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Tulip Time - AMA- Apr 1, 2018


kmf63
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Yes but the Ghent walking tour shows up as full and that’s the only one we want to do. But we are happy to take transport into Ghent from the port and do our own thing, so we were wondering if AMA puts on transport for guests who can’t get on their tours.

 

 

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My point was that IME AMA tours don't fill up before the cruise. Perhaps the ability to sign up online has ended, but you should be able to sign up the day before after the Cruise Director's presentation of the next day's options.

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The cruise excursion to the gardens was the last day and we wanted to make sure we were there on a sunny day, so that is the reason we went early.

 

No guarantees of sunny days. We did a Holland barge trip the end of April. It was pouring the day we boarded, and the manager said we either get sun or tulips, but not both. So pack a rain jacket. And take a good camera. The tulips are worthy of more than a cell phone camera, especially at Keukenhof Gardens.

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We will be on the May 1 AMALea, very excited would love to hear your review on the ship. One question, do they allow you to bring wine on from the ports we visit?

 

We just booked our 4th AmaWaterways cruise - our first was the Tulip Time in 2013. It was spectacular and that's why we have returned mulitple times. You can bring whatever you want on board at any time. No restrictions - as long as it's legal!

 

Allyson

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I did this cruise last April/May and it was fantastic. I didn't go early, but would next time (or stay over at the end) in Amsterdam, but since my flight arrived at 10:30AM I was able to see some of Amsterdam after leaving my luggage at the ship (right next to the train station). I took a canal boat to the Anne Frank House (you MUST purchase tickets on-line exactly 60 days before your visit) and the Van Gogh Museum (although I arrived back at the ship a little late for the orientation meeting). Definitely take the Kuekenhoff garden tour (bucket list item for me), and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Arnhem (if you are an art lover). We were in Amsterdam on the holiday weekend of the King's Birthday (for which you must wear orange!) and took a twilight canal tour after getting back from the Kuekenhoff...along with every drunk boater in Amsterdam (Sunday afternoon), which was a bit scary! In Rotterdam I took the tour to the Deltaworks, which was very interesting. I did also do the combination Ghent/Bruges tour which was excellent, and took the Floriana tour in Antwerp after taking the morning walking tour in the old city. A few tours book up early (like chocolate making) due to small size, but I was able to sign up for these other tours on board.

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It's hard to predict exactly when Keukenhof will be at its peak, so when I get around to taking this cruise I would add a day on each end – if spring is early, I would go to the gardens on that first day; if it's late, I would go at the end; if the cruise timing for Keukenhof seems perfect, I still have two days to do other things in Amsterdam.

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It's hard to predict exactly when Keukenhof will be at its peak, so when I get around to taking this cruise I would add a day on each end – if spring is early, I would go to the gardens on that first day; if it's late, I would go at the end; if the cruise timing for Keukenhof seems perfect, I still have two days to do other things in Amsterdam.

That works better if the cruise is Amsterdam - Amsterdam. When I did it in 2010 it was Antwerp - Amsterdam. And of course, I couldn't have added any time at the beginning, because I was really lucky to be able to fly out just as flights were beginning to cross the Atlantic after the Icelandic volcano had messed up flights for a while. I still had to get myself from Frankfurt to Antwerp, since there were no flights from Frankfurt to Brussels which had been my original plan. I ended up with a train from Frankfurt to Brussels (after a wait of about 4 hours), but they made us get off in Cologne and switch to buses, then train from Brussels to Antwerp, then taxi which couldn't find the ship. (Uniworld had neglected to tell me - and I was in contact with them multiple times that day - that the ship was behind a big parking garage, which would have told us immediately where to go.) However, ultimately I made it to the ship for a late dinner, and very much enjoyed the cruise.

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Suzanne 123 -

Thank you very much for posting the tulip updates. I have had poor experience with the poster. When I subscribed to the postings, everything arrived over a week late, same is true for the website.

Thanks again for the timely postings! :)

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We went on March 25th and it was too early for the tulips. But Keukenhof Gardens were still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Plenty of other flowers were in bloom and the buildings were full of orchids and tulips. Worth seeing again and again. Have fun and enjoy !!!

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On Friday April 21st, the outdoor tulips were approaching very high bloom. I don't think there is ever a true full bloom because of tulip varieties and varying planting techniques to spread out the 'season'. It was stunning. Full sunlight and upper 70sF. Took me four visits to experience this, but it was worthwhile. This seems to be a late Spring that suddenly surged into a normal blooming period with the warmth and sun of mid April. Feel privileged to have been there that day - along with thousands and thousand of others.

Interestingly, the fields in North Holland seem to be late and 'out of sync' with Keukenhof this year.

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