Ellen495

56 minutes ago, pontac said:

 

That number and the mooring location is on the reception desk (plus a map)  you can take before leaving ship

That is so helpful, than you!

Cheers,

Ellen

I don't expect it all to be perfect - but I love traveling and just never went on a river cruise before. Also hoping German is food has fish because I don't eat meat at all. Long ago, we were in Germany for a couple of days (and one in Austria) and I couldn't find anything other than salad that I liked. I SURE it was simply where we stopped because Germany is a great country now.

I've never actually vacationed there - a couple of overnights on my way to other countries. One day I will go and visit where my father grew up- and escaped last minute.  I know this area of Germany isn't where I need to visit one day. He grew up in Liepzig.

THANKS!

Ellen

4 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

To me, “go with the flow” means that I research a few things in the larger city that interest me. If one doesn’t work out, for whatever reason, another will.
We know that planned times, up to actually being on the cruise aren’t written in stone. So, I then see where the walking tour gets me in relation to my list, how much time I have on my own, and then head off on my own.
If there is a must see popular attraction, Eiffel Tower, certain museums, etc., I will get tickets in advance and keep my fingers crossed that my timing was right. 
Assuming that your pre cruise hotel is convenient to places on your list, you might consider having your hotel hold your luggage and not plan on boarding until later in the day. 

Great ideas - thank you

All of this information is fantastic!!  I realize some things may be sold out (we booked what we absolutely didn't want to miss).

It's the Rhine Getaway. I will head to that thread thank you!

I tend not to be a go with the flow type vacationer which is what is making me anxious. I  like to know what's coming - and I want everything to be perfect. 

You're all wonderful for your help!

Cheers,

Ellen

We're going Amsterdam to Basel. 

1. We are staying in Amsterdam one night (hotel) prior. When can we load our bags on embarkment day and how late can we get dinner onboard?

2. We  tend to prefer to do our own thing - but we did book a couple of excursions. If we veer off from any walking tour (I'm assuming it's good to follow them into town) how do we know what time to get back to the ship?

3. Will some excursions still be available for sale onboard? We have ship credit and figured we'd decide last minute for one tour.

4. Day 4 Koblenz we are most interested in either Ehrenbreitstein Fortress or Medieval Marksburg Castle. Any opinion?  I noticed for 11 euro I can do the first on my own - but it goes back to worrying about missing the boat.

5. Strasburg France - I'd love to go wine tasting, but I don't enjoy group wine tours where they pick the wine for you. Is there wine tasting on your own in town?

6.  In general, is the boat docked in one town for a full day allowing us to wander and do our own thing?

Thank you - I know I have a lot of questions, but I'm having anxiety that I won't enjoy this trip and hoping to get some positive feedback. FYI- we are 3 couples - we're 65 and very fit and active bringing our 25 and 30 year old daughters and husbands. 

Cheers,

Ellen

Did anyone ever respond to you? I'm wondering the same.

2 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

Which ship was it, Don? I do care about the room being beyond basic - but we would book a balcony room. I do care if the food is good and if it feels somewhat luxury - my husband and son won't care. This is an adventure that I'm anxious about  - and they're excited about. I'm sure I'll enjoy it - but I hate to  be cold and I hate to be uncomfortable so as you can imagine - this isn't the perfect trip for me (I don't complain when I'm doing things - I will be a good companion etc) My point is that we need to compromise and my husband knows I need it upscale and also knows I will go out and do everything with a smile (and will probably like it more than I imagine)

This one is the World Explorer.

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I did a shared room on the Quark Ocean Adventurer.  That is the ship I was describing in my post.  I booked a shared room figuring that I wouldn't have a problem sharing with a stranger and the saving was significant.

