Relaxing on the Rhone - a river cruise virgin's trip report.
Jun 5th, 2016, 09:25 AM
#122
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Sorry to see your cruise report winding down annhig. It has been enjoyable to read.
My cousin and I followed Adelaidean's idea of bookending a river cruise with a stop at either end of our December Christmas Market cruise. I highly recommend doing so.
My cousin and I followed Adelaidean's idea of bookending a river cruise with a stop at either end of our December Christmas Market cruise. I highly recommend doing so.
Jun 5th, 2016, 01:58 PM
#124
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Wonderful report, with so much useful information. About 20 years ago I did a Rhine/Mosel one week cruise on a Dutch boat. Much smaller than yours, without the shore excursions - more free time at the stops. I loved the whole experience.
Passengers were mostly Dutch, along with a handful of Brits/Americans(me)/ Scots.
We English-speakers had a great time together, and left as friends.
My travels since then have all been independent, land only. But at this point in my life (I'm probably your Mum's age) maybe river cruising would be the way to go.
The single supplement thing would affect me, as I prefer to go solo now - so I was also interested in those comments in the posts.
Thanks so much for the report!
Passengers were mostly Dutch, along with a handful of Brits/Americans(me)/ Scots.
We English-speakers had a great time together, and left as friends.
My travels since then have all been independent, land only. But at this point in my life (I'm probably your Mum's age) maybe river cruising would be the way to go.
The single supplement thing would affect me, as I prefer to go solo now - so I was also interested in those comments in the posts.
Thanks so much for the report!
Jun 5th, 2016, 02:08 PM
#125
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White asparagus, yum. That was a very nice dinner.
I think I would enjoy it. I love trying different modes of travel. Did you feel like you were still moving when you got off? I do on regular cruises and trains but this might be a bit different.
Thank you!
I think I would enjoy it. I love trying different modes of travel. Did you feel like you were still moving when you got off? I do on regular cruises and trains but this might be a bit different.
Thank you!
Jun 5th, 2016, 04:07 PM
#126
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Dinner sounded super, annhig. Yes, your timing was good.
When DH and I traveled, we usually went for 2 weeks and had 3 bases with longer number of days of 1 with an overnight (often at the beginning). That way, we weren't packing/unpacking too much. But just doing it once with someone else making all the day trip arrangements is wonderful.
Hope your trip back was less frantic.
When DH and I traveled, we usually went for 2 weeks and had 3 bases with longer number of days of 1 with an overnight (often at the beginning). That way, we weren't packing/unpacking too much. But just doing it once with someone else making all the day trip arrangements is wonderful.
Hope your trip back was less frantic.
Jun 5th, 2016, 05:05 PM
#127
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Thanks for the very nice TR, annhig. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Made for a nice evening's entertainment for me.
I wonder if any of the cruise passengers went to the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, which was a highlight of our last trip to France.
Thanks again.
I wonder if any of the cruise passengers went to the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, which was a highlight of our last trip to France.
Thanks again.
Jun 6th, 2016, 04:14 AM
#128
Hi all, and thanks again for the complimentary comments - one really good reason for doing a TR is how nice people are to you!
<<I wonder if any of the cruise passengers went to the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, which was a highlight of our last trip to France.>>
tuscan - I think that some people did go to the Hotel-Dieu, and If I'd planned a bit better I think I'd have done it too, but when we came out of the wine tasting I was gagging for a real drink and we probably spent too long sitting in the sun outside the bar [not for the first time in my life, i confess]. Another time.
<<When DH and I traveled, we usually went for 2 weeks and had 3 bases with longer number of days of 1 with an overnight (often at the beginning). That way, we weren't packing/unpacking too much>>
TD - that's our style too, now, staying in a few places for longer, or at least that's my ideal! As for the trip back being less frantic - read on!
<<White asparagus, yum. That was a very nice dinner.
I think I would enjoy it. I love trying different modes of travel. Did you feel like you were still moving when you got off? I do on regular cruises and trains but this might be a bit different. >>
flpab - I love white asparagus and once or twice at dinner I managed to get it substituted for a different vegetable with my main course when it was on the menu offered with something else. Also the "special" menu in the aft dining room where we celebrated GF's birthday featured a lot of asparagus; the chef seemed to be doing his best to use seasonal and local food when he could and quite often something we had one day as a main course or feature, appeared the next in a different guise e.g. asparagus as a vegetable followed by asparagus soup the next day. This always strikes me as a sign of a good kitchen; essential I suppose on a boat where space is at a premium and you have to make the most of what you've got.
