The Romantic Rhine on the AVALON Imagery II.. full trip report with lots of pix!

[Sleep7]

Oh! and thanks for the "we don't look in our mid-50s" compliment teabag!;)

[Sleep7]

Also tried some gingerbread shaped sweet bread and of course the famous Kolsch!

 

[Sleep7]

Back on board for the afternoon we took a tour of the kitchen.:)

 

 

 

 

And enjoyed a special dinner with lobster and the most famous of cruise desserts.. Baked Alaska!

[Sleep7]

Friday dawned and we were at our last port of Amsterdam. A very bittersweet feeling knowing that we would be leaving our "home away from home" for the past week early tomorrow morning.

The ship was docked almost right behind Amsterdam's Central Station which was a terrific location. It was C O L D though.. in the 30s but the sun was shining brightly.

We took the included canal cruise and enjoyed the history and the beautiful and unusual city set up that Amsterdam has to offer. Another fantastic local guide.. that's 6 for 6.

He showed us how some of the houses are sinking and lean on the other houses.. fascinating!

 

After the canal cruise we had the option of taking a short walking tour or a "Diamond Factory" tour of Gassen Diamonds where the canal cruise ended.

Sam and I split up.. jewelry is my thing! :) Even though I'm sure I could have probably given the diamond tour I was still interested. Sam.. not so much so he took the walking tour.

If you are a fan of the bling then this is the tour for you.

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Picked up this little bauble for myself! ;)

 

[mlld3536]

We do plan to take the Jewish heritage tour next year, as we spent several days in Cologne five years ago on our own and gave ourselves a pretty extensive walking tour--thank you Rick Steves! We also happened to arrive in the cathedral just in time for a wonderful tour with a knowledgeable lady. In addition to the Jewish tour, I am hoping to get into their museum of Roman antiquities, which I missed last time. Thank you for the preview. I agree that Germany's efforts to cope with its past have been admirable. May they continue.

[Sleep7]

Took the bus back to the ship, had a fast lunch and headed out for a full day of exploring Amsterdam. We had the choice of an optional afternoon tour to Zaanse Schans to see the windmills, but since we only had one day in Amsterdam were anxious to just walk around by ourselves. We have visited the city a few times before but never really embraced it. Last Friday I didn't feel that way at all.. I absolutely loved it! So vibrant. So much to see and do and EAT! It made me want to go back another time and try all the restaurants we saw. Friday in Amsterdam was crowded, lively and fun. This was our shopping day and we hit the city hard!

First order of business was to buy 3 pairs of pink dutch shoe soft slippers for our 3 daughters.

 

[Sleep7]

Good thing we were wearing comfortable shoes. Maybe the map was a bit deceiving? What we were looking for didn't seem that far.. but in the end we must have walked close to 10 miles that afternoon. That's not including all the times I looked at the map and realized I had no idea where we were and we had to retrace our steps totally. It was a busy and fun afternoon!

 

We found a bottle of Gluhwein! Yay!

 

 

 

We browsed at a Tesla dealer!

 

 

We bought a little something (very little) at Chanel!

 

 

And of course we found time to get our picture taken in front of the famous

I AMSTERDAM sign!

[Sleep7]

We also gazed at the unique beauty of the city.

 

[Sleep7]

Later that evening the Captain, Gusta and crew joined all of us in a farewell cocktail and disembarkation talk.

Seems like we just were having the welcome aboard cocktail.. this week has truly flown or should I say sailed by.:rolleyes:

 

[Sleep7]

With such a small ship you don't have to put your luggage outside your door the night before you leave, which made the whole process of disembarkation quite relaxing and pleasant. There was a list of the transfer times posted just outside the lounge. You found your name and your assigned time and then you tied a color coordinated ribbon onto each piece of your bags. 30 minutes before your transfer bus leaves the next morning is when you put your luggage out in front of your cabin door.

