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The Romantic Rhine on the AVALON Imagery II.. full trip report with lots of pix!


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Hellooooo to all on the River Cruise board!

We just returned yesterday from a simply F A N T A S T I C cruise aboard the Avalon Imagery II, traveling northbound on the Rhine from November 5 - November 12.

It was a week filled with beautiful ports, delicious food, plentiful wine, lovely new friends, smooth waters and the realization that we are now spoiled forever by cruising on Avalon.

I would love to share all of our wonderful experiences during that magical week as we sailed from Basel to Amsterdam.

My bags are unpacked and the laundry is now clean and put away. Due to the time change I was up at 3am and I'm sure will be ready to go to sleep for the night at 5pm tonight.:rolleyes:

Just a little about us.. we have been on many cruises in Europe but this was our first river cruise. We loved every second. The pace was perfect.. just the right amount to do.. never too much and never too little. Just right.

The smaller ship takes all the negatives out of larger ocean cruises and enhances all the positives.

The only thing that could have been improved upon was the weather.. only 2 sunny days, plenty of drizzle and the whole week was pretty darn cold. Like New York in December cold.. that cold.:eek:

Ahh.. well.. I did throw in a few extra sweaters and a pair of boots at the last minute so I felt quite lucky about that.

 

Off we go!

 

We started off on Friday November 4th at JFK airport for our nonstop Delta flight to Zurich.

The Sky Deck was open at the Sky Club.. it was a beautiful evening to fly.

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When I had found out beforehand that we will be spending a good part of the day at the Movenpick, I contacted the hotel beforehand about how much it would be for a "day rate" so we could shower and change. It was pretty reasonable.. 100 CHF for 2 hours or 112 CHF for 6 hours. We actually didn't feel that grungy or tired when we arrived so we decided not to take the room at all. There were nice washrooms to freshen up in and that was good enough.

Two optional tours were offered.. a city tour of Zurich and the other to Mount Pilatus.

There was a train station a few minutes walk from the hotel so we just took the train into Zurich for 2 hours.

Here is the schedule for the first day.

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We relaxed in at the Movenpick chatting with our "new friends to be" until around 2:30 when it was time to transfer by bus to the ship in Basel. By that time it was was raining cats and dogs.. or should I say raining "katzen und hunde."

The crew came out to the bus with umbrellas to escort each guest to the ship.. I felt like a celebrity with my own personal umbrella handler.

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WELCOME ABOARD!!imgsvr.ashx?cmd=4&appContextId=12704&eMediaID=kLnxQf7UHif78RLYdFZLwCIRt1YiUYgx&hires=1&maxSize=600&1479037195271

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Thanks Mary and Floridiana!:)

 

Before dinner there was a welcome reception in the lounge with Captain Van Den Boom and our sweet and lovely cruise director Gusta. There was excitement in the air as everyone knew this was just the beginning of an AWESOME week ahead!

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Sunday in Strasbourg.. we all met at 9am for the included walking tour of the city. I thought it was fantastic that they had a regular tour and a tour that included less walking as well. The stork is the symbol of Strasbourg.. who knew?:rolleyes:

Started out cloudy.. then by the end of the tour we dashed back to the bus as it had really started to rain.

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In the afternoon three very reasonably priced (about 45 Euros pp) optional tours were offered. There was a visit to the Maginot Line, a visit to the Alsatian countryside with wine tasting, or a Black Forest tour.

We actually just stayed on the ship and relaxed on our computers. Having free internet for the week was awesome. No signing in and signing out of your account like on other cruises we have taken. It was so easy to keep in touch with our kids and to enjoy the internet without keeping track of how many minutes we had used. Most of the time the connection was perfect.. just a very few spots along the way it was slow

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I loved that there was a happy hour every night in the lounge from 6pm to 7pm where all the drinks were half price. Most of the passengers gathered there for a drink before dinner which was served at 7. At around 6:45 each night cruise director Gusta gave a port talk and a plan for the following day. It was a nice heads up about what pleasures tomorrow would bring.

My favorite? The sparkling house wine.. only 1.85 Euro and just as delicious as French champagne.;)

 

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Yay!! Monday was a sunny day!

We cruised to Mannheim, Germany in the morning.

We walked up to the top deck of the Imagery II which would have been wonderful if the weather had been warmer..

There was a small hot tub up there.imgsvr.ashx?cmd=4&appContextId=12704&eMediaID=kLnxQf7UHif78RLYdFZLwM7RAcr8WkBk&hires=1&maxSize=600&1479037195271imgsvr.ashx?cmd=4&appContextId=12704&eMediaID=kLnxQf7UHif78RLYdFZLwFvJQtPRZ6b8&hires=1&maxSize=600&1479037195271

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Great write up, we are getting ready to book our trip soon (as soon as the 2018 prices are up). One question, on the tour of Strausbourg, was there a canal cruse included? I've seen pics of others on the cruise and it looked really nice.

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Thanks Daisi! Nope.. no canal boat tour offered in Strasbourg but there was one in Amsterdam.

 

Tuesday November 8.. ELECTION DAY in the USA. We sent in our absentee ballots a few weeks back.

Also on Tuesday November 8 we visited the German city of Mainz which seemed to be wondering about the outcome of the election as well.

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Dodging raindrops we visited the Cathedral, which is also called the Dom, the Gutenberg Museum and the Church of St Stephen.

 

The Cathedral Cloister

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The first European printing press

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Windows by Marc Chagall at St Stephen's Church.

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