laverendrye

1 hour ago, Sailor Taylor said:

Thank you all!  

 

I thinking I will look for airbnbs with parking.  If I stay one night in Montreal I just found a decent rate for a one way car rental, picking up in downtown QC and returning in YUL.   But then maybe the train is better?  Is the highway more scenic or the railroad?  

Whether you go south of the river (Autoroute 20) or north (Autoroute 40) the highway is not scenic. In fact it is boring.  Highway 138 (Chemin du Roy) is a historic route along the north shore through many interesting towns and villages, but you really don't have time for that.  What's more, driving in Montréal is a pain especially during construction season.  I would definitely take the train and use taxis and the Métro in Montréal.

As to how much time, it depends on your preferences. You could spend two nights in Québec with one day in the city and one day in the countryside (e.g. Montmorency Falls and the Île d'Orléans.  Charlevoix is beautiful but is a bit further away and I would save it for another time if you haven't already seen the Île d'Orléans area.  You could also opt for one night in Québec and two in Montréal which has more than enough attractions to fill your time there.

On 4/23/2019 at 8:09 PM, travelnut4 said:

I am planning my days in Amsterdam prior to the cruise. So much to do! I can’t seem to find out what time we need to be on the boat for embarkation. I’d like to go to the Van Gogh museum that morning if possible before needing to head to the boat for check in, and need to book these museum tickets in advance. What time is Uniworld check in, and what time does the boat leave that day? I know I could call Uniworld but thought I’d check with you experts first! Thanks!

The day-to-day itinerary indicates that the ship departs Amsterdam on the afternoon of Day One. I would plan to head for the ship first thing in the morning to check in and leave luggage there.  Get your tickets for the VanGogh for the morning as you intend, and when you check in for the ship you will be able to find out the exact departure time to know how long you have.  I wouldn't expect the ship to depart until late afternoon, but it will depend upon the timing given by the harbourmaster. The Van Gogh is not a large gallery like the Rijksmuseum, so two hours should be enough to enjoy it.

22 hours ago, Love Cruis'n said:

Thanks all.  Neither my wife nor I have mastered the art of packing light.   I shudder at the thought of having to manage 2 large and a pair of 22" bags onto a short hop train.   And then stow them - where? Maybe I'm picturing problems that don't exist, but my back is not as young as it used to be. 😉. 

For Via Rail trains without baggage cars, there are areas at either end of each car where you can stow your larger bags while smaller bags can go in overhead racks.  Attendants will help you getting your bags on and off the cars.

In 2016, I took the Uniworld Magnificent Moselle and Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, and although the itinerary was different from Castles Along the Rhine, many of the stops and excursions were the same. I also lived for several years across the river from Strasbourg and got to know it very well, along with Alsace and the upper Rhineland in Germany.  Perhaps I can offer some observations on your choice of tours.

Rüdesheim: If you are a wine connoisseur you will know that Schloss Vollrads is, along with Schloss Johannesburg, the Holy Grail of German wine and you will not want to miss it.  Otherwise, take the hike to Assmannshausen. You get a nice gondola ride to the huge Niederwald monument, pictures views and it’s all literally downhill from there.

Strasbourg:  The panoramic tour appears to be a bus tour ending at the justly famous Cathedral. I took the “Do as the Locals Do” and despite the countless times I have visited Strasbourg over the years (it’s my favourite French city) I found it very interested and managed to learn some things I hadn’t known about the city before.  This tour also ends at the Cathedral. 

Colmar or Alsatian Villages: I’ve been to all of these many times. As  Notamermaid mentions above, this is a difficult choice. Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are pretty little villages but over the years I have found that Riquewihr in particular has become very kitschy indeed (not yet as much as Rüdesheim) and in June it will be absolutely jammed with tourists. Colmar is a very attractive town with its canals and half-timbered houses. It is home to one of the great works of mediaeval art, the Issenheim Altarpiece which can be seen at the Unterlinden Museum. You should also be able to see storks in Colmar. I don’t think you will go wrong with either choice. On my cruise in 2016 I chose the villages, largely because I had revisited Colmar on my previous trip to Alsace. 

Speyer:  I chose the walking tour over the vinegar tasting and did not regret it. Speyer is a very historic city (a one time seat of the Emperor) with a magnificent cathedral. I hadn’t known Speyer very well before and enjoyed learning about it. I spent the free afternoon visiting the Technical Museum which has a marvellous collection including a Boeing 747 mounted on a tower which you can climb and even walk out on the aircraft’s wing. You are wondering about the Heidelberg tour. If you have not been to Heidelberg, I would definitely recommend that you take the tour, even at extra cost.

