The BIG 60!

Hi Lois,

I have read your posts on the Celebrity boards for years, and then followed your river cruise adventures last year, as I also prepared for my first river cruise. We took Tauck's Prague to Budapest Danube cruise, and if you have not traveled to that area, I would highly recommend it.

The ports were so interesting, the river beautiful, and Tauck provided an amazing experience. Our brand new riverboat held just 120 people, so it felt elegant and spacious, our loft stateroom was large and beautiful, we had 4 Tauck guides to coordinate our activities and accompany the local guides, and they included so many special activities like palace dinners and private musical experiences that we all were so spoiled. We have also taken several Tauck land trips, all excellent as well. If you want something special for your celebration, I don't think you would be disappointed by Tauck.

I have just booked our second river cruise for September - on the Seine with AMA from Paris to NormandyI I have also heard very good things about AMA and am eagerly anticipating this experience.

Thanks for all the replies:)......I am going to take a breath and do some more research......thanks for the Tauck recommendation. After having such an awesome cruise with AMA not sure sure if I want to change;p. But no, I have

not visited any part of that area of the world (Eastern Europe). I have heard all kinds of things about it though. There

are so many choices.........

Sharon, yes, what a dilemma......I know I am very grateful to be able to do all of this.....:)

I am still looking for a birthday cruise........I looked at many of the suggestions all of you made.......went to the Grand

Circle website and the dates for their British Isles cruises don't work for me.

I even researched an Amazon River cruise....I used the search feature for that one......the company is called ARIA........

not sure about that one though.....I did see a cruise to South America that looks quite appealing to me.....it is on

Crystal.

Just want to thank all of you again for giving me recommendations.......I may even end up with a River Cruise;p

The Crystal Mozart is an AMAZING river cruise!

http://www.crystalcruises.com/river/river-guidebook/our-ships/crystal-mozart

I would also consider luxury barge cruising as you have not done that yet! Barge cruising in France is incredible and there are luxury barges small enough to rent out for your whole family as a charter! Take a look at this:

https://www.abercrombiekent.com/search.cfm?new_search=1&tif=692

I remember seeing a hotel barge in Stratford upon Avon - it looked absolutely wonderful and the people onboard were having such a great time. There are some that make a stop for the place where Downton Abbey was filmed and include going there as an excursion:

http://www.bargecompany.com

http://www.magna-carta.co.uk/custom-made-cruises/dowton-abbey-cruise/

The Crystal Mozart is an AMAZING river cruise!

http://www.crystalcruises.com/river/river-guidebook/our-ships/crystal-mozart

 

I would also consider luxury barge cruising as you have not done that yet! Barge cruising in France is incredible and there are luxury barges small enough to rent out for your whole family as a charter! Take a look at this:

https://www.abercrombiekent.com/search.cfm?new_search=1&tif=692

 

I remember seeing a hotel barge in Stratford upon Avon - it looked absolutely wonderful and the people onboard were having such a great time. There are some that make a stop for the place where Downton Abbey was filmed and include going there as an excursion:

http://www.bargecompany.com

 

http://www.magna-carta.co.uk/custom-made-cruises/dowton-abbey-cruise/

Thanks for the links:).....the Barge Company looks interesting but to be honest, traveling with only 10-12 people gives

me pause......I get along with folks quite easily but with that few amount? You just never know.....at least on a regular

river cruise with (for example) 150 folks, the % is higher that I might meet more "like minded" people to me......with only

a dozen?.......just not sure what the demographic of such a small group would be.........

Happy 60th.....I am planning my 60th with a Viking Rhine Getaway Aug 31, 2018...Viking Mani ..Join us !!!

I am in my OCD researching this cruise.

Cheers

Cheri

Happy 60th.....I am planning my 60th with a Viking Rhine Getaway Aug 31, 2018...Viking Mani ..Join us !!!

I am in my OCD researching this cruise.