I have that feeling of still moving when I've been at sea for any length of time but didn't on the river cruise - there are no tides of course which I suspect makes a difference.
Sue - my mum is 85, if that helps. She would have been one of the oldest on this cruise has she accompanied me and I have to say that I'm not sure how she would have managed all the excursions - for example, I think that she might have passed on the tour of the Pope's Palace in Avignon [not that that would have been a huge loss!] As for single rooms, different companies seem to have different policies so it's probably worth shopping around or if you're not too fussy about where you go, taking a last minute offer if you can find a good one and just paying the full rate for a double room.
<<I wonder if any of the cruise passengers went to the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, which was a highlight of our last trip to France.>>
tuscan - I think that some people did go to the Hotel-Dieu, and If I'd planned a bit better I think I'd have done it too, but when we came out of the wine tasting I was gagging for a real drink and we probably spent too long sitting in the sun outside the bar [not for the first time in my life, i confess]. Another time.
<<When DH and I traveled, we usually went for 2 weeks and had 3 bases with longer number of days of 1 with an overnight (often at the beginning). That way, we weren't packing/unpacking too much>>
TD - that's our style too, now, staying in a few places for longer, or at least that's my ideal! As for the trip back being less frantic - read on!
<<White asparagus, yum. That was a very nice dinner.
I think I would enjoy it. I love trying different modes of travel. Did you feel like you were still moving when you got off? I do on regular cruises and trains but this might be a bit different. >>
flpab - I love white asparagus and once or twice at dinner I managed to get it substituted for a different vegetable with my main course when it was on the menu offered with something else. Also the "special" menu in the aft dining room where we celebrated GF's birthday featured a lot of asparagus; the chef seemed to be doing his best to use seasonal and local food when he could and quite often something we had one day as a main course or feature, appeared the next in a different guise e.g. asparagus as a vegetable followed by asparagus soup the next day. This always strikes me as a sign of a good kitchen; essential I suppose on a boat where space is at a premium and you have to make the most of what you've got.
I have that feeling of still moving when I've been at sea for any length of time but didn't on the river cruise - there are no tides of course which I suspect makes a difference.
Sue - my mum is 85, if that helps. She would have been one of the oldest on this cruise has she accompanied me and I have to say that I'm not sure how she would have managed all the excursions - for example, I think that she might have passed on the tour of the Pope's Palace in Avignon [not that that would have been a huge loss!] As for single rooms, different companies seem to have different policies so it's probably worth shopping around or if you're not too fussy about where you go, taking a last minute offer if you can find a good one and just paying the full rate for a double room.
Jun 6th, 2016, 04:43 AM
#129
Thank you so much for this Annh. I read it out loud to DH in bed this morning. We have been sort of kind of considering a river cruise as many of our friends love them. I was so happy to find your report as we can always count on you to tell it like it is. Still not ready but I think that time is coming.
Jun 6th, 2016, 05:01 AM
#130
That's very kind, Micheline; I hope that I didn't send your DH back to sleep!
I too like to think about what trips we might make a few years from now - but I still don't think that I'd get DH on a river cruise yet!
I too like to think about what trips we might make a few years from now - but I still don't think that I'd get DH on a river cruise yet!
Jun 6th, 2016, 05:35 AM
#131
Excellent report but what would possibly 'annoy' me is how small the distances covered are. It's nice to have a hotel that travels with you, but I also like to feel that I am going somewhere. I guess that's the fault of my upbringing when I crossed the Atlantic six times before I ever took an airplane. In later years, I did do a few Caribbean cruises with my parents, so I know the pleasures and the inconveniences of that as well, although naturally they cannot compare to a river cruise because of the size of the ship.
I noticed this week with the 'flood' that only one river cruise ship seems to be trapped in Paris itself, but the others are probably just moored in other locations because there's no way they can get under any of the bridges, even now that the water has gone down a meter since its peak.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time and effort to describe everything. I think it gives a very useful indication to just about all of us of the river experience and the possible excursions -- or lack of same.
I noticed this week with the 'flood' that only one river cruise ship seems to be trapped in Paris itself, but the others are probably just moored in other locations because there's no way they can get under any of the bridges, even now that the water has gone down a meter since its peak.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time and effort to describe everything. I think it gives a very useful indication to just about all of us of the river experience and the possible excursions -- or lack of same.
Jun 6th, 2016, 06:28 AM
#132
Excellent report but what would possibly 'annoy' me is how small the distances covered are.>>
Thank you kerouac. Because you seem to be travelling quite fast on the river, fortunately whilst you're is on board you don't realise how short a distance you're going [or I didn't, anyway, until I looked at a map and saw that we'd done in a week what we'd do in a car in about 2 days!] But that is part of the attraction - to be able to see things in detail and explore far more closely than you might if you were driving through.
of course you could equally well book a hotel or a gite for a week and do the same sort of thing, but that would involve quite a lot of driving back and forth.
