# Rhine River Cruise Meets Thread



## sayhello

OK, here it is! The Meets Thread for the new ABD  Rhine River Cruises! Post here to talk & share about this trip and hopefully connect with other DISers on the same departure.


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## tufbuf

Hello! We are doing the holiday trip 2017!


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## Currahee

sayhello said:


> OK, here it is! The Meets Thread for the new ABD  Rhine River Cruises! Post here to talk & share about this trip and hopefully connect with other DISers on the same departure.


We are on the July 1st cruise. Me,my wife, 9 and 19 y/0  daughters.


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## anonymousegirl

DH (Trevor) and I are deposited on the 22 July cruise with friends from Nova Scotia. Our friends have a 14 year old daughter.


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## mtasuncion

we booked July 15 rhine river cruise. First time with ADB. 
Been 2 5 DCL (northern europe, 2015, mediterranean 2013, w carribean 2014, Bahamas  twice.
been a dvc member since 2009. Upcoming  trip, DCL alaska june 2016 Tokyo jan 2016. 
it will be me , my husband, my children both adults already 21 and 18.


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## TnkrMom

We are on the April 8 departure (DVC exclusive).  First ABD trip!  It will be me, my husband and our two daughters who will be 12 and 10 by then.  Looking forward to it!


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## lola1972

Hi!

My party of 9 is booked on the July 15 sailing on the Rhine!  This will be my 3rd ABD.... 
Ireland-2015
Central Europe-2016
Rhine-2017

Plus multiple DCL sailings including the EPiC 9 night Norweigan Fjords Cruise in 2015. Please post!

Our Party includes
Myself
DH
DS-13
DS-9

Best Friend
DH
DD-12
DS-14
DS-8


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## lola1972

mtasuncion said:


> we booked July 15 rhine river cruise. First time with ADB.
> Been 2 5 DCL (northern europe, 2015, mediterranean 2013, w carribean 2014, Bahamas  twice.
> been a dvc member since 2009. Upcoming  trip, DCL alaska june 2016 Tokyo jan 2016.
> it will be me , my husband, my children both adults already 21 and 18.




We are booked on that as well!
Myself
DH
DS-13
DS-9


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## SCFamily4

We will be on the July 1,2017 sailing!   It's. "Girls trip" - my mother, daughter (will be almost 15 years old) and me!!  We are very excited!   

We are on a Danube ABD cruise this summer, so hope to learn a lot about river cruising.  This will be our 4th ABD and my moms first.   Looking forward to meeting you all!!


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## mtasuncion

@lola1972 @SCFamily4 great! we will be travelling with my friend and her daughter 18y/o . their first disney trip. Anyways its our first rivercruise . excited and also anxious. pls tell us more on rivercruising.. we booked cat D only. im worried because theres no verandah. Need your advice if i need to upgrade. or if the sundeck is enough. thanks


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## SCFamily4

mtasuncion said:


> @lola1972 @SCFamily4 great! we will be travelling with my friend and her daughter 18y/o . their first disney trip. Anyways its our first rivercruise . excited and also anxious. pls tell us more on rivercruising.. we booked cat D only. im worried because theres no verandah. Need your advice if i need to upgrade. or if the sundeck is enough. thanks



We are currently in Prague, and will be leaving for the ABD Danube trip tomorrow! It is the AmaViola, a similar ship to what we will be on next summer.   I will report back on the ship details, with pics if possible.   We have a verandah, so I will try to get feedback from others on the rooms without.   To be honest, we may not even be on the ship that much!  Will let you know what I learn!


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## tgeorge

SCFamily4 said:


> We are currently in Prague, and will be leaving for the ABD Danube trip tomorrow! It is the AmaViola, a similar ship to what we will be on next summer.   I will report back on the ship details, with pics if possible.   We have a verandah, so I will try to get feedback from others on the rooms without.   To be honest, we may not even be on the ship that much!  Will let you know what I learn!



I will be very interested in hearing  your thoughts. I'm considering the Rhine cruise for 2018 (if I can make it work with our 10 year anniversary trip earlier that year). Enjoy the Danube cruise!


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## BluesTraveler

We are booked for the July 29, 2017 sailing.  DH, me, and our two boys (who will be 9 and 12 then).  I have not yet decided if we will do the Amsterdam add on.


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## SCFamily4

mtasuncion said:


> @lola1972 @SCFamily4 great! we will be travelling with my friend and her daughter 18y/o . their first disney trip. Anyways its our first rivercruise . excited and also anxious. pls tell us more on rivercruising.. we booked cat D only. im worried because theres no verandah. Need your advice if i need to upgrade. or if the sundeck is enough. thanks



We are on the AmaViola now, which (from what I understand) is similar to the ship that we will be on for the Rhine cruise.   We booked a 200-level room with a verandah.  I have gone out on the veranda exactly 4 times in the past 6 days.  Many times at port, you are docked side to side with another ship.  So close you can almost touch!  And most of the cruising has been at night.  We had one day with some lovely day cruising and we watched from a higher floor. The top floor is so nice to sit and watch - and there are many canopies for shade.   I probably would have been fine with a lower floor.  The nicest thing about the room is how much natural light we have - Windows basically on one wall. Curtains are plenty dark if needed.


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## mtasuncion

SCFamily4 said:


> We are on the AmaViola now, which (from what I understand) is similar to the ship that we will be on for the Rhine cruise.   We booked a 200-level room with a verandah.  I have gone out on the veranda exactly 4 times in the past 6 days.  Many times at port, you are docked side to side with another ship.  So close you can almost touch!  And most of the cruising has been at night.  We had one day with some lovely day cruising and we watched from a higher floor. The top floor is so nice to sit and watch - and there are many canopies for shade.   I probably would have been fine with a lower floor.  The nicest thing about the room is how much natural light we have - Windows basically on one wall. Curtains are plenty dark if needed.
> 
> View attachment 182725 View attachment 182726


@lola1972 @SCFamily4 thank you for the inputs.  i upgraded to Cat C with french balcony . I guess  having fresh air will be better.  We are very excited on this river cruise.


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## momof3greatkiddos

We will be on the July 1st sailing, myself, husband, son who will be 19 at the time, daughter and son-in-law. We have been on 2 previous trips. Costa Rica and Wyoming. We are interested in trying River cruising and the ports look amazing. It has been along time since we did an ABD because I discovered that we could pretty much do alot of the ABD itineraries on our own for a lot less money. However, it would be hard to duplicate the River Cruise without a lot of unpacking and moving about. So,we are hoping for a lot of great adventure, fun, and food! And, a river that has good water levels so we don't end up on a bus trip.


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## tink1970

Holiday trip 2017 (myself, DH, and DD who will be 17 then). So excited...


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## tgeorge

tink1970 said:


> Holiday trip 2017 (myself, DH, and DD who will be 17 then). So excited...



Oh my gosh, so jealous!!  Danube this Christmas and Rhine next??!!  That is awesome!  I definitely want to do both, but want to do the Danube for the holidays and the Rhine in the summer.  I can't wait to hear about both of them!


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## tink1970

Can't lie...I'm pretty psyched


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## tgeorge

tink1970 said:


> Can't lie...I'm pretty psyched




You should be!  Heck, I'm psyched for you guys!


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## *WDW*Groupie*

How many of those booked are doing the Amsterdam add-on?  We have it booked for our June 17th sailing but I think at $799.00 per person for 1 day and 1 night is very pricey.


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## tink1970

I thought the same...the math just didn't work for my family. We'll be flying in a day early but will do something on our own. I couldn't justify $2400, especially if I have Marriott points for free/gratis lodging


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## Bobo912

I did the Rhine Cruise with Uniworld this summer and they offer a 3-day/2-night add-on and I thought it was too expensive.  So I just booked the hotel and tours myself.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza which was very centrally located and convenient to the tour office and the port.  The Disney add-on stays at the Doubletree which is a little closer to the port, but not quite as conveniently located otherwise.  There are lots of hotel choices.  We took the small-group Charm of Holland tour that I booked through Lindbergh tours.  There are a lot of different names for tour companies, but most of them seem to depart from the same location (Damrak 26), so it's really the same provider. The tour was great. We also did the Eating Amsterdam tour which was also wonderful.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

tink1970 said:


> I thought the same...the math just didn't work for my family. We'll be flying in a day early but will do something on our own. I couldn't justify $2400, especially if I have Marriott points for free/gratis lodging



That's what I was thinking.  I booked 2 rooms at the new W hotel in Amsterdam that gets rave reviews on TA on points / cash.  We can have a private guide take us to the Hague and Brussels for under $500.00 with a driver.



Bobo912 said:


> We took the small-group Charm of Holland tour that I booked through Lindbergh tours.  There are a lot of different names for tour companies, but most of them seem to depart from the same location (Damrak 26), so it's really the same provider. The tour was great. We also did the Eating Amsterdam tour which was also wonderful.



These sound like great options for us.  Thank you!


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## momof3greatkiddos

I must agree that the add on is way overpriced. ABD is very pricey in general, but I was truly surprised how pricey this was. It is always cheaper to do it yourself than an ABD. However, I will give ABD credit for all the true excursions/adventures available on the actual river cruise. No other company does zip lining, horseback riding, toboggan runs, etc. We are looking forward to these activities, and not unpacking every few days.

I am looking for a private guide in Amsterdam but have not found as good a price as WDWgroupie. If anyone has suggestions of a company that would do a private tour I would love to hear. We want to add one more day on, and are possibly looking at Delft and The Hague, or Zaans Schan depending on what we do with Disney.


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## Princess Tinkerbell

lola1972 said:


> Hi!
> 
> My party of 9 is booked on the July 15 sailing on the Rhine!  This will be my 3rd ABD....
> Ireland-2015
> Central Europe-2016
> Rhine-2017
> 
> Plus multiple DCL sailings including the EPiC 9 night Norweigan Fjords Cruise in 2015. Please post!
> 
> Our Party includes
> Myself
> DH
> DS-13
> DS-9
> 
> Best Friend
> DH
> DD-12
> DS-14
> DS-8



We just booked for the July 15th sailing. We have DS 8. I hope he can meet your boys.


