Castles on the Rhine Cruise help

[briody]

I am planning my second river cruise. I have done Legendary Danube with AMA and loved it. I want to do the Rhine next and thought Amsterdam to Basel and then on my own I would take the train to Paris. I need help on the following : What time of year should I go?

 

I like AMA's, Uniworld, and Avalon. My problem with Uniworld and Avalon - they don't seem to really do Amsterdam and I feel I would be missing out. I will come in ahead and stay in Amsterdam for a day or two. Any thoughts?

 

Since I have never travelled on Uniworld or Avalon - how do they compare to AMA

 

Thanks

Briody

[QueenofEverything]

I can't really help with comparisons, because we just completed our first river cruise on the Avalon Affinity. I thought Avalon was great, very lovely ship, contemporary and not overdone. We cruised from Amsterdam to Basel the week of April 15th. We flew in 3 days early and stayed in a B&B on the Prinsengracht Canal that I found on Trip Advisor. (The Posthoorn - can't recommend it enough!) It was two blocks up the canal from Anne Frank's house and about a 10 minute walk from the train station (and the riverboat docks).

Amsterdam is SO easy to do on your own. Everyone (yes, really EVERYONE) speaks english. Almost all the signage is in Dutch and English. People are very friendly. I would recommend visiting in the spring because the flowers are unbelievable. Keukenhof is not to be missed and is only open from mid March to Mid May. We were there on April 13th and were pretty close to the peak (maybe a week later would have been peak). That, of course, depends on what kind of weather they have thru the early spring. Look up Keukenhof online if you are not familiar with it. It is an 80 acre park with thousands and thousands of bulbs. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, you name it. It was really indescribable. Worth a trip to Amsterdam just for that. Very easy to get to, they have a bus that runs from the airport and the train from downtown Centraal Station to the airport is very quick.

[Paulinda]

briody - if you want to see the tulips in Amsterdam I would say go in April. It's a bit chancy at that time of year weatherwise. It could be cool and rainy. Perhaps later April or early May for the flowers?

 

We did the Rhine in late May -early June and the weather was chilly/rain in Amsterdam but by the time we were in Koln the weather was nice. Not real warm but nice.

 

Good idea about going a day or two early. If you are adverturous there are lots of things you can find to do in Amsterdam with the help of the crusie company. Do a little research on line and you can find information about the Rijksmusem, Van Gogh, Anne Frank Haus, the Keukenhof, De Wallen and canal cruise boats (although that is an included with Avalon).

 

Enough to keep you busy, interested and happy.

[newfirsttimer]

We like to travel in September, did AMA Prague to Paris last year, doing Scenic Tours Amsterdam to Budapest this September. Scenic overnights in Amsterdam and offers included tours but we are going in 3 nights early to do more on our own since it is our first time in Amsterdam. Weather in September was great during the day, a little cool at night.

[H2Otstr]

We like to go either May/June or early-mid Sept.

 

In May or June the days are longer. It doesn't get dark until around 9 or 9:30 pm. The vineyards and trees are just starting to bloom.

 

In Sept. the days are shorter, but all the vinyards are full of leaves and grapes. Olive trees are also full.

 

Either time is good, though.

[genmasjoy]

As others have said, the spring flowers at the Keukenhof are not to be missed. April is the best time to see them. I also highly recommend the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam if you like his art. Tickets can be purchased on line in advance to save a long wait. I think Uniworld offers a pre-cruise extension in Amsterdam, but you can easily do it on your own.

[Talisker92]

We did the Castles along the Rhine with Vantage. The cruise went from Budapest to Amsterdam. We then spent a few days on our own in Amsterdam at one third to one half the price of the ship's extension. Also we did what we wanted to do at our pace.

The story and Pictures are on our website. We will be happy to answer any questions.

I would also suggest buying a guidebook of the castles along the Rhine so you can understand the history and the names of the castles.

[Riviera bound]

We took the Romantic Rhine with Avalon from Basel to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam on April 8th. Actually you arrive on Saturday and have all day Saturday there and stay on the ship that night and have breakfast in the morning and then get off to fly home or continue your journey. We opted to stay a couple of more days and had planned to see on our own, the Anne Frank house, Keukenhof gardens, a bus trip north into the Holland countrside, and the Rijksmuseum. We enjoyed all of those. On Saturday morning we took the "included" canal tour with Avalon which was very nice. In the afternoon and evening Avalon offered "optional" tours of Keukenhof gardens, 2 different countryside tours as I remember, and a red light district tour in the evening. We did not know about these options until about a month before our departure and by that time we had made our own reservations for Sunday and Monday and did not take Avalon optional tours on Saturday. However, they did seem in line pricewise for what we did on our own. I'm sure they would have been good for the limited time they had. All of our "included" tours were very well run. We were at Keukenhof gardens for five hours and were glad we had that long. The time at the gardens for the Avalon tour was not that long. It takes about an hour for transportation to and from the gardens so take that into consideration when planning your time at the gardens.

 

None of the grape vines were in bloom in early April, but the flowers at Keukenhof gardens and flower fields were gorgeous and they are gone by the end of May I think. A week or two later could have been better but they space out the blooming times so what we saw would have been gone later. You should go in Spring to see the gardens and then go back later in the summer to see the grape vines etc. in bloom and have the plus of longer day light. So much to see. You will enjoy it anytime you go. We have not sailed on anything but Avalon and 11 ocean cruises. We loved the small ship atmosphere and Avalon was wonderful.

[briody]

Thank you everyone for your help.

I can not take vacation in April so I think I will try early May and hopefully the flowers are still in bloom. Now I just have to figure out which cruiseline - Uniworld, AMA or Avalon

 

Briody

[SuiteTraveler]

I just did the Uniworld SS Antoinette - gorgeous ship, great food, outstanding service - absolutely a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it! AMA and Avalon have more "hotel" looking staterooms while SS Antoinette is more like staying in a luxury B&B or boutique hotel, if that makes a difference to you.

[Abbott28]

I am planning my second river cruise. I have done Legendary Danube with AMA and loved it. I want to do the Rhine next and thought Amsterdam to Basel and then on my own I would take the train to Paris. I need help on the following : What time of year should I go?

 

I like AMA's, Uniworld, and Avalon. My problem with Uniworld and Avalon - they don't seem to really do Amsterdam and I feel I would be missing out. I will come in ahead and stay in Amsterdam for a day or two. Any thoughts?

 

Since I have never travelled on Uniworld or Avalon - how do they compare to AMA

 

Thanks

Briody

Briody we have previously done one Uniworld Cruise in 2008 which was excellent. We are booked on two Avalon Cruises in August and September. The September cruise is Amsterdam to Basel. We generally like Europe in early Septemeber the climate is normally fairly temperate there maybe some rain however. Hope this helps.