Avalon Rhine: Basel to Amsterdam (5/17-5/24)

[MayasWay]

We'll be taking an extra week to travel in Switzerland before departing on the cruise and are having trouble figuring out how and where to meet up with the boat in Basel. We wanted to spend a bit of time in Basel and are planning to arrive the evening before the cruise departs to have the next day for sightseeing. Needless to say, meeting up with the cruise transfer in Zurich doesn't make sense with these plans. On the other hand, I've heard some grumbling about boats docking in different places and being somewhat hard to find.

 

If you've tried to meet up with Avalon in Basel like this, could you let us know how it worked out for you and where you met the boat? THANKS.

 

Anyone else bound for this cruise?

[hcross888]

I am booked for this same cruise in July, and I had the same concern. I've lived in Zurich before, and didn't want to spend my extra time there, so I called Avalon directly. This is what they told me. They will give you a number to call to find out exactly where the ship is docked. There are 2 different docking places. One is easily accessible by public transport, and while the other is accessible by public transport, it involves a short walk. So, you can take a taxi to the dock. Taxis are expensive in Switzerland; it may be about 50$. I hope this helps.

 

Where are you staying in Basel?

[MayasWay]

Thanks for the information, I guess I'll just call them directly. I don't have hotel arrangements yet for Basel . . . I'm open to ideas if you have some. I had heard that taxis were pricey in Switzerland . . . that's almost as much as the cruise transfer from Zurich ;)

[pully8]

We'll be taking an extra week to travel in Switzerland before departing on the cruise and are having trouble figuring out how and where to meet up with the boat in Basel. We wanted to spend a bit of time in Basel and are planning to arrive the evening before the cruise departs to have the next day for sightseeing. Needless to say, meeting up with the cruise transfer in Zurich doesn't make sense with these plans. On the other hand, I've heard some grumbling about boats docking in different places and being somewhat hard to find.

 

If you've tried to meet up with Avalon in Basel like this, could you let us know how it worked out for you and where you met the boat? THANKS.

 

Anyone else bound for this cruise?

hello we are booked on the basle to amsterdam avalon cruise tapestry departing may 3 from zurich.

is this your cruise?

we are staying in zurich for about 4 nights prior.

like you we had to wait for details re transfers to the boat.

we are told now to go to the movenpick at airport for transfer about 4pm.

is this any help?

details seem a little scant all round. but i suppose all will be revealed.

regards

[MayasWay]

I had heard about meeting at the Movenpick Hotel near the airport in Zurich, but we will be all over Switzerland the prior week and are hoping to overnight in Basel on Saturday. We don't want to backtrack to join the group. I contacted our TA and he said he will also e-mail me the travel documents so that we're sure to have them before leaving the US (just in case the post mail doesn't arrive in time). But I can see that I'll probably still need an actual phone call to Avalon.

 

Sounds like you'll be on the same cruise (we're also on the Tapestry), just a few weeks earlier. Hope you have fun!

[letsgo39]

I've cruised and toured with Avalon/Globus several times and they have always provided me with a cell phone number for the tour director in my travel documents. When we river cruised with them we were given a number for the Cruise Director and the ship.You are making things more difficult than they need to be.Don't worry you will be given phone numbers for the Cruise Director and the Ship in order to find out exactly where it is docked.

[hcross888]

Maya,

 

I picked the St Gottard Hotel because it is within walking distance from the train station in Basel. The reviews looked good. So we are just taking the train from the Zurich airport right to the SBB Basel station. I know that the people at the front desk can tell you how to get to the dock as soon as you know which one it is. The Avalon agent told me that one of the two docks is easy to get to by trolley (which is free if you stay in Basel.)

 

Have you been to Zurich or Basel? They are both wonderful cities.

 

Where in Ohio do you live? We are from Ohio.

 

I am looking forward to hearing about your cruise when you return.

[MayasWay]

This will be our first River Cruise (2nd cruise ever, Caribbean in '05) and my husband's first time in Europe. So, I'm hoping to iron out all the details before leaving to help ease his concerns and ensure plenty of future travel :o for the two of us. It's nice to know that Avalon will give us phone numbers . . . I'll sit tight and wait for their information. Thanks for that tip.

 

Thanks, hcross, for the St. Gottard Hotel reference, I'll definitely look into that one. I always like to stay within a short walk of the major public transportation and that sounds ideal. Never been to Zurich or Basel, but are really looking forward to this trip!

 

We're from the Dayton, Ohio area -- been here over 4 decades! What's your Ohio base?

[hcross888]

Maya,

 

We used to live in Centerville. Where in Dayton do you live? I have also lived in Cleveland and Columbus.

 

I read reviews on the St Gottard, and a guest said that the hotel staff was very helpful in telling them how to get to a river boat. That's one of the reasons I picked that hotel.

