Felicity September 25 - October 2, 2011

[el344]

We've just returned from the Basel to Amsterdam Rhine Cruise on the Felicity. It was an outstanding trip. I have very little to add to bfred's excellent review -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1465203 -- but I do have a couple of comments.

 

1. Side of the boat. I carefully chose a cabin on the east side of the boat so we wouldn't have the afternoon sun. Good plan, right? No. The boat always docks with the bow pointing UPstream, which is south, which means we got the afternoon sun full on. Which wasn't really a problem, because if we were in the cabin it was to nap or sleep and the curtains were closed. Aside from that we found the cabin side to be completely irrelevant since we spent very little time in it.

 

2. Electrical outlets: there is an outlet on the window side of the room at the head of the bed, very convenient for bedside gadgets.

 

3. We stayed in Basel the night before at a hotel located on the Central Bahnhof plaza. We're not up to hauling luggage on and off trams so we took a taxi to the ship. A 50 euro taxi. Next time I'll stay on the north side of the river a bit closer to where the boat docks are.

 

4. I took my small mobility scooter (http://travelscoot.com/) and was able to use it almost everywhere we went. The cruise people were terrific about helping with it when needed.

 

5. Our entire crew and particularly our cruise director, Jean Loup, were terrific.

 

I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[YoungDubFan]

Glad to know you enjoyed your cruise. I'm taking this trip in May 2012 and have learned so much from all the previous travelers.

[webfoot]

That scooter is awesome!!! May look into that for my husband when we are on our cruise in April 2012!!!

 

Thanks so much!!!

[blingbling]

Thanks for sharing. It keeps us excited about this trip next October 2012 on the new ship Visionary. I picked East/Starboard side of ship for same reason as you, so thx for info on docking, not that it matters so much.

 

Wondering about specific arrival/docking times to each port. Which were mornings, afternoon or evenings?

Karen

 

We've just returned from the Basel to Amsterdam Rhine Cruise on the Felicity. It was an outstanding trip. I have very little to add to bfred's excellent review -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1465203 -- but I do have a couple of comments.

 

1. Side of the boat. I carefully chose a cabin on the east side of the boat so we wouldn't have the afternoon sun. Good plan, right? No. The boat always docks with the bow pointing UPstream, which is south, which means we got the afternoon sun full on. Which wasn't really a problem, because if we were in the cabin it was to nap or sleep and the curtains were closed. Aside from that we found the cabin side to be completely irrelevant since we spent very little time in it.

 

2. Electrical outlets: there is an outlet on the window side of the room at the head of the bed, very convenient for bedside gadgets.

 

3. We stayed in Basel the night before at a hotel located on the Central Bahnhof plaza. We're not up to hauling luggage on and off trams so we took a taxi to the ship. A 50 euro taxi. Next time I'll stay on the north side of the river a bit closer to where the boat docks are.

 

4. I took my small mobility scooter (http://travelscoot.com/) and was able to use it almost everywhere we went. The cruise people were terrific about helping with it when needed.

 

5. Our entire crew and particularly our cruise director, Jean Loup, were terrific.

 

I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[el344]

Wondering about specific arrival/docking times to each port. Which were mornings, afternoon or evenings?

Karen

 

Strasbourg: morning Monday

Speyer: morning Tuesday day

Heidelberg: afternoon Tuesday

Mainz: morning Wednesday

Rudesheim: afternoon Wednesday

Rhine Gorge (sailing): morning Thursday day

Koblenz: afternoon Thursday

Cologne: morning Friday

Amsterdam: morning Saturday

[blingbling]

Thank you EL344!

Karen

[Grimsby]

"4. I took my small mobility scooter (http://travelscoot.com/) and was able to use it almost everywhere we went."

 

Did your ship have an elevator? Do most river cruise ships, have elevators? I would appreciate comments from anyone having cruised European rivers, as my wife has difficulty with stairs.

 

Thanks

[Paulinda]

The Felicity did have an elevator between floors and since most of the newer ships are bult in the same manner I would say most of Avalon's fleet do have elevators. Her problem may be getting to the Sun deck as I don't think the elevator went there and getting on and off the ship as they do use gang planks.

 

If she is mobile at all she shouldn't have a problem. Even the stairs aren't too bad. If she is not capable of walking at all....I don't know.

[el344]

 

Did your ship have an elevator? Do most river cruise ships, have elevators? I would appreciate comments from anyone having cruised European rivers, as my wife has difficulty with stairs.

 

Thanks

 

There was an elevator, but it did not go to the top deck. It covered everything else, however.

 

Apparently many of the older ships do not have elevators. It's one of the things I checked for before booking.