GraNanny

I know the season is just starting for 2015, but I was wondering if anyone has sailed this itinerary in the past, how realiable the WiFi is, onboard?

I sailed on the River Countess a few years ago from Nuremberg to Basel and the WiFi was rarely functioning. Hoping this years' experience will be better!

I'm flying out tomorrow, setting sail on Tuesday, 3/31. Super excited!

I haven't been on this cruise yet, but I'm booked on the March 31 departure, Amsterdam to Antwerp. Looking forward to it!

I'm also sailing over Easter weekend. I was told the Monday after is also a holiday. I called Uniworld and also checked the websites for all of the sites we are scheduled to visit on those days and they were all open. Check the day to day itinerary to see what your excursions are and google their websites to be sure.

I would pick Heidelberg. I went in 2011, and we stopped at both towns. In Speyer we saw the cathedral, and the historic jewish area. I enjoyed seeing the castle in Heidelberg and a nice lunch in town.

Uniworld's minimum age is 4 years for their family program. The website is very vague and pretty much requires you to contact them for specifics regarding the scheduled activities.

Sorry -- I'm in Spain walking the Camino de Santiago, so my opportunity to manage this forum is somewhat restricted for the next two weeks.

 

I will look into this when I return to the US later this month.

 

Buen Camino!

Wow, I have a friend that's walking the Camino de Santiago right now also! Yesterday she was in Vilarinho Portugal. Her name is Lil, from Sacramento CA if you happen to run into her!

Hi there. You should have received a rather lengthy pdf document when your deposit was submitted. It includes your invoice and the Terms & Conditions. Within that document there is information about transfer guidelines for arrivals and departures. On mine it's page 6 of the attachment and says flights must depart within the hours of 6 am and 6 pm. But I am on a different cruise than you (Tulips & Windmills) so it might be different for yours.

Enjoy..we know you will and be sure and report back here!:)

 

*CPT and Remydiva take a bow, our work is done here....next?*:p

LOL! take a bow, good work!! I'm sure I'll be posting more along the way and hopefully be back next April with a glowing report!

Not TMI at all! The more I know, the better I can decide what I want to do, and will understand what I'm seeing.

There's no mention of the Kroeller Mueller museum so that must be an optional excursion this time.

So you guys convinced me to take the plunge! My TA called them this morning and put a deposit on my cabin!

Too funny! And the OP thought she was going for just the tulips! To be fair, that is what I thought too when i went and it was a late spring and we didnt see many.

 

So I'm learning!

I know it's difficult to guess this far ahead of time about the tulips. Similar to my trip last year to see New England in the Fall. I was a bit early but still saw some beautiful sites and had a great time.

oooh reading material is always appreciated! I am a "research it to the end" type of person!

Day 1: arrive in Amsterdam

Day 2 & 3: Amsterdam:

Choice of Amsterdam by canal with either Van Gogh Museum or Rijksmuseum visit or exclusive “Do as the Locals Do” Amsterdam walking tour

and

Choice of full day at Keukenhof Gardens* or Haarlem Walking Discovery tour with Tyler Museum visit

Day 4: Hoorn, Enkhuizen

Hoorn walking tour and “Life on the Zuiderzee” outdoor museum visit

Day 5: Nijmegen (Groesbeek or Nuenen)

Choice of National Liberation Museum or exclusive “Village Day” in Nuenen: “Walk in Van Gogh’s Footsteps”

Day 6: (Easter Sunday) Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Dordrecht

Kinderdijk windmills

Day 7: Veere

Delta Works museum and guided stroll into artists’ village of Veere

Day 8: Ghent (Bruges or Ghent)

Choice of full-day Bruges with canal cruise and walking tour or Ghent walking tour

Day 9: Antwerp

Choice of Antwerp walking tour with Cathedral of Our Lady or exclusive “Do as the Locals Do” Antwerp walking tour

Day 10:Departure

Since arrival and departure are both mid week, I'm thinking of adding a few days in Amsterdam. I have some friends who's son & DIL live near there.

wow, the architecture is amazing! I am getting excited now! Originally I looked at this cruise mainly for the tulips and the windmills but it looks like much more interesting things. I will look into the documentary you suggested.

It is possible that you will dock on the same side of the river as the cube houses . . . Certainly worth the short walk to see them. I have to disagree with the PP's walking directions, these homes are not along the river IIRC. Close, but a couple streets away - get directions. If you are a water/swim person, there is a large aquatics facility near, sort of, the bridge.

 

Rotterdam has a lot of interesting looking modern architecture in addition to the cube houses. It was pretty much destroyed by the Germans to make it unusable by the Allies and was rebuilt in a very modern style. It's worth being on deck when arriving and departing.

 

Yes, Monuments Men - consider getting the book and reading, at least, the part about Brugges. There are differences between the book (history) and the movie (embellished for drama). Both are worth the time!

I will put the cube houses on my list and ask for directions from the ship! I like the idea of reading the book, I'm a much more avid reader than I am a movie watcher. Thanks!!

Glad to help.

 

Be sure to go to Church of our Lady in Bruges and view "The Madonna of Bruges" is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of Mary with the infant Jesus made in 1501.