My only real complaint was that we didn't get long enough in the places we stopped in, apart from Avignon but other cruises may well offer more in that department; one of the problems was that our stops were relatively far apart which was not helped by the high water problem, so the captain had to motor for longer in order to get us to our destinations. But get us there he did, and it was clear that the crew were impressed with how he'd achieved this; I gleaned that in their experience this was not always the case. And they were all very happy that he stopped to help the logging barge - again not something that every captain would have done but it was all done very professionally. I did feel slightly concerned when I saw our captain step onto the other vessel - I thought that the Captain was supposed to be last off, not first!
Thank you kerouac. Because you seem to be travelling quite fast on the river, fortunately whilst you're is on board you don't realise how short a distance you're going [or I didn't, anyway, until I looked at a map and saw that we'd done in a week what we'd do in a car in about 2 days!] But that is part of the attraction - to be able to see things in detail and explore far more closely than you might if you were driving through.
of course you could equally well book a hotel or a gite for a week and do the same sort of thing, but that would involve quite a lot of driving back and forth.
My only real complaint was that we didn't get long enough in the places we stopped in, apart from Avignon but other cruises may well offer more in that department; one of the problems was that our stops were relatively far apart which was not helped by the high water problem, so the captain had to motor for longer in order to get us to our destinations. But get us there he did, and it was clear that the crew were impressed with how he'd achieved this; I gleaned that in their experience this was not always the case. And they were all very happy that he stopped to help the logging barge - again not something that every captain would have done but it was all done very professionally. I did feel slightly concerned when I saw our captain step onto the other vessel - I thought that the Captain was supposed to be last off, not first!
Jun 6th, 2016, 06:29 AM
#133
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Annhig, I am quite late to the party, but wanted to thank you for your excellent and very detailed trip report.
Neither my husband nor I have ever been on a cruise of any sort but I have wondered for some time about just this kind of trip. As you say, there are plenty of photos and snippets of information on the Internet but I find it very valuable to have just this type of trip report, from a source I can trust, so thank you for contributing this.
While my husband remains adamant that he'll never darken the deck of a cruise ship of any description, I am not convinced that is true. (So often life hands us very unexpected experiences.) I quite like boats/ships of any description and should there come a time when a more independent trip is not possible, I can see it might be an option. I am also doing research on behalf of my parents-in-law, who have expressed interest in a European river cruise. As my father-in-law has mobility problems, it seems a good choice to get from point to point, not have to change accommodations, and so forth.
Your report has given me a great deal of food for thought and I really do appreciate your time and trouble in writing it up. Many thanks.
Neither my husband nor I have ever been on a cruise of any sort but I have wondered for some time about just this kind of trip. As you say, there are plenty of photos and snippets of information on the Internet but I find it very valuable to have just this type of trip report, from a source I can trust, so thank you for contributing this.
While my husband remains adamant that he'll never darken the deck of a cruise ship of any description, I am not convinced that is true. (So often life hands us very unexpected experiences.) I quite like boats/ships of any description and should there come a time when a more independent trip is not possible, I can see it might be an option. I am also doing research on behalf of my parents-in-law, who have expressed interest in a European river cruise. As my father-in-law has mobility problems, it seems a good choice to get from point to point, not have to change accommodations, and so forth.
Your report has given me a great deal of food for thought and I really do appreciate your time and trouble in writing it up. Many thanks.
Jun 6th, 2016, 08:58 AM
#134
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Thanks Ann. Very good and valuable trip report. Note that I ventured outside my morning read time to peruse during mid day.
I was reminded of my several years ago experience on a weeks barge cruise on the Canal Du Midi. Three cabins with only 2 occupied (four people). Activities during the day included market visits, wine tour, etc. Could spend the day relaxing on the deck of the barge or biking/walking on the shore. I could walk faster than the speed of the barge. Breakfast ,dinner and sometimes lunch on the boat prepared by the chef/barge owner with plenty of wine. (the other couple did not drink more than a glass, leaving the chef and I to finish the remainder on deck at night.)
Was a delightful way to spend a week in the south of France. Sounds as if you had a wonderful time also. Thanks for prompting my thought process.