We ate a quick breakfast at 6:30am and boarded the 7:30 transfer from the ship to AMS. The sun had not risen yet. World's worst picture taken from inside the bus as we pulled away.

Goodbye Imagery II.. we shall see you again sometime soon we hope.:)

 

[joy2travel]

:)Thank you so much in posting this tale. I'm taking this exact tour in June 2017...same route...same ship! This will be my first river cruise and I am so looking forward to it. Enjoyed reading through your tale and the pictures are wonderful.

[Sleep7]

Security was out in force at AMS, which although sobering to see, is a true sign of the times.:(

Our Delta plane was there and waiting for us.

 

[Sleep7]

Thanks joy2travel! You are in for a treat!!!!!

[Sleep7]

Strong headwinds that day.. our flight was 8 hours from AMS to JFK.

 

Halfway there..

 

We actually landed a bit early and breezed thru customs and immigration. It's always hard to believe when you arrive to think that you woke up in Europe that morning and here you are in your own home later that day.:rolleyes:

It was truly a perfect week (except maybe for the weather) sailing the Rhine on the Imagery II. Everything was so well planned and executed. The pace was just right.. never too busy.. never too un-busy. The local daily local tours were uniformly interesting and varied. The food was outstanding.. the cabins sparkling new and gorgeous. The staff was so friendly from the first moment we boarded to the last moment when we got off.

I would have not changed a thing. We hope that another Avalon river cruise is in our very near future.

:)"Best time ever on the Rhine.. plenty of rain but plenty of wine.":)

[Sleep7]

I agree with you 100% on this mlld3536!

 

"I agree that Germany's efforts to cope with its past have been admirable. May they continue."

[mlld3536]

Thank you so much, Sleep 7, for this terrific account. It was exciting to see the exact ship we will be on in a bit over a year.

 

A couple of questions (likely I'll send more down the line):

 

I notice you were in Strasbourg the second day. Was that the original itinerary, or was that a change? Our cruise has Strasbourg the third day, with Breisach the second. Maybe that's because we will be on the Christmas markets version of the itinerary.

 

And now something that may seem stupid: I have chronic insomnia, and of course it isn't helped by jet lag. If I am awake super-early (5-ish), can I throw on a robe and duck down the hall to the coffee machine to get a cup to take back to the cabin? Or is the robe-and-slippers bit out of line? (I certainly wouldn't stay in the lounge that way!)

 

As you see, I have quite a range of concerns! Once again, welcome home, and thank you so much.

[Sleep7]

Hi Mary and thanks for your sweet and kind words. It was so wonderful to relive all the happy moments of last week and writing the trip report was a great way to do it.

I guess your Xmas market cruise has a slightly different itinerary than our cruise did. Day two (Sunday) was Strasbourg and Breisach was not on our itinerary at all.

You are just like me.. love to enjoy a cup or two or three of coffee in the room before breakfast. The coffee machine that I am still mooning over is right at the nearest end of the lounge.. just a hop skip and a jump from all the cabins. I threw a sweatshirt over my PJs and that was perfect for an early AM coffee run.

Any other questions? Ask away!:):):)

[suddarbe]

Great write up, we are getting ready to book our trip soon (as soon as the 2018 prices are up). One question, on the tour of Strausbourg, was there a canal cruse included? I've seen pics of others on the cruise and it looked really nice.

 

Hi Daisi;

We just booked our 2018 cruise. We are doing Amsterdam to Lake Como on the Tranquillity II in Sept so I'm finding this thread so interesting. I sure wish there were Roll Calls for the River Cruises buy I haven't seemed to be able to find them. Enjoy your trip.

Bev

[Daisi]

Hi Bev. I think the 2018 roll calls will be opened up closer to the date.... I keep checking as well, but I'm so eager for this trip.:)

 

Hope yours is good as well. We had been thinking of going in the fall, but timing is better in May.