 

Do you have plans in Basel? Their art museum is just fantastic, and the old town is really neat. When you book a hotel in Basel all of the local transportation is free. They give you a pass and you can even ride the trolley getting to your hotel. I also love the old munster. Anna Hapsburg is interred there (died in the 1200's).

 

Zurich is a very beautiful city, really more beautiful than Basel because it is on a really pretty lake. They have 2 fantastic art museums, and the Swiss museum is really neat (near the main train station.)

 

If you want to know anything about travel in Switzerland, I spent all summer traveling around Switz, so I do know how to get around.

 

This is a link to some of my Swiss pictures. I have 3 Swiss albums.

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/158154864grUzyf

[rivernomad]

Hi Maya,

Your cruise Director on that cruise will be Kata, She is absolutely lovely and will be more than happy to give you the info on where to meet the ship on Sunday. The situation is that she will be arriving with the ship from Amsterdam to Basel too. Bring her guests from that cruise to Zurich and will take the guests from Zurich to the ship in the afternoon. Between her departure in the morning and the return trip in the afternoon the crew will clean the ship and prepare it ofr your arrival. The captain (and therefor the Cruise Director) normally do not know the docking position until about 24 hours in advance. With your cruise documents, you will receive also the direct telphone number of your Cruise Director. I have the number, but don't think I should post it on the forum if you don't mind.

I am sure you will have a wonderful cruise, and enjoy your stay in Switzerland.

Rivernomad

[MayasWay]

rivernomad . . . thanks for the extra detail about the cruise director and schedule. We're awaiting our documents and feeling much better about meeting the ship in Basel on Sunday.

 

hcross . . . we, too, are from "warm and cheerful" Centerville. From the research I've done, I'm really looking forward to Basel, I'm an art fan and look forward to viewing their collections and just having a peaceful day or so there. I think I'm ok with the transportation in Switzerland, we will be getting swiss saver passes . . . my husband is really looking forward to the train travel and enjoying a scenic route or two.

 

As we finalize plans, I'll keep you in mind for questions . . . THANKS!

[hcross888]

Maya,

 

Would you please email me if you get time?

 

hcross888@gmail.com

[cruiselife4me]

I took a similiar cruise on the Amadeus Princess from Amsterdam to Basil and then went on to Zermatt and Lucerne, Switzerland. Wonderful cruise!! I've taken many cruiseship type cruises but this was my first river cruise. It was such a wonderful experience.

Mary

[hcross888]

Mary,

Don't you love Lucerne? I think it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

 

I'm really looking forward to our Rhine cruise this summer. What was your favorite place on the cruise?

[cruiselife4me]

hc - yes. I LOVED it! We stayed at the Palace Hotel and it was gorgeous!!

[happycruizer]

Hello. We are 2 couples booked on the Affinity, Basel [Zurich] - Amsterdam in Sept. This will be our first river cruise. This information is very helpful....thanks to all. Please post a review upon your return.

[CTKath]

I'm planning on this itinerary for August 2010 and I've narrowed it down to Avalon and Viking. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thanks.

[pacmom]

We just returned from Viking's Antwerp-Basel trip. The boat is the longest river cruiser in Europe---200 passengers, abouot 50 too many for me. The length makes it difficult to dock at the normal downtown piers. In Rudesheim, we were the fartherest from town. In Basel, we were in an industrial area with a tram about 1/2 mile away. In Antwerp, we were a 40 minute walk to the city center. I would not travel on the Viking Sun again. If you are on the bottom deck, you are serenaded by the plumbing noises of the entire ship. In fact one morning the toilets on our deck stopped functioning. If you are looking for a smaller group, don't take the Viking Sun. We were also placed on one specific bus for the entire trip. This was our 8th river cruise and have never encountered the plumbing noises on any other boat. The food was soso, some days good, others not so good. The tours were wonderful and the guides that were with our group were excellent--learned a lot even if we had been in the city before. If I were to do it again, I'd go with Uniworld or AMA Waterways. Good luck and go when the Keukenhof gardens are open. Pat

[H2Otstr]

Welcome home, Pat.

 

Sharon

[cruiselife4me]

Here's a link to our 2007 River Cruise and Amsterdam pre-tour.

There are some pics of us in there but just ignore those!!

 

Mary

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=295996881108.841104964308.1242313412804&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

[letsgo39]

Your link is not working.

[cruiselife4me]

Oh I'm sorry. What about this:

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3rz8wf6c.aqec6g2c&x=0&y=yrn3ef&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

 

if not please let me know and I'll give my email!

 

:) mary

[MayasWay]

We've just returned from our cruise and are happy to report that we had a wonderful time. We did not use the transfer from Zurich, but instead chose to meet the boat in Basel. Because of high water, the boat had to dock a bit outside the city, but we had no trouble taking the tram and then walking the rest of the way to the boat ... about 15 minutes level walk, of which at least half the time was along the water. Our hotel in Basel provided a free mobility card for the day so we didn't even have to pay for the tram. No matter how you arrive at the boat, if you're docked at this further area, be sure to take a few minutes to walk down to the Three Corners monument where France, Germany and Switzerland all meet.

