Leavin on a Jet Plane..........

[happycruizer]

Today's the day....Avalon Felicity Romantic Rhine cruise. We leave in a few hours for the airport and both DH and I are trying hard not to let the "vacation monster" show it's head. Very excited as we've been trying to do this cruise since 2008 and "life" kept happening and causing us to reschedule. Booked air months ago on Delta; kept checking seats regularly b/c I knew booking that far in advance there would probably be several schedule changes that might affect our seat assignments. There were schedule changes and each time itinerary was still showing the same seats. Don't believe them:cool:. When I went to print my boarding passes it came up as showing "seat request":eek:. I immediately called Delta and was told there had been an equipment change, the original seats had been reassigned and they would do the best to get us seats together. It looks to be a full flt. so we'll see. Determined not to start out frustrated and will try to get it taken care at our local airport:rolleyes:

 

BON VOYAGE

[YoungDubFan]

I hope that all goes well and that you have a great time on your trip. Please post a review / trip report when you get back as this is the cruise that I am planning on taking either next year or in 2012.

[happycruizer]

We just returned late last p.m. so I am still a bit jet lagged today. Will be happy to try to answer any specific questions anyone may have and will do a total trip report later.

We started our trip with a 2 day pre-cruise stay in Zurich. Be prepared for sticker shock in Zurich as it is a very expensive place:eek:. We stayed at the Hotel Adler which is in a good location in the middle of old town. It is within walking distance to almost everything and we did a lot of walking. We caught the Ben Bus, as recommended by the hotel, from the airport to the hotel. You catch it right outside of the arrivals terminal in Zone 3 or 4. If you're not sure there will be someone around to help you find it. The cost of the transfer door to door and for 4 people + luggage was around 45 E. As others have posted on Trip Advisor, you could take the train directly from the airport to Zurich's main station and walk to the hotel. If would be approx. a 10 minute walk but with 1 large piece of luggage each in addtion to carry-ons we choose not to try the walk.

Once settled into the hotel we started out to explore the city. The hotel has maps and the staff were very helpful in answering questions about where to find the "must sees".

Embarkation Day: We debated as to whether to take the train to Basel and find the Felicity on our own, but again there was the question as to whether we wanted to deal with luggage in case we had a problem in locating the boat. We finally opted to take the Ben Bus back to the airport then take the shuttle to the MovenPick meeting hotel and use Avalon's coach transfer to the boat. It sounds much more complicated than it was:rolleyes:. There was a hospitality room set up by Avalon and we got acquainted with some of our fellow passengers while waiting for the transfers to the Felicity.

There was a quide on the transfer bus and he was very entertaining and a wealth of information on the approx. 1 hr. ride to Basel. This was a pleasant surprise as I did not expect a quide on the transfer trip. Upon our arrival we saw crew members lined up & waiting to transport our luggage onto the boat. We were directed to Registration where we were immediately given our room keys and shown to our rooms by our Cabin Steward. It took less than 10 minutes from the time we got off the bus until we were in our cabin unpacking.:)

More to follow...............

[YoungDubFan]

Did you arrange your pre cruise stay yourself or was that the hotel that Avalon used? I can't wait to read your trip report. I hope you had a great time.

[happycruizer]

Okay, I'll try this again. Just finished a long msg. and while trying to preview it vanished.

 

Yes, I did make our own air and hotel arrangements. I think the hotel that Avalon uses is the Movenpick Airport. If you did not want to stay in the city you could always ride Movenpick's shuttle back to the airport [5 min. ride], then catch the train into the city. The Adler is in a great location with rooms facing a main street. They also have rooms on the other side which are quiter if you prefer those. DH was not happy that our room faced the street and there was a large street fair going on while we were there:(. The band was right across from us, thus there was a lot of noise. I loved the location b/c I could look out our window and enjoy the sights w/o being crushed by the crowd;). Our friends were on the back side and said they heard nothing.

DAY 1 - ZURICH: Optional excursions were "Lucerne & Mt. Pilatus" or "City Tour of Zurich". Remember that most of the shops in Zurich are closed on Sunday except in the area of the train station, airport and the Bahnhofstrasse. Transfers began at 3:45 p.m. and took approx. 1 hour. ALL ABOARD ws called at 5:45 and sailing to Strasbourg, France began at 6:45. There was a Champagne Reception/Welcome Meeting/safety briefing in the main lounge at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:15. Very few [if any] changed clothes for dinner. There was musical entertainment after dinner at 9. Dinner took around 2 hrs. so we did not go to the lounge as our day in Strasbourg began at 8:20 the next morning.:eek: I needed sleep.

