GCT-Vienna to Amsterdam

[paknoe]

We are doing the Great Rivers of Europe cruise in August and would like to know what the dress is for the evening meal. Is there any need for a suit or tie??

[gracecarmo]

We went on this voyage last year. The dining in the evening is rather casual, however my DH did bring a sport jacket. (he always wears one on the plane). He did did not bring a shirt w tie.

 

Grace

[paknoe]

Thanks Grace for your input. Have fun on your river cruise!

[hotspur]

We did the GCT Nile cruise in February and there was no dress requirement for the dining room. In general, dress was very casual. It was a fabulous trip.

[Flick]

We leave for the Great Rivers Cruise on July 7th. and just received our final documents. It is my impression from reading the itinerary they sent us with the final docs and from what other posters have said before that dinner is casual because you might not get back to the boat until 30 minutes before dinner is served (and who wants to miss the unlimited wine served with same??). Incidentally there are three optonal tours offered (for a reasonable price) that sound like real winners. They did NOT appear in any of the other documentation we read about this trip until we got the final docs.We are going from Amsterdam, after the pre-cruise in Brussels, to Vienna and then doing the three night post-cruise there. All-in-all a 21 day trip.

 

Rick,24 cruises and counting! Next cruise- #25-Riverboat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna in July '04

[npphotog]

Flick - Would love to hear a report when you get back from the river cruise...also what are the three optional tours not mention in the brochure? Willard

[Flick]

Willard: In Koblenz it is an afternoon tour of Marksburg Castle and then a trip to a family-owned brewery where we get to try a "bratwurst mit kraut" and a home-brewed beer while mingling with the locals at the beer garden.(cost is $45.00 per person and includes lunch)

An all-day tour to Rothenburg from Wurzburg.($50 per person and includes lunch)This is especially nice and they even have a discount Christmas Ornament store, right on the square that is open all year!

Afternoon tour of Schloss Seehof (hunting lodge of Prince Bishop Marquard Schenk.Includes a tour of the Park around the residence-one of the finest rococo gardens in all of Germany.(This one is after lunch in Bamburg and costs $25 per person)

Don't forget to go to the library and read (or re-read) Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose".This one is set in the monastery at Melk but you will be going thru other monesteries as well.

Have a great trip.

 

Rick,24 cruises and counting! Next cruise- #25-Riverboat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna in July '04

 

[Kayelache]

I'm so envious of you, Rick, that you have your final documents! We leave home this next Sunday, and will drive leisurely to Boston, and fly from there. Since we did't want to miss getting the documents, I called Grand Circle and told them we would pick them up ourselves when we get to Boston a couple of days before we fly out. I knew about two of the optional tours from the website, but the third one sounds great, too. We are ALL PACKED- what a chore as we are packing for three different trips, actually...The cross country car trip from Arizona to Boston via North Dakota (for a won't tell you how many years High School reunion June 25) then the cruise, and then the independant train travel from Vienna back to Brussels including three days in London. So I tried to keep it light, having to handle the two big suitcases, a couple of carry ons myself- plus my husband and his wheelchair. He's taking a light jacket and tie for the HS reunion dinner, do you think it might be a good idea to take it along for the cruise? Also, has anyone been following temperatures and weather in Europe lately? Last year we packed sweaters and rain gear/heavy clothing and found the hottest driest summer in the past century. I hope the weather is more moderate this year, but it really was most unusual, and for us, wonderful, to have three weeks in the Alps with only one rainy day!

Karen and Albert- counting the days to July 10!

[Flick]

The two other men plus myself that are travelling together with our wives are taking a sport coat and dress slacks but only because we might wear them on the pre or post cruise for a concert or something. As you know, a nice silk-blend coat travels very well with little, if any, wrinkles and since the weight limit is 70# we don't have to worry about the added bulk in our suitcases.The weather, incidentally, has been in the low 80's (rather ideal) in Europe. We are looking forward to meeting you either in Brussels or Amsterdam. Have a great "land cruise" and a wonderful time at that HS reunion!

 

Rick,24 cruises and counting! Next cruise- #25-Riverboat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna in July '04

[barbow]

Just returned from GCT Vienna to Amsterdam River Cruise. This was our second time on the same itinerary. Loved it so much the first time--we did it again!!

 

Our second time was EVEN Better(!) than the first. We had a ball!!! The "optional" tours are definitely worth the small added costs!

 

Just take your time, do what you can do and ENJOY everything! The food and service onboard is beyond compare.

 

If you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

[Flick]

Barbow:

Assuming you are Inner Circle did you get an extra 10% on any ship purchases such as optional tours?

[Kayelache]

We're all packed and ready to fly to Europe to join the "Great Rivers of Europe" Grand Circle cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna next Sunday.