I was reminded of my several years ago experience on a weeks barge cruise on the Canal Du Midi. Three cabins with only 2 occupied (four people). Activities during the day included market visits, wine tour, etc. Could spend the day relaxing on the deck of the barge or biking/walking on the shore. I could walk faster than the speed of the barge. Breakfast ,dinner and sometimes lunch on the boat prepared by the chef/barge owner with plenty of wine. (the other couple did not drink more than a glass, leaving the chef and I to finish the remainder on deck at night.)
Was a delightful way to spend a week in the south of France. Sounds as if you had a wonderful time also. Thanks for prompting my thought process.
Jun 6th, 2016, 09:31 AM
#135
KyraS and Huggy - It's very nice of you to say such lovely things; I enjoyed the trip and I've enjoyed writing it up so though thanks are pleasant to receive, they are not why I have done it [and at this rate, I'll soon need a larger hat!]
Kyra - I hope that it does prove useful and [should you ever take such a cruise] reliable! oh the responsibility!
Huggy - I'm glad that you mention the Canal du Midi - that's the only sort of cruise that DH says he would consider going on. Which stretch of the canal did you do? how did it work out being in such close proximity with 2 strangers? [the other couple I mean, not the crew] what time of year was it? [sorry about the plethora of questions!]
Kyra - I hope that it does prove useful and [should you ever take such a cruise] reliable! oh the responsibility!
Huggy - I'm glad that you mention the Canal du Midi - that's the only sort of cruise that DH says he would consider going on. Which stretch of the canal did you do? how did it work out being in such close proximity with 2 strangers? [the other couple I mean, not the crew] what time of year was it? [sorry about the plethora of questions!]
Jun 6th, 2016, 10:07 AM
#136
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Ann: No problem answering your questions but that trip was about 17 years ago. I successfully had the winning bid on an auction site called Luxury Link.
We boarded the boat at Carcassonne. The trip ended 7 days later in Beziers where we boarded a train to our next destination. Unfortunately, the owner has sold his barge and now runs a cooking school in France.
Regarding the other couple, well that did not go so good. Unfortunately, one should not talk politics or religion at dinner as the other wife took offense at my disagreement with her regarding the military as I am a vet.
Great trip, plenty of wine, the chef was exceptional, scenery wonderful, the other lady was unhappy but my wife and I had a marvelous adventure. I recommend you not talk politics or religion.
We boarded the boat at Carcassonne. The trip ended 7 days later in Beziers where we boarded a train to our next destination. Unfortunately, the owner has sold his barge and now runs a cooking school in France.
Regarding the other couple, well that did not go so good. Unfortunately, one should not talk politics or religion at dinner as the other wife took offense at my disagreement with her regarding the military as I am a vet.
Great trip, plenty of wine, the chef was exceptional, scenery wonderful, the other lady was unhappy but my wife and I had a marvelous adventure. I recommend you not talk politics or religion.
Jun 6th, 2016, 01:11 PM
#138
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The captains dinner sounds delish Ann. I'm pleased to hear you had baked Alaska as I'd always been told that and cherries jubilee are the last night cruise puds, and now I finally know it to be true!
Jun 6th, 2016, 01:58 PM
#139
Huggy - that sounds like a good stretch and not one that we know at all. Was there much to look at along the way? did you have a chance to spend time in Narbonne?
[and I promise not to mention politics or religion]
RM67 - I can see that they would be popular desserts for that sort of event - it was all very well presented.
[and I promise not to mention politics or religion]
RM67 - I can see that they would be popular desserts for that sort of event - it was all very well presented.
Jun 6th, 2016, 06:32 PM
#140
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We visited the market in Narbonne. Did not spend much time there but I thought I would like to go back to visit more of the area. Visited a small family winery near there also to probably get me primed for the evenings discussion.
This afternoon, I searched for the barge that we spent the week on but was not able to find it. I did however find a site, bargeladycruises.com which featured several different barges on the canal. We did not design our cruise but followed the program of the barge owner. You might however be able to design your own program for the week.
Be aware that your quarters will probably be very small. I remember the ensuite bath could only accommodate one person at a time but we only slept in the room. All other activities were on deck or in the lounge. The draw for my wife and I was the canal, food and wine and that area of France. I would do again but spend more time in the area off the boat but it was very, very relaxing.
This afternoon, I searched for the barge that we spent the week on but was not able to find it. I did however find a site, bargeladycruises.com which featured several different barges on the canal. We did not design our cruise but followed the program of the barge owner. You might however be able to design your own program for the week.
Be aware that your quarters will probably be very small. I remember the ensuite bath could only accommodate one person at a time but we only slept in the room. All other activities were on deck or in the lounge. The draw for my wife and I was the canal, food and wine and that area of France. I would do again but spend more time in the area off the boat but it was very, very relaxing.