[Crazy Gramps]

Don't you hate luggage?

 

Glad you had a great trip

 

Gramps

[happycruizer]

DAY 2 -STRASBOURG, FRANCE: Overnight sail to Strasbourg, France. We boarded our buses at 8:20 A.M. for the included tour of Strasbourg. After a boat ride through the city canals [covered boat, which was good b/c it was very chilly] we had a walking tour of old town and the Cathedral Notre-Dame. We did have about 30/45 minutes free time after the tour to walk around the square before an approx. 20 minute walk to the buses for the transfer to the ship for lunch. Optional tours that afternoon were "Secrets of the Black Forest" & "Alsace Wine Country". We did neither of these so I cannot comment on them. We instead chose to take a taxi back into the city to explore on our own [reception will call the taxi for you]. We were dropped at Place Kleber & spent most of the afternoon just wandering through the city then returned by taxi. There was French entertainment in the lounge after dinner. Again only spent a few minutes in lounge as our next day's tour started at 8:30 a.m.

ALL ABOARD at 10:15 for the overnight said to Speyer & Heidelberg.

DAY 3 - SPEYER/HEIDELBERG: Awoke docked in the small town of Speyer. This is one of my favorite places as it is a typical German town with beautiful blooming flower boxes in the windows and a lovely square surrounded by cafes. It is within easy walking distance of the boat so we chose to visit the town and the Speyer Cathedral after our return from Heidelberg.

The transfer to Heidelberg took around 45 minutes from boat to Schloss Heidelberg. The guides were very informative and we enjoyed our tour very much. At the conclusion of the tour we were again transported into the city for around 1 hour of free time before the first transfer back to the boat at 12:15. For those who wanted to stay longer a later transfer was offered around 3:30 p.m. We stayed for the late transfer and had a traditional German lunch of brats/kraut & beer in the city. The boat did not sail until 1:45 a.m. so we had plenty of time to sightsee in the small town of Speyer either before or after dinner.

[happycruizer]

DAY 4 - MAINZ/RUDESHEIM: We actually got to sleep a bit later today as our tour did not start until 9 A.M. with a guided tour of approx. 1 hr. to the Gutenberg Museum then free time in town. Mainz is a small place so the ALL ABOARD was at 11:45, then sailing to Rudesheim. We had a leisurely lunch/down time until our arrival in Rudesheim at approx. 2 P.M. A small tourist train met us at the boat for our private transfer to the Siegfred's Museum. This tour took approx. 45 min. and was very enjoyable. It seems this is a private collection of self-playing musical instruments and the owner is still traveling & searching to add more to his collection. A grandson of Siegfred still services/repairs the instruments. You will pass through a small gift shop as you exit with lots of music boxes for sale. We found the same boxes directly across the street much less expensive.

After the tour of the Music Museum we were treated to tasting of "Rudesheimer Coffee" in the Rudesheimer Schloss. The coffee was delicious:). I think about everyone purchased a bottle of Asbach brandy so they could make this special treat at home. Again, we found the prices cheaper on the street facing the water vs. shops in the small alley ways.

The little train was back at 4:30 for transfers back to the boat. We were in Rudesheim overnight so we had plenty of time to explore either before or after dinner. There are lots of restaurants & shops here. You can catch a chair-lift at the end of the street to get to Niederwald Mounment. Uphill from the Niederwalk is the Abbey of St. Hildegard

DAY 5 - KOBLENZ: Sailing began at 8:45 A.M., so again we enjoyed a leisurely morning before arriving in Koblenz. This is the point at which the Moselle joins the Rhine and the fortress Ehrenbrietstein sits on the top of the hill. We sailed past the "Deutsches Eck" and had a great view of the huge statue of Wilhelm 1. Be very careful here as to where your ship is docked. DH decided to return to the boat and was trying to find it on the Rhine, when we were actually docked on the Moselle. It took him a good while to find his way home.....he was not a happy camper:mad:. Included walking tour for 1.5 hrs. then free time. We chose to break away from the tour group once again t0 explore on our own.

