Question on DIY on river cruises

[firstplacechef]

I was thinking Gill Bistro for Rouen. Were you on Spirit? I know food is subjective, was it really bad or just so so? I've heard reports from one end of the spectrum to the other. If its fresh and prepared well, I doesn't have to be gourmet.

[MIATraveler13]

Overall, the food was pretty good. It's just that that one particular meal (probably a lunch buffet, as I recall) was advertised as special and it was not at all. The house (free) wine was pretty gross--just one kind of white, one kind of red. If you like wine, buy some in Paris before sailing. Chefs vary from ship to ship, but food was pretty uniform on both our cruises. While staff on all ships rotate, the concierge staff we had on the Spirit (June 2012) was exceptional and eager to help you find and book onshore dining. As I recall, they have menus from some of the restaurants. Make sure that you see the outside of the Cathedral (always being renovated) at night as well as in the day.

[beverlyjack]

Grand Circle generally seems to have more port time than most, taking more days to cruise the same itinerary. They also post their arrival and departure times conspicuously on their web site, http://www.gct.com, in the detailed itinerary, which they generally adhere very closely to. Depending on the port, they may have an included tour, just an orientation watch or an extra cost optional tour. On our most recent cruise on the Seine, we definitely had more dock time than the other cruise ships.

[TravelGalCLT]

I did the Tulips & Windmills Cruise last Spring on Viking and we opted for a lower deck cabin. The water level was typically just below the porthole (when docked) and about midway up the porthole (when moving). The weather was dull and dreary the whole time so the cabin was pretty dark. But for the price difference, I wouldn't have opted for a higher deck on this cruise.

 

The friend with whom I traveled took the bunk closest to the porthole and claimed to have dreams of being inside a washing machine - not due to heavy motion, but because of the water slapping the wall beside her bed when we caught the wake of a larger ship. This was only a couple of nights - the rest of the time in the canals it was relatively quiet.

 

In a few weeks I'm doing the Vistas and Vineyards cruse and have opted for a cabin on the middle deck with a French balcony.

 

FYI - when in port you are likely to lose the view anyway because they stack the ships side by side when docked. So if you decide to open the curtains in the morning in your birthday suit, be aware that you might be

just a couple of feet from a window on the next ship over.:)

[TravelGalCLT]

I'd love to hear from people who have taken the Vineyards & Vistas tour to get their opinions pro & con on the optional excursions. I will be going in a couple of weeks. And if you passed on the optional (or included) tours, what did you do?

 

I took the Tulips & Windmills tour last year and we did the optional tour to Delft instead of a free afternoon in Amsterdam. So then we skipped both optional tours when in Arnheim. However, we found little to do within walking distance, so we felt like we wasted an afternoon.

 

There are three optional excursions - an all day tour to Rothenburg (day 3), an afternoon wine-tasting tour in Rudesheim (day 5), and a morning city tour in Bernkastel (day 7).

 

I actually visited Rothenburg on a driving tour ~15 years ago, so I'm not sure about doing that one - I enjoyed it the first time around, but it sounds like a very long day. In addition, it appears you get a shortened visit in Wurzburg - just the Residenz Palace. As an added "con" for Rothenburg, the next day is an all-day excursion to Heidelburg making 2 full days, back to back. And since the ship is relocating to Miltenberg, Hedelburg is an all or nothing day - there doesn't seem to be the possibility of touring in the morning and being lazy in the afternoon.

 

But I'm not sure how to fill the afternoon in Wurzburg. Did anyone visit Festung Marienberg? Was it woth the time?

 

The second optional excursion is in Rudesheim involves a trip to a local vineyard by bus. I have done numerous wine tastings in the US - in Napa & Sonoma, as well as local NC wineries. If taking the optional tour, is there time to see much in Rudesheim before returning to the ship for dinner? Did anyone DIY here? I thought the cable car looked kind of cool - and that isn't an option in the evening after dinner. But I could go back into town to sample some local wine or do that on my own in the afternoon.

 

The last optional excursion is a walking tour of Bernkastel followed by a visit to the Vinothek in Kues (a huge wine cellar, by the sound of it). That appears to the top attraction in the area, so I am leaning towards taking this tour. Any feedback? Other recommendations?

 

Thanks!