I have not been to Marksburg castle, but it is certainly worth visiting as the only castle on the Rhine that has not been destroyed at some point. I understand that parts of the paths to the summit are a bit rough but that should not deter you.

I hope that this is helpful in making your choice. Enjoy the cruise!

Driving in downtown Montréal is not for the faint of heart, especially in construction season. I say this as a former resident. 

This is incorrect. Québec International  Airport does not have US pre-clearance facilities so you will clear US Customs and Immigration at Newark on your return to the US. 

Québec Airport now has primary inspection kiosks so when you arrive you will scan your passport and answer a few questions. It will then take your picture and issue a receipt which you hand to a border services officer. You then proceed to collect your luggage (unless you have been selected for secondary inspection) and then pass through Customs.  Here’s more on the kiosks. 

https://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/pik-bip-eng.html

I have cruised the Douro twice, in 2012 with Uniworld and last year with Emerald. For interest, I compared the price of my Emerald cruise with a similar Uniworld one and Emerald was thousands less expensive.  The only significant difference I could see in inclusions was that bar drinks were extra on Emerald (beer and wine at meals was included) and that a few of the Emerald excursions were at extra cost.

The Emerald Radiance, launched just last summer, was clearly superior to the Uniworld ship at the time, although to be fair I can’t compare it to the present Uniworld offering, Queen Isabel. You might want to do a ship to ship comparison from the respective websites.  I found the service and quality of food on both on a par, but would give Uniworld a slight edge on the quality of its excursions.  I don’t think, however, that this would justify for me the substantial differences in price.

Most of the passengers on Emerald were Australian, Canadian and British, although there were also a few Americans aboard as well. This might make a difference to you. 

Of course if you are looking for a luxury, completely all-inclusive cruise, there’s also Scenic, Emerald’s partner line, but like Uniworld and Tauck, you will pay considerably more for it.

I should conclude that I have been a fan of Uniworld, having cruised with them five time (last time in 2016) but I do think that of late they do not offer nearly the value for money that they used to do. In fact I was impressed enough with Emerald that my next river cruise will be a 21 day cruise tour with them next year from Hanoi to Siem Reap, a longer version of a cruise I took with Viking/Pandaw  back in 2013. 

I’m certainly in the minority but I always travel to Europe with a blazer, although I never visit in the hot months of July and August. I’ve taken a blazer on all my European cruises (Uniworld and Emerald) but didn’t wear it every evening. There were always other men wearing blazers or jackets but most didn’t. It’s just a personal thing with me in that I often feel more comfortable with a blazer than say a sweater.  But anyone who doesn’t wish to do so will be among the majority. 

The lower deck cabins are fine as one doesn’t usually spend much time there on a river cruise. It’s nice to have the full sized windows but to my mind not essential. You’ll also save money with them. 

I’ll just add one thing to the excellent points made by acwmom. Most river cruises travel at night and are docked during the day.  And of course, unless you decide to stay back on the ship, you’ll be gone most of the day on excursions. The exceptions are for particularly scenic stretches such as the Rhine Gorge and the Wachau Valley and Iron Gates on the Danube. In these cases, you don’t want to be in your cabin but up on the top deck where you can enjoy the scenery on either side. This is true even in the case of the Douro, where all travel is during the day.

I really don’t think it matters in the least which side your cabin is on.

The Viking rep will meet you at the airport after you have claimed your luggage and cleared customs and immigration. This assumes that you will be taking a Viking transfer to the ship. 

On 2/5/2019 at 4:29 PM, luv2travel90266 said:

We will be on the Uniworld River Queen April 7th. Picked the date for maximizing the tulip bloom. Hoping I called it right and for a great trip. 

As others have said, it all depends on the weather.  Based on average blooming times for tulips you may be a week or two early, but don't fret about it. In 2016 I visited in the second week of April and there were certainly some tulips in bloom, but they hadn't really reached their height. On the other hand, the daffodils and hyacinths were blooming in profusion.  We didn't regret taking a full day visit as the gardens are vast.

This is a very useful website which gives a bit of a history of the blooms over the last 6 or 7 years, and you may well find when you visit that the tulips will be fully in bloom.  You can sign up for weekly updates which I did before visiting.

https://tulipsinholland.com/faq-tulips-and-keukenhof/best-time-to-visit-keukenhof/

Enjoy your cruise and your visit to the Keukenhof.