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## Princess Tinkerbell

We are on the July 15th sailing and booked the add-on. We have been DVC since 2007 and toying with idea of an AbD for several years. I love DCL, but my DH is not a fan of the Caribbean. We were going to do a Mediterranean DCL this summer and then he suggested an AbD river cruise. It sounded like a good idea to me so we booked. We will be traveling with our 8 year old son. So excited we are finally taking the plunge!


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## Currahee

Princess Tinkerbell said:


> We are on the July 15th sailing and booked the add-on. We have been DVC since 2007 and toying with idea of an AbD for several years. I love DCL, but my DH is not a fan of the Caribbean. We were going to do a Mediterranean DCL this summer and then he suggested an AbD river cruise. It sounded like a good idea to me so we booked. We will be traveling with our 8 year old son. So excited we are finally taking the plunge!



We have been in only one ABD in the past with a group of around 35 people. How does it work in a river cruise when there are around 150 guets. How are the groups divided?


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## sayhello

Currahee said:


> We have been in only one ABD in the past with a group of around 35 people. How does it work in a river cruise when there are around 150 guests. How are the groups divided?


They have multiple sets of colored cards.  Each set is enough for one for each person on a particular bus (approximately 40).  ie, there are 40 Purple cards, 40 Green cards, etc.  You get a colored card before each excursion (and turn it in when you return).  That color card identifies which bus you are on, and which Adventure Guides you have, for that excursion.  You can have any combination of two of the eight Adventure Guides.  And the makeup of the 40 people will vary for each excursion based on who signs up for which excursion and what color they're giving out when you grab your cards in the morning.  In general, the system works very well.  The only problem we had was one day when Jennae told us we were supposed to keep the same color card from the morning for the afternoon.  No-one told the folks on the ship, so they gave out more pink cards...   We also only had 135 people.  I don't know if it gets harder at 160.

Sayhello


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## mtasuncion

July 15 is  a sold out cruise.  We booked cat CB with french balcony but we  wanted to upgrade to a stateroom with an extended balcony. We called today and nothing is available . I guess we will be a big group.  It is nice to know that they are very organized in handling the excursions. Thank you say @sayhello .   We booked a family room at the Renaissance in Amsterdam after the cruise .  We found the ADD ON  too expensive. We will just explore the rest of amsterdam on our own. Its our first ABD , first river cruise and we are very excited.We booked the add-on in basel for a night at raddisson blue and airport transfer with ABD.


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## sayhello

mtasuncion said:


> July 15 is  a sold out cruise.  We booked cat CB with french balcony but we  wanted to upgrade to a stateroom with an extended balcony. We called today and nothing is available . I guess we will be a big group.  It is nice to know that they are very organized in handling the excursions. Thank you say @sayhello .   We booked a family room at the Renaissance in Amsterdam after the cruise .  We found the ADD ON  too expensive. We will just explore the rest of amsterdam on our own. Its our first ABD , first river cruise and we are very excited.We booked the add-on in basel for a night at raddisson blue and airport transfer with ABD.


I'm so glad the Rhine River cruises are selling well!  I had a CA cabin with the French balcony, and found it quite nice.  It's small (most of the cabins are) but it's so well organized, you really don't notice it much.  And I loved the French balcony.  

Sayhello


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## Fivepin

Question for those that have sailed....we are looking to book the 6/18/18 Rhine River triple occupancy room. Does anyone have a picture of the single sleeper chair? Our18 year old son will be with us and wondering if that would work for him. ABD charges the full 100% in a 2nd cabin with just him. I have heard if you booked directly thru AMA you only have to pay 50%, but didn't know how their excursions compared to ABD.


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## sayhello

Fivepin said:


> Question for those that have sailed....we are looking to book the 6/18/18 Rhine River triple occupancy room. Does anyone have a picture of the single sleeper chair? Our18 year old son will be with us and wondering if that would work for him. ABD charges the full 100% in a 2nd cabin with just him. I have heard if you booked directly thru AMA you only have to pay 50%, but didn't know how their excursions compared to ABD.


I don't believe any of the Rhine River cruises have sailed yet.  You might get more answers on the Danube River Cruise meets thread, or in a separate thread just for this question.  The AMAKristina is the same configuration as the AMAViola that does the Danube cruises.

Sayhello


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## OhanaCuz

Fivepin said:


> Question for those that have sailed....we are looking to book the 6/18/18 Rhine River triple occupancy room. Does anyone have a picture of the single sleeper chair? Our18 year old son will be with us and wondering if that would work for him. ABD charges the full 100% in a 2nd cabin with just him. I have heard if you booked directly thru AMA you only have to pay 50%, but didn't know how their excursions compared to ABD.



I have not sailed but I think this is a pic of it.  Look at the category AB stateroom.  There's a chair by the sliding doors that looks like it folds out.

https://www.amawaterways.com/ships/amaviola-river-cruise-ship#Staterooms


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## JsMom2

sayhello said:


> I don't believe any of the Rhine River cruises have sailed yet.  You might get more answers on the Danube River Cruise meets thread, or in a separate thread just for this question.  The AMAKristina is the same configuration as the AMAViola that does the Danube cruises.
> 
> Sayhello


 My daughter and I just booked the 6/18/18 sailing!  She will be 19 next summer.  When we were looking at the rooms on the Amawaterways site, it looks like the categories that sleep 3 all have a sofa.  We figured the sofa pulled out.  I'd suggest contacting Ama to make sure.


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## carpenta

We sailed on Tauck ship ( very similar) and our daughter slept on one of those pull out couch / love seat. She said it was pretty comfortable and she had no complaints. It was far from the old bar in the back pull out couch.


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## JsMom2

sayhello said:


> They have multiple sets of colored cards.  Each set is enough for one for each person on a particular bus (approximately 40).  ie, there are 40 Purple cards, 40 Green cards, etc.  You get a colored card before each excursion (and turn it in when you return).  That color card identifies which bus you are on, and which Adventure Guides you have, for that excursion.  You can have any combination of two of the eight Adventure Guides.  And the makeup of the 40 people will vary for each excursion based on who signs up for which excursion and what color they're giving out when you grab your cards in the morning.  In general, the system works very well.  The only problem we had was one day when Jennae told us we were supposed to keep the same color card from the morning for the afternoon.  No-one told the folks on the ship, so they gave out more pink cards...   We also only had 135 people.  I don't know if it gets harder at 160.
> 
> Sayhello



So is the ship chartered by ABD, or will we just have a block of rooms?  We traveled with Jennae in Austria - would be nice to see her again!


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## JsMom2

Who else is confirmed for June 18, 2018?


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## sayhello

JsMom2 said:


> So is the ship chartered by ABD, or will we just have a block of rooms?  We traveled with Jennae in Austria - would be nice to see her again!


The entire ship is chartered by ABD.  Everyone on the ship will be on the ABD with you.

Jennae is a gem!    I'm selfishly hoping she does China in June!!

Sayhello


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## quinnc19

I booked for myself and DD, who will turn 11 on the cruise! I'm very excited about several pre-days in Switzerland and have begun making plans for Zermatt. 



JsMom2 said:


> Who else is confirmed for June 18, 2018?


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## JsMom2

quinnc19 said:


> I booked for myself and DD, who will turn 11 on the cruise! I'm very excited about several pre-days in Switzerland and have begun making plans for Zermatt.



Very cool!  I think we are going to go to Europa Park for a few days prior to the cruise.  We never made it there when we lived in Europe!


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## JsMom2

sayhello said:


> The entire ship is chartered by ABD.  Everyone on the ship will be on the ABD with you.
> 
> Jennae is a gem!    I'm selfishly hoping she does China in June!!
> 
> Sayhello



Awesome!


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## JsMom2

Princess Tinkerbell said:


> We are on the July 15th sailing and booked the add-on. We have been DVC since 2007 and toying with idea of an AbD for several years. I love DCL, but my DH is not a fan of the Caribbean. We were going to do a Mediterranean DCL this summer and then he suggested an AbD river cruise. It sounded like a good idea to me so we booked. We will be traveling with our 8 year old son. So excited we are finally taking the plunge!



I believe my daughter was 8 or 9 on our first ABD.  Your son will have a blast!


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## Gondingl

Signed up for the Rhine River Cruise - the food and wine themed one - for Sept. 2018! Can't wait to hear the reviews on this cruise!


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## JsMom2

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> How many of those booked are doing the Amsterdam add-on?  We have it booked for our June 17th sailing but I think at $799.00 per person for 1 day and 1 night is very pricey.



Is that for 2017 or 2018?  for 2018 there are no tours or anything included in the price, just a hotel room!  I think the $799 is overpriced either way, but it's completely ridiculous if its in 2018.  Have your TA book a separate hotel for you!


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## JsMom2

sayhello said:


> They have multiple sets of colored cards.  Each set is enough for one for each person on a particular bus (approximately 40).  ie, there are 40 Purple cards, 40 Green cards, etc.  You get a colored card before each excursion (and turn it in when you return).  That color card identifies which bus you are on, and which Adventure Guides you have, for that excursion.  You can have any combination of two of the eight Adventure Guides.  And the makeup of the 40 people will vary for each excursion based on who signs up for which excursion and what color they're giving out when you grab your cards in the morning.  In general, the system works very well.  The only problem we had was one day when Jennae told us we were supposed to keep the same color card from the morning for the afternoon.  No-one told the folks on the ship, so they gave out more pink cards...   We also only had 135 people.  I don't know if it gets harder at 160.
> 
> Sayhello



When do you get to choose which excursions you want to take in each port?  Also, does ABD mail anything out in advance?  It's been awhile since we've done an ABD, but I remember for Peru they had a list of recommended books to read before we left.


