Going Live on Scenic "Chef's Culinary Adventure of Belgium and the Netherlands with Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk"

[1of4]

Greetings from still cold Canada where nothing is blooming because it keeps snowing!  But this time next week DH and I will be in Amsterdam enjoying 3 days pre- cruise before embarking on our long postponed river cruise. We booked a Christmas markets cruise in November 2019 for 2020…well you can guess what happened so we switched that to the south of France travelling in 2022 but I had brain surgery in March that year and wasn’t allowed to travel. So we switched back to a Christmas market trip for 2023 but my doctor didn’t want me to go if ice and snow was a possibility so…ta-da…we booked this Windmills,Tulips and Belgium Delights River cruise which then turned into this culinary experience and we couldn’t be happier. 
 

We embark on the Scenic Jade on April 10. I booked into the Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station in Amsterdam as we get free transfers if we stayed at this specific hotel. Since I use a cane and DH needs two new knees, we felt this was a good idea. 
 

I have a WWII tour and a canal tour booked pre river cruise and we are flying to Vienna post cruise. So come along and join us if you are interested. I will start posting daily beginning Saturday when we fly out of Toronto. 

[puppycanducruise]

Sounds like a wonderful trip.  Looking forward to reading all about it.  Thanks.

[Daisi]

Glad you are finally able to get back to the rivers, hope you enjoy it.

 

Not sure what part of Canada you are in, but Eastern Ont is mild and no snow. Guess we're the lucky ones for once!

[1of4]

17 minutes ago, Daisi said:

Glad you are finally able to get back to the rivers, hope you enjoy it.

 

Not sure what part of Canada you are in, but Eastern Ont is mild and no snow. Guess we're the lucky ones for once!

We are in the bullseye for up to 20 cm on Tuesday, apparently. We are in the snow belt, about an hour north of Toronto’s airport on top of the Niagara Escarpment. 

[Daisi]

Ah, that explains it. Hope you don't get that much, but at least if you do, you can dream of waking up to tulips soon! We had to drive up to Ottawa a lot lately, and I noticed the other day the tulips are popping out, so hopefully they will have good weather for the festival. We are only expecting a few cm on Wednesday, but turning to rain on Thursday so not even going to worry about it. 

[Gourmet Gal]

Your cruise sounds so fun.  I am very interested in following along since I’m considering Scenic if I ever take another river cruise.  Thanks for sharing and I’m glad you’re able to cruise once again.

[Roz]

The Doubletree Centraal Station is my go to hotel in Amsterdam.  I've stayed there for my last 3 river cruises.  I'd be happy to answer any questions. 

[1of4]

1 hour ago, Roz said:

The Doubletree Centraal Station is my go to hotel in Amsterdam.  I've stayed there for my last 3 river cruises.  I'd be happy to answer any questions. 

Thanks so much!  I have been looking at Google Maps to try to figure out how to get places since we have 3 days before we board Scenic Jade. My biggest question has to do with transfers to the ship. In Paris we were given zero information (which I relayed back to Scenic directly after the cruise) about the transfer and as a result people started hanging out on any surface that could be sat on before 10:00 in the morning. It was a gruelling 3 hour wait blocking the whole lobby. So I am hoping that this hotel is better equipped to handle river cruise transfers and has more places to sit. 

[LTC]

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise. Looks fantastic. 

[Roz]

When I was there last December, Scenic had an check-in and information desk in the lobby. The day of embarkation, I remember a lot of people in the lobby. Their bags were stacked up on baggage carts. Like a lot of European hotels, the Doubletree's lobby is small, so seating was at a premium. I don't think they were there for 3 hours. 

[puppycanducruise]

Will you be here to see the eclipse before you leave for Europe?

[gnome12]

24 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

Will you be here to see the eclipse before you leave for Europe?

If they are an hour north of Toronto on the escarpment they aren't going to be in the belt of totality. (Toronto isn't either, but the areas to the southwest of us and east north east are.)

[puppycanducruise]

3 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

If they are an hour north of Toronto on the escarpment they aren't going to be in the belt of totality. (Toronto isn't either, but the areas to the southwest of us and east north east are.)