[suddarbe]

Sunday in Strasbourg.. we all met at 9am for the included walking tour of the city. I thought it was fantastic that they had a regular tour and a tour that included less walking as well. The stork is the symbol of Strasbourg.. who knew?:rolleyes:

Started out cloudy.. then by the end of the tour we dashed back to the bus as it had really started to rain.

In the afternoon three very reasonably priced (about 45 Euros pp) optional tours were offered. There was a visit to the Maginot Line, a visit to the Alsatian countryside with wine tasting, or a Black Forest tour.

We actually just stayed on the ship and relaxed on our computers. Having free internet for the week was awesome. No signing in and signing out of your account like on other cruises we have taken. It was so easy to keep in touch with our kids and to enjoy the internet without keeping track of how many minutes we had used. Most of the time the connection was perfect.. just a very few spots along the way it was slow

 

Did you happen to talk to anyone who took the optional tours? We're looking for recommendations. I was thinking that I would enjoy the wine tour or the Black Forest but I read one review (by a person who didn't seem to enjoy anything abut the cruise so I'm hesitant to put much credence in what they wrote) and they did not enjoy the Black Forest tour. They felt it was just a tour to get you to spend money at a cuckoo clock store. Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

[Daisi]

I checked with Avalon to see if you could do the tour to the wine region and the tour of Strasbourg, and they said that you could, there would be no conflict. Keep in mind that the wine tour will not be like you see in North America...the wineries are usually ran from someone's house, and the vineyards may not be accessible. I am looking to see more of the country side so will be wanting to go on that. I am looking to go to Colmar (would go there over the Black Forest), and they said they were pretty sure that it would be included as well. They haven't set up the optional tours yet. I have heard mixed reviews on the Black Forest. There is an open air museum that is one of the included tours, which could be interesting, but Colmar is so beautiful, I really want to go there.

[Sleep7]

:D Oh I'm so glad my thread got resurrected! :D I just read thru the whole thing again and it brought back such nice memories!:hearteyes:

Hi Suddarbee! As far as the optional tours (very reasonably priced) that Avalon offered we might have been open to them but two things stood in our way. We had just flown from New York 2 days before and we were pooped.. just happy to sit and relax on our computers that afternoon. It also didn't help that it was really cold and rainy out.

The people who did take those optional tours seemed to enjoy them. They didn't come back raving about their experience but we didn't really hear anything negative either.

I do know the people who took the optional tours in Amsterdam had a great time.

Hope that little bit helped.:confused:

[suddarbe]

:D Oh I'm so glad my thread got resurrected! :D I just read thru the whole thing again and it brought back such nice memories!:hearteyes:

Hi Suddarbee! As far as the optional tours (very reasonably priced) that Avalon offered we might have been open to them but two things stood in our way. We had just flown from New York 2 days before and we were pooped.. just happy to sit and relax on our computers that afternoon. It also didn't help that it was really cold and rainy out.

The people who did take those optional tours seemed to enjoy them. They didn't come back raving about their experience but we didn't really hear anything negative either.

I do know the people who took the optional tours in Amsterdam had a great time.

Hope that little bit helped.:confused:

 

Great information, Sleep7! I'll keep that in mind. This will be our 4th time in Amsterdam so I don't think we'll need any tours there. I am hoping to get to the Anne Frank house - haven't done that yet, but otherwise, we've seen and toured all of the sights listed. Thanks again.

[suddarbe]

I checked with Avalon to see if you could do the tour to the wine region and the tour of Strasbourg, and they said that you could, there would be no conflict. Keep in mind that the wine tour will not be like you see in North America...the wineries are usually ran from someone's house, and the vineyards may not be accessible. I am looking to see more of the country side so will be wanting to go on that. I am looking to go to Colmar (would go there over the Black Forest), and they said they were pretty sure that it would be included as well. They haven't set up the optional tours yet. I have heard mixed reviews on the Black Forest. There is an open air museum that is one of the included tours, which could be interesting, but Colmar is so beautiful, I really want to go there.

 

Thanks, Daisi. I haven't heard of Colmar but will certainly look into it now.