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## TimeforMe

Just booked for 7/23/18.  I know it's early but anyone else?  Love the itinerary and can't wait to hear all about it from those going this year!


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## tink1970

JsMom2 said:


> When do you get to choose which excursions you want to take in each port? Also, does ABD mail anything out in advance? It's been awhile since we've done an ABD, but I remember for Peru they had a list of recommended books to read before we left.



They send a box about a month in advance. For our Danube River cruise, it had lots of things (an ipad cover, backpack, luggage straps, etc) plus a folder with a small book about the Danube area, as well a helpful a spiral book with information including the daily itinerary. In the center of _that _was a chart with the excursion options so we could plan those in which we would participate. We had a pre night in Budapest and in the morning at the hotel there was a meet and greet with one of the adventure guides, who took our preferences down. I believe that night at dinner they caught up with those passengers who hadn't filled out preferences yet.  This gives them a general idea for numbers. One night we skipped the afternoon excursion and a bus and an Adventure Guide (Stephanie) came back to the port for DH, myself and one other Adventurer. They really are pretty flexible if you change your mind-or at least they were on our Danube Holiday trip


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## OADad

We just booked for August 6, 2018.  Long way off, but excited for our first ABD!


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## sayhello

JsMom2 said:


> When do you get to choose which excursions you want to take in each port?  Also, does ABD mail anything out in advance?  It's been awhile since we've done an ABD, but I remember for Peru they had a list of recommended books to read before we left.


Looks like you got your answer from @tink1970.  I concur with everything she said.  

When you meet with the Adventure Guide to discuss which excursions you want to do, the AG will answer any and all questions you have about the excursions and describe them in depth if you want.  But it's never written in stone.  You could probably change your mind right before the excursions if you really wanted to (if there's room).  But it's best for planning if you do it at least the night before.

Sayhello


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## Woodview

JsMom2 said:


> Is that for 2017 or 2018?  for 2018 there are no tours or anything included in the price, just a hotel room!  I think the $799 is overpriced either way, but it's completely ridiculous if its in 2018.  Have your TA book a separate hotel for you!



  No matter  what year           $ 800      is   Way over the  Price .

  That $800   would  cover a weeks  Hotel stay  for 1 person  including   a few dinners .

  Looking at my local   tour brochure   .....  flights  from  Ireland to  Berlin . + 3 nights  Hotel  (3* )  Breakfast 

& Guided City tour     for   € 450  Euros   per person .

 Same tour to Prague  is € 350   per person


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## tiger04

I will be on the inaugural Rhine River cruise for DVC members sailing this Saturday.  I heard from someone else on the cruise that he called ABD and learned that there will be 109 people on this cruise. I do not know the breakdown of adults vs children.  ABD also said that they are not providing backpacks in the pre-trip packages due to security concerns because they do not want people prominently displaying stuff with ABD on it.  The ABD rep also said that they will not be using orange placards for the groups anymore. Of course all the pre-trip information mentions to look for the orange placard so we will see what actually happens when we are on the trip.

I am excited for the trip and it is interesting that this DVC sailing is so far ahead of the rest of the Rhine sailings. But I will be happy to gather as much information as I can and share my thoughts when I return to the states.


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## tink1970

tiger04 said:


> I will be happy to gather as much information as I can and share my thoughts when I return to the states.



Oh, please do! So exciting that the inaugural sailing is so close! Can't wait to hear about it


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## sayhello

When I did the Danube cruise we did not have the typical ABD "Paddle of Power" that said "Adventures by Disney" on it.  There were 4 color groups, and the Guides had colored paddles that matched (purple, pink, green and blue, if I remember correctly).  They had a tone on tone Starburst on them, but nothing else.  I think we may have had an orange one for the Prague add-on?  I can't recall.  What did folks have on the "regular" ABDs last year?   

Are they saying no paddles at all this year?

Sayhello


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## OhanaCuz

tiger04 said:


> ABD also said that they are not providing backpacks in the pre-trip packages due to security concerns because they do not want people prominently displaying stuff with ABD on it.



Drat.  I wish I could have gotten one before this policy change.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

tiger04 said:


> I will be on the inaugural Rhine River cruise for DVC members sailing this Saturday.  I heard from someone else on the cruise that he called ABD and learned that there will be 109 people on this cruise. I do not know the breakdown of adults vs children.  ABD also said that they are not providing backpacks in the pre-trip packages due to security concerns because they do not want people prominently displaying stuff with ABD on it.  The ABD rep also said that they will not be using orange placards for the groups anymore. Of course all the pre-trip information mentions to look for the orange placard so we will see what actually happens when we are on the trip.
> 
> I am excited for the trip and it is interesting that this DVC sailing is so far ahead of the rest of the Rhine sailings. But I will be happy to gather as much information as I can and share my thoughts when I return to the states.



Yes, please report back!  We are on the second voyage -- we are so excited for this trip!



sayhello said:


> When I did the Danube cruise we did not have the typical ABD "Paddle of Power" that said "Adventures by Disney" on it.  There were 4 color groups, and the Guides had colored paddles that matched (purple, pink, green and blue, if I remember correctly).  They had a tone on tone Starburst on them, but nothing else.  I think we may have had an orange one for the Prague add-on?  I can't recall.  What did folks have on the "regular" ABDs last year?
> 
> Are they saying no paddles at all this year?
> 
> Sayhello



Both our ABDs last year had paddles -- but no wording of any kind on them.  I don't understand why they don't want "Adventures by Disney" on anything.  I don't see how that makes anyone a target.  Perhaps it's just me.  

We have so much from them already - a few fleece blankets, a couple of backpacks, 3 or 4 iPad covers, and gosh knows what else.  I don't even use any of them, though I do have a brand new ABD backpack stashed in my laundry room in case I ever need it.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

tink1970 said:


> They send a box about a month in advance. For our Danube River cruise, it had lots of things (an ipad cover, backpack, luggage straps, etc) plus a folder with a small book about the Danube area, as well a helpful a spiral book with information including the daily itinerary. In the center of _that _was a chart with the excursion options so we could plan those in which we would participate. We had a pre night in Budapest and in the morning at the hotel there was a meet and greet with one of the adventure guides, who took our preferences down. I believe that night at dinner they caught up with those passengers who hadn't filled out preferences yet.  This gives them a general idea for numbers. One night we skipped the afternoon excursion and a bus and an Adventure Guide (Stephanie) came back to the port for DH, myself and one other Adventurer. They really are pretty flexible if you change your mind-or at least they were on our Danube Holiday trip



This worries me.  We aren't staying overnight in Basel.  We are flying into Zurich the day before the cruise, touring a bit there, having dinner and staying in a lovely suite at the Schweitzerhof.  We will take the train to Basel in the morning to meet up with the ship there.  I hope we don't miss a lot of info about the trips in the morning.

I suppose if Basel is an interesting city we can change our plans, but I really like Zurich and would rather spend a day there I think.  From what I've read there isn't much to see or do in Basel.  Plus ABD wanted to cram the 3 of us into a teeny tiny room for a king's ransom so that was an easy pass for me.

I am looking forward to the first report on the first Rhine River cruise that leaves on Saturday!


----------



## sayhello

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> This worries me.  We aren't staying overnight in Basel.  We are flying into Zurich the day before the cruise, touring a bit there, having dinner and staying in a lovely suite at the Schweitzerhof.  We will take the train to Basel in the morning to meet up with the ship there.  I hope we don't miss a lot of info about the trips in the morning.
> 
> I suppose if Basel is an interesting city we can change our plans, but I really like Zurich and would rather spend a day there I think.  From what I've read there isn't much to see or do in Basel.  Plus ABD wanted to cram the 3 of us into a teeny tiny room for a king's ransom so that was an easy pass for me.
> 
> I am looking forward to the first report on the first Rhine River cruise that leaves on Saturday!


I'm sure whatever you miss, you can talk to any of the Adventure Guides when you get on the ship, and they'll explain it all.  Most of it was the excursion choices, and handing out the lanyards, as well as getting your luggage checked in so they could transport it to the ship.  Most of the rest of the explanations will be once you get on the ship, at least for the Danube cruise, they had an intro/safety drill once everyone was onboard and had settled into the Lounge after tea.

Sayhello


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## quinnc19

I am also wondering if we should spend the night before in Basel. I definitely want to do two days in Zermatt and I'm debating a 3rd night in Zürich, Lucerne, Basel or somewhere else . 



*WDW*Groupie* said:


> This worries me.  We aren't staying overnight in Basel.  We are flying into Zurich the day before the cruise, touring a bit there, having dinner and staying in a lovely suite at the Schweitzerhof.  We will take the train to Basel in the morning to meet up with the ship there.  I hope we don't miss a lot of info about the trips in the morning.
> 
> I suppose if Basel is an interesting city we can change our plans, but I really like Zurich and would rather spend a day there I think.  From what I've read there isn't much to see or do in Basel.  Plus ABD wanted to cram the 3 of us into a teeny tiny room for a king's ransom so that was an easy pass for me.
> 
> I am looking forward to the first report on the first Rhine River cruise that leaves on Saturday!


----------



## JsMom2

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> This worries me.  We aren't staying overnight in Basel.  We are flying into Zurich the day before the cruise, touring a bit there, having dinner and staying in a lovely suite at the Schweitzerhof.  We will take the train to Basel in the morning to meet up with the ship there.  I hope we don't miss a lot of info about the trips in the morning.
> 
> I suppose if Basel is an interesting city we can change our plans, but I really like Zurich and would rather spend a day there I think.  From what I've read there isn't much to see or do in Basel.  Plus ABD wanted to cram the 3 of us into a teeny tiny room for a king's ransom so that was an easy pass for me.
> 
> I am looking forward to the first report on the first Rhine River cruise that leaves on Saturday!



We'll be coming in 2 nights prior from Barcelona after a Med Cruise on the Magic.  I was thinking of staying in Basel, and renting a car and driving to Europa Park.  We've never been there.  But I'm not sure if that will be a bit much to do!


