AmaWaterways Enhances 3 River Cruise Routes

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

I attended two AmaWaterways webinars this week and realized I had not told my readers a little about how AmaWaterways has tweaked some of their previous river cruise itineraries to offer a slightly different route with options that are very interesting to us.

I’m sure you will enjoy comparing these 6 great vacation river cruise offerings.

So, let’s learn about 3 area routes that have some new options—it should be fun!

Netherlands and Belgium

Tulip Time Route. Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission

In 2013, we took the Tulip Time route and it was a wonderful look at this northern region of Europe. The only problem was that this was a limited time cruise, only offered in the spring to view the tulips as a primary focus. The 2022 sailing season is March to April, just as it has been in the past (it will include the once a decade Floriade in 2022 starting on 14 April). Ports on this 7 night cruise are Amsterdam, Hoorn, Middelburg, Ghent, Antwerp, Rotterdam, the windmills of Kinderdijk and ends in Amsterdam with the world-famous Keukenhof Gardens to view the tulips and a canal cruise. It is a great cruise!

But river cruise operators realized during some low water problems in 2018, that the only region of Europe that never had any water level problems was the Netherlands and Belgium. Why?—these folks have been managing water levels for many, many decades, reclaiming land and draining swamp lands and could handle fluctuations in water levels seamlessly. Thus, was born the idea of sailing to this region without the flower shows as part of the cruise. It was a great decision!

The Best of Holland & Belgium Route Map. Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission.

This resulted in the new itinerary the Best of Holland & Belgium (a 7 night cruise). The cruise starts in Amsterdam with a canal cruise, on to Utrecht (a chance to see the spectacular Castle de Haar which is on my personal bucket list as we have not visited it yet); then on to Veere (a great medieval harbor town); off to Ghent for a walking tour or on the Brugge (Anne’s favorite European city), then on to Brussels; the next port is Antwerp; on to Dordrecht (“Holland’s Oldest City”); on to the windmills of Kinderdijk and again ends in Amsterdam.

A great picture that really captures Amsterdam—canals and bicycles!

Both cruises allow you a pre-cruise visit in Amsterdam on the land extension. It is a must for those who want to see the world famous Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank House (get your tickets at least 2-3 months on-line before the trip or you will miss this experience) and a visit to Haarlem (we stayed there on one of our visits and it is a great Netherlands town).

Which is the best route? This is a toss-up, in my opinion, the deciding factor is the time of year and your interest in flowers. Both are great—either choice will result in a great vacation experience, especially if you add the land extension to visit Amsterdam in depth. And to make it even better, let us plan at least two days or more for you in Brugge, to make this a perfect trip package.

Here are some pictures of the ports we have visited:

New Rhine and Moselle Combinations

In 2009, when we took our first Moselle and Main cruise on AmaWaterways, there was little chance to combine it with a Rhine cruise. Now there are two good options to combine these two wonderful rivers. Basically, the popular Rhine River route is split in two and added to the Moselle River.

Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle

Wine Regions. Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission.

This is a 7 night cruise from Amsterdam to Luxembourg or in the reverse direction. The Rhine River portion includes Cologne, the Rhine River Gorge, Rüdesheim, and Mainz. It then visits the Moselle with two ports stops (Cochem and Bernkastel).

The land extensions for this cruise includes the Amsterdam tour described above and the post extension in Reims (2 nights) and Paris. Reims is in the champagne region of France, and it provides you a worthwhile worthwhile chance to learn about and taste champagne on the Routes of Champagne tour and see the Cathedral where the French kings were crowned in coronation ceremonies.

Rhine & Moselle Splendors

This is a 7 night Luxembourg to Basel Cruise, starting on the Moselle and ending on the Rhine, turning south from Koblenz to Basel. On the Moselle, the ports are Trier, Bernkastel, and Cochem.

On the Rhine, the ports and sights are the Rhine River Gorge, Rüdesheim, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Riquewihr and it ends in Basel.

The pre cruise land extension is the Paris and Reims tour described above. The post cruise tour is in Switzerland to Lucerne (it includes a Lake Lucerne cruise) and then on to Zurich, which has a good old town area in this bustling banking town.

While both are excellent, I lean toward the Rhine & Moselle Splendors, as it visits more of the quaint villages and towns I just love and Lucerne is one of our favorite Alpine cities. Combine that with the Reims visit and your vacation is over the top—a pure homerun!

Adding More Saône Ports to the Rhône Route

Colors of Provence Route Map. Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission.

The Rhône route of the Colors of Provence has always been one of my favorites—I always use the term A Wine Lover’s Route. Ports are Lyon, Vienne, Tournon, Tarascon (gateway to Arles or Les Baux), and ends in Avignon (Palace of the Popes or Pont du Gard). You will sail on the AmaKristina for this 7 night cruise.

Wine Regions Map of the Saône and the Rhône . Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission.

Since wine is such an essential part of both of these cruises, wine lovers need to study this map of the wine regions here—if one type of wine is your preference, the best cruise will become clear to you as the best choice for the vacation. To make it even better, combining either route with a special wine cruise, will help make this even more special for wine aficionados! We have been on several wine cruises offered by AmaWaterways, and they are just fabulous experiences, especially on the Colors of Provence cruise.

The Essence of Burgundy & Provence Route. Map image from AmaWaterways and used by permission.

The Essence of Burgundy & Provence has 3 days on the Saône River and then on to the Rhône. This cruise gets you the added advantage of exploring the Burgundy region of France. It is even better if you include the 3 day pre-cruise city of Geneva, Switzerland (visits to the Peace city on a tour, an Annecy excursion (known as the “Pearl of the Alps”) and a visit to Chillon Castle) because you also get a chance to visit Dijon (we were there in 1990) on the way to the AmaCello, your cruise ship.

Geneva—statues are the founders of the Protestant Religious Movement

The post excursion is in Barcelona (3 nights), with a stop in the old Roman town of Nimes.

Outside the food market of Barcelona on the Ramblas

While both are very good land extensions, the new Geneva tour really excites me—it is just loaded with very good sights and many have not visited this interesting area of Switzerland and France—I know we have not seen many of these places or it was so long ago, that this will high on our list of land extensions to try.

Sailing north to south, you will embark at Chalon-sur-Saône. The cruise starts off with a chance to visit the city tour with a local market, or Beaune on a walking tour (this would be my choice as the city has a wonderful medieval hospital with a famous multi-colored tile roof) or the Chateau de Couches—all included.

The next day is in Tournus, an important monastic town, to visit the Abbey of Saint Philbert, or Chateau Cormatin or a visit to medieval Brancion.

Once in Lyon (arriving late on day 3 of the cruise with an illumination cruise) there is a city tour on day 4 (1/2 day tour), on to Vienne (1/2 day tour) where you will port overnight. The next port is Valence (a city tour, bike tour or learn to cook French food at a cooking school, which would be our choice), then on to Avignon (Place of the Popes) and finally to Arles (great Roman ruins).

Both cruises rate very high with us (we have escorted clients on the Colors of Provence route), but I will lean towards the new route, as we have not seen all the sights, but as with all AmaWaterways cruises, there are no clear winners here—they are all great, so whatever choice you make will still be the trip you always wanted to take.

My Final Thoughts

What a great adventure—3 new regional river cruise route itineraries —just another reason we love the Old World of Europe so much! All six cruises described here and the land extensions offer vacations and experiences you will long cherish—you will experience the trip of a lifetime on AmaWaterways!

We hope you enjoyed these pictures and description of the new features as much as we enjoyed seeing them during our travels and telling you about the new changes.

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Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49+ years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

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