Virtuoso Travel | The River Cruise Lady

Covid Protocols for River Cruising

May 13, 2021 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

Now that European river cruising is starting to become operational again (so exciting!!) there are going to be some new Covid protocols going forward in order to keep both the passengers and the crew safe.

I looked at the top river cruise companies that I book and they all will require that you have either a Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a negative Covid test done right before you board the ship.

Each line will also require that passengers fill out some pre-departure documentation forms which can be viewed at their links below:

Ama Waterways – Prior to boarding, an online health and contact screening questionnaire will need to be filled out.

Avalon Waterways – Have 3 pdf forms you can view, the first being the Pre Trip Health Screening form – click Avalon-Health-Screening to view. The next is their Health & Safety Covid-19 Waiver – click Avalon Health-Safety-covid-19 and lastly is their onboard safety protocols which you can view Avalon Onboard-Protocols

Emerald/Scenic – Have their cruise with confidence program viewed at River Cruise with confidence | Our commitment to your health & safety – Scenic°

Tauck River Cruises – Have two documents that need to be signed for their Travel Well Pledge – view at Taucks Travel Well Pledge

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises – They require a Travel Declaration to be signed – view at Uniworld Travel Declaration

Viking River Cruises – Passengers will have to complete a Digital Health Survey online at their MyVikingJourney.com once they have booked their trip.

Multigeneration River Cruising!

January 20, 2020 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

I thought I would share a few of the last bookings that I’ve done for river cruising because you may not have thought of this option if planning a multi-generation trip with your family.

My client was turning 80 and she thought about how she wanted to spend her birthday and decided on a family trip. Her spouse had passed away years before so she decided to splurge and take her children and grandchildren on a European river cruise. There was a range of ages from 12 to 79 and even her brothers & sisters decided to join in the fun!

It worked out great for them because there are so many different excursions options to choose from (mostly always all included).

For example, on a Rhine river cruise with Ama Waterways, in Cologne the excursion choices would be a walking tour, or cathedral visit or Kölsch beer tasting or a bike tour through the city. So what usually happened was everyone went off and did their choice of excursion and then they would gather for dinner together in the dining room and talk about their different experiences – such a great family bonding time.

Avalon Waterways also have Active & Discovery itineraries which work well with families too. Then of course Uniworld and Tauck both have dedicated family departure dates (usually in the summer or for the Christmas Market cruises) which then have even more excursions geared towards family groups.

So consider river cruising as a way to create a wonderful legacy that your children/grandchildren will have of travelling with their parents/grandparents and memories that will last a lifetime.

Not just flowers on a Tulip Time River Cruise

July 22, 2017 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

I went on a Tulip Time river cruise this spring with Ama Waterways thinking that it would be all about flowers but nothing could be further from the truth!

Don’t get me wrong, we did see Tulips but we also visited a fabulous museum, learned how to make Belgian chocolate, biked through Antwerp viewing their incredible architectural buildings, strolled peacefully through the windmills in Kinderdijk and maneuvered the canals in Amsterdam.

The Tulip Time cruise started in Amsterdam and I took the ship picture to show you how close they dock to the main train station in Amsterdam (its the building in the background) and then the next picture is in front of the station which is stunning in itself.

: AmaCerto river cruise ship

: Amsterdam Centraal Station

We did a morning bus tour of the city before heading out in the afternoon to a Hoorn Tulip and Bulb field where we all became Tulip Specialists after getting a tour of their greenhouses to see all the different phases of growth (the process was very interesting and we learned quite a bit!) Once the bus dropped us off near the town trolley, we walked around the Hoorn harbor which was full of unique monuments and packing warehouses.

: Tulip Farm Bulbs Planted

: Stop and smell the Tulips?

: Tulip Farm Machinery

The next days tour decision was a tough one as you had to choose between the Arnhem Bridge & Airborne Museum (renowned for its role during WWII’s Operation Market Garden) or the Kroller Muller Museum (which boasts the 2nd largest Van Gogh collection in the world). So our small group split up and some did choice A and some did choice B and when we gathered back on the ship in lounge for a pre-dinner drink, all agreed that both were great tours. (read between the lines as this meant that each group thought their tour was better)

When we arrived in Antwerp, we opted for the bike tour through the charming streets of this Belgium major city. Our guide managed to steer us effortlessly through traffic and the drivers were so polite, always stopping for us when we were crossing the streets (that never happens back home!) It was a great way to see such a large area of the city in such a short time and our stop at the Antwerp train station was saved until the end because the beauty of the building just can’t be missed.