 

Cheers

Cheri

Hi Cheri, Happy Birthday to you as well and thank you for the invitation:) but to be honest with you, I don't want

to wait all the way till next summer to sail (my birthday is in March) AND I can never sail at the end of the month

due to work:rolleyes:.....it is the only time I cannot sail.

Hope you have a great cruise though:D

Lois....one river cruise you might like is Basil to Amsterdam on the Rhine. You can do this one in early April....we did ours April 13th-23rd so that we would end up in Holland to see the tulips. If you like Spring flowers, this would be an ideal cruise to take. You go to Keukenhof Gardens which is an amazing excursion! We did ours on Avalon back in 2008 and loved it! Have fun planning your 60th.

Lois....one river cruise you might like is Basil to Amsterdam on the Rhine. You can do this one in early April....we did ours April 13th-23rd so that we would end up in Holland to see the tulips. If you like Spring flowers, this would be an ideal cruise to take. You go to Keukenhof Gardens which is an amazing excursion! We did ours on Avalon back in 2008 and loved it! Have fun planning your 60th.

Hi Mike, thanks for the recommendation:).......I did a TULIP TIME CRUISE as my first River cruise and I agree,

the Gardens are spectacular:D.......I know about that Rhine itinerary and it is on my list LOL.....just don't know how

high on it yet;)

Hi Mike, thanks for the recommendation:).......I did a TULIP TIME CRUISE as my first River cruise and I agree,

the Gardens are spectacular:D.......I know about that Rhine itinerary and it is on my list LOL.....just don't know how

high on it yet;)

Lois,

Have you picked your 60th bday cruise yet?

Robin

Lois,

 

Have you picked your 60th bday cruise yet?

 

Robin

Hi Robin:)...nope, I haven't. I went on a fantastic cruise last month on Silversea from Barcelona to Rome:D

so now they are in the running too;)......and with things here at home I haven't done a lot of research lately......

hoping Irma will not do too much damage around my area:eek:

Oh, I have also looked at a land trip, if you can believe it LOL......something to England/Ireland/Scotland.........

Lois -- what is the latest Irma forecast for Jacksonville? Prayin' for ya!

Hello Lois,

landtrip to the British Isles sounds great. So much to see and do. I recommend the North Yorkshire Moors for solitude, or for some real fun celebrate in an Irish Pub in Ireland, of course. But Wales is a great place to explore as well. The castles round the coast or a trip up Mount Snowdon perhaps. Avoid the beast on the Thames (unless you are into big cities) and head to Kent for lush gardens. You could take a train from Ashford (if you want to avoid St Pancras International, but the station - I mean the modern connected to the old St. Pancras - is great to see) to Lille/Brussels and - voilà - you are back on track towards a river cruise option. :D

But first, hope all goes well over at your side of the ocean.

notamermaid

Lois -- what is the latest Irma forecast for Jacksonville? Prayin' for ya!

Hi Jazz......we are getting rain right now........the worst of it will be south of me but tomorrow should be the time my

area feels it the most. No work for me tomorrow.

It looks like Irma is hitting the Keys this morning and although the west coast will take the big hit, Miami Beach is getting

awful weather right now too.

Hello Lois,

 

landtrip to the British Isles sounds great. So much to see and do. I recommend the North Yorkshire Moors for solitude, or for some real fun celebrate in an Irish Pub in Ireland, of course. But Wales is a great place to explore as well. The castles round the coast or a trip up Mount Snowdon perhaps. Avoid the beast on the Thames (unless you are into big cities) and head to Kent for lush gardens. You could take a train from Ashford (if you want to avoid St Pancras International, but the station - I mean the modern connected to the old St. Pancras - is great to see) to Lille/Brussels and - voilà - you are back on track towards a river cruise option. :D

 

 

But first, hope all goes well over at your side of the ocean.