DON

Which ship was it, Don? I do care about the room being beyond basic - but we would book a balcony room. I do care if the food is good and if it feels somewhat luxury - my husband and son won't care. This is an adventure that I'm anxious about  - and they're excited about. I'm sure I'll enjoy it - but I hate to  be cold and I hate to be uncomfortable so as you can imagine - this isn't the perfect trip for me (I don't complain when I'm doing things - I will be a good companion etc) My point is that we need to compromise and my husband knows I need it upscale and also knows I will go out and do everything with a smile (and will probably like it more than I imagine)

Thank you for your information. We are also considering Quark because the ship is smaller and it's actually less expensive. They will let me son share a room with another solo traveler dropping the cost.

I am also now learning there's a difference (Atlas told me this) between reaching the peninsula and going below the Arctic line. Does anyone have information about this? 

THANKS

Ellen

10 hours ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

Quark & Ponant both have deals with no solo supplement. Other operators may also - I just know those two right off the top of my head. 

Did you travel with either of them? Do you have a preference? THANKS!

Hi Shrink,

Wow thanks for the information. Yes, I want a good room - though for my son he'll deal with whatever. He'll want to hang out with us anyway. Balcony - isn't it too cold to sit out on a balcony? I was thinking a room with a large window. Online travel - good idea. (We aren't military - Atlas did ask us when we called)

12 hours ago, skrink said:

Atlas traveler here.  As a solo traveler, I paid $15,778 in April of 2021 for a B1 Verandah, so the pricing nearly three years later seems reasonable to me.  I think it was $10,199 pp double occupancy, with a 150% single supplement.  This was for a Jan 2022 9 day sailing.

 

Ways to save money on Atlas:  Book through an online travel company that offers extra perks, such as the $600 prepaid Visa card I got from mine after I took the cruise.  Plus another person and I each got another $50 prepaid Visa when I asked for and got a referral bonus.  Be sure you take advantage of military discounts, if eligible.  

 

Atlas ships are absolutely fabulous.  If you look at other companies, be sure to look at whether balconies are available, or if it’s just portholes or ocean view.  I wouldn’t want anything less than a Juliet balcony for Antarctica.  The penguins start swimming alongside the ship long before you reach the continent and with ships that small, your cabin will be very close to them, unlike on the large cruise ships.

Hi All,

We have become obsessed with the idea of an adventure to Antarctica. Our grown son (single) would like to join. 

We spoke to Viking, Expedition and Atlas. Atlas has an 11 day which was the most "reasonable," of the 3. (We understand the cost of this trip will be no joke - but the single supplement matters to us)

Atlas explained their ship is small (less than 200) and luxury - they said they're newer and costs will go up. Currently, Jan 2025 is about 11K per person and "only," 17K for the single. 

But we don't want to spend 5K less and get a lot less.

The other thing we're interested in doing is an add on (either via the cruise company or on our own) is Patagonia. But we're open to all thoughts - as we may only visit South America this one time (maybe Galapagos is in the future so it's possible...)

I would love your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas.

THANKS!

Ellen

OH! That's very important information thank you so much!

• Thank you SO MUCH!!!

SO helpful. Okay - what's rafting? No clue!

I do love the idea of wandering Strasbourg - very much appeals to me too. So if you wander the town, it will be clear what time to get back to the ship? 

We have Colmar and Black Forest planned - it wasn't too exhausting? 

I've never done a river cruise - and only once ocean (Alaska). We tend to go to one country rather than cruising. 

Okay - so that sounds good - walking tour and then the cathedral. But how do we get back? Will there always be shuttles at all times of day?

What's the pub crawl? I assume beer (which I don't drink - only wine). 

If you were going to give advice to a brand new river cruiser - Amsterdam to Basal, what would you suggest? Sounds like seeing the churches while sailing you suggest - but is that going to happen for everyone or do we need to be on the ship at a certain time? I get the impression that sometimes you can get off and the ship will sail away - and you will be shuttled back to the ship in another location. So I'm confused.

My younger daughter (bringing 2 of them with their spouses) hates group tours. I told her I think we could start on them and always walk away....

We aren't big lunch people. We wouldn't be likely to waste time eating in town unless there was something in particular that was very  interesting.

