Viking Tulips & Windmills April 2013

[deardianne]

We are taking our first river cruise on one of the new Viking longboats in April 2013. We have two post cruise nights in Amsterdam. Should we try to visit some of the places that we may visit as part of our cruise, i.e., Ann Frank House, Van Gogh Museum before we start the cruise, or wait until we are on the boat? What about the Keukenhof Gardens and the Rijksmuseum?

 

I'm concerned about the crowds and see some travelers go in the evening for some visitor attractions.

[Shmoo here]

We are taking our first river cruise on one of the new Viking longboats in April 2013. We have two post cruise nights in Amsterdam. Should we try to visit some of the places that we may visit as part of our cruise, i.e., Ann Frank House, Van Gogh Museum before we start the cruise, or wait until we are on the boat? What about the Keukenhof Gardens and the Rijksmuseum?

 

I'm concerned about the crowds and see some travelers go in the evening for some visitor attractions.

 

You might get more answers if you posted over on the River Cruises board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191

 

 

Or check out the Ports of Call board - Northern Europe:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=192

 

:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I would visit those cites before getting on the boat. This way you can spend more time at the cites and won't be rushed. Ship/boat tours have to stick to a schedule.

[Excited to go crusing]

we spent a few days in Amsterdam before our river cruise. We took in the Van Gogh museum & the Kreukenhof gardens. Both were very worthwhile. We took a bus tour out to the gardens. It did a city tour in the morning, & the Gardens in the afternoon. I am glad we did that as the cruise did not give us a tour of Amsterdam, we merely embarked there.

[drcpa]

Note that for many of the Amsterdam sites you can buy (and print) tickets online. This avoids you having to wait in line to buy tickets once you arrive and in some cases allows you expedited entry.

[MarkBearSF]

We're also embarking on a Rhine Cruise in Amsterdam next Spring. It appears that your itinerary is like ours in that the first night is spent in Amsterdam and the next day, there are tours in the morning (in our case on the AMACello) - first a canal tour than the "panoramic city tour" AKA bus.

 

I would definitely recommend seeing the sights you want to visit beforehand. Even if your tour actually goes INSIDE a museum (unlikely) - chances are that the experience of a personal visit will be FAR superior. Also, Kukenhof is DEFINITELY a good idea to see beforehand (It's amazing). Finally, I echo the advice to get tickets in advance (especially for the Anne Frank Huis)

[deardianne]

We're also embarking on a Rhine Cruise in Amsterdam next Spring. It appears that your itinerary is like ours in that the first night is spent in Amsterdam and the next day, there are tours in the morning (in our case on the AMACello) - first a canal tour than the "panoramic city tour" AKA bus.

 

I would definitely recommend seeing the sights you want to visit beforehand. Even if your tour actually goes INSIDE a museum (unlikely) - chances are that the experience of a personal visit will be FAR superior. Also, Kukenhof is DEFINITELY a good idea to see beforehand (It's amazing). Finally, I echo the advice to get tickets in advance (especially for the Anne Frank Huis)

Thank you for the great tips! I meant to say per-cruise (rather than post-cruise) but I think everyone figured it out. So, we should visit places we want to before we get on boat, and purchase tickets online in advance.

[cgcruiser]

Thanks for the head's up. We will be in Amsterdam prior to cruise. Guess we should plan to see some of the high spots beforehand. Thanks.:)

[sk8teacher]

We did this cruise in April 2007, and had a blast. The tour to the Gardens offered by Viking is nice, but not even long enough if the flowers are in bloom. Highly recommend what we did.

 

Arrived at the boat around 9am, dropped our bags off, walked down to Central Station and got a train up to the city just outside the gardens. Took a shuttle bus, and spent over 6 hours wandering around, took over 2000 pictures, and ordered bulbs for delivery in time for planting.

 

The cost of the trip on our own was less than $30 for two, and gave us so much more time at the gardens to really enjoy them.

 

The pricing may have gone up some, but I believe that you will not regret doing it.

 

Cheers!

[Needhamite]

Deardiane-

My wife and I will also be doing Viking's Tulips and Windmills in April and have been trying to figure out how to use or valuable time in Amsterdam. On our first visit to Amsterdam (many decades ago) we enjoyed the typical canal boat ride through the city. To this day, my wife grumbles that we only got to hear about the Rijksmuseum as we glided past it. As I read the Viking website details, if you want to see the inside of anything, then plan on doing it on your own time. With your two pre-cruise days and the free afternoons during the cruise you have plenty of time to see whatever are your top priorities.

You did not specify your embarkation date and this is important if the Rijksmuseum is on your priority list (as I believe it should be). The main museum has been closed for about ten years and is scheduled to reopen April 14. No matter how much free time you have, it is before April 14, then you won't get to see the inside of the Rijksmuseum. If you have free time after that date, you probably should expect that there will be big crowds from all that pent-up demand. (We are going to try to get in the afternoon of April 19.)

I hope that you enjoy your first River Cruise. It will be our first experience with European river cruising as well.

-Peter

[deardianne]

Dear Peter,

Thank you for the tip. Our pre-cruise dates in Amsterdam will be April 6 and 7, returning to Amsterdam on April 17. We leave on the 17th to Edinburgh for a week before we return home to Hawaii. So it looks like we will miss the opening of the Rijksmuseum.

 

From what I've read so far, it looks like we really need more time than what's offered as part of the cruise if we want to see the Keukenhof Gardens, so we'll do that for sure.

 

Any other tips from readers are appreciated!

 

Aloha,

Dianne

[DTWgypsy]

Hi Diane, There are some others traveling on the AMAPrima April 10,2013 on the following roll call thread- Please join us!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1799876

We've traveled to Amsterdam before & loved it!

[Riversanddale]

Hi Diane. We hope you enjoy your Amsterdam visit and are able to take in some of the sights beforehand. Last year, Viking did the canal ride one morning and then did the city bus tour. We had some free time at the flower market downtown (don't buy your bulbs there as they will warn you) before returning to the boat for lunch.

For flowers you might want to check out this website: http://tulipsinholland.com/blog/

The lovely lady is local and has shared Keukenhof photos and blooming info weekly during the garden season for the past several years. She updates each Friday, I believe. She has two postings this season so far. We were at the gardens last year on April 9 and it was too early in our estimation. The area fields had daffodils and hyacinths because it was too early for tulips. Viking gives you your choice of a half day tour or staying longer and returning to the boat on a later afternoon bus. Dress warmly as even the display buildings are drafty and chilly. There were lovely potted displays inside. Also, be sure to look at Keukenhof's online site as they have a map there which shows the display and food buildings along with the types of food in each.

Have fun whatever you do!