 

notamermaid

Thanks for the reply....I appreciate it.:)

Hi Robin:)...nope, I haven't. I went on a fantastic cruise last month on Silversea from Barcelona to Rome:D

so now they are in the running too;)......and with things here at home I haven't done a lot of research lately......

hoping Irma will not do too much damage around my area:eek:

 

Oh, I have also looked at a land trip, if you can believe it LOL......something to England/Ireland/Scotland.........

Lois,

First, hoping all the best for you, as Irma passes. We were just at Disney last week-what a difference a week makes!

Second, have you looked at the first of the season Rhone/Provence cruises? They may be early enough that you are back for your end of the month work responsibilities.

Robin

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Lois,

 

First, hoping all the best for you, as Irma passes. We were just at Disney last week-what a difference a week makes!

 

Second, have you looked at the first of the season Rhone/Provence cruises? They may be early enough that you are back for your end of the month work responsibilities.

 

Robin

 

 

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Hi Robin, thanks for the good wishes.........:)

Oh, there are plenty of cruises within the time frame that works for me.....I just haven't given a lot of thought to it

lately...........maybe I will look a bit today actually:)............

We are doing the Scenic Amber, “Gems of the Danube with Prague” for my 63rd birthday, end of June. Don’t delay in reserving a cabin for 2018, being that river boats are significantly smaller, many of the prime suites/cabins are already booked!

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We are doing the Scenic Amber, “Gems of the Danube with Prague” for my 63rd birthday, end of June. Don’t delay in reserving a cabin for 2018, being that river boats are significantly smaller, many of the prime suites/cabins are already booked!

 

 

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I know....thanks:)

I've done several trips through Scotland and Ireland on our own, in April and May. They are both beautiful places, just be prepared for the weather conditions. It can be blustery. Layers are your friend.

Also, it may be better to focus on one country or the other. It's called the 'Green Blur' when people try to rush from one end of Ireland to the other. These are places where you want to linger. Both are easy to figure out; they speak a language similar to Floridian American English. If you listen real hard you can get every 3rd word, and figure out rest from context. ;)

Enjoy, choices are great.

Thanks for the information:).........I would not be going "by myself".........I mean I would be traveling solo but I would

be going on small private tour (with other people). I have not made any decisions for anything yet.

Good morning.:)...I have been looking at a land trip (if you can believe it) but part of me is still hesitant. It is a trip to

Ireland with a company called Emerald Custom Tours........it looks quite interesting.......Small Group......max is 16

people. I have wanted to see that area of the world.......BUT the logistics is what is making me re-think it. I just LOVE

the fact on a cruise I unpack once.......call me crazy but the packing part for a land trip makes me go hmmmmm..........

So, my thought process is coming back to the River Cruise genre:) and going to Paris which I have never visited either.

I was going to look at AMA again but the timing is not the best........so I continued to research and found UNIWORLD does

this cruise too and the dates work better for me. I know Uniworld and AMA have totally different decors...I loved my AMA

cruise but I know Uniworld gets excellent reviews too...........

IF you want to chime in, be my guest:)

The Paris Seine itinerary is wonderful. My relatives who are not travelers by any means recently did this itinerary and enjoyed every minute. So many unique places visited on this itinerary.

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So, my thought process is coming back to the River Cruise genre:) and going to Paris which I have never visited either. IF you want to chime in, be my guest:)

Tell us more, Lois. My memory gets a little rusty and I posted these questions to you on another thread!! It might be helpful to others to know your personal interests and desires.

As you consider places to visit in Europe, what most interests and motivates you? Is it history, culture, shopping, architecture, urban environments, nature, music, art, wildlife, nightlife, food, scenic countrysides, wine, etc.?? Are you mostly for being more "aggressive" in doing and seeing as much as possible? Or, seeking a more relaxed and laid-back experience? Are more just of a "float on a boat" person where the ship is the prime "destination"?

Paris??!! Surprised that you have never been there. My first visit there was in 1970. Been back a large number of times to enjoy this great city. Can share lots and LOTS about Paris and nearby.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Super loved Dubrovnik!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link. Have had over 38,583 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and dropped by.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

Uniworld is excellent!