Should we book a tour through another company such as viator or just do it ourselves? Not sure if it's something one needs to pay for. Is it easy to get to - the cathedral - or does one Uber around in town? Thanks again.

Ellen

This post confused me. There's a  time one should consider staying on the boat?

We booked Medieval  Colmar. We love wine tasting, but not sure if we should book the excursion or just do it on our own (must be places to do this on one's own?) 

Cologne - heard seeing the top of cologne is great - but seems no longer available for purchase as an optional tour (on myviking). Can we do this on our own?

THANKS

Ellen

Hi,

We are going on our first river cruise with our 2 daughters and their spouses. (We are 64 and they are 35 and 25). When I purchased the cruises, I was told one excursion per port was complimentary. That was misleading as it's a specific excursion (mostly walking tours) as the rest cost. But oh well.

So my question is what excursions are really not to miss and what ports can be done "on our  own?" We are paying for everything, so the excursions for 6 people will be a lot.

Here is the itinerary. I read a little on an old thread - perhaps Dine in Rudesheim and Mediaeval Village of Colmar are great. We do like wine tasting - so perhaps do that in Strasbourg, France. We're in good shape - but the girls don't like bikes. Everyone likes hiking. 

I would appreciate any thoughts.

Cheers,

Ellen

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Let me throw a question back to you and I am not being flippant.  You live in Philadelphia.  If you had 7 hours to "see" Philadelphia how much of Philadelphia would you see.  Worse yet if you got on a bus that took you to Washington with a 2 1/2  hour bus trip each way and had to be back in Philadelphia by 6 PM how much of Washington would you see especially as you have to allow time for souvenir  shopping, bathroom stops for 30 or 40 people and lunch at a touristy restaurant.

 

Cruise ship stops are best for smaller towns with a small town center.  Much less so for larger spread out cities.  In a large city you need to pick pick out 1 or 2 places that are important for you (not the cruise company but you) to visit and forget the rest of the city.  As an example of the "what is important to me" issue - I am not into art or visiting art museums so even if the most important site in a city might be an art museum I will skip it for something that I am interested in.  The problem is that the cruise company tours usually will not do that.

 

I would usually suggest that you do private tours because they are more efficient use of time and you see what you want to see but I would guess that as a 1st timer you would not be comfortable with that.  Go onto the CC Roll Call for your cruise and see if you can find some private tours that others have set up that you can join.

 

DON

Very good point. Philadelphia in 7 hours - historic Philly, but not all of it. Washington would be awful with that bus ride - traffic is a nightmare. You need 3 days  in either city to do it justice. But  if the boat came up the Schuylkill River right up to city center, you'd see more. 

6 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

There are several companies. I go to Cologne yearly and if I remember there are 3 river cruise companies with docks there. Absolutely incredible city and the Dome is an absolute must see even if your not religious.

We want to start in Amsterdam and end in Switzerland. I was wrong - Viking isn't sold out - I was confused by their website at first.  Thank you - this is very helpful. On these river cruises...... you actually go right into the ports so it's easier to get to places than the large ocean cruise lines, correct?

We tend to just do one country all land and do love that type of vacation - but this cruising sounds fun!

10 minutes ago, lorif said:

There is a river cruise board on here that might be helpful.  We went with Avalon last year and had a fantastic trip.  Their rooms are a bit of a different layout that we really enjoyed while on the ship, but the whole trip was great!

 

Okay thank you so much!

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

Yes, definitely. Have you ever used the "find a cruise" search button at the top of the page? I occasionally use that to look up cruises, and there's a filter for "river cruises" when you do the search. There are definitely lots of options out there. A European river cruise is something we've still not done, but want to. I read good reviews of Croiseurope, Ama Waterways, and Tauck, if that helps.

Yes that helps and THANK YOU!

I should add, I think a small ship that cruises the Rhine might suit us better - but they're all booked for 2024 summer - we will book for 2025 unless we find a small one that suits us (Viking is sold out , but perhaps there are others?)