Traveling is a major part of our lives and we have had many experiences to help us make some serious comparisons. My husband is always talking about "value received"; whether it is a meal in a restaurant, service at a dry cleaners or in this case a cruise in Europe. He agrees that this trip is an awesome value.
We scheduled our adventure with long time friends, Joe and Kay Peterson; the founders of the Escapee RV Club. Since all of us have traveled the road, we equated river cruising to RV travel. The head of our accommodations was Hotel Manager Marijan Kutnjak who made sure everything was in order…perfectly. Noting his title, this travel arrangement is indeed a floating hotel and as with an RV, we packed once and had all amenities with us as we cruised on down the river. Categories of rooms vary by ship level and size of window and all perfectly appointed.
We flew into Amsterdam two days ahead of our ship's boarding to allow ourselves time to adjust to the difference in time. This is indeed the first suggestion that I can make to start this trip off on the right path. So many folks arrived on the day of boarding so by the time they got to the ship after a long flight they were too tired to enjoy the excitement. Guests are permitted to board by 11 am with hot coffee and tea waiting. Soon after there is a buffet set up of soup and sandwiches. After checking in, some left the ship to explore the city, others stayed in the lounge to get acquainted and the rest found a quiet corner to sleep. Check in is at 3 pm.
A few years ago, we took an Alaskan cruise. I really enjoyed it BUT my husband said, "Never again!" in the vastness of that ship, he (and others) didn't like the fact that we had to plan a meeting point. There were activities on board but we choose to travel so that we can have the time to see and to visit new places. He could not justify the 3 stops we made over a weeks time as "seeing" Alaska. There were many hours that we saw nothing but water.
River travel is an entirely different thing. It is extremely peaceful so for anyone who is susceptible to motion sickness- don't worry! The rivers are narrow enough for you to see the landscapes and some of the sites you will pass by are breathtaking. We were waving to folks on land, from atop bridges and even had a group of kids "moon" us from the shore! The narrations offered and the books available will put the area into true perspective. Each day offers a new place to touch dry land and explore.
If you have never traveled through a lock, you can't imagine the vastness or the skill the Captain and his crew exhibit in doing so. The technology is unbelievable to raise a vessel up or down to meet the water. During the daylight hours, we would see folks grab cameras and head for the sundeck whenever we approached one. There were 68 locks on this trip between Amsterdam and Budapest; many during daylight hours ~ not all the same but equally as fascinating.
The weather on a trip of this distance can offer a wide range of conditions….its like traveling the US during any given time. Face it, fronts come in with stronger breezes, cooler weather, sprinkles and bigger rain drops. Our trip was during the first two weeks of August and for the month prior to our departure, I had been watching the weather forecast in some of the cities we would be visiting. All indications were that the temps would be sunny and warm but the reality did not match my expectation! It rained…in fact it rained a lot but thankfully, we were prepared.