Just got our final documents. It lists 155 passengers on this cruise. I counted again, and the River Melody has 70 cabins, with 2 beds per cabin.

Where are they putting those 15 extra PAX?

[Flick]

Karen: They are definitely going to be in YOUR cabin. Actually, we saw the same thing and the "official" answer is that list contains the names of 15 people who have since dropped out and cancelled. The list was generated BEFORE the final payment.....See you Thursday in Brussels or are you just going to start in Amsterdam???? Kay is getting so excited I may have to tie her to a chair for a couple of days......

[Flick]

Karen: I forgot to add this to my other post. All Inner Circle guests on the GCT European River Boats are now entitled to an extra 10% discount on all ship-board purchases!!!! Just show your badge.....This covers snacks, drinks, and purchases in the small gift shop but not the optional tours....THAT almost cancels out the increase in the Euro!!!!

[Carhut]

Looks like you were both on this trip this month. Are you back yet? I just got my documents yesterday for my cruise starting on Aug. 21. I'm getting excited as I've not done a river cruise before. This will be different from an ocean cruise. I'm really looking forward to it. I'd appreciate any advice you might have, or any other information you might want to impart to me about the cruise.

[Carhut]

Paknoe, which Aug. sailing are you going on? I'm on the Melody, Aug. 21. Could we be going on the same one?

[paknoe]

Hi

 

We are on the Concerto leaving the US Aug.26 with the pre-cruise in Vienna. Are you going from Amsterdam to Vienna? I am getting very excited!!

[Flick]

Just a very quick message-we are back as of 1:30 this am from one of the best trips we have ever taken. I will write a complete review tomorrow when my eyes aren't "burning" as much. I have about 14 items to report that I haven't seen elsewhere-stay tuned......

[Carhut]

Paknoe - We are also going from Vienna to Amsterdam. Guess we'll be just a few days ahead of you. Also going to spend 3 days in Vienna before the cruise.

Rick- I'm anxiously waiting for your review.

Carole

[lddam]

Flick -

 

Welcome home. We will be taking this cruise in October and are also very interested in reading your review. Mention of the "14 items" has really piqued my curiosity.

 

Dave

[Flick]

We have just returned from a 14 day cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna with a pre-cruise trip to Belgium and a post-cruise trip in Vienna. I am going to follow my notes which are items that I have not seen in this thread before. I have a list of about 14 items but will not list them in order so grab a cup of coffee and relive what was one of the finest trips we have taken after 25 cruises, both on water and on land.

First, about the boat itself. It has been been completely renovated this year and is gorgeous! The new carpet and color scheme is now blue,yellow, and green with lots of wood accents (dark wood in public areas, light wood in the cabins). The ambiance is CASUAL! There is no need for the gentlemen to bring a sport coat or suit and tie. Also ladies, leave the beads and sequins at home-absolutely no one was that dressed. At the captain's welcome dinner there were maybe 6 or 7 men in coats and at the farewell dinner, no one wore jackets. (Our weather incidentally was very pleasant the whole trip so it wasn't very hot at all.) A clean shirt (good luck on that one by the end of the trip!) and slacks were more than sufficient. Yes, a few even wore shorts in the dining room for all meals including dinner. The table cloths are sufficently long enough to hide skinney, hairy legs of both men and women.

All of the cabins are the same size with the exception of the bathroom (which supposedly is smaller) in the balcony rooms.(The bathroom incidentally has a lighed magnifying mirror for shaving and putting on makeup while the regular mirror is set into a corner and is useless. The hair dryer in the cabin worked very well and you will not need to bring your own.) We had a balcony and considered it very good money spent. Other passengers complained that because you can't open the windows their rooms were "stuffy". Another important factor, as I mentioned our weather was normal therefore the rivers were also normal. Nevertheless, the bridges are so low that we only were able to use the sky deck 3 times in 14 days-thus we were grateful for the balcony. This is partly a design fault of this boat. There is no forward open deck unlike most other ships on the river so when they had to lower the pilot house everyone had to stay off the sky deck. It was lowered most of the time preventing access to the open deck. The forward lounge is beatiful but sits right behind the forward equipment of the ship so looking straight forward left a lot to be desired.

The boat is self-navigating therefore no tugs are needed anywhere. Incidentally, your itinerary is dependant upon the appointment times established for going thru the locks so you do not get a full day in some of the towns as the boat has 87 locks to go thru on this trip. These locks, incidentally, are bigger and deeper than the Panama Canal but our boat barely fit width wise in them. The Canal for instance was designed for the small "Rhine freighter" not the luxurious river cruiser.

Fair warning-this is a physically strenuous trip. You can be in excellent health and it probally won't matter-you will be exhausted at the end of the trip. (We are of the opinion that adding Vienna at the end of trip, while beautiful, nevertheless was "over the top" for our knees and backs after 14 days of cobblestone streets and plazas in Germany and Austria.

Now for the most subjective part, Food. It was very good. We are on the South Beach Diet and although we tried to be careful we did succumb to the breads and the desserts. The good news is I didn't gain any weight nor did my wife but the bad news is we both look like we are seriously pregnant so we are now back on phase one to get rid of the bellys. I was of the opinion that breakfast and lunch was buffet style. Breakfast always was, however every other day they also prepared to order omelets and other egg dishes and everyday they had a breakfast special (1 pancake for instance-tells you something about the size of the portions!) Only two or three lunches were buffet, the rest were sit-down with soup (all of them good, many of them very salty) plus main course and the ever popular dessert. Both the lunch menu and the dinner menu consisted of two entrees-a fish dish and a meat dish although sometimes they offered a pasta dish as a third option. You ordered your lunch and dinner selections at breakfast so be prepared to think about steak when you sit down to your breakfast eggs. Incidentally the bacon was literally burned every single day and so crisp (as well as black) that it was generally considered bacon crumbles by the passengers. The service at mealtime was very personable as well as friendly since there was only 30 crew people and they had to double up on jobs, for instance, our bar tender was sometimes our waiter. One more "food" point- the "unlimited wine at dinner is usually 2 glasses since they do not leave carafes or bottles on the table but rather the waiters pour the wine and they are pretty busy being waiters getting your food courses out to you. Dinner takes about 1-1/2 hours and since you sit with different people all the time very relaxed and friendly. There are NO tables for two in the dining room which is at the back of the ship with a three-sided view of the scenery.

The staff was very personable both on the ship and when you ran into them on shore and made a point by the second day to always address you by name-that includes the Captain! He made no secret that his girlfriend was the Hotel Manager, even kissing her in public in the pilot house and dancing with her on those nights we had dancing. He and she also did a cute act during the crew show.

Well, I seem to have jumped to entertainment. I must confess that the idea of "regional entertainment" was less than, shall we say, exciting to me before the trip. I am here to tell you that every single show was fabulous and should not be missed! The entertainers come on the boat at various towns and get off at that town or the next town. Ask anyone who has been on this trip and you will here "Ya Ya" at the top of their voices followed by hysterical laughter.

Without notice each passenger was given one Euro at Nurnberg and told they had to buy the bread for dinner that night. Well we ended up with lots of bread left over but a great time hunting down bakeries and trying to communicate with the locals for our purchases. The program directors advised the passengers that one of the options, Schloss Seehof, was not worth it and no one went based on the feelings of previous passengers. So much for "pushing the bill up"!

I can't recommend this trip too highly but I would suggest that you read a biography of the Habsburg family before you go-this trip re-traces their 600 years of power and a biography will greatly enhance your appreciation of this journey thru time. Oh, also watch out for those *&%@# cobblestones-they hurt by the end of the first week!

If you have any other specific questions don't hesitate to ask!!!

[Carhut]

Thanks for the review, Rick. Did you take the Rothenburg (optional) tour? Also wonder about what you did in Vienna? Did you take the two optional tours offered there? If not what did you do? We are flying to Vienna and doing that before our cruise. We are skipping the post cruise in Belgium. I figured after the cruise was ended, I'd be ready to go home. Besides Belgium didn't sound that interesting.

[Flick]

We took all of the optional trips with the exception of the Schloss Seehof. That of course includes Rothenburg and you really don't want to miss it. Belgium was very nice and one of the many hi-lights of the trip but since I'm still suffering from jet lag I wouldn't recommend any post cruise trip. We did the Optional concert in Vienna but we did not do the optional city tour. Instead we went to the Hofburg and then the next day to Schoenbrunn. Highly recommend the Hofburg before going to see Schoenbrunn because they don't explain as much at Schoenbrunn as they do at the Hofburg so seeing Hofburg first helps you to appreciate Schoenbrunn.

[wardwlw]

We are going on GCT's Great Rivers of Europe cruise (Amsterdam to Vienna) with post trip extension to Vienna. Would like to know your opinion on the option tours: Marksburg Castle and Brewery; Ruedesheim; Heidleberg; Wertheim; Rothenburg; Bavaria baroque & beer; Musical Vienna. Also what would you recommend doing in Vienna?

Thanks in advance,

Wade

[rogerdawhip]

I have done GCT's Amsterdam to Vienna trip 3 times, twice starting in amsterdam and once starting in Vienna. On the first trip in 2001, all of the mentioned optionals were included. The last time (Nov 2006) I only did the Rothenburg optional. I would recommend all the the optionals, especially Rothenburg, Heidleberg and Musicla Vienna. You may not get another chance. While in Vienna try and see a concert by the Vuenna Boys Choir. Schenbrunn Place is also a must while visiting Vienna.