This is the night that the Crew performed:p. They did a fantastic job and obviously had worked very hard getting this together. It was hilarious and very entertaining....not to be missed [iMO].

[YoungDubFan]

Thanks for posting. I am enjoying reading your reviews and am getting lots of good info for my future trip. I know that you did your pre-cruise on your own. Looking back, how did you like staying in Zurich? Did you consider staying in Basel? If so, what swayed you in your decision? Did you have much time to explore Basel before the ship left?

[webfoot]

Thanks for the wonderful information on your cruise ... I am enjoying reading them and reliving the twice we have been in Rudesheim ...

 

Perhaps we have discussed this before, but where in VA are you? We live at Lake Monticello which is outside of Charlottesville.

[happycruizer]

Don't you hate luggage?

 

Glad you had a great trip

 

Gramps

 

YES! We could have saved a few euro if I could learn to downsize:rolleyes:

[happycruizer]

Thanks for posting. I am enjoying reading your reviews and am getting lots of good info for my future trip. I know that you did your pre-cruise on your own. Looking back, how did you like staying in Zurich? Did you consider staying in Basel? If so, what swayed you in your decision? Did you have much time to explore Basel before the ship left?

 

YoungDubFan: We very much enjoyed our stay in Zurich. Although, having said that, two days was an adequate amount of time for us. We never really entertained the idea of staying in Basel b/c I was hoping to find a few "unique" fashion purchases for Christmas gifts for my DDs and thought the Bahnhofstrasse would be the place to do it....wrong. Most of the shops/boutiques on this street were way out of my price range...very exclusive and upscale. Shopping under the rail station was more reasonable and I did find a few things there. There are also lots of shopping tents on the main level. Another factor was that one of our traveling companions wanted to take the train to Milan to see his DGD. Originally we had thought we'de stay in Zurich the 2 nights then travel to Basel early on the day of embarkation and explore there. However we changed our plans after the trip to Milan and the luggage issue. We did not have any time to explore Basel before the All Aboard. The boat seemed to be docked on the industralized part of Basel and though I cannot say for sure, I think it was a ways from town.

[happycruizer]

Thanks for the wonderful information on your cruise ... I am enjoying reading them and reliving the twice we have been in Rudesheim ...

 

Perhaps we have discussed this before, but where in VA are you? We live at Lake Monticello which is outside of Charlottesville.

 

Hey Webfoot: We have been to Charlottesville many times. We live a good distance from you. We are actually located in the southwestern tip of the state right where Va. joins Tn. [kind of like Deutsches Eck where the Mosell & Rhine come together;)]. We live approx. 30 miles from Bristol Raceway.

[happycruizer]

DAY 6 - COLOGNE: As the Crew show was finishing we noticed a bright light in the distance. As we got closer we could see that we were approaching Cologne and the light was on the majestic Cologne Cathedral. Maybe it was b/c we were so upbeat from the show or b/c our cruise was winding down or b/c it just looked so romantic that the cathedral just seemed breathtakingly beautiful. We have been to Europe several times and have seen many cathedrals but for some reason this one just seemed say "hey, look at me and appreciate my beauty". Everyone in the lounge seemed very excited as we made our approach, turned, then docked. As soon as we were docked several of us grabbed sweaters and headed for "the light".

Our included walking tour once again started at 9 a.m. and lasted for abour 1.5 hrs. & ending at the Cathedral. We then had free time until the 1:45 All Aboard to explore and maybe enjoy a Kolsch beer. Forget Zurich, Cologne is the shopping place. The main shopping street is the Hohe Strasse and starts left of the Cathedral. Of course you have the 4711 eau de Cologne everywhere here and our waiter had given us a heads up that this is a great shopping city. We even ran into him in one of the shops. We wanted to go to the Chocolate Museum but ran out of time as we were told it is a good walk from Dom Square to the Museum. This afternoon we are on our way to Amsterdam and scheduled to arrive around 7 a.m. No more sleeping in. Our included canal cruise begins at 8:15 in the morning.:eek:

[happycruizer]

DAY 7 - AMSTERDAM: Bicycles, Van Gogh, Bicycles, Ann Frank, Bicycles, Coffee Houses, Bicycles, Red Light District......I have never seen so many bicycles in one place. They move faster than the automobiles and you'd better get out of their way:eek: or you risk being called a name that you might actualy understand:o.