 

It was the one of the main art objects that was hidden in WWII by/from the Germans in a salt mine cave as depicted in last year's movie 'The Monuments Men'. It's history is amazing and was something we did not know about until AFTER we got home. I would have spent more time gazing at it...but I did take this photo.

 

Maybe I need to watch the movie before next Spring! Thanks for the tips and pictures. The cube houses are really cool

We did that cruise with Uniworld in 2009 over Easter.

 

The only glitch for some was that the ATMs in Brugge had run out of cash by the Easter Monday. (people were trying to get cash to pay out their tips in cash. No longer an issue as you can add to your tab and use credit card now).

 

We got easter chocolates and candy on our pillows when we returned to our cabin Sat nite (Easter Sunday next morning) as if the Easter Bunny had come.

Good to know about the ATM's, I'll keep that in mind leading up to that weekend. That's cute that they left you chocolates!

Uniworld is supposedly "all inclusive" so hopefully tips won't be an issue for us!

How fun would that be to attend church on Easter in the Netherlands! I think we are supposed to be in Rotterdam on Easter Sunday morning.

Just in case someone else comes along with this question. All of the places that I could find online appear to be open over the holidays. I called Uniworld and the representative said everything will go as listed on the itinerary. No changes due to Easter holidays.

thanks, good to know about the holidays! I'll see what I can find online and call them tomorrow.

I'm looking into booking the Uniworld Tulips & Windmills cruise in 2015 as a solo traveler. The only cruise available that waives the solo supplement is over Easter weekend. Does anyone know what they will do about the scheduled excursions that land on Easter?

Have you looked at Uniworld's Castles Along the Rhine cruise? It also goes from Basel to Amsterdam on the dates you were traveling. I'm also looking into options for a cruise next year and was curious if you have compared their prices since they have gone all-inclusive? (all tips, onboard and onshore, unlimited beverages onboard including wines, craft and regional beers, spirits, cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages, and all same-day arrival and departure transfers). I've heard some lines only include transfers if you book the air thru them.

Uniworld has at least one that is advertised as a ten day Danube river cruise, but when you look at the day to day details, it's actually 7 days onboard and 3 days in Prague.

So these are to be housewarming cards?

Sorry, I assumed it was an "very old" thread because the solo suppliment on Carnival went up to 200% a long LONG time ago and I thought OP said it just happened yesterday for CCL so I assumed the post was entered a long LONG time ago! Didn't know they were talking about Disney. These abreviations get me sometimes. I also did not realize they were talking about the deposit. I just checked online TA and they still have only a $250 deposit for a 7 day CCL cruise even for solo. Same as before. I had to pay $750 for me and my 2 sisters to cruise next march but if I booked solo right now it would cost $250 for me.

Ditto about the abbreviations! Some of them I never figure out!

...

This is a very OLD thread and so we now know that Carnival has been charging 200% for years for solos BUT the prices are low enough that its still one the the least expensive ways to go for a Solo Cruiser. I priced out the EPIC solo cabins and Carnival Port hole cabin (I like natural light) for a trip I was planning in December and the EPIC would have cost $998 + tax and port charges and the Carnival cost $778 + tax and port charges. So even at 200% the price was significantly lower + I received 100 OBC with Carnival AND since I'm platinum I'll get chocolate covered strawberries, laundry service, priority boarding and tenders....I just don't think I would get a better deal for a 7 day vacation on land OR sea!

Actually, this thread was just started yesterday around noon, based on the time stamp on the OP... maybe there are others out their on the same subject... I agree that their prices are still probably the best option for solos.

I would think they could occasionally offer a special where the single supplement was waived. Uniworld does this on "select sailings" for their European river cruises (probably means the ones that are least apt to sell out). I did one last year and had a blast. There were lots of singles onboard that would definitely not have been there otherwise.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic so please don't take it that way. I guess I am fortunate that I have never been a position to ever have to cruise solo.

 

My question is, do those that cruise solo do that as a choice? Do they prefer to be alone? If that is the case I think that it would be a premium you would need to pay for.

 

Even if I didn't have my husband, I can always find someone to share my room, a sister or a friend.

 

Please explain to me why some would choose to sail solo, and why they should get breaks when they are in a cabin that could accomodate more people.

 

Once again, please do not take this as a flame, it is not intended to be. I just need a better understanding as to why this is such an issue.

There is an entire section of cruise critic for solo cruisers, it's actually the preferred method of travel for some folks. I've done it, and I loved it. Sometimes it's nice to have the cabin to yourself, especially if you're single and your other choice for a cabin mate is a friend of family member that you're not that close to. I've traveled with friends before and sometimes it gets tedious, especially if it's more than just a few days. I live alone and I'm not used to sharing close quarters with another person. I like having the room to myself, no sharing the bathroom facilities, I can do what I want, when I want, no having long drawn out conversations about where 'we' want to eat or when. I love sitting by the pool with a good book, sleeping as early or late as I want, and I have no problem meeting people so I still enjoy myself on shore excursions.

that being said, I understand the reason why cruise lines charge more since there is an unused bed in my room that they could have sold so if I have to pay 200% then that's what I will do...