash of euros and USD in our safe.

 

We found we primarily used our cash for things like gratuities for tour guides, taxi rides, lunches, etc. so about $200 USD worth per day was sufficient for each currency for two of us.

 

Make sure you notify your bank you will be traveling and are planning on withdrawing cash in said countries... Enjoy - the Baltics may go down as one of my all time favorite cruises/regions!

This is what I needed to know. We will watch the Ruble for awhile and then order some before we leave.

Did you get some for Sweden, Denmark, etc. that doesn't take the Euro? We are doing the pre-cruise in Stockholm and may need some currency for that part of the trip.

We are booked on the July 2015 - Treasures of the North trip. We visit 11 countries and there are quite a few that do not use the Euro. They have their own currency. Was this an issue with anyone that has made this trip before?

I know we can use ATM's just about everywhere to get some cash - but I read that Russia doesn't have them very accessible. Is that a correct statement? Since we are in St. Petersburg for three days I am sure we will be spending some money and will need some Rubles.

I would appreciate any information regarding people's experiences as it relates to the currency in multiple countries.

FYI - we always leave the States with a minimal amount of Euros in our pocket in case we need something upon arrival. With the Euro so low - we already ordered them and got a great exchange rate.

We were up on the 4th floor but some of the people we met on the cruise were in the category 3 rooms and they were very pleased. There was absolutely no noise on this trip. I never heard an engine sound or even felt vibrations in any part of the vessel. We never felt any movement either. It was one of the best cruising experiences I have had.

Having cruised from Amsterdam to Basel - I am biased for that direction. The trip just kept getting better and better each day. Cologne was not my favorite stop but it just kept getting better after that. I would hate for Cologne to be my last stop. But I have read quite a difference of opinion on the boards so you will just have to choose for yourself.

As far as what city to fly out/of or into - it would depend on your airline. In the future, I will research better to make the most of my time. We were using Lufthansa and since their main hub was Frankfurt that would have worked better. But I understand you can make arrangements out of Zurich with direct flights to the US on other airlines. Since we are in Houston - we try to fly non-stop out of Europe whenever possible.

I can't wait to book another Uniworld cruise.

My river cruise is next Sept 11 2015, your packing list will come in handy!

Thanks...

 

 

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I didn't make a packing list - but I would probably have taken a lot less clothing than I did. Like I stated before, you need to bring multiple layers for the day - but with clever planning you could mix and match these and wear them multiple days. I did bring two pair of shorts and did enjoy having them on the warmer days at the end of the cruise. I took one pair of nice black slacks and just wore nice tops with either costume jewelry or scarves to change them up. I took one pair of black sandals for dinner. I brought two pair of Clarks shoes for walking and felt like I could have probably just brought one.

My husband likes to wear the Columbia fishing pants on trips because they are comfortable and easily washed in the sink if necessary. He took three pair of those and then a mix of polo shirts and Columbia fishing shirts. For dinner, he wore nice jeans and polo shirts and cowboy boots. For the welcome reception /dinner and the farewell reception/dinner he wore a sports coat and a solid color polo. Most men were in sports coats and no ties, but some were in suits.

The fact that you can do laundry on the boat I think you could easily get by with less clothing. The bathroom is stocked with high quality products so there is no need to bring shampoo, shower jell or body lotion.

Traveling the trains in Europe are so easy and nice. We loved the fact that you can just show up when you are ready to leave and hop on the next available departure.

The luggage is cumbersome, but they have areas to store them and we managed just fine.

The one thing we both agree that we did wrong was making our flight reservations to return out of Basel. We should have just taken the train to Frankfurt and left from there since that is where we were making our connection back to the states from anyways. We had to take the train to Basel Tuesday afternoon and then get a cab to a hotel near the airport and then arrange travel from the hotel to the airport at 4:30 Wednesday morning. We could have made that part of the trip a little bit easier.

I wouldn't have wanted to miss Lucerne but you are right - it was expensive.

The bells at the church across the lake pealed at 7:00 am. We looed out our window to see a flower and fruit market being set up at the church. We will probably go for a short walk and then pack up our belongings and head to the train station.

One other note on Des Balances. There is no air conditioning. We slept both nights with our window and door to our balcony open. They provide a fan. It was comfortable for the post part but a little warm for part of the night.

We have just about completed our last day in Lucerne. It is a charming and picturesque place to visit. There is a picture opportunity at every corner. The weather was bit better today so we walked here and there for about 6 hours. We started out our day at a pasteria and picked out two enticing pastries and ordered coffees.