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## bruinspin

JsMom2 said:


> Who else is confirmed for June 18, 2018?


My husband and I are booked along with 2 other couples.  We were on the Danube last July with SayHello and several others.  Fantastic adventure!


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## bruinspin

It was explained to us (Danube River Cruise AND the Paris ABD) that Disney is a target by simply being a huge American symbol, and they don't want to advertise who we are.  Things being what they are these days, I'm not going to question it.    I always feel very safe and totally protected being in the Mouse Bubble with the Paddle of Power.    It really is amazing to see that power at work time after time, from lost luggage catching up, to ABD version of a fast pass, to exceptional meals, accommodating EVERYONE'S special needs, and how the guides manage to figure out temperaments and quirks of each and every adventurer!  It's truly a magical trip, and anything Disney feels they need to do to insure that continues to happen is OK by me!


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## bruinspin

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> Yes, please report back!  We are on the second voyage -- we are so excited for this trip!


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## bruinspin

If you can see this, I highly recommend waking up and go up top to watch when you go through the locks!  It's pretty fascinating stuff!


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## CrazyZeus1

tufbuf said:


> Hello! We are doing the holiday trip 2017!


We'll be on the Christmas 2017 trip as well!


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## tink1970

CrazyZeus1 said:


> We'll be on the Christmas 2017 trip as well!




See you in December


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## tiger04

We are currently on Day 6 of the cruise sailing towards Amsterdam.  It has been a fabulous trip so far - the ship is absolutely beautiful and it's only the second sailing ever of the Ama Kristina so everything is new and sparkling.  You can definitely tell that they are using the DVC Inaugural cruise as a sort of test run for the rest of the ABD "Once Upon a Rhine" cruises for the summer and next year.  We even previewed some of the Beauty and the Beast themed events for 2018 with a special dinner.  There is a camera crew taking pictures and filming for content that will be on the Disney Parks blog and some marketing material for ABD and DVC. As a DVC exclusive, we just had a presentation by Becky Cline, director of the Disney Archive, on Walt and Roy Disney's travel through Europe.  Overall it has been wonderful and I will post more detail when I am back in the States.  And it was very cool to watch the ship go through the locks!


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## *WDW*Groupie*

tiger04 said:


> We are currently on Day 6 of the cruise sailing towards Amsterdam.  It has been a fabulous trip so far - the ship is absolutely beautiful and it's only the second sailing ever of the Ama Kristina so everything is new and sparkling.  You can definitely tell that they are using the DVC Inaugural cruise as a sort of test run for the rest of the ABD "Once Upon a Rhine" cruises for the summer and next year.  We even previewed some of the Beauty and the Beast themed events for 2018 with a special dinner.  There is a camera crew taking pictures and filming for content that will be on the Disney Parks blog and some marketing material for ABD and DVC. As a DVC exclusive, we just had a presentation by Becky Cline, director of the Disney Archive, on Walt and Roy Disney's travel through Europe.  Overall it has been wonderful and I will post more detail when I am back in the States.  And it was very cool to watch the ship go through the locks!



I can't wait to hear the details!  We are on the June 17th cruise -- I believe the next Disney sailing!  We are getting very excited.  I am a little nervous about 3 tall people being crammed into the AA stateroom.  Do you know anyone who is using the "pull out chair"?  I don't think we will be in the cabin much so I doubt it will be a problem.  My plan is to be either: eating, on tour, in the gym or on deck enjoying the scenery when I'm not sleeping.  I'm thinking of it as a "bonding" experience.


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## ivrier

Hello all! We will be on the July 8 cruise. We've never done a river cruise and this will be our 2nd ABD. We are platinum members of castaway Club in Disney cruise line. I would normally would dress with long pants and a collared shirt during dinner. My wife and daughters will be in a dress in the DCL. How are we to dress up during the dinners on the river cruise? Do people come in shorts for dinner? Is there a night when one should be dressed with a coat and tie? As we all know, we are limited to only 1 luggage for the river cruise. 

Thanks in advance


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## CrazyZeus1

ivrier said:


> Hello all! We will be on the July 8 cruise. We've never done a river cruise and this will be our 2nd ABD. We are platinum members of castaway Club in Disney cruise line. I would normally would dress with long pants and a collared shirt during dinner. My wife and daughters will be in a dress in the DCL. How are we to dress up during the dinners on the river cruise? Do people come in shorts for dinner? Is there a night when one should be dressed with a coat and tie? As we all know, we are limited to only 1 luggage for the river cruise.
> 
> Thanks in advance


We did the Danube last summer.  We found all sorts of dress at dinners.  Some days, we arrived back from an excursion AT dinner time so we just went in our shorts/tshirts that we had worn for the day.  It was a relaxed feel and nobody cared one way or the other.  I don't recall any formal dinners.


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## sayhello

ivrier said:


> Hello all! We will be on the July 8 cruise. We've never done a river cruise and this will be our 2nd ABD. We are platinum members of castaway Club in Disney cruise line. I would normally would dress with long pants and a collared shirt during dinner. My wife and daughters will be in a dress in the DCL. How are we to dress up during the dinners on the river cruise? Do people come in shorts for dinner? Is there a night when one should be dressed with a coat and tie? As we all know, we are limited to only 1 luggage for the river cruise.
> 
> Thanks in advance


As @CrazyZeus1 said, there is really a range.  It's pretty casual.  Most days were "Cruise casual" for dinner, one day we also arrived back so late that we went straight to dinner in what we were wearing, nobody cared.

There *is* one night included in your cruise fare at The Chef's Table specialty restaurant.  It's not formal (I don't think a coat & tie is necessary) but it's "nice" or "dressy".  Definitely nothing too fancy.

Sayhello


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## ivrier

Thank you for all of the response!


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## canadakath

Just booked last night for me, DH, DS14 and DS12 (at time of sailing) for July 30, 2018!  First river cruise and first ABD, but third time to Europe for our kids.  Super excited for this one as I lived in Zurich as a teenager and can't wait to do a few pre days there and show the family my old house, school, etc.  Also will be planning some post days on our own, either staying in Amsterdam or heading to Belgium to see family.  Researched lots of other companies but this itinerary just resonated with me - and the kids are SO excited for the indoor winter sports park (because we don't do enough winter stuff in Canada???).  

I also managed to secure two connecting category BA rooms.  Looking forward to reports back from @tiger04 !


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## JsMom2

Is there a limit on the amount of luggage we can bring???


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## canadakath

JsMom2 said:


> Is there a limit on the amount of luggage we can bring???


From the Terms and Conditions for River Cruises: You may bring aboard the river cruise vessel, without additional charge, up to one (1) suitcase per person. Additional baggage will be subject to excess baggage charges.


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## JsMom2

canadakath said:


> From the Terms and Conditions for River Cruises: You may bring aboard the river cruise vessel, without additional charge, up to one (1) suitcase per person. Additional baggage will be subject to excess baggage charges.


Wow, that is surprising.  Good to know!


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## sayhello

canadakath said:


> From the Terms and Conditions for River Cruises: You may bring aboard the river cruise vessel, without additional charge, up to one (1) suitcase per person. Additional baggage will be subject to excess baggage charges.





JsMom2 said:


> Wow, that is surprising.  Good to know!


I would have to assume this is because of limited room on the transfers.  If you got yourself to the ship, I'm sure they wouldn't charge  you because you had too many suitcases.

Sayhello


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## met19

i signed up for the food and wine this fall.  very excited: 2 pre nights in Basel and I passed on the post nights but will stay in Amsterdam and tour.  

This is ABD #2.


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## OhanaCuz

Found a new video about the Rhine ship (Amakristina).


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## sayhello

OhanaCuz said:


> Found a new video about the Rhine ship (Amakristina).


It looks pretty much identical to the AmaViola, as I'd heard it was, just with a different color scheme.  But apparently our dining experience was far superior to his.

Sayhello


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## met19

Has anyone done the pre-nights in BSL.  I have booked two, but considering flying into Zurich and spending a night there before heading on via train to Basel for one more pre night.  Thanks


----------



## OhanaCuz

sayhello said:


> It looks pretty much identical to the AmaViola, as I'd heard it was, just with a different color scheme.  But apparently our dining experience was far superior to his.



I was quite surprised by that!  The desserts were still making me drool though.


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## sabrecmc

We are seriously considering this for 2018, probably the July 30 departure.  I was looking at trying to combine a Disney cruise with this...like doing the July 22 BCN to Dover repositioning cruise and then flying from Dover to Basel (I see easyjet does this...).  Am I...trying to do too much?  It would be me and my 12 year old daughter.  It would be her 4th trip to Europe. I lived in London for a while and have toured pretty extensively, so feel fairly confident that this is doable, but also have never done ABD.


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## tink1970

OhanaCuz said:


> Found a new video about the Rhine ship (Amakristina).



Thanks for posting! I have a while until our cruise but it is exciting to see the ship


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## tink1970

sabrecmc said:


> We are seriously considering this for 2018, probably the July 30 departure. I was looking at trying to combine a Disney cruise with this...like doing the July 22 BCN to Dover repositioning cruise and then flying from Dover to Basel (I see easyjet does this...). Am I...trying to do too much? It would be me and my 12 year old daughter. It would be her 4th trip to Europe. I lived in London for a while and have toured pretty extensively, so feel fairly confident that this is doable, but also have never done ABD.



 I think that sounds wonderful-if she doesn't want to go I will 

We're actually doing the Dover to BCN repositioning cruise this year, then the Rhine Cruise in December. I like the idea of doing them together (one less flight!) but DH can't be away from work that long. I say-go for it!


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## firegirl47

For those who have traveled on the Rhine River this year,   how many kids are on the boat?   Watching the Video review  above only showed adults. We booked for July 9th next year (2018) and have a 11 year old.  We are concerned there wont be other kids for him to meet.    We did the Germany tour last year and had a nice balance of kids and  adults.  Any feedback from those who traveled would be great to hear!