If you are taking the trouble to get to the Galapagos, I think that 4 days is really not enough. The government has limited cruises to 8 days which means that you still must choose which islands you would like to visit. 

I went with G Adventures four years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They offer many different itineraries of varying length and on several boats. The boats are generally limited to 16 passengers and I chose an upgraded tour on a very roomy boat—picture windows in both the bedroom and en-suite bathroom. (The Ecuador government requires that companies provide one qualified naturalist for every 16 passengers). 

I didn’t include Machu Picchu on my tour, but a number of others had done that tour with G Adventures before joining this one in Quito and they certainly recommended it.

Regarding the Celebrity and National Geographic cruises, both use quite large ships by Galapagos standards, so you would have a somewhat different experience from cruises by those companies which take 16 passengers. 

2 hours ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

Another Hilton Brand hotel question....how far is Hampton Inn and Suites Quebec City/Saint-Romuald.....1176, rue de Courchevel, Levis QC from the airport or cruise port?  How is the area?   Anything to do around there?  

You definitely do not want to be there.  It's on the south side of the river near the Québec and Pierre Laporte Bridges, way to the west. It's nowhere near the cruise port.  The only advantage is that it is convenient to the airport by expressway, but that's no reason to stay there.

10 hours ago, CanICruiseSoonPlease said:

Thank you so much for the advice on the other hotels.  But getting back to the Hilton brand property.  I have so many points so I can stay for free. Is the hotel  close to anything or I am just basically in a hotel that is by nothing?  Then I will have to reconsider.

You are fine with the Hilton. It’s in the Upper Town just outside the walls and well situated beside the National Assembly building. Certainly you should use your points to stay there. 

Those who visit Montréal and Québec on cruises don’t get an opportunity to see these cities under a blanket of snow. Here’s a jolly folk song on the joys of winter in this part of the world.

For those who don’t understand French, and particularly the Québécois version, I should point out that the entire song is one curse-word after another.  In Québec these all tend to be religious expressions. 

Le Vent du Nord is a great band and one of the best of the neo-traditional groups. I’ve been fortunate to hear them live.  As you like them, you might want to check out La Bottine Souriante which began performing in 1976 and is still going strong. They are really the founder of the Québec neo-traditional movement.

If you want to want to go back a bit further, listen to my favourite Québécoise singer of the 1960s, Monique Leyrac, especially her renditions of songs by the iconic Claude Léveillée, Gilles Vigneault and Félix Leclerc. In fact, listen to Félix himself, the first great Québécois chansonnier. 

It’s been three years since I visited Cologne so I can’t speak knowledgeably about the situation around the Cathedral. Most are aware of the mass sexual harassment and assaults on women during the 2015 New Year’s Eve celebrations there, largely by North African refugees (are these the “radicals”?), but is this a continuing everyday danger?  Were the latest New Year’s celebrations peaceful or otherwise?  Other than normal precautions against pickpockets and the like that one takes in crowded areas, particularly in and around train stations like Cologne’s, should women be especially vigilant during the daytime on a normal day? How might one recognize a radical?

On 1/12/2019 at 2:49 PM, DarCrav said:

Thanks so much!  French Canadian group, then?  I'm looking for music to listen to on our cruise to Quebec City in September.

Where to start?  I suppose it depends on your tastes in music as there is a full range of Québecois music styles—traditional, neo-traditional (such as Le Vent du Nord noted above), folk, the chansonniers of the ‘50s and ‘60s, jazz, rock in all its many forms, pop (yes, Céline Dion) and on and on.  I really can’t speak to contemporary music as it’s not my thing but there’s lots of interesting music being created. 

Give us us a sense of what kind of music you like and perhaps I or someone else can point you in the right direction.  

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

Glühwein is for wimps. Get a couple of Jagertees under your belt.

Especially at the top of the mountain before the last run!

On 12/4/2018 at 8:17 PM, BikeTreker said:

Continuing, I just posted Colmar and Breisach, November 10, 2018.  You can find it at www.travelswithcappy.com.  I hope you find it interesting.  Let me know.

Those are wonderful pictures, especially of Colmar, a lovely town which I know well having lived not far from there for three years. Alsace is one of my favourite regions of France.