: Antwerp Bike Tour

: Antwerp Train Station

: Antwerp Train Station Inside

That afternoon took us to the Floralia Spring Flower show at Kasteel van Groot-Bijgaarden which had 14 hectares of brilliantly colored tulips, daffodils and many other spring flowers. The garden area surrounds the castle where the almost 1 million bulbs are still planted by hand each year ! (loved the Peacock)

: Floralia Castle

: Floralia Garden and Planter

: Floralia Peacock in Flowers

Then we headed for the beauty of Bruges which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that included medieval buildings, winding canals and statuesque churches. I could have taken pictures there all day and this one was at the famous corner that is used many times when displaying Bruges.

Bruge

After leaving Belgium, we headed back towards the Netherlands stopping in Rotterdam where excursions could be taken to visit the bustling city or a bit farther took in the charming city of Delft (known for the hand-painted blue and white pottery) with a stop in The Hague before travelling back to the ship. In the afternoon, we sailed peacefully into Kinderdijk to see hundreds of windmills dotting the horizon. With the sun shining brightly, it made for a wonderful stroll or bike ride through the area.

Kinderdijk Windmills

Our last full day was a full one with the morning touring the spectacular Keukenhof Gardens, a 70 acre park that probably had the most flowers I’ve ever seen. It was so colorful and I’m sure the pictures don’t do it justice.

: Keukenhof Gardens

: Keukenhof Gardens

Then onto Amsterdam where we finished up with a great canal cruise through the city (where you find out why they call it “Venice of the North” )

: Amsterdam Canals

: Amsterdam Canals

: Amsterdam Canals

Now that I’ve taken you through my trip, I realize that I haven’t even talked about all the wonderful food (and drinks) we had onboard Ama Waterways! The staff were really friendly and our Cruise Director Rachel was one of the best ones I’ve ever experienced. She delivered her port talks with humor, personal stories and kept everyone interested, on track and on time.
I was in a French Balcony cabin and since the weather was great, enjoyed sitting in the stateroom with the breeze flowing in on many occasions.

I would highly recommend a Tulip Time river cruise to anyone !

Africa River Cruise Safari

March 16, 2017 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

Ever since Ama Waterways brought out their Africa Safari and Wildlife cruise brochure, I dreamed of going on it and even had the cover pinned up on my wall.

Well my dream finally became a reality recently and it was even more amazing than I could have ever imagined. My pictures were almost the same as they had portrayed in the brochure as we were able to get so close to the animals on the river (and on the land Safari in Kruger) and I was also able to get some fantastic videos of them in their own environment that you can view at the end.

Their Stars of South Africa itinerary starts in picturesque Cape Town, where one could easily spend a week touring around the area as there is so much to see. We did a full day Cape tour which starts out going to Boulders Beach to see the African Penguins (could have watched them all day) then onto the famous Cape of Good Hope sign and Chapman Peak Drive.

: African Penguins

: Cape Of Good Hope

: View of Cape Point

Since we had gone in a day early, we were also able to visit Table Bay Mountain, Robben Island and the Cape Winelands area and we still didn’t see it all !

Then onto Botswana for the most incredible river safari where I couldn’t stop taking video of the Elephants (by day 3, my husband said, you have enough footage of the elephants!!)
We got to see them playing in the water, spraying themselves as it was so dry and watching the babies learn from their mommas. Of course we also saw Giraffes, Impalas, Hippos, Cape Buffalos, Lions, Warthogs and many beautiful African birds too. We also visited a local village which was very humbling. These are just a few of many pictures I took:

: Chobe River Elephants

: Impalas And Giraffes

: Chobe River Lion

Then it was onto to Victoria Falls to see one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World where the sound is so loud that the African name for the falls translates to “the smoke that thunders” The Victoria Falls hotel is filled with old world charm that feels like you’ve been transported back in time where you can peruse its history filled walls.

: Victoria Falls

: Victoria Falls Hotel From Bridge

: View From Vic Falls Hotel

A quick plane ride to Johannesburg brought us to the big city where we overnighted before doing a full day tour of the city and Soweto (SouthWest Townships) that was very interesting (and sad at the same time as we saw some new townhomes that had been built to replace the tin shacks that still sit empty)

: Soweto

: Nelson Mandela Square

: Johannesburg

Another quick flight took us to Kruger Park to do our land safari where we were lucky enough to come across so many lions (that again – I just took way too many videos of!)

Within one day, we were fortunate to view the Big Five that everyone aspires to see – so amazing. Kruger was experiencing a major drought when we visited which was not good for the animals but great for viewing. We had morning (6am to 9am) and afternoon (4pm to 7pm) safaris which gives you an opportunity to see different animals who are more active at different times. It was so hard to narrow down the pictures to just a few and I will post some more again soon.