Just returned Castles on The a Rhine Uniworld

[amd1234]

I have yet to write a review of our wonderful River cruise Castles on The Rhine SS Antoinette. I will try and gather all my notes and write a review this week.. Traveling is exhausting and it's been a week and we are still recuperating. It was beyond amazing everything was perfect also great weather. I will answer any questions. I really enjoyed our three day precruise to Amsterdam. Amsterdam was very enjoyable I planned and organized this trip on my own. We did a post cruise to Lucerne with Uniworld expensive but really great if you want every thing arranged. we had a glitch that was upsetting but we got all the issues resolved..This forum really helped in planning and I am going through withdrawal not being on this website 24-7. I guess I Have to plan another trip..

[Los_Pepes]

Glad you enjoyed it. Look forward to your full review.

[jpalbny]

Definitely looking forward to your review! It will be nice to relive our trip through a different set of eyes. I'm glad you had as much fun as you were expecting! :)

 

And yes, it was an exhausting trip for us too. It never seems to hit you until you've returned home... Strongly recommend planning another one as a cure, though!

[didicruiser]

I am looking forward to your review. This trip is high on my must do list.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[amd1234]

Well I finally had a bit of time to write about our wonderful Castles on The Rhine River Cruise. it's been a week and the memories fade quickly. so I will try and answer any questions. It was very difficult trying to be concise in my reporting.

 

Chris your pictures and blog was amazing ... :) I tried and gave it my best!

[eyeu]

We are going on the Uniworld Castles in a month with a pre-cruise in Lucerne.

Anxious to get your thoughts, especially when there are choices in the excursions, as well as the optional ones. Any pics?

thanks..

rick

[bunnybear]

We are sailing on the SS Antoinette in late August and will be doing Lucerne on our own. I am reluctant to buy our train tickets until I have a good idea of what time they allow passengers to disembark.

 

I am looking for your review on the Member Reviews and can't find it. Am I looking in the wrong place.

 

What was your most favorite thing that you did in Amsterdam? We will only be there a little over 24 hours so we will have to make a quick run of "things to not miss".

 

Thanks for your help.

[amd1234]

I wrote my review two days ago and I don't seem to find it!

 

I will answer a few questions. You can disembark whenever you want. We had a bus transfer to Lucerne at 9 am arranged by Uniworld. Some people left really early to catch their flights back home.

 

We stayed three nights in Amsterdam pre cruise really enjoyed it. It I had unlimited time I would visit the Anne Frank house buying your tickets online. The lines are 2 hrs Long if your tickets are not purchased in advance.

 

Amsterdam is a great walking city sit at a cafe have a beer and just take in the moment..

[amd1234]

Ric are you doing Lucerne on your own? We booked the Lucerne ext with Uniworld. We took the optional tour of Mt Pilitis loved it. Lucerne is so beautiful you will enjoy it.

 

We were happy with our choice of excurisions really difficult trying to decide.

 

One of our favorites was the Doktorenhof vinegar tasting very interesting. We didn't go to Marksberg Castle too tired after our walking tour of Koblenz. Guide was knowledgable but long winded. We should have taken the Gondola to the Fortress people enjoyed it. We also didn't go to Hidelberg . We took the optional tour to the Black Forest a long day but glad we went. We had to make a decision to visit Colmar or take the bus to 2 Alsatian Wine Villages Kayserberg & Riquewihr we absolutely loved it.

[jpalbny]

I wrote my review two days ago and I don't seem to find it!

 

No worries! Unlike forum posts, reviews are "reviewed" after you submit them, before they are posted and visible to readers of the forum. This review process seems to take a few days.

 

So expect to see your review soon - maybe tomorrow or Friday? I want to read it too!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

[amd1234]

Rick, On the above reply message from Chris & JP..they did a blog on the SS Antoinette . Photo review -April 2014 click on and see their amazing pictures..

 

Chris thanks for the info about my review. It's definitely not like your great blog..

Edited July 16, 2014 by amd1234

[eyeu]

I have followed jp and Chris's reviews. Their photos and reviews were wonderful..I like to get all the info I can. Probably overkill...but thats the ocd in me!

We are doing Lucerne through Uniworld. Probably paid a pretty premium but cuts the hassles and at that time of year, things can get hectic. We did Aux-en Provence last year on our own before the river cruise through Provence and Burgundy. All went well. This year, just wanted to be pampered.

Rick

Edited July 16, 2014 by eyeu

[amd1234]

We also wanted no hassle so we booked through Uniworld a bit expensive but worth it. We had a little glitch with the transfer to airport we booked Lucerne to Zurich. It's all resolved but it made our trip to Lucerne a huge distraction. Cathleen is the Uniworld representative and absolutely terrific. She took care of everything there was eight of us on the extension. Hotel Wilden Mann is in a great locatipn. One negative no AC. Lots of restaurants walking distance from Hotel.. We enjoyed a flat bread pizza rest.on the water short distance from Hotel. Take the Mt. Pilitis trip it was awesome..enjoy...

[Buck1949]

I thought I would pop in here and give my 2 cents worth regarding how I have traveled over the last couple of vacations.

 

I purchased one of the small hand held voice recorders - and I did this for 2 reasons...........

 

I can make a quick note about what I happen to want to remember as we are touring/cruising........ but more importantly for me is I use it to record those photos that I want to remember the name of the place/location/item that I observed.

 

I took over 1800 photos of my recent trip through Italy and our cruise, and when I returned I was able to download the recordings...and then match them up with photos...or locations we visited.

 

One Piece of advise...most of these recorders allow you to put in the Date/Time so that it is a part of each recording (date stamp).... JUST DON"T forget to put the Date/Time of the current location you are traveling so that everything syncs up properly. Nothing worse that recording something that says it is 2 am ...when in fact it is 9 hours later.... GRIN :eek:

[Ksqrd]

Can you tell what hotel you stayed at while you were Amsterdam? We will be going there next summer and would love any suggestions.

[Buck1949]

Can you tell what hotel you stayed at while you were Amsterdam? We will be going there next summer and would love any suggestions.

 

This is where we stayed....very quaint and reasonably priced. It is closer to the Van Gogh museum than the Train Staion?

It is not a fancy hotel, but very accommodating - and a great friendly staff. The tram is easy to use to get around and makes a stop just about a block from the hotel.

 

Hotel Fita

 

Jan Luijkenstraat 37, Amsterdam

+31 20 679 0976

4.5 out of 5 stars

 

Make sure you get the Dutch pancakes at breakfast time.....they are so good!!!

[Ksqrd]

Thank you - This is very helpful!