 

As our first river cruise, we were not sure what to expect. We were assigned the first cabin in from the reception desk, but never had trouble with noise. In fact, we found it quite convenient as we watched others walk the long hall to the end of the boat. The sliding glass doors provided a wonderful view out to the water and we frequently left the door open to the outside when we were in the cabin. As early risers, we appreciated the coffee in the lobby which we brought back to our rooms to enjoy a peaceful start to the day.

 

In general, we thought the service was wonderful, food delicious and plentiful. They tried to serve local specialties on the lunch buffets (all were flagged as such) and for some dinners. We had heard much about it being asparagus season and were pleased to have the local white asparagus for dinner one evening on the boat. The continuous full glass of wine at dinner (and the choice of beer or soda as an alternative) was appreciated. Be sure to fill up your glass on last call before dessert.

 

We were surprised to discover that they charged for the internet service, 20 euro for the week or 5 euro for a 24 hour period. We were even more surprised by the charges when we discovered how completely unreliable and slow the WiFi service was. We could not count on it, even in port, and wasted much time trying to connect. No one should have to pay for WiFi service that poor.

 

DAILY TOURS

 

We were quite pleased with the daily tours and tour guides and for the most part participated in every included tour. It was our first experience using the headphones with a guide and we found it quite convenient for taking photos and wandering about while the guide talked. A small hitch in our very first excursion, a canal cruise, led some to disappointment, but things do not always go according to plan and I thought Avalon handled the situation well, rerouting our tour buses to pick us up in a completely different location.

 

Our favorite stop was in Heidelberg and we choose to spend the whole day (you could do half or whole day there with the morning devoted to a guided tour). Avalon gave us a box lunch to eat while in Heidelberg (a sandwich, drink, apple, candy bar), but we chose to eat at a local restaurant and were glad we did. We were actually docked in Speyer that day, home to an interesting technical museum. Our late afternoon bus stopped at the museum on the way back to drop off those who were interested in seeing it.

 

At Rudesheim, we chose not to join the group in the tour of the MechanicalMusicMuseum, but instead took the tram up to the monument on the hill. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the tram ride over the vineyards turned out to be a lovely alternative. We then rejoined the tour for the coffee tasting – quite fun!

 

One of our days was a national holiday in Germany and most of the shops and restaurants were closed. I think it would have been nice to know before we signed up for that particular cruise week (I’ll know to check next time), but they did tell us that the first night of the cruise so those who were shoppers could plan around the day.

 

We docked at Cologne in the late evening and didn’t realize we could leave the boat and go into town to enjoy the nightlife. Some of the passengers did do that and had a wonderful time. Since we left Cologne at 12:45 pm the next day, it would have been a nice complement to our stay there.

 

OPTIONAL EXCURSIONS

 

Several had asked about optional excursions. We had only two days when these were available, but there was no shortage of activities on the other days. The first full day of the cruise, you could take an Alsace Wine Tour or a Tour of the Black Forest. We chose the wine tour because we love wines and it was described as a tour of a winery and wine tasting. We were disappointed . . . the wine portion was a visit to the basement wine cellar of a restaurant with a quick wine tasting and little discussion of the wines. We were only served the cheapest wines available, so we weren’t even tempted to purchase any of the wines to take back. And, they did not ship wines either, so if we had liked something and wanted to purchase a case, it would have been impossible. (We've been to tours and tastings in other regions of the world and were always served a range of quality levels.) Our bus drove through the wine region for a bit, then stopped in Obernai for about an hour. A cute little hamlet, but in all, this was not what we were expecting for a wine tour.

 

The last full day of the cruise, there were two optional tours in Amsterdam. One advertised as a visit to a Zaanse Schans, described as a cheese farm, peanut oil producer and working windmill, the other a red light district tour. We chose the cheese farm, but again were disappointed. We didn't know that Zaanse Schans was an outdoor museum. While interesting, it just wasn't what we expected and we wished we had researched it a bit more before signing up. The cheese farm was a cheese shop where they spent more time on telling us what was for sale then anything else. For both of us to go on these optional excursions, it cost an extra 130 euro ... money I think might have been better spent in other ways. You don’t sign up for the optionals until you’re on the boat and they are described to you in the evening port talks before the signups are even available. No need to worry about them until you’re on the boat.

 

Overall, we had a great time, enjoyed the company of our fellow travelers and would certainly travel with Avalon again.

[hcross888]

Thanks so much for the detailed description. We are doing this cruise next month and it sounds great!

[MayasWay]

We hope you have a wonderful time ... we certainly did. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try and answer.

 

- Maya