Our morning began with the included Canal Cruise of Amsterdam. Altlhough the boats were just across from the train station we were transferred by bus. The boats were covered and had "booth" type tables; of course the seats facing the front of the boat filled up very fast as no one seemed to want to ride with the sights to their back. This meant that some people chose to go to the back and outside to stand so they could see what was coming up in front of them. The Canal Cruise was very informative and enjoyable and took 1.5 hrs. We sailed past the Ann Frank House and there was already a long line waiting to get in even that early in the a.m. Our local tour guide said you could now go on line and take a virtual tour of the house w/o having to stand in the long lines.

The optional tour of the Rijimuseum departed immediately after the canal cruise. Afterward we walked around a bit then took the coach back to the boat for lunch. We did not do the optional afternoon excursion to the countryside but chose to walk back to town center for more exploring. It was extremely crowded that day and once you got in a sea of people you just had to go with the flow. If you've even been to Oktoberfest, the crowd as as bad or worse. Several on the boat said they do not care for Amsterdam, but to me, it has the feel of NYC except for the canals which remind me of Venice. We strolled around for quite a bit before returning to the boat for the Captain's Farewell Reception. Though this was a champagne affair I don't think many went to the trouble to change clothes as there was still the Red Light District tour later. Dinner was at 6:45 this night instead of the usual 7:00. I assume so people could start packing before disembarkation the next day. We did not pay the 25E PP cost for the optional Red Light tour. The district is within easy walking distance to the boat so we just walked over ourselves. We did ask the CD if it was safe and he said yes, just don't wander down any dark alleys. The "district" seemed "much ado about nothing". Yes there are lovely ladies in the windows which have red lights and they have on as many clothes as you will see at any Victoria Secret fashion show. It is not necessary to actually go into a coffee house as you can take a deep breath as you walk down the street and possibly get the same effect:p. Back to the boat to prepare for disembarkation Sunday morning.

[happycruizer]

DAY 8 - DISEMBARKATION - ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: We were up early as breakfast was earlier and closed sooner. Everyone needed to be out of their cabin by 8:30 & had to be off the boat by 10 A.M. Depending on your mode of transportation you were given the time to have your luggage outside your door. Those who had purchased transfers through Avalon were given colored tags to place on their luggage that coordinated with the time they were to board the bus. After leaving the cabin we could wait in the lounge until your color was called. Those of us who arranged our own transportation put our names on a list along with the time we wanted the taxi to pick us up. Arrangements were made by either the CD or Reception. When the taxi arrived and our luggage already loaded our names were called. As there were 4 in our party + luggage we requested a van. The CD said he would relay the msg. to dispatch but he could not guarantee the van. A van did show up and it was not until all luggage was loaded [before we were called] and we were seated that the driver asked if anyone had discussed price with us:eek:. The cost to transport 4 people/luggage to the airport was 75 Euro. We had been told it would be between 40/50 Euro, but I guess that would be for 2 passengers. At this point we were already seated, had a very long day ahead of us + sharing the cost so it was a go. I do think some went to the train station, which was a short walk, and took the train to the airport. We were told the trip to the airport would take approx. 45 min. to an hour, but it took less than 30 minutes. Probably b/c it was still early on a Sunday morning and there was hardly any traffic. Our driver shared some interesting info and pointed out points of interest on the transfer.

[happycruizer]

TIDBITS: The average age of passengers on our cruise was approx. late fifties to early sixties. There was at least one 90 yr. old passenger, a few couples in their forties in addition to a much younger couple traveling with family.

There was good storage space in our cabin. We had plenty of room to store my larger roller and 2 smaller ones under the bed. Plenty of closet space and shelf space in the closet/bathroom/nightstand. There will be bottles of shower gel, shampoo and lotion in your cabin, but no conditioner.

The dress code was very casual, even at dinner. Mostly slacks for ladies and even jeans with "dress casual" tops. On the night of the Farewell Gala Dinner [Friday night] most women were in black slacks and a somewhat dressier top. Very few of the men had on sport coats. Some of the guys wore dress shirts with ties, others just opened neck dress shirts.

Each day as you leave the ship you are to take a boarding pass which has your Cabin # and the ship's phone #. These are to be turned into reception when you come back. Before sailing they check to see that all passes are accounted for; if not they start calling/paging. I forgot mine while in Heidelberg/Spayer and rec'd a phone around 11:30 p.m. checking to see if I was present and accounted for. We were to leave port at 1:45 a.m.