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## sayhello

firegirl47 said:


> For those who have traveled on the Rhine River this year,   how many kids are on the boat?   Watching the Video review  above only showed adults. We booked for July 9th next year (2018) and have a 11 year old.  We are concerned there wont be other kids for him to meet.    We did the Germany tour last year and had a nice balance of kids and  adults.  Any feedback from those who traveled would be great to hear!


The only Rhine River cruise to go so far (the one in the review) is the DVC only cruise.  There won't be another Rhine River cruise until mid June.   I wouldn't base any judgements on a specialty cruise that's not during the summer.

I took the Danube cruise last July, and there was a fair number of kids (not tons, but I'm guessing maybe 40?) I really wouldn't worry about it, especially based on that video.

Also, you can call ABD, and they will give you a breakdown of how many kids there are in each age group for your departure.

Sayhello


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## TimeforMe

This looks awesome!  thanks for posting.  I wish we were going this July instead of next.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

met19 said:


> Has anyone done the pre-nights in BSL.  I have booked two, but considering flying into Zurich and spending a night there before heading on via train to Basel for one more pre night.  Thanks



We are flying into Zurich on Friday and taking the train to Basel on Saturday to meet the ship.  I was in Zurich last summer for 2 nights by myself and am looking forward to spending the day there with my kids.  We are staying at the Schweitzerhof which is right across the street from the train station.  

The trains in Switzerland are extremely efficient and very easy to use.


----------



## met19

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> We are flying into Zurich on Friday and taking the train to Basel on Saturday to meet the ship.  I was in Zurich last summer for 2 nights by myself and am looking forward to spending the day there with my kids.  We are staying at the Schweitzerhof which is right across the street from the train station.
> 
> The trains in Switzerland are extremely efficient and very easy to use.



Any recommendations to do in Zurich.  For background: no kids, like history, art, architecture, food.  Thanks


----------



## *WDW*Groupie*

met19 said:


> Any recommendations to do in Zurich.  For background: no kids, like history, art, architecture, food.  Thanks



I don't know how long you will be there.

For 1 day I'd go up the local hill (easy to reach by train), hike up to the restaurant, grab a bite and soak in the views.  There is an observation tower that you can climb up (small fee) which affords nice views.  From here there are all kinds of hiking trails that you can take.

Walk to old town and stroll the street.  Walk the main street down to the water.  I did a cycling tour which was okay (the guide was very vocally politically biased which affected my enjoyment).  

If you have more than 1 day then I'd recommend taking the train to Lucerne or heading to Mount Pilatus.  Both easy day trips.  You could *probably* do both if you left Zurich early, didn't spend long at Pilatus and took a late train from Lucern to Zurich.

I plan on heading to the Swatch store in Zurich to get my daughter a watch (they have watches you can only get in Switzerland).

Enjoy!


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## tiger04

I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply with some thoughts on the cruise!!  The first week was busy getting back into the swing of things at work, and last week I was sick with a cold so I was just doing the bare minimum and was not online.

*OhanaCuz *- thank you for posting that video!  I know exactly who filmed it because I was actually in some of the shots - you can see me looking at the castles along the Rhine with my binoculars at the front of the ship when he was filming that part. I actually very much disagree with his comments on the food - I found dinner to be MUCH better than breakfast and lunch so it just goes to show how people's tastes can be so different.  
I am going to try to give some general thoughts on the ABD Rhine River Cruise and then I will do a quick trip report with some pictures (if I can figure out how to post them!) so I can talk about the trip and the excursions we chose in more detail.   Overall, like I said when I was on the cruise, I thought it was fabulous and would wholeheartedly recommend it.  This trip was my first ABD trip so I know it is not the typical ABD experience.  I will say that I was more impressed by AMA Waterways than I was by the ABD guides, even though I thought the guides were great.  We just had such a high level of service with the AMA Kristina staff that even the wonderful job by the ABD guides paled a bit in comparison.  

I also want to add that it was quite clear this was sort of a training trip. I do think they planned this ABD trip to be DVC exclusive so they could work through some kinks on more "devoted" Disney fans who may not revolt up against the brand when things went a bit haywire.  The guides had done a land run-through about two weeks before the start of the trip, but this was their first time on the boat as well so the timing of all the excursions was very different when they were going to each place by bus.  There were some bus snafus and timing got messed up on some of the tours, but I do think that most of these issues will be resolved by the time the Rhine cruises start up again.  There were a few ABD executives on the cruise - including the exec who designed the Rhine River cruise and the exec in charge of the European ABDs - and we had a VP for DVC who actually came up with the idea for Adventures by Disney. There was at least one ABD exec on every excursion so I will be curious to see what changes, if any, to the excursions will happen.

Embarkation
We flew in a day before the cruise and booked a pre-night through ABD so we used ABD transfers from the Basel airport to the Radisson Blu.  In regards to the luggage questions, they say one large piece of luggage and one hand luggage allowed.  Most people I noticed followed this, but even so there was not enough room for all the people and all the luggage in the transfer from the airport so they needed to bring another car.  There were about 40 other people staying at the Radisson Blu the night before.  The ABD guides actually did not show up in the lobby until the morning of the cruise, so I wonder if they will have any earlier meet and greets for the other cruises.  You can choose to take a bus from the hotel at noon, take a bus from the hotel at 3, or make your own way to the ship.  If you choose to make your own way to the ship you can actually get on the ship as early as 9 am, but you will not be able to access your room until around 3-4 pm.  It is actually quite easy to make your way to the ship - just take 11 tram to St. Johanns-Tor and you can walk two blocks to the river to the cruise terminal.  We chose to take the bus over at 12 just to see the ship and then head out to explore Basel some more.  You needed to be on the boat by 5 pm that day.  If you have certain excursions in mind, I would recommend getting on the ship by noon so you can choose your excursions first.  One thing I found interesting is that certain excursions have a max number allowed so if you want until later in the day you may not get your first choice.  Even the evening tours had a cut-off amount so we had some members of our traveling party that were not able to join initially (they added another bus so everyone who wanted to could go, but they couldn't confirm that bus until day of).  I thought it was a bit odd because I had read on the ABD Danube cruises that you could change your excursions - but we were told that you couldn't change them after the first day because they needed to finalize amounts with the outside vendors. 

Ship
As I said, we were only the second cruise ever on the AmaKristina so everything was so shiny and new!   To the point that when my showed fogged up in the morning, I could still see the numbers of my stateroom that must have been on the glass for the installation.  The crew was great and really got to know you by name.  They all work so hard and I felt a bit bad that we could not tip them - I really hope that ABD gave them big tips for all of us.  You can get a pretty good idea of the ship from that video of the decks and the layout.  There is an elevator and set of staircases in the middle of the ship so you can get up and down the three main decks.  To get up the sundeck you need to take the stairs on either side of the main lobby, so you would not be able to take the elevator up to the sundeck.  

From the bottom up:  "Piano Deck": I did not use the hair salon (although some other women did and their hair looked great) and I did not use the massage room (they offer a jetlag massage that in hindsight I wish I had tried!) so I cannot attest to the prices.  I did use the Fitness Room in the morning - it was very small but the equipment was great.  I ran on the treadmill and used the resistance machine and used a yoga mat to do some quick vinyasa and stretches.  There is water and towels in the fitness room and spray to clean off the equipment when you are finished.  It is available 24 hours a day but they request you be quiet in the morning and evenings.  I had wanted to run on the jogging track on the sundeck but they ask you not to use it before 8 am or after 10 pm, so it was difficult when you are busy all day to find the time.  "Cello Deck": has staterooms and the main restaurant.  "Violin Deck": has the Chef's Table restaurant in the Aft, then staterooms, then you can down a set of stairs to get to the reception, gift shop, library, and main lounge and bar.  The reception is staffed 24 hours a day and you will pick up your colored cards for the excursions there.  You can also sign up for the Chef's Table restaurant at reception.  The area to the port side of reception has postcards (if you use the provided amawaterways postcards they will post them for free), a map of all the Ama ships, and leads to the library. The area to the starboard side of reception leads to the gift shop and a little coffee area where you can get coffee or tea 24 hours a day.  In the lounge, the bar is open from 9 am on and you can pretty much get drinks at any time in the lounge that you just charge to your room.  There are some very light snacks in the lounge all day and in the afternoon they put out tea sandwiches and cakes.  At 10:30 pm each evening they have some hot food (they sadly went uneaten because most people were asleep or not hungry!)  You will have all the welcome and farewell receptions in the lounge, and at night there is entertainment (some nights we listened to the piano player there, other nights we had outside groups come to sing and perform, and other nights we had karaoke or watched movies).  "Sun Deck":  there is a ton of outdoor space to sit and enjoy the scenery (weather permitting).  The pool is heated but is more of a dunk pool (I think I did two stroked to get from one end to the other.  But it was a lovely perk.  The sun deck is particularly delightful when watching all the castles as you sail through the Rhine gorge but it is super windy!