We are too far north for totality too, but if the weather cooperates (that is, if there are clear skies) we may drive down to the Niagara area to watch the eclipse.🤞

[Host Jazzbeau]

24 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

We are too far north for totality too, but if the weather cooperates (that is, if there are clear skies) we may drive down to the Niagara area to watch the eclipse.🤞

It's going to be very crowded there!  We have a friend who is coming up from Norfolk VA to see it.  She may bring you good luck:  she just completed a very successful Aurora Borealis cruise!

[gnome12]

22 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It's going to be very crowded there!  We have a friend who is coming up from Norfolk VA to see it.  She may bring you good luck:  she just completed a very successful Aurora Borealis cruise!

Yes it is. They have already declared a state of emergency to help control the crowds. And they have added activities post eclipse to keep you in the city to avoid having everyone leave at the same time.

[kazu]

Bob Voyage Gail & Rob!

 

 Hope you two have a fabulous pre-cruise stay & cruise 🙂 

 

thank you for doing this.  I am looking forward to following along and sailing vicariously through you 🙂 

[1of4]

2 hours ago, Roz said:

When I was there last December, Scenic had a check-in and information desk in the lobby. The day of embarkation, I remember a lot of people in the lobby. Their bags were stacked up on baggage carts. Like a lot of European hotels, the Doubletree's lobby is small, so seating was at a premium. I don't think they were there for 3 hours. 

Thank you so much for this!  An information desk is perfect as all I got at the Paris Weston was shrugged shoulders. 

[1of4]

2 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

Will you be here to see the eclipse before you leave for Europe?

No, unfortunately not. We leave on Saturday and the eclipse is on Tuesday. It’s huge news and many schools are closed for the day as the timing of the eclipse is just after the schools let out for the day. The Boards are erring on the side of caution. 

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

If they are an hour north of Toronto on the escarpment they aren't going to be in the belt of totality. (Toronto isn't either, but the areas to the southwest of us and east north east are.)

Correct. It is only a partial eclipse in our area. 

1 hour ago, puppycanducruise said:

We are too far north for totality too, but if the weather cooperates (that is, if there are clear skies) we may drive down to the Niagara area to watch the eclipse.🤞

I think Niagara Falls is panicking a bit as over a million people are expected. They are having events on Tuesday like an open air concert. But you are correct, it is too early to say if the skies will be clear. 

[Canal archive]

1of4 a little off piste although I wish I was with you. Tell your DH that it was on a Scenic cruise that a group of four Australians finally persuaded me to bite the bullet and get my knees done. Had the second one done the year before Covid hit so plenty of time to recover and I’ve never looked back. The absolute joy of no pain is indescribable and it wasn’t until someone asked ‘and how’s the pain now’ that, that moment happened ‘what pain!’. Have a great cruise sounds really interesting.

[1of4]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

1of4 a little off piste although I wish I was with you. Tell your DH that it was on a Scenic cruise that a group of four Australians finally persuaded me to bite the bullet and get my knees done. Had the second one done the year before Covid hit so plenty of time to recover and I’ve never looked back. The absolute joy of no pain is indescribable and it wasn’t until someone asked ‘and how’s the pain now’ that, that moment happened ‘what pain!’. Have a great cruise sounds really interesting.

Thank you. Rob is now, finally, on the list for knee replacement (s) and when we return he will go on the cancellation list so it may happen sooner than later 🤞He was deemed too young until recently so he has suffered for decades. 

 

we are a bit worried about all the walking but he is bringing the kt tape and pain cream. Hopefully the weather won’t be rain every daytime we can’t control that. 

[Canal archive]

Tell once he’s had it/them done be sure to keep up with the exercises it’s worth it, far more than you’d think. Have a great cruise.

[Ritabob]

Looking forward to your cruise reviews.  Lynn Crawford is such a blast. Have a great time.

[1of4]

5 minutes ago, Ritabob said:

Looking forward to your cruise reviews.  Lynn Crawford is such a blast. Have a great time.

I used to really like her show “Pitching In” so I am really looking forward to it. 

[notamermaid]

Good to read that you can finally embark on your long awaited river cruise. Looking forward to reading about it. Have a great time.

 

notamermaid

 

[Ritabob]

37 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

I used to really like her show “Pitching In” so I am really looking forward to it. 

Those were great shows, and Lynn was always ready to get right into whatever task needed to be done.