Trip Report- River Melody July 11-25, Amsterdam to Vienna

[Kayelache]

Grab a cup of coffee, this is LONG!

 

The total experience:

I think we are ruined forever for ocean cruises. This was so superior to any other experience we have had cruising- and this was our 17th cruise. We loved the size of the ship- 135 passengers, it was easy to at least recognize everyone by the end of the cruise. This was one of those rare instances where the actual event exceeded our expectations.

The Cabins

The sitting area when the beds are made is almost too narrow to be comfortable, but it does make the cabin seem a lot larger. I wish there had been a double bed, or that the two could have been pushed together. The bathroom was tiny, but efficiently arranged. The shower curtain did not have the charectaristic of becoming "your new best friend" as is the case on too many cruise ships. The mirror is almost like those in a carnival fun house, the sink is in the corner, and the mirror is split on the two walls, making it almost impossible to use. The lighted enlarging mirror was handy and useful, but difficult to adjust. There is no soap provided, the bottle of combination shampoo/soap is attached to the shower wall. This is the first cruise where we have not brought along bottles of shampoo and conditioner, I wish I had. We did bring a small bar of soap. Glad we did. Plenty of closet and drawer space. I'm glad I brought a dozen hangers, we needed them. The shelf above the beds was handy but easy to get cluttered.

We splurged on a cabin with a balcony, and I'm so glad we did. We heard others complaining of their cabins being stuffy. It was so nice to keep the door open to get some fresh air. We used the balcony more that I thought we would. It was lovely to sit outside with a nightcap, watching the world go by.

 

The food:

The dining room had two tables for 4, the rest were 6 or 8, and I believe several seated 10.

With "open seating" we had different dining partners every meal.

The food ranged from very good to fantastic.

Breakfast was very European, with some accomodations to American tastes, the scrambled eggs and bacon, for instance. We tried the bacon once, but, as Flick said, it was overcooked and too salty. The breads were fantastic, all fresh from the oven that morning. Croissants and Danish, plus several varieties of hard rolls. My favorite was the heavy loaf of "slice it yourself" whole grain bread. There were trays of three kinds of cheeses, plus two "French cheeses" that appeared to be Camembert and a seasoned soft cheese. Another tray held at least three varieties of cold meats- of the ham and salami variety, plus a liverwurst.. Plus, fruit, at least three varieties of juice, cold cereals, yogurt. There was a "daily Special" several times omelets to order, or pancakes or waffles. Once it was Apple Beignets, which were delicious.

Lunch was occasionally a buffet, but more usually a set menu meal. Buffets seemed to happen when we were in port all day.

Unlike most cruises, there was no "lobster night." but it wasn't missed. Almost every dinner had a theme, usually a reflection of the day's port, but sometimes something like "Hollywood" and even a "Tex-Mex" lunch. The soups deserve special comment. There was almost always a hot and a cold soup, all were especially good. The cold fruit soups were almost like a dessert. I asked for, and got recipes for several and found out why! The contained whipping cream and ice cream. My husband, who seldom gets excited about soup became a huge fan. The most unusual and delicious soup was a hot "cream of mustard." I got the recipe, it was "to die for!"

The Captain's Welcome Dinner was the best meal we have ever eaten on a cruise ship.After two appetizers, sherbet ice with campari was served. The entree (no additional choices on this meal) was grilled pink rib eye of veal, with green beans, mushrooms and onion pie. The Williams Potato with Madiera Sauce was a mashed potato shaped like a pear, breaded and deep fried. Dessert was creme brulee with fresh fruit and ice cream.

Shore Excursions

We were divided into three groups, red blue and yellow, identified by a colored dot on our name tags. Each group had a program director who accompanied us on the busses. In the smaller towns, we were usually docked close enough to the town center so that busses were not needed. Then we would go on a group walking town, then had free time to explore on our own.

I see that Heidleburg is to be an optional tour next year. It was the least interesting stop, the town is exteremly "touristy" and involved a long bus ride to reach. We didn't do the Rothenburg tour, as we had been there several times previously. (We heard lots of good comments from those who did go (probably three quarters of the group) though they seemed to have spent most of their time in the Christmas shop. On our past visits, we enjoyed the Criminal Museum, and walking around the town on the medieval walls.) We had never been to Schweinfurt, and wanted to do some shopping, so we did that. Schweinfurt is devoid of tourists, and had many "normal type" (as opposed to Souvenir shops) stores. We were able to find cases for our down bed pillows we bought in Europe years ago, and even on sale!

 

The only optional tour we took was the last night to the Vienna Kursalon for the Mozart and Straus evening. It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip. My regret was that I didn't think to ask ahead of time about use of video cameras. They were allowed, and mine was back on the ship!

