We are taking a Tauck cruise for our 30th anniversary this summer, and we have a Tier 7 cabin - which is a suite.....gonna go from Amsterdam all the way to Switzerland..... Should be fun, and super relaxing. How was yours Deck? We are planning a few extra days in Amsterdam and Basel on both ends of the cruise for a full 2 weeks. DD
Last summer I took my entire family on an Alaska cruise out of Seattle, it was amazing - 7 days/nights of crazy cool stuff. We saw whales, rain forests, and glaciers....all from the comfort of our moving hotel - on the Norwegian Cruise ship Encore. I am forever a cruiser now. DD
My family did that Seattle cruise last year and they absolutely loved it, I couldn't go. They love to cruise
I've only taken 3 cruises in my life. Caribbean, Norway, and Alaska. The 17 day Norway cruise from Dover England up the fjords of Norway to the arctic was by far my favorite. The scenery was so beautiful, the air so crisp and clean, and waterfalls streaming down the mountainsides everywhere you looked. Alaska was beautiful too, but I'd say the biggest difference between the Alaskan and Norway cruises was the ports. I didn't take a single excursion on my Norway cruise. There was plenty to see and do if you love the outdoors, right from the ports. I took beautiful hikes, wandered through villages, and took a tram up a mountain in Bergen to a beautiful hilltop forest park where locals strolled around with their kids. I never got bored walking around and exploring from the ports. I would just eat on the ship, go for a hike or stroll, come back for lunch, and leave again. The views from the ship itself were gorgeous, and you were so close to the mountains going through the fjords. In Alaska there wasn't much to do unless you took excursions, and I spent more money on excursions than my back to back cruises. Most of the ports were touristy, full of bars, jewelry shops, souvenir shops, and restaurants. That wasn't my thing, so I took a lot of excursions, from helicopters to whale watching to silly tourist trap stuff. I will say that the two helicopter flights I took to land and walk on glaciers were absolutely awesome. The White Pass Railway excursion was my favorite cheap excursion by far. It was gorgeous, and I spent most of it between the cars outside taking pictures I was spoiled on the Princess Cruise though, because they had a very small ship at the time 9 years ago, and now most of the ships now hold 5 times as many passengers. Then, they upgraded my room for free and gave me a balcony overlooking the bow. That was awesome and unexpected as a first time Princess traveller. I really want to do the Norway cruise again, but it will probably be a completely different experience in a ship with 2500 to 3500 passengers. It was a completely different experience on my Norwegian Alaskan cruise last summer on the ship. It was beautiful, but the waits getting on and off the ship, the packed buffets, the long lines to sign up for excursions,and the bigger ship made it less enjoyable. The food on the buffets wasn't near as good as the Princess Cruise I took, and they kept repeating the same dishes. I couldn't believe the difference in food choices or quality from the small cruise I took on Princess. I really loved the small cruise ship, and there was a great variety of cultural food to choose from, with plenty of fresh seafood. It wasn't ever crowded, and you could just sit and enjoy coffee and breakfast with a close-up view of the fjords. That being said, now days to take a small ship like that you pay way more money, because they are usually luxury ships. It's a shame really. I use a site from a Houston company to find discount cruises, and you can book years ahead, or find some really cheap discounted rates the closer you get to the cruise sailing date. That's how I ended up doing two back to back cruises for less than what one would normally cost in Alaska at the last minute. It's called vacationstogo.com and I highly recommend it.
That sounds awesome. I'd absolutely love that! The cultural food and drinks, small ship atmosphere, and everything about a river cruise sounds wonderful.
We loved it. Tauck had a very knowledgeable local guide everywhere we stopped for a tour. The food was very good and patterned after the region we were going through, as was the wine (white and red) and the beer. Sometimes they had two very different things to do. You decided what you wanted to pick, or could go off by yourself. There were a few really special things that we didn’t expect. One was at Wurzburg. We toured a beautiful restored palace, and the surprise was going to an enormous cellar with a curved ceiling, lit with dozens of candles, where at a very long table we had a great lunch with even better wine. After, we were able to purchase really excellent wine for about $10 a bottle, buying several bottles to drink in our cabin or when we got to Amsterdam. They often had entertainment in the lounge area. Musicians might get on board at one place, and after performing, get off somewhere else. That was with regional influences as well. We ended up being gone 3+ weeks. My significant other has relatives in the Netherlands, some in the Amsterdam area, so we hung around for several days. Easy for us because we’re retired. I can recommend an excellent hotel in the 17th century part of Amsterdam. It’s the Ambassade, which is made up of 11 canal houses connected with each other in really interesting ways, the whole thing looking like just another row of ancient houses, until you step inside. It’s on a beautiful canal in a great location, serves an excellent breakfast, has a library, a bar, with art and antiques everywhere. We hated to leave. Image below:
We are staying at the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht - a Hyatt Property, it is a little pricey about $1k per night but it is 5 stars and we are there a couple of days before the cruise so worth it. https://liveandletsfly.com/review-hyatt-andaz-amsterdam-prinsengracht/ DD
No, but after reading on it for a few minutes, I haven't read of any good stories. It's an interesting idea, but doesn't look cheap.
Great thread. Looking forward to doing a cruise with the kids sometime in the not too distant future. @DaDakota - I stayed at that hotel in Amsterdam before. I have some extra Hyatt suite upgrade certificates. Let me know if I can gift you one. Could be useful there (if you booked directly through Hyatt).