It’s too bad you didn’t have a chance to see the magnificent Retable d’Issenheim at the Unterlinden Museum there.  It’s one of the glories of mediaeval art and many people travel to Colmar principally to see it.  Perhaps you will have an opportunity another time. For those who are reading this and will be visiting Colmar in the future, they should certainly try to fit in a visit to the Underlinden to see it.

I’m quite enjoying your blog as your narrative and photos back fond memories of the many places you stopped along the Rhine.

On 11/22/2018 at 2:53 PM, Bake apple said:

Very well stated and a most thoughful reply. In fact, we have discussed the $$ value and created a somewhat fun/serious spread sheet to see how it would compare. There is a old saying that sufficient research will eventually support your theory and that is where we are now. LOL. It is always the siren call of not having to pack and unpack, teasty dinner is ready and the wine is poured,  bedroom tidy etc. Still, you make good points nedeed. Thank you and safe travels. (Are you in the area of Ontario currently in the deep freeze? We had wind chill of -27C last night).

Thanks, Bake Apple.   I agree that the prospect of not having to pack and unpack or to search out a new place to eat every night are among the joys of river cruising, although staying in one place for several weeks can have the same result even if it means doing some home cooking.  I think what will attract me to future river cruises are those which travel rivers where independent travel is much more difficult--this is why I am looking at the Nile, or the upper Amazon in Peru and Ecuador, or eventually the Irrawaddy if the political situation improves. Good luck with your choice.

(Yes we were in the deep freeze [-25C windchill that night and the lowest temp on record yesterday morning], but we are coming out of it with rain and 5C by Sunday!  I really don't like Novembers here.)

I doubt it, for a number of reasons. I’ve cruised on most of the European rivers (Rhine, Danube, Moselle, Volga, Douro twice, and the canals and rivers of Belgium and the Netherlands) so there’s not much left that interests me, certainly not the Christmas market cruises, with the possible exception of the Rhone. I don’t think the weather problems which have been plaguing river cruises in Western Europe this year are an anomaly and that we can look forward to more of the same in years to come. 

More importantly to me, I think that in recent years river cruising in Europe has become too expensive when compared to independent travel and does not offer the value for money that I used to find.  I’ve travelled much in Europe since my first visit in 1964 (has it really been 55 years?) but there are still places I’d like to go and things to see where a river cruise won’t take me.  As well, I’m looking more to stay in one place for several weeks rather than visiting a new town every day, crowded with visitors from the ever-increasing number of cruise ships which have saturated the market. 

This is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed my river cruises.  I have very much indeed, and I do look forward to others, although not in Europe.  I was fascinated cruising the Mekong and had hoped to do a cruise on the Irrawaddy, but I won’t set foot in Myanmar while that brutal regime is in charge. If I return to India, I don’t think it will be to cruise the Ganges but rather to travel in the south.  I’m very much interested in Egypt and indeed a cruise on the Nile might materialize in 2019 or the following year.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that while I certainly plan to visit Europe next year, I don’t think I will be cruising there any time soon. Maybe elsewhere though. 

On 8/6/2018 at 3:41 AM, Mark_T said:

 

Just as a counter-point, having actually done the 'bus' journey (it was actually a very nice air-conditioned coach with a bathroom), I'd have to say that the roads were generally not 'marginal' the trip didn't actually seem all that long as it was broken up with two stops (one at a nice roadside location with catering, the other at a rubber plantation to see how they 'milk' the trees) and while we've seen enough airports to last a lifetime, we had not seen all the sights of normal Cambodian life that we were able to see during the transfer.

 

Unless you have physical problems with such a journey, I'd still take the 'bus' over an air transfer every time.

I quite agree.  The 4 hour bus trip from Kampong Cham to Siem Reap was quite pleasant with a couple of interesting stops.  Additionally, by flying from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap we would have missed two days of sailing up the Mekong to Kampong Cham with excursions to fascinating villages and temples along the way.

I certainly preferred that itinerary to a flight, however short, and all the hassle that might have involved.

I've visited Kinderdijk twice. The first time was early April in 1992. We parked our car at the side of the road, took a couple of photos, admired the long line of windmills and carried on.  We were alone--no cruise ships, no buses, no other tourists, no gift shops, no entrance fees.  What a contrast it was the second time, again in April 2016--just as described in the BBC article. To be fair, we did get a very good explanation of the water management system which the mills support (which we didn't have on our first visit),  and at least it didn't have all the commercial hucksterism of Zaanse Schans.