My favorite little town was Wertheim. During the Cold War, in the 1950's, a group of glass blowers from East Germany managed to escape and settled in Wertheim. We had an excellent demonstration, and then had time to explore the shops. I bought several of the "Galileos" -a liquid filled tube containing a half dozen floating balls of different colors. Each is calibrated to rise or sink at 2 degree interals of temperature, from 74 to 82 degrees. I'm glad I packed a roll of bubble wrap, but they were made of Corningware, and were well packaged. They came in different sizes, priced from 9 to 17 Euros. They made neat, unusual gifts.

I'm in the process of looking at and printing the nearly 1500 photographs I took. I took a picture of the flip chart that listed schedule of activities every day. Also, I got copies of most of the menus, and took pictures of most of the meals. I make a scrapbook for each of our trips, and the menus and food pictures are as important memories as the scenery shots.

 

There are so many more things I could mention. The home visit was a highlight, the court room in Nurnburg was such a moving experience. As I said at the beginning, it was just a wonderful trip.

 

One final comment and I'll quit. I didn't realize that others were affected by the cobblestones (every town had them) until Flick mentioned it. You see, my husband uses a wheelchair, and those cobblestones are murder to navigate. (His chair is now "in the shop" for new tires and a "realignment" ) Grand Circle publishes a disclaimer stating ".....you should be in relatively good health. If you have difficulty walking or are wheel-chair bound, please consult with our travel counselors." I don't know how anyone could have enjoyed the trip more than my husband and I did. We're not about to let age (he'll be 92 in a few months) or arthritis slow us down! We're planning to do the French Rhone River trip, either this fall or early spring!

[Carhut]

Thank you so much for your report of your trip, Kaye. I've been eagerly waiting for it. I enjoyed Rick's also, but you gave a few more things that he didn't. Especially about the soap. Two friends and I leave next Wed. for the same trip only in reverse.

I will give a report of our trip when I return.

[npphotog]

Hi Kaye - Just read your report on your river cruise. Many thanks, enjoyed it very much. Nice tip on the lack of a bar of soap. Really don't like the soap gel one finds in Europe. Were you on a Grand Circle cruise? Wife and I had hoped to do that cruise with Grand Circle next summer but the new 2005 schedule shows that many of the encluded things this summer will be either done away with or optional next summer. So we signed up with Vantage on their Holland to Hungary cruise leaving August 1st, 2005.

Grand Circle has eliminated the stop in Rudesheim for 2005. That's one place we really wanted to go back to...great wine town!!!!

Again, thanks for a good report. Willard

[cmthomas]

A wonderful report Kaye! Thank you for taking the time to write about your travels. And kudos to your husband for not letting ANYTHING keep him home! We leave for the River Harmony in 5 weeks and are really looking forward to it.

Clarence

[lobsterlover]

Thanks for taking the time to do such a thorough review, and especially for the tips on the soap and shampoo. Guess I can live without a lobster night and enjoy the rest of the experience.

 

Lobsterlover

[dkdb]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the review. I am going with a group of ladies on the Rhone river cruise in November. I have been searching for information and yours gave plenty of practical information. If there are other things you think we may find useful please keep posting.

 

Wow, 92 and still going. Congratulations!

 

Debbie

[Flick]

I told you I had a new hero and her name is Karen! There wasn't anywhere we went that we didn't see Karen pushing her husband there too. I forgot about the soap because we had our own-I could not get the soap/shampoo dispenser to work for the life of me-even had the cabin stewardess check to see if it was empty. The mustard soup was to die for.

To skip Rudesheim is a shame. Not only was the dinner in the Dosselgrasse a real blast, my wife and got caught up into a schnapps drinking contest where the program directors control the glasses, not you, but the ride up the mountain in the cable chair over the vineyards was fascinating also. In fact, we did most of our Christmas shopping in Rudesheim. We have friends who just returned from the River Harmony trip and here is something I would check out very carefully. Make sure the boat has a forward outside sitting area in front of the pilot house. We could have been outside enjoying the scenery much more if the Melody had one. These forward areas are below where the pilot house is lowered to clear the bridges. It truly was a wonderful experience,now hand me some Celebrex, please.

I forgot to mention as we were getting off our chair at the top of the mountain in Rudesheim there was Karen loading Al on to one going back down!

[jowahe]

On day 6 there's a stop at Rudesheim for the optional excursion at the Drosselgasse wine alley -- cost of $50 per person. Description doesn't say if there is time for the cable car ride to the top of the mountain, but it does say you can have dinner on your own rather than at the wine alley affair.