Restaurants
The AmaKristina has the main restaurant and the Chef's Table and I thought both were very tasty.  "Main Dining Room": At breakfast, they serve buffet style with pastries, breads, fruits, cereals, and some hot items served in chafing dishes and an omelet station.  You can also order certain hot items directly from your waiter (which is why I ate eggs benedict practically every day!).  Lunch is similar to breakfast in that you had buffet style with salads, some hot items, and desserts available.  You can also order entrees from the waiter if you wanted an additional hot entree.  You can order wine, beer, or soft drinks from your waiter as well.  Dinner was more formal and probably lasted at least an hour and a half each night.  You have three options for appetizers, two salad options, two soup options, three entree options, and three dessert options.  The entrees tended to have one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian option.  Each night they pick a red and white wine local to the region for you to choose from, and they also have some American wines if you prefer those.  They are generous with the pours so plan accordingly!  I thought the food was delicious and the only frustrating part was having to rush through dinner if you wanted to go on one of the evening tours.  European dining can be very different than American dining so if you have some time constraints please share them with your wait staff!  There is open seating with more tables set up for 4 or 6.   I was part of a party of 7, so we had one person go down a bit early each night to get a spot that would fit 7.  There are two wine rooms to the port and starboard sides of the main restaurants - those rooms are usually used for the junior adventurers to eat with the adventure guides but we only had about 10 junior adventurers on this ship so the bigger groups were able to use the other wine room.  "Chef's Table":  You can book the chef's table every night of the cruise - it accommodates around 24 people (4 tables for 4 and 1 table for 8).  It is a tasting menu so you have no choices but if you have allergies you will just let the staff know.  I loved the Chef's Table but some members of my party did not like the "tasting" portions.  Some of the flavors were very interesting - like the cheddar chili sorbet - but I enjoyed tasting it all!  The Chef's Table has its own recommended wines, but you will not have a separate wine for each course like at Victoria and Albert's.  It was also wonderful to look out the windows in the back of the ship and watch the shore as you float down the Rhine while tasting such delicious food - the Chef's Table has floor to ceiling windows.

Rooms
My parents were in a suite, I was in an AA cabin, another couple in our traveling party was in an AA cabin, and the last couple was in a CA.  We were all on the Violin Deck.   I think the AA cabins had more than enough room and while mine did not include the 3rd person sleeper chair, I think if there was a 3rd person there still would have been enough room.  The couple in the CA cabin say that if they did the trip again they would choose an AA cabin for the extra room - but for the amount of time you are in your room, I still think that the CA cabin would be adequate.  The bathroom in the CA cabin was angled so you had a smaller space and there was no balcony.  I actually used the french balcony more than I used my regular balcony - I liked have the windows open on the juliet balcony in the morning as I got ready.  In each room, there were two usb ports in the night stand next to the bed and one "American" plug by the bed.  The other plugs were all European voltage (and note - the plugs were for northern Europe).  Each room (other than the suites) has a large sized closet for hanging clothes and another closet with shelves.  You have a safe in the shelf closet to lock up your valuables.  There are three umbrellas hanging in the closet.  You should be able to smoosh your luggage under your bed and put your clothes away if you want to settle in as there is a large amount of storage space.  In the bathroom there are some shelves above the sink for storage and cupboards underneath the sink to hide your toiletries.  The bathroom also has a hairdryer, and if you need a hair curler you can request one from reception.  There is also a refrigerator in cupboard next to the desk, which is replenished with water daily.  There is an apple computer on the desk that acts as your internet and tv - I watched the Masters in German on the tv but otherwise just enjoyed the bow cam.  You also get wifi all over the ship, but it can be a little wonky and does not work when you are going through the locks.  The suites are the largest rooms on board and come with butler service.  They are quite nice for entertaining because you have a separate living room area.  The suites get fruit juices and sodas stocked in their refrigerators.  Some other suite perks are room service (generally there is no room service in the other cabins unless you are ill) and free laundry service (the laundry service is actually quite reasonable if you wanted to pay, but it was so nice to get clothes pressed and washed each day - particularly after the horseback riding!)  All the lights in the room are controlled by an ipad, and it was nice to have several real tvs in the room.  The suites also have tons of storage space and an entire wall of closets - I will post some pictures when I start my trip reports just to give people ideas of the rooms.  The rooms are serviced twice a day, usually while you are at breakfast and dinner, and I cannot speak highly enough of the cabin stewards, who work so hard!

ABD Portions in General
From what I can tell, ABD and AMA Waterways is a great partnership.  On the gangplank when you enter the ship, there will be an AMA Waterways flag and an Adventures by Disney flag.  Interestingly, three days into the cruise they removed the Adventures by Disney flag from the outside (right after a bomb was thrown at the Borrusia Dortmund bus on their way to the champions football match) so they are keenly aware of security issues.  They did not put the flag back up the rest of the trip, so I am curious if they will have it out for the rest of the cruises.  There are ABD welcome mats when you enter the ship and then a big sign saying "Adventures by Disney Rhine Cruise" to welcome you on the ship.  As you saw in that video, the tea sandwiches and cookies are shaped with Mickey heads.  But other than that, there is nothing overtly Disney on the ship.

We had 6 adventure guides, 3 of whom were on the Danube river cruise last year so will be familiar to those of you who took that cruise: Veronika (US), Betti (Germany), Kira (US), Andreas (Germany), Danny (US), and Byron (US) (Veronika, Betti, and Danny all did the Danube cruise).  At least 5 of them will be doing the whole Rhine season (I was told Kira was pulled out of corporate to help out with this DVC ABD cruise so I do not know if she will be back).  I imagine they will add some more guides for the summer cruises because we only had 110 passengers, including the ABD/DVC execs and the film crew (there was a 5 person film crew filming for the Disney Park blog, ABD, and DVC publications).  I thought all the guides were lovely and I give them so much credit for being able to handle all the curveballs thrown out them from the logistics problems to dealing with guests' "humor".   Also, Andreas had a family emergency so had to leave on Day 3 to go home.  The other guides stepped in to fill in the gaps and while I think everything worked out for Andreas's family, he was not able to rejoin the trip.  He should be on the summer trips, which is good because he was lovely and it is always helpful to have guides who speak with languages!

I can add more about the excursions I took and the impressions I got from other excursions in a later post.  I will say that the benefit of doing an ABD river cruise, from what I can gather, is that there are more excursion options and more active excursions.  Veronika said that the Rhine excursions are much more active than the Danube activities were, which was great for us but very exhausting.  I think by the end people were dropping out of some of the evening excursions because they were exhausted!  So just be aware that you will have very busy days.  There was not a ton of time on the boat during the day, except for the afternoon you cruise up the Rhine gorge and the afternoon you sail from Cologne to Amsterdam.  So you will get a bit of time to relax during the day if you wish.  Also, you do not have to do any of the excursions - you can easily get a map from reception and explore on your own if you prefer.  

Disembarkation
On Day 8, people start leaving the ship as early as 5 am.  You are already docked in Amsterdam so you will disembark depending on your flight schedule.  Depending on your flight, you will have a time to have your luggage outside and a time to get on your transfer. Fortunately, you just have to have your luggage out 2 hours before your transfer so you won't have to pack your bag up the night before like in a ocean cruise.  For those doing the post-ABD add-on, you will leave on a bus at 8 am.  We had a 1:20 pm flight so we did not leave the ship until around 11.  You have to be out of your room by 9 am so we just relaxed in the lounge afterwards.   I didn't want to leave!  

Okay, I think I have babbled enough for now!  I will add more about excursions in this thread and in the trip report I am planning to write - but I will answer any questions you had in the meantime as I am sure I am forgetting important information


----------



## tink1970

Thank you so much for your summary, @tiger04. Veronika told us over the holiday Danube she would be on all of the Rhine cruises, I'm hoping Betti will be with her over the holidays, too!

Really appreciate your taking the time to review this. It makes waiting until December even harder


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## CaliforniaGirl09

Great report! Looking forward to hearing about the excursions. I'm very surprised that there was a limit in the number of people on certain excursions as choose whatever you want and flexibility to change your mind were big selling points.


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## met19

tiger04 said:


> Restaurants
> The AmaKristina has the main restaurant and the Chef's Table and I thought both were very tasty.  "Main Dining Room": At breakfast, they serve buffet style with pastries, breads, fruits, cereals, and some hot items served in chafing dishes and an omelet station.  You can also order certain hot items directly from your waiter (which is why I ate eggs benedict practically every day!).  Lunch is similar to breakfast in that you had buffet style with salads, some hot items, and desserts available.  You can also order entrees from the waiter if you wanted an additional hot entree.  You can order wine, beer, or soft drinks from your waiter as well.  Dinner was more formal and probably lasted at least an hour and a half each night.  You have three options for appetizers, two salad options, two soup options, three entree options, and three dessert options.  The entrees tended to have one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian option.  Each night they pick a red and white wine local to the region for you to choose from, and they also have some American wines if you prefer those.  They are generous with the pours so plan accordingly!  I thought the food was delicious and the only frustrating part was having to rush through dinner if you wanted to go on one of the evening tours.  European dining can be very different than American dining so if you have some time constraints please share them with your wait staff!  There is open seating with more tables set up for 4 or 6.   I was part of a party of 7, so we had one person go down a bit early each night to get a spot that would fit 7.  There are two wine rooms to the port and starboard sides of the main restaurants - those rooms are usually used for the junior adventurers to eat with the adventure guides but we only had about 10 junior adventurers on this ship so the bigger groups were able to use the other wine room.  "Chef's Table":  You can book the chef's table every night of the cruise - it accommodates around 24 people (4 tables for 4 and 1 table for 8).  It is a tasting menu so you have no choices but if you have allergies you will just let the staff know.  I loved the Chef's Table but some members of my party did not like the "tasting" portions.  Some of the flavors were very interesting - like the cheddar chili sorbet - but I enjoyed tasting it all!  The Chef's Table has its own recommended wines, but you will not have a separate wine for each course like at Victoria and Albert's.  It was also wonderful to look out the windows in the back of the ship and watch the shore as you float down the Rhine while tasting such delicious food - the Chef's Table has floor to ceiling windows.
> my trip reports just to give people ideas of the rooms.  The rooms are serviced twice a day, usually while you are at breakfast and dinner, and I cannot speak highly enough of the cabin stewards, who work so hard!



Quick questions about the restaurants:
1) You mentioned Dinner was formal.  How formal?
2) The chef's table: Do they mix smaller parties on the table of 8? I actually don't mind being mixed in, and would like to experience the chef's table but am either a party of 1 or 2 on this cruise.