We took the lake boat cruise which gave you a good view of the surrounding communities that surround the lake. We then hike up the hill to walk on the upper wall where the towers are located. It was quite a hike but brought along a sandwich we bought along the way and had lunch on a bench we found up the hill. The view from the upper wall is a new perspective. The staircase to get to the upper wall is straight up. We made it but were both winded at the top.

We then made our way down from the walls and wandered again to the other bridge that has been here since the 1400's. We spent a lot of time just sitting on benches soaking in the atmosphere. You will hear a lot of different languages spoken but we had so problems with using English in the restaurants and the shops.

Food in Lucerne is expensive, especially in the restaurants. We found it was better to buy pasteries and sandwiches in shops for breakfast and lunch. I had also read in TripAdvisor to go to the train station because the food was more economical. We did eat in two restaurants for dinner and they were pricey. When you stay at Des Balances they give you two free cocktails at the restaurant/bar in the hotel. We had the free cocktails, ordered appetizers and two coffees and it was 57 swiss francs.

Des Balances has a coffee machine in the room. We bought pastries this evening to enjoy tomorrow morning from our balcony as we say goodbye to Lucerne.

Our room is compact but sufficient. It's certainly not the biggest room I have stayed in Europe but certainly not the smallest. The lake front balcony is big enough for a table with two chairs. Our room sits directly across from the Jesuit Church and the church bells that play at 3:30 were a treat.

I am really glad we visited this pretty place. I hope this information will help you in your future travel plans.

Tomorrow we take the train back to Basel. We are staying overnight in a hotel near the airport and then fly back to Houston early Wednesday morning.

We got off the ship at 9:15 and Uniworld provided transportation to the train station. I bought us tickets for the next available train and we were easily able to make the 10:05 train. The ride was less than an hour. The train station is very close to old town. We caught a cab and realized we could have easily walked to our hotel. We are staying at Des Balances and have a lake view room. The scenery is gorgeous, but unfortunately the weather stinks.

But we are going to make the best of it. We headed to the Dieing Lion Monument and have walked across the bridge. We purchased a Swiss watch and ate in a sidewalk café during a heavy rainstorm. We are calling it a night and hope for a break in the weather tomorrow.

Lucerne is very easy to get around so I suggest you can do this on your own if that fits your style.

He wore a black or white sold color polo under his jacket with nice jeans. He fit in just fine.

I saw ladies in all styles of dress at dinner. I took a nice pair of black pants that packed easily and just wore different tops with scarves or costume jewelry and it worked perfectly. I took one pair of black sandals and that was fine for the whole week at dinner.

Something I think is fabulous is that Uniworld provides a laundry room with three washers and three dryers. They provide the detergent/fabric softener and they are complimentary. We met a lot of folks on board who packed for a lengthy holiday in a carry on because they knew they could do laundry along the way. I did two loads during the week so that when we get home it will lighten my loads.

Things that may be helpful for future cruisers on the SS Antoinette:

There are two 110 outlets - one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. We brought a power strip and was able to power up all our electronic devices without any need to use converters.

WiFi was promised to be available in the public areas. For the majority of the trip we had WiFi available in our room, as well. Friday and Saturday - the signal was weak but the rest of the trip it was strong.

If you have international phone service you will change providers several times. We learned to turn down the volume on our phones when we went to bed or we were woke up as texts came in to tell us that we were in a new provider area.

Clothing is casual for the most part. Due to weather conditions, layering is a good idea. It can be cool when you leave but then by mid-morning I was taking off the sweater or jacket. Most men wore a jacket for two dinners. Ladies wore slacks or skirts for those two dinners. Otherwise, it was nicer casual clothes. My hubby wore nice jeans with a jacket and he looked fine. I brought way too many clothes and will definitely pack differently if we river cruise again.

We have nothing to compare to, but feel that Uniworld is the best product we have seen. It is all inclusive so I never felt they were trying to sell us something. Bicyles were provided free of charge is you wished to do that. All cocktails, beer and wine are provided and gratuities are included. We never had to tip the bus drivers or the guides. The only thing I had to settle up was our one optional excursion. The crew repeatedly went out of their way to make the trip whatever the passengers wanted it to be.

We saw a lot of other cruise ships along the river and it seemed that the tour groups for those lines were much larger. We were always in small groups and with the headsets provided - you could always hear the guide even if you wandered away from the group.

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Saturday we chose to take the tour of the two Alsace Villages. We were off the boat by 8:45. The bus ride to the village was about 45 to 50 minutes. We had a guide who provided commentary the entire way providing history of the area.

The first village was picturesque and very quaint. The guide walked us a short ways through the village and then allowed us some free time. Tony, actually brought a big tray of the local sweet bread for us to snack on while we strolled the streets and visited the shops. Most of the shopkeepers spoke only French so it was a lot of pointing and smiling but they were very gracious.

The second village was also pretty with the shops located on a uphill main street. There was also plenty of opportunities for pictures.

We were back on the boat by 1:15. We ate lunch and then took on the packing. It always makes me sad when it's time to do that chore after an absolutely wonderful week.

The boat sailed at 4:00 and this section of the river is a series of locks that are pretty significant in the amount of height that we had to go up in each lock. A lot of our fellow passengers stayed up on top as we went through the first couple of locks. It was a neat experience.

Saturday night at 6:30 is the Captain's Farewell Reception and then the Farewell dinner at 7:00. We noticed that throughout the week groups of passengers sat at the same table throughout the week and by the end of the cruise enjoyed each other's company. We very much enjoyed our new group of friends. We exchanged email addresses and plans to visit each other.

Sunday morning embarkation is based on your plans. We are taking the train to Lucerne and Uniworld is providing a bus to the train station at 9:00. You have to be out of your room by 8:30 am so we will hang out in the Salon until it's time for our bus to leave. Uniworld has done everything in their power to make this trip memorable. I would not hesitate to recommend this trip or Cruiseline to anyone.

My hubby took hundreds of photos but due to heavy clouds the day of the Castle cruising - his didn't turn out as well as your did. There is so many photo ops in this trip.

It is Friday and we are docked in Kehl, Germany which is across the river from Strasbourg. The area we are docked is a very industrial area and we are actually tied up to an AROSA boat and had to cross it to get to the street. We had decided ahead of sailing that we were not going to take the Black Forest tour. This was based on many reviews on Cruise Critic about it being a long bus ride and that didn't appeal to us for this trip. So we took the canal cruise with a majority of the passengers in Strasbourg and then spent four hours just wandering around town. It is a beautiful, quaint town with gorgeous architecture, high end shopping (if that is something you enjoy) and a restaurant one right after another.

We visited the Cathedral which is one of the prettiest I have ever seen. The exterior looks like lace. The building was started in the 1100's and it is spectacular from the inside and out.

We then wandered around the streets and found a Creperia for lunch. I had an artichoke, tomato and cheese and my hubby had a ham, asparagus and cheese crepe. They were wonderful and served on tables outside. We just admired the surroundings and only heard French or German spoken.

My husband took pictures of beautiful buildings, and doors. We then found a pastry shop and I bought the best éclair that either one of us has ever had. For those that don't want to be with a large group of people - today will make you very happy. You are free to do "your own thing" until 5:00 when the last shuttle leaves Strasbourg to come back to the ship.

We really enjoyed our day.

Thursday evening was nice onboard. We had signed up for the "Fine Dining Experience". It was held upstairs at the L'Orangarie. It had a set menu with the entrée being a particularly fabulous tenderloin of beef. Not very many passengers participated so it was very intimate and we were given all the attention we could ever want.

Now it is Friday. We are off the ship early this morning to head to Strasbourg for the day. Unfortunately, it's misting rain and is cool again. We did not opt for the Black Forest tour so we plan on spending the day wandering around the town but the weather may hamper that schedule. We will just wing it.

By all means you are free to do your own thing in every port but I have never felt herded. The groups are never more than 30. Tony will tell you in each place to feel free to do whatever you want. The only problem - we are docking sometimes in remote areas and it would be very difficult to get to somewhere to rent a car.

Thursday morning was a lazy start for us. We had signed up for the Vinegar tour but not the Heidelberg tour. Since they had such a huge response to the Vinegar tour they had to stagger the departure time. We didn't leave until 10:00 from the boat. The trip to Doktorehof was about 20-30 minutes. We were able to see a lot of agriculture along the way. In fact we have seen agriculture all along the Rhine from Amsterdam. Beside vineyard after vineyard there are all sorts of crops along the way.

The Vinegar tasting experience was wonderful. I had read on Cruise Critic that this was not to be missed and I agree with that assessment. We enjoyed the trip ad bought some vinegar and mustard to enjoy at home.

We got back to the boat around 1:15 and had lunch. We then took the shuttle bus into Speyer. It is a lovely German town with beautiful architecture. There is a shopping area that is clothing, shoes and many little sidewalk cafes. We only spent an hour there and headed back on the shuttle to the boat.

So we are now caught up. I will update tomorrow after our visit to Kehl.

Wednesday morning, we were up and eating by 7 and up on the top floor by 8:15. This has to be my favorite day so far. It was a bit cool and damp but we stayed upstairs until noon watching the Castles go by. Tony narrated and told us the name and history of each castle we passed. We passed by castle after castle and the most quaint villages with gorgeous churches and buildings. My husband took 165 pictures. It was as if we stepped into a fairy tale. At 10:30 they served in the top deck eatery a typical German meal with beer. We ate outside and continued to watch the castles go by. The sun finally began to peek through the clouds so the jackets came off and we didn't need the blankets.

At 1:00 we arrived in Rudesheim. We took a mini train ride into town and then were allowed two hours free time. We loved this town. It was darling. We ate the absolute best Apple Strudel we have ever had. We made our way back to the boat by 5:30.

Our evening schedule was the same. Port talk at 6:45 and dinner at 7:00. We are truly enjoying our trip.

We were up and moving by 8. The tour we chose for Koblenz was the Aerial Tram ride to the Ehrebreitstein Fortress. It was still overcast and lightly raining so raingear was called for. We joined a group and headed out. It was a lot of walking but well worth the trip. The tram ride was really neat and you could see a great perspective from the air of where the Mozelle and the Rhein come together. After the trip we headed back to the boat for a quick lunch because it was time at 1:15 for our trip the Marksburg Castle. The ship left Cologne shortly after we left on the bus and we would meet up in Boppard.

The tour of the Marksburg was great. I do want to mention that it is a little tricky walking up the ramp to get to the castle and up the uneven steps leading into the castle. This castle is one of the only one that was never destroyed by the French. It has been refurnished in the style that fit the time period. We loved the tour and am glad of our selection.

We headed back to the boat and was onboard about 4. We took a rest, cleaned up and attended the 6:45 port talk. There was a history lecture at 5:30 that we did not attend but I heard it was worthwhile.

Dinner was again great and we sat with our new friends. It was a great day.

First I must correct my dates. We left Houston, August 22.

Monday morning we made our way downstairs for the breakfast buffet. There was quite a variety of items to choose from. There is an omlette bar and the cook can also make over medium eggs. The scrambled eggs on the buffet were delicious, hot and fresh. There are also menu items available such as waffles and French toast. It is again open seating so we met other guests.

The majority of the 140 passengers are from the States, but there are quite a few from Australia and England. So the only language I have heard spoken onboard is English. The ages are approx. late 40's to late 70's. I would say the majority is in the late 50's to late 60's. Everyone seems very friendly and we have visited with a lot of our fellow passengers. We have met three other couples from the Houston area which is a small world again.

The weather was still cool and lightly raining. We headed upstairs to the L'Orangie for the Black Forest cake demonstration at 11:00. We then headed down the to the restaurant for lunch. Lunch is served buffet style. Again a good selection and there was a carving station of roasted pork. There are dessert selections but there is always ice cream of different flavors available. I had some of the pistachio and it was excellent.

At 1:30 we stopped along the Rhine and loaded on buses to head to Cologne. It was about a 20 minute ride. We were broken up into 6 groups of about 26 or so. We used our VOX boxes and was able to hear our guide very well. She walked us around the Cathedral and gave us the history of the area. We then visited the Cologne Cathedral which is supposedly the largest Cathedral in the world. It is quite impressive inside. We saw a huge gold box that also supposedly holds the bones of the three wise men. It was taken from Milan years ago in a dispute. After the tour we had some free time. I purchased a bottle of the original Cologne which I really loved the scent. It was then about a fifteen minute walk to the boat.

We were back on the boat by 5 which gave us time to relax a bit, take a shower ad prepare for the Welcome Reception which was at 6:15. Dress was just bit more dressy. Most of the guys had jackets on and the ladies were in dresses or dressy slacks. They introduced the staff and then discussed the next day's activities. We then went to dinner. We sat at the same table as the night before and were joined by our new friends from Fredricksburg but were also joined from a couple from Illinois. It was a delightful evening and we stayed for quite awhile visiting and getting to know our new friends.

We are in Cabin 427 which has a French Balcony. We have a lovely blue Toile print. We unpacked and had ample storage for all that we brought. We were both impressed with the roomy bathroom. It has a large drawer under the sink to hold all your toiletries and not have to clutter up the countertop. The shower is roomy.

Once we got settled in it was time for the Safety drill which was held in the Salon. It is the area where daily meetings are held and is also a bar. The meeting took only about 15 minutes and then most headed upstairs to watch while we sailed away. The weather was overcast but it wasn't raining. The boat provides blankets for those that needed them. We stayed up there for quite awhile and saw a lot of agriculture and eventually some windmills. My husband took a lot of beautiful photographs.

Our first port talk was at 6:45 in the Salon. The cruise manager, Tony, explained what would happen the next day and also described the optional excursions that could be selected for the rest of the week. We chose to sign up for the Marksburg Castle tour but didn't opt for any other ones that required payment.

Dinner was at 7. It is open seating so we just headed into the dining room and selected a table of six that was empty. Eventually, a couple joined us. We live in Houston, Texas but are both originally from San Antonio, Texas. The couple that joined us are from Fredericksburg, Texas. What a small world. The dress for the first night is casual and I noticed that most people were in the same clothes that they arrived in.

Dinner was slow paced but very good with wine or cocktails provided as requested. Since this is all inclusive trip - "adult beverages" are complimentary. I have only seen one passenger that seemed to over drink.

There was entertainment provided in the Salon or the Leopard Lounge but we decided to call it a night. We slept extremely well. You feel no movement and the engines are very quiet.

We left our hotel about 4:00 with the city map in hand and navigated our way towards the shopping district and then to where the Anne Frank house is located. We found a place to eat and relaxed and watched the people of Amsterdam. It is certainly a different place that we were used to but were glad we had the opportunity to visit. We loved the Anne Frank house and then headed back to our hotel around 9:30 pm. We never felt uncomfortable after dark as we found our way.

We slept late on Sunday and enjoyed the hotel's breakfast buffet. We then headed out to do some more exploring. We walked the few blocks to the flower market and did some more exploring. The rain stopped and started but we just kept moving. We headed back to the hotel around 10:30 and finished packing back up. We headed down to the lobby checked out and requested a cab to the port. It arrived within ten minutes of our request and the ride to the port was about 10 minutes and cost 15 Euro plus tip.

When we arrived we didn't see the Uniworld boat but saw multiple Viking vessels and there was a red tent set up for Viking. But a man in a navy blue jacket spotted me as we got out of the cab and it was if he knew to expect us and immediately assisted us with our luggage and directed us to our vessel. We had to walk through one Viking boat to get to the SS Antoinette but it was an easy experience. Our luggage was whisked away and we checked in. As it was 11:30 we were told our rooms would not be ready until 2:00 but we were welcome to have lunch and wander around until then.

We headed up to the top deck and had a bit of lunch and then headed back off board. We wanted to see the Dutch Resistance Museum and so we caught a cab from the port and went to the museum which was about 6-8 minutes from the port. We really enjoyed this museum. It tells the story of how the Dutch were affected by WW2. It was told from both the Jews and non Jewish population It was very educational and we were very glad we went. The staff at the museum called us a cab when we were done and we were quickly back at the boat. Our keys were ready and we made our way to the boat and our luggage was waiting on us.

We are currently on the SS Antoinette sailing upstream from Amsterdam to Basel. I thought I would write down my thoughts in the hopes it may help those that are sailing or considering sailing this itinerary.

We left Houston on Friday, April 22 and flew to Amsterdam. It was a smooth 8 hour flight and we arrived at approx. 8:30 in the morning. It was pouring rain but we found a cab very easily and headed to our hotel. The cab ride was about 20 minutes to the Banks Mansion. The hotel is very nice and a great location. I had emailed the hotel ahead of time to request an early check in but since we arrived so early that was not possible yet. The hotel stored our luggage and we decided on a canal tour and purchased the tickets from the hotel desk. It was about a 5 block walk to meet the tour. The first tour starts at 10:45 so we were able to take a leisurely stroll to get our bearings.

The canal tour was great because it gave us the chance to get an overview of how the city was laid out. After the tour, we headed back to the hotel and waited for our rooms to be ready. By noon, we were in our room and had the chance to freshen up and plan out our day.

I didn't mention that the rain came and went our entire time in Amsterdam . But we were prepared with rain gear and umbrellas. I had bought years ago a backpacking umbrella that its very lightweight and has a carabiner that I can hook to my travel purse. I could easily pull it out and put it back as needed.

We had bought our tickets for the Anne Frank house online about two weeks ahead of our trip. My suggestion is to buy them at least a month to six weeks ahead of time. The choices we had were limited. Our tickets were for 8:20 in the evening which turned out to be great because it forced us to stay awake and try to get our bodies changed to the current time zone.

We arrive in Amsterdam Saturday morning. I am ready for this trip to get started. Our flight is delayed so it is hurry up and wait.

We are in cabin 427 - how about you?