Full breakfast is from 7:00-9:00 and the crew abides by a strict timetable. At approx. 10 before 9:00 they will start clearing tables and closing the buffet. We tried to be in the dining room no later than 8:30 to make sure we had enough time to eat before starting our day. The breakfast buffet had a very good variety of fruit, meat, cheese, cereal and an omelet/ made to order egg station.

Dining room doors opened promptly at seven. There was no mad rush to be seated as you sometimes see on the big ships. Dinner portions were more than adequate but not large; portions like you would get at an upscale restaurant vs. a family style restaurant. I found all the soups to be quite tasty, whether hot or cold soup. If you order beef and like it any other way than rare be sure to tell your waiter when you order. I did not do this the first night I ordered the beef and could not eat it b/c it was so rare:(. I noticed passengers at the adjoining tables having the same reaction.

Each night a colored city map will be placed in your cabin showing the docking location, main sights of interest etc. There will also be a black & white copy of the same map at the desk of the CD.......this is the one you want to take with you. The main sights as well as YOUR docking location are clearly marked with magic marker. Had DH took this map with him in Koblenz he would have known we were docked on the Moselle and not the Rhine:o.

Computer stations are located in the main lobby. There are 2 computers. Cost was 5 E for l day or 25 E for the week. The connection was not instant but fairly fast. Getting use to the European keyboard was more of a challenge then the connection time. I tried answsering a msg. but could not get it to "type"; after about 10 minutes I ask for help from Reception. She said to go in under "mozilla foxfire" instead of internet explorer:rolleyes:. Don't know the difference but this worked.

The only time we had to pay to use the restroom was at Heidelberg Castle. Don't worry about having the correct amt. as there is an attendant right inside the hallway that will give you change. I found the restrooms in Europe to be very clean. Most places do not have toilet seat covers but a "toilet sanitizer" dispenser on the wall. You squirt this on the tissue and wipe the toilet seat. I assume this helps keep the toilets from becoming clogged by several seat covers being used at one time.

Be very careful about checking, rechecking and checking again closets, shelves and especially the safe before disembarkation. The safe is on a shelf in the closet and there is no lighting + the safe has a gray felt liner which makes items hard to spot. I really had DH going one day when I returned from town and found 2 pair of black lace undies mixed in with MY clothes:eek:. They had obviously been left behind by the person occupying the cabin before us but I managed to make him think I was a jealous wife;). It made for a good laugh. CD said they find passports, cell phones, enough clothing for a fashion show and may other items of interest.

 

The aft lounge has a wonderful machine that makes hot coffee, cappucino, lattes, etc. one cup at a time. There is always juice, fruit, hot chocolate and cookies available. I especially enjoyed this as I would run down the hall each morning before getting dressed to get a hot cup of coffee to help wake me. I found the coffee here to be much better than in the dining room. I was surprised at how many people on our cruise that were not aware of this until mid-way through the trip.

 

I've pretty much told you all I can think of; unless you have specific questions this will be the end.

[annfi]

We leave soon on the Imagery Bud-Ams and your postings have been so helpful!!!!

[happycruizer]

We leave soon on the Imagery Bud-Ams and your postings have been so helpful!!!!

 

Thanks. I hope you have a wonderful trip. Take warm clothing, good walking shoes and an umbrella:)

[Paulinda]

Happycruizer - 5 stars ***** for your very excellent daily reports!!!! BTW who was your cruiser director???

[happycruizer]

Happycruizer - 5 stars ***** for your very excellent daily reports!!!! BTW who was your cruiser director???

 

Akos Szalay was our CD. He was almost always at his desk and did his best to answer any questions or give recommendations. I liked his honesty when we asked about doing some of the tours on our own. He never tried to discourage us from doing this. We enjoyed him immensely.

 

One thing I forgot to mention......the safe in the rooms are very sensitive to touch. We were hurrying one a.m. and I remembered that I had forgotten to lock the safe. In my hast I "touched" something and it would not lock:eek:. DH finally had to completely reset the code, which of course took extra time. We were the last ones to board the bus; Akos had them to wait for us:o. Our traveling companions said they had the same problem and said to just leave it for a couple of minutes and try again.... all should be fine.