Thanks


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## met19

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I don't know how long you will be there.
> 
> For 1 day I'd go up the local hill (easy to reach by train), hike up to the restaurant, grab a bite and soak in the views.  There is an observation tower that you can climb up (small fee) which affords nice views.  From here there are all kinds of hiking trails that you can take.
> 
> Walk to old town and stroll the street.  Walk the main street down to the water.  I did a cycling tour which was okay (the guide was very vocally politically biased which affected my enjoyment).
> 
> If you have more than 1 day then I'd recommend taking the train to Lucerne or heading to Mount Pilatus.  Both easy day trips.  You could *probably* do both if you left Zurich early, didn't spend long at Pilatus and took a late train from Lucern to Zurich.
> 
> I plan on heading to the Swatch store in Zurich to get my daughter a watch (they have watches you can only get in Switzerland).
> 
> Enjoy!


Appreciate the reply.  prob 1-2 days.


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## quinnc19

I am planning 3 nights in Switzerland before the cruise, probably flying into Zurich. How would you recommend we spend that time if we want to spend at least one in Zermatt? For example, the hill, restaurant, and hiking you recommend for Zurich sounds very appealing, but would you still recommend that if we are going to Zermatt also? Thanks very much!



*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I don't know how long you will be there.
> 
> For 1 day I'd go up the local hill (easy to reach by train), hike up to the restaurant, grab a bite and soak in the views.  There is an observation tower that you can climb up (small fee) which affords nice views.  From here there are all kinds of hiking trails that you can take.
> 
> Walk to old town and stroll the street.  Walk the main street down to the water.  I did a cycling tour which was okay (the guide was very vocally politically biased which affected my enjoyment).
> 
> If you have more than 1 day then I'd recommend taking the train to Lucerne or heading to Mount Pilatus.  Both easy day trips.  You could *probably* do both if you left Zurich early, didn't spend long at Pilatus and took a late train from Lucern to Zurich.
> 
> I plan on heading to the Swatch store in Zurich to get my daughter a watch (they have watches you can only get in Switzerland).
> 
> Enjoy!


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## *WDW*Groupie*

quinnc19 said:


> I am planning 3 nights in Switzerland before the cruise, probably flying into Zurich. How would you recommend we spend that time if we want to spend at least one in Zermatt? For example, the hill, restaurant, and hiking you recommend for Zurich sounds very appealing, but would you still recommend that if we are going to Zermatt also? Thanks very much!



Since I traveled by motor coach from Zermatt to Lucerne with ABD I don't know how long the trip is by train.  Zermatt is MUCH prettier than Zurich so I'd spend a day and night there, 2 days total.  This gives you a chance to see the Matterhorn in sunlight if one of the days happens to be cloudy.  I'd also HIGHLY recommend staying at the Zermatterhof with a view of the Matterhorn.  Worth every penny.

From Zermatt I'd head to Lucerne and spend a day there.  It's a very picturesque city.  I'd even contemplate an additional day in Lucerne to visit Pilatus - but the weather in the mountains is unpredictable, so you have a 50/50 chance of being able to make the ascent (they have cameras on the mountain so you can check the view before you get on the train).  Then I'd travel by train to Basel.  You can skip Zurich entirely as the two other cities are so much nicer.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

@tiger04 thank you SO much for the review!

Hopefully they will allow everyone on board at least 1 dinner at the Captain's Table (as opposed to the same people signing up multiple times).

We are so excited for this trip.  Betti is a fantastic guide -- we had her for our Central Europe trip 3 years ago.  I am so glad she is still with ABD. 

Questions: how many people did the post-cruise extension?  
Was there a/c on the motor coaches?  I read a review that said the ABD coaches were not as nice as some of the other cruise companies and at one point one of them had no a/c (it was broken).

I am also relieved to know that 3 people (2 of whom are at or over 5'11") will not be tripping all over each other in the room.  My plan is to only sleep in the room and spend the rest of the time on the shaded portion of the deck


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## met19

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> Since I traveled by motor coach from Zermatt to Lucerne with ABD I don't know how long the trip is by train.  Zermatt is MUCH prettier than Zurich so I'd spend a day and night there, 2 days total.  This gives you a chance to see the Matterhorn in sunlight if one of the days happens to be cloudy.  I'd also HIGHLY recommend staying at the Zermatterhof with a view of the Matterhorn.  Worth every penny.
> 
> From Zermatt I'd head to Lucerne and spend a day there.  It's a very picturesque city.  I'd even contemplate an additional day in Lucerne to visit Pilatus - but the weather in the mountains is unpredictable, so you have a 50/50 chance of being able to make the ascent (they have cameras on the mountain so you can check the view before you get on the train).  Then I'd travel by train to Basel.  You can skip Zurich entirely as the two other cities are so much nicer.




ah zermatt....it was gorgeous.  i want to go back....I think the trip by train is about 3.5 hours if the connections (1 or 2) are tight.


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## sayhello

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> @tiger04
> Hopefully they will allow everyone on board at least 1 dinner at the Captain's Table (as opposed to the same people signing up multiple times).


On the Danube river cruises, you were only allowed one dinner at the Chef's table.  But it was included in your cruisefare.  Everyone got a chance, but if you had a specific date you wanted, you needed to sign up earlier rather than later.

Sayhello


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## tiger04

CaliforniaGirl09 said:


> I'm very surprised that there was a limit in the number of people on certain excursions as choose whatever you want and flexibility to change your mind were big selling points.



Yes I was very surprised too!  I was under the assumption that a benefit from doing the ABD river cruise, as opposed to a regular river cruise, was that everyone who wanted to do an excursion would be able to and that we would be able to change our minds.  Yet I was told that they did not have that flexibility.  



met19 said:


> Quick questions about the restaurants:
> 1) You mentioned Dinner was formal. How formal?
> 2) The chef's table: Do they mix smaller parties on the table of 8? I actually don't mind being mixed in, and would like to experience the chef's table but am either a party of 1 or 2 on this cruise.



Dinner in the main restaurant was more "formal" to me based on the fact they served a four course meal, rather than that everyone got dressed up.  Now I brought dresses every night and changed for dinner, and I was actually surprised at how many people got changed for dinner, but there were certainly many people who wore the same clothes they wore on the excursions.  So you certainly did not have to change for dinner.  Ama suggests "casual" attire for breakfast/lunch and "smart casual" for dinner so it really depends how you interrupt that, but I would argue that you do not need to get dressed up at all unless you want to.

For the Chef's Table, I think if everyone on the ship wanted to eat there, then they would put different parties together on the table for 8.  The table for 8 is in the center of the room while the tables of 4 are along the windows.  You get great views from all the tables but you are closer to the windows in the small tables.  I was in a group for 7 so we made our reservation for the Chef's Table right away because we wanted to make sure we could get the large table and not be split up.  You should definitely take advantage of the Chef's Table and since you will be with at least one other party anyway, I would just request being put at a 4-top or 8-top when you make your reservation.



*WDW*Groupie* said:


> Questions: how many people did the post-cruise extension?
> Was there a/c on the motor coaches? I read a review that said the ABD coaches were not as nice as some of the other cruise companies and at one point one of them had no a/c (it was broken).



I think almost 50 people did the post-cruise extension, which greatly surprised me because I thought it was so expensive!  Now a good portion of those people were the DVC/ABD execs and the film crew, but there were still a great many DVC members who did the extra night.  Friends from our traveling party joined the post-cruise extension and they loved it because they got to spend more time in the Netherlands and I saw some fabulous pictures of them with the windmills.  They also ate in a guildhall (I think) for the farewell dinner, which looked really cool.  Veronika, Betti, and Byron were the ABD guides who led the extension and I am not sure how they will do it on future cruise.

So the coaches - ABD contracted with its own coaches and drivers for the Switzerland, France, Germany portions of the cruise.  There were three main coaches that followed us up the Rhine and then we got three new ones once we were in the Netherlands.  I was lucky in that the majority of the coaches we utilized for our excursions had a/c.   However, one of the coaches did have broken a/c and it was a rough back from one of the excursions for all the people on that bus.  The next day I was actually on that bus for an afternoon excursions and it was toasty! Fortunately we just had a 15 minute ride so we dealt with it, but for those hour or longer bus rides it would have been tough.  Because ABD contracts the excursions and buses, I did not see the insides of any of the usual Ama Waterway buses so I have no idea how much nicer they were inside than ours.  I was happy with the coach situation - other than the brief a/c issue that I hope would be resolved better for you summer travelers - but this is my first ABD so I do not know how the coaches normally work!



sayhello said:


> On the Danube river cruises, you were only allowed one dinner at the Chef's table. But it was included in your cruisefare. Everyone got a chance, but if you had a specific date you wanted, you needed to sign up earlier rather than later.



*@*WDW*Groupie* *- @sayhello had the same experience we did!  The Chef's Table is available for everyone on the ship to eat there once and yes, if you have a specific date in mind (or were trying to avoid interrupting the evening tours like we did) then I would recommend making reservations as soon as you have an idea what date you want.  Because our ABD group was about 30 people smaller than a sold out tour, there were usually spots open for each Chef's Table and they kept reminding people about it so I don't know if that's normal or they were trying to encourage people to go.


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## OhanaCuz

tiger04 said:


> I will say that I was more impressed by AMA Waterways than I was by the ABD guides, even though I thought the guides were great. We just had such a high level of service with the AMA Kristina staff that even the wonderful job by the ABD guides paled a bit in comparison.



I loved reading your report and it's great to hear that about the Amawaterways staff!


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## OhanaCuz

Found another article about the AmaKristina.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7807


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## tiger04

OhanaCuz said:


> Found another article about the AmaKristina.
> 
> http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7807


Thanks for sharing this! I think it's interesting they are just christening the ship now even though it's been used for trips for the past month!

The Disney Parks blog has started to put up content about the first ABD Rhine cruise:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ever-adventures-by-disney-rhine-river-cruise/


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## sabrecmc

Well, we took the plunge and booked the Rhine cruise for July 30, 2018.  It will be me and my daughter (12 by then).  Hoping to do the Barcelona to Dover repo cruise on DCL first and then fly to Basel for the Rhine cruise.  In theory, this would work.


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## snaupal

We have booked the July 30, 2018 Rhine cruise as well!  Me, DH, DS (16 at time of cruise), and DD (13 at time of cruise).  Hoping that there will be quite a few teens on this cruise, as I am still working on convincing my son that he will have fun even though this is quite a different vacation from a Caribbean cruise!  The excursions look like so much fun, and it fulfills my goal of taking him to Europe before he graduates from high school   I promised him that he will not be spending the week looking at churches and museums.  We are planning to go to London for a few days after the cruise to make this into a 2 week vacation.


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## OhanaCuz

tiger04 said:


> Thanks for sharing this! I think it's interesting they are just christening the ship now even though it's been used for trips for the past month!



I thought that was odd also!  I guess it's been a sneak peek so far.


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## kkgastro

SCFamily4 said:


> We will be on the July 1,2017 sailing!   It's. "Girls trip" - my mother, daughter (will be almost 15 years old) and me!!  We are very excited!
> 
> We are on a Danube ABD cruise this summer, so hope to learn a lot about river cruising.  This will be our 4th ABD and my moms first.   Looking forward to meeting you all!!


  We are also on the July 1st sailing.  Our daughter Sara is almost 15..finishing 9th grade.  We are traveling with another couple and their 15 year old daughter.  Any interest in doing a fish extender?
We have been on ABD Italy, Grand Canyon, and Alaska


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## kkgastro

We will be on the July 1st cruise...My husband, myself and our almost 15 year old daughter Sara.  She is finishing 9th grade.
We are traveling with another couple who also have a 15 year old daughter.  Let me know if you are interested in doing a fish extender!.
We have traveled with ABD to Italy, Grand Canyon, and Alaska.  This is our first river cruise.


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## sabrecmc

snaupal said:


> We have booked the July 30, 2018 Rhine cruise as well!  Me, DH, DS (16 at time of cruise), and DD (13 at time of cruise).  Hoping that there will be quite a few teens on this cruise, as I am still working on convincing my son that he will have fun even though this is quite a different vacation from a Caribbean cruise!  The excursions look like so much fun, and it fulfills my goal of taking him to Europe before he graduates from high school   I promised him that he will not be spending the week looking at churches and museums.  We are planning to go to London for a few days after the cruise to make this into a 2 week vacation.



Glad to hear there will be another girl close to my daughter's age! Yay!  The excursions were what sold me on this one vs. the Danube. These just sound more kid-friendly.  We can only take so many churches and museums, too.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

tiger04 said:


> Yes I was very surprised too!  I was under the assumption that a benefit from doing the ABD river cruise, as opposed to a regular river cruise, was that everyone who wanted to do an excursion would be able to and that we would be able to change our minds.  Yet I was told that they did not have that flexibility.
> 
> 
> *@*WDW*Groupie* *- @sayhello had the same experience we did!  The Chef's Table is available for everyone on the ship to eat there once and yes, if you have a specific date in mind (or were trying to avoid interrupting the evening tours like we did) then I would recommend making reservations as soon as you have an idea what date you want.  Because our ABD group was about 30 people smaller than a sold out tour, there were usually spots open for each Chef's Table and they kept reminding people about it so I don't know if that's normal or they were trying to encourage people to go.



Can you tell me what excursions you did in Amsterdam?  In the morning we will do Anne Frank Huis.  It's the afternoon that's got me puzzled.  I can't decide between the Delft factory (with painting) or the Dutch countryside (with clog painting).  Both sound amazing to me.

Do you have any recommendations?  What was the feedback on them?


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## Momof3greatkids

Can you tell us which excursions are filling up? I already tried calling and they don't know. It never occurred to me, based on Danube River Reviews and previous ABD's, that there would be limits on the number of people who can do a particular excursion. We would be so disappointed not to see Anne Frank House, windmills, etc. I can't imagine them telling someone who wanted to see Riqhuewihr and Alsace that they must go on the ziplining instead, or wanting to see windmills and Anne Frank house and being told I could only see a mueseum. For our family, we picked this because we have some very specific things we are wanting to see, and for the premium it would be lovely to see them.


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## sayhello

Momof3greatkids said:


> Can you tell us which excursions are filling up? I already tried calling and they don't know. It never occurred to me, based on Danube River Reviews and previous ABD's, that there would be limits on the number of people who can do a particular excursion. We would be so disappointed not to see Anne Frank House, windmills, etc. I can't imagine them telling someone who wanted to see Riqhuewihr and Alsace that they must go on the ziplining instead, or wanting to see windmills and Anne Frank house and being told I could only see a mueseum. For our family, we picked this because we have some very specific things we are wanting to see, and for the premium it would be lovely to see them.


I'm hoping it's because it was a special cruise, and off-season, and not because they are running the Rhine cruises differently than the Danube cruises (or that they've changed procedures altogether).  If there's a chance of not getting an excursion you want, then they should let you know well ahead of time so that you could make your own arrangements.  Or choose not to do the cruise...

Sayhello


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## Momof3greatkids

We received our packet and it indicates that some excursions have limited availability and are on a first come first. It does not specify which ones, and all they could tell me on the phone is the guides would have that information. I find this frustrating, and as Sayhello pointed out there is no way to make alternative plans with such vague information.


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## lola1972

Momof3greatkids said:


> We received our packet and it indicates that some excursions have limited availability and are on a first come first. It does not specify which ones, and all they could tell me on the phone is the guides would have that information. I find this frustrating, and as Sayhello pointed out there is no way to make alternative plans with such vague information.



When is your sailing momof3greatkids?  We are booked on the July 15th sailing.  I have to say that I am completely disappointed about this first come first served system.  My family chooses to spend the extra money with ABD because of the service and experiences.  I just cannot wrap my head around this new development of racing to the ship to make sure my family gets the experience that Disney advertised to us. All passengers should be afforded equal consideration... not those who get there first.  I cannot believe that this is how ABD is doing things now.  I'm seriously hoping that this changes.


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## sayhello

lola1972 said:


> When is your sailing momof3greatkids?  We are booked on the July 15th sailing.  I have to say that I am completely disappointed about this first come first served system.  My family chooses to spend the extra money with ABD because of the service and experiences.  I just cannot wrap my head around this new development of racing to the ship to make sure my family gets the experience that Disney advertised to us. All passengers should be afforded equal consideration... not those who get there first.  I cannot believe that this is how ABD is doing things now.  I'm seriously hoping that this changes.


I have to agree with you.  One of the reasons to do ABD for these River cruises was the excursions, and the choices, and the fact that you didn't have to decide ahead of time which excursions you wanted because everyone would be accommodated.  Not having to worry about signing up for excursions was one of the reasons I did the ABD add-on to the Med cruise.  If they can't guarantee you can do the activities you want to, then what's the point?  If this is the new policy, I'm doubly glad I did my river cruise last summer.  That's just plain ridiculous!

Sayhello


----------



## Momof3greatkids

Iola1972, we are sailing July 1st. I must agree that the idea of first come first serve is ridiculous on an ABD! We all pay a premium price, and they should be able to deliver the activities to all clients. They certainly don't advertise this premise on the website. This is especially grievous since you can't make any alternate plans. For example, Anne Frank house tickets should be booked way in advance, and if you don't know wether Disney will take you until you are on the cruise, you can do nothing but miss it. Another issue I have noted is that several activities have disappeared since we first signed up. Both a fondue tasting (now a Swiss Cheese tasting) and a tour of Speyer have are no longer available. Disney does say they have the right to change activities, but disappointing none the less.


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## carpenta

Sounds like "bait and switch" to me. I know on our Tauck trip there was usually two or three busses and you just received your boarding card and boarded the bus that went to your chosen excursion. Some busses were full and others lightly populated depending upon the interest. Crazy that you will have to fight like a cage match just to get the excursion you wish. Another change for the worse IMO.


----------



## sayhello

carpenta said:


> Sounds like "bait and switch" to me. I know on our Tauck trip there was usually two or three busses and you just received your boarding card and boarded the bus that went to your chosen excursion. Some busses were full and others lightly populated depending upon the interest. Crazy that you will have to fight like a cage match just to get the excursion you wish. Another change for the worse IMO.


That's how it worked on the ABD Danube cruise last summer.  Get your color card, go to that bus based on the excursion you wanted.  I agree, definitely a bad move.

Sayhello


----------



## *WDW*Groupie*

I spoke to ABD yesterday about the "some excursions have limited capacity and are on a first come, first serve basis" clause on the Daily Activities Planner.  The first vacationista I spoke with told me they never sent out such literature and to call my TA.  I told her it came in my welcome package and it was most certainly from ABD.

She transferred me to a supervisor (he initially denied ABD made that statement, then he asked if I would forward him my Daily Activity Planner, then he finally agreed he would see if he could obtain one and call me back, which he did after 2 failed attempts to get the right piece of paper).  He said it was the "vendors" and the "sub-contractors" that I should be speaking to.  I asked him if I was supposed to contact them and why on earth would I when I booked the trip through ABD? 

He asked me what excursions I was interested in and he told me that he would "try" to see if he could get information on whether or not my top choices would have limited capacity.  He said "the vendors put the group size restrictions in place, not us".  Uh, correct me if I'm incorrect, but doesn't _ABD_ choose the vendors?  So maybe they made some poor choices with their vendors for this tour.

I don't want to feel like I have to have a foot race to get to the boat so that we get the excursions we want.  Just not what I expect from a vacation that I paid a lot of money for.  It makes me feel like I will be going to WDW and racing to get the best FPs for the day (in the days of old).

If we can't get to the Anne Frank House I am going to be mighty upset.  That is on the top of our list.  I can't fathom that they wouldn't anticipate the demand for that particular tour.  Actually we are pretty set in what we want to do.  I sincerely hope we get our first choices -- I just can't think about anything to the contrary because it makes me .  

If I had known that we were going to have to "race" to the ship so that we get our first choices I never would've stayed in Zurich the night before (actually unless I enroll in a race or fitness challenge by choice, I never want to feