Viking Tulips and Windmills 2016

[bellemere]

Is anyone back from this cruise?

Would like to see a trip report with opinions of optional excursions.

Leaving soon for this trip.

Thank you.

[happytotravel]

Is anyone back from this cruise?

Would like to see a trip report with opinions of optional excursions.

Leaving soon for this trip.

Thank you.

 

Hi,:)

I'm thinking of doing this in 2017 and would also like to hear about the trip. Perhaps you can come back afterwards and give an account.

 

My husband and I did a Viking river cruise in China in 2007 and it was fabulous! We really enjoyed not only being in China but also the ship as well as the crew.

 

My husband has since died so I would be traveling solo this time. He was also Dutch so it would be great to get back to Holland for some wonderful memories of the times we visited together.

 

I'm presently getting ready for a transatlantic with NCL next week!

 

Enjoy your cruise,

happytotravel

[bellemere]

They say you should sit at a window seat when you fly into Amsterdam so you can see the fields in bloom.

We used Viking when we went to China in 2012. Like you we had a wonderful experience there and with Viking.

We have done several trans Atlantic crossings with Cunard's Queen Mary as our choice.

Hope we get some feedback before we go on the trip.

Will share when we get back.

Travel safe and enjoy.

[GACRUISER456]

We just returned from doing the first cruise of the season on the Viking Skadi (Skirnir was right along with us the whole time as well). It was our first river cruise although we have done a ton of ocean cruising. We really enjoyed the overall experience very much and are looking at future cruises with them.

 

As for the tours, we were very impressed with all of the included ones. The guides were very good and the QuietVox's (ear pieces) really helped make the tours enjoyable and relaxed. We did not do any optionals as we had other things to do on our own. The optional to Brussels was cancelled as it was only a week after the attacks and the Market Garden tour was our included since we were in Antwerp on a Monday. I would highly recommend the Market Garden if this is an optional for you. Very good overview of the whole area and sites.

 

I also heard from people that did the Tulips and Windmills tour in Amsterdam. They all seemed to really like that one and the family that hosted them for the "tulip" portion was great.

 

I can't remember all of the optionals, but if you have a specific one, I'll try to remember if I heard from anyone that did it.

 

I'd be happy to answer any other questions for you!

[bellemere]

So glad you had a good first experience. Thank you for responding.

This will be our seventh with Viking.

Where did you dock in Amsterdam?

When you were at Kinderdijk was there an optional excursion for those who had already done Kinderdijk?

Did you spend the whole day in Bruges?

Did anyone mention the optional excursion to Haarlem?

Did you get to see any of Rotterdam?

Look forward to your answers.

[GACRUISER456]

So glad you had a good first experience. Thank you for responding.

This will be our seventh with Viking.

Where did you dock in Amsterdam?

When you were at Kinderdijk was there an optional excursion for those who had already done Kinderdijk?

Did you spend the whole day in Bruges?

Did anyone mention the optional excursion to Haarlem?

Did you get to see any of Rotterdam?

Look forward to your answers.

 

1) We were in several places in Amsterdam. The day we boarded, our booklet mentioned 3 possible locations all around Central Station. Well, I had the hotel concierge call the ship and they were at a completely different location due to the amount of ship traffic in the city. They were out a Coenhaven which is a 10+ min bus ride from downtown. The ship provided shuttles for day 1 and 2 every couple of hours, but that was a little disappointing for us since we were hoping to just walk back and forth. When we arrived back in Amsterdam the morning of the Keukenhof tour at the end, we were right at the central station dock. Hopefully you get that since it is so convenient. If you are not using the transfers from the airport, I would definitely recommend calling the morning you board to confirm the location.

 

2) Kinderdijk - yes there was an optional included tour for those that had already been to the windmills. It had something to do with cheese. I think it followed the entire process from the raising of animals to the actual making of cheese. That tour left 15 min before ours and got back a short time after, so maybe a 3 hour tour.

 

3) Ghent / Bruges had all kinds of options. We did the full day in Bruges. Bus ride there, then there was a 90 min walking tour from the bus parking into the central square. We thought it was very good. Then we had about 3 hours on our own. We met back at central square at 2:30 and had another 45 min walking tour back to the bus. The other options were to do 1/2 day in Bruges and come back to the ship with the afternoon on your own in Ghent (shuttles were being run into town since we were docked outside). There was also a tour in Ghent I believe in the morning and you could sign up for an optional tour that included a few hours in Bruges. So many options!

 

4) For Haarlem, those folks went to the Keukenhof in the morning with everyone on the included tour. We got there around 9:30. They then had to meet the guide at 11:45 if they were going to Haarlem and the tour left directly from the gardens. I don't think they got back until after 6 according to the daily program. It included lunch I believe the program director said. I know the tour ran, but I never talked to anyone that did it. The other options that day were to do 1/2 at the garden and the buses left at 12:30 or the full day departed at 2:30. We did the last departure - really enjoyed the gardens.

 

5) Rotterdam was a minimal stop. We got in earlier than expected around 7:30p. The stop is really designed to just pick up a choir for the evening performance and then depart again around 11:30pm. We ate a quick dinner in Aquavit and headed off the ship by 8:30. From where we were docked it was a 20 min walk along the water to get to the main area of downtown. We spent just about 90 min walking around the area (Friday night for us, so lots of people out), and then headed back. I think back on board time was 11:15.

 

Whenever we were in port in the evening, we got off and took advantage. Antwerp was really nice walking around in the evening and we docked about a 10 min walk from the Cathedral. Hoorn was a lovely town - the included tour was in the afternoon (it was Easter Sunday, so they may have flipped it), but it included tea and pastries at a locals home which was fun.

 

Hope that helps! The flowers ought to be perfect for you when you go! The fields weren't in bloom yet outside of Keukenhof, but inside there were lots of early bloomers out already for us.

 

Let me know if you need anything more.

[happytotravel]

Thanks Bellemere for your reply. Enjoy your upcoming cruise to the utmost! Will be happy to hear about it when you return.

Thanks so much GAcruiser456 for answering Bellemere's questions. Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

 

happytotravel

Edited April 7, 2016 by happytotravel

[bellemere]

There are so many more ships on the European rivers now that rafting is very common. The charm is just walking off the ship and into town.

Despite that it does not always happen, we have enjoyed our times.

 

GACRUISER456: your answers were just what I wanted. Did you get any feedback on the optional to Delft?

Your feedback only makes us more excited about going.

[GACRUISER456]

GACRUISER456: your answers were just what I wanted. Did you get any feedback on the optional to Delft?

Your feedback only makes us more excited about going.

 

I remember they split up the optional excursion into 2 choices. I can't remember the specifics of the excursion, but it sounded like you could choose to go to where they make it OR do the other part (town maybe?). They said doing both would not provide enough time in either spot. You just had to let reception know after dinner which part you wanted to do. I can no longer see the description on the website to confirm the tour specifics. From the folks I heard going, it sounded like most were choosing the option to go to where it is made and not the town portion. Hope that made sense!

[bellemere]

Hope to hear from others just returned from this cruise.

Thanks.

[MaplewoodSweets]

We just returned from the April 6 cruise on the Viking Lofn. Overall, we had a wonderful time and felt lucky that we had rain on only one day, and a light rain at that. In Amsterdam, we were docked at Coenhaven -- not ideal, but it didn't bother us too much because we had included tours and optional excursions planned for most of the time we were docked. The ship provided shuttles to the Church of St. Nicholas for those who wanted to go into town on their own. We took all the included tours and several optional ones. In Amsterdam, we took the canal cruise and the walking tour (included) and also the optional tour to Delft, which we found to be quite charming. We did the walking tour with a guide and had enough free time to enjoy some poffertjes (mini-pancakes) at a sidewalk café in the square.

 

Hoorn was also quite interesting and fun to see. We took the included tour, which was a walking tour and a visit with a local family for, in our case, apple cake, sweets and coffee or tea. Our host family was delightful. In the afternoon, we took the optional tulips and windmills tour in which we visited a tulip farm and greenhouses and learned about the tulip-growing business. The tulip fields were not in bloom, but the visit was interesting nevertheless. The farmer's wife ran our tour and she was a lot of fun. On the way to visit the windmill, the bus driver got a bit lost so our visit was quite short, but we did learn about the modern windmills and had a chance to go inside one.

 

In Arnhem, we took the included Kroller-Muller Museum and Sculpture Garden tour, which I highly recommend. Helen Muller was an early collector of Van Gogh and accumulated a large collection, along with works by other Impressionist and Expressionist painters. The works are very well displayed in the museum and garden. The bus also drove us around the grounds, which are lovely, and we saw the hunting lodge. Instead of taking an optional tour in the afternoon, we walked into Arnhem from the ship (about a 15-minute walk). We discovered that you can take an elevator up in the church tower to an observation deck where you can see and photograph the town.

 

The Kinderdijk included tour was good, but it was very windy that day and there was quite a bit of walking. You can go inside one of the windmills. For those who had seen them before, there was an optional Dutch Cheese Maker tour. I did not hear any reports about this one.

 

In Antwerp, the included walking tour with a guide was quite good, though strenuous. We also took the optional Brussels city tour, which was a combination bus and walking tour. This was quite enjoyable and we had enough free time to buy some chocolates and have some frites at a café on the square.

 

We took the included all-day Bruges tour, which was great. In addition to the guided walking tour, we had time for a canal boat tour and a nice lunch on our own before rejoining the guide for the trip back to Ghent, where our boat was docked. I did ask whether it would be possible to return in the afternoon and tour Ghent, but was told by the program director that people who did this found that they didn't have enough time in either place to properly enjoy it. So we chose Bruges and liked it very much. Another couple on the ship did go into Ghent and said the streets were torn up, so it was hard to see very much.

 

The included Delta Works excursion and visit to Veere was quite nice. Veere is a well-preserved old town and the walking tour was just the right length, ending in the square where you could shop or get a cup of coffee if you wanted to. The Delta Works visit is essentially a photo stop where you can see the huge gates that can be raised to keep out a storm surge. Then we visited the 1953 flood museum, which told this history of this devastating event.

 

We did not see Rotterdam at all; the ship only spent a few hours there and there was no included transportation to the city. This was the night of the farewell dinner and some entertainment by a local men's singing group, which was quite fun.

 

On the last day of the cruise, we returned to Amsterdam for the Keukenhof Garden visit. Of course, this was the day it rained, but it wasn't too bad. The gardens were beautiful and you could see a few flower fields in bloom from the windmill, but not a lot (this was April 15). We visited some of the indoor greenhouses when the rain stepped up, and they were beautiful. You had the option of returning to the ship at 12:15 p.m. or 2:45 p.m.; in our group, I think most returned on the early bus. Shuttles were provided into town (again, we were docked at Coenhaven), but we spent the evening packing, since we were staying in Amsterdam for another three nights before heading home.

 

The ship provided an optional tour to Haarlem on the Keukenhof day. That group went to the gardens first, and then to Haarlem for a tour. I did not hear any reports from people who went there (I did hear that only about eight people went). We took the train there from Amsterdam after the cruise and walked around the town a little. My main interest was in seeing the church, which has an organ that Mozart played when he was 10 years old. It cost four of us a total of 38 Euros for round-trip train ride to Haarlem, and the connections were very easy.

 

In summary, we enjoyed the cruise and all the tours that we took. A few of the tours turned out to be more strenuous than we were expecting, so if that's an issue, you might want to talk to the program director about it.

[TargetsMom]

Thanks so much for the review. We leave in a week and a half for our first river cruise out of Amsterdam ("Tulip Time" on AmaViola) and your comments are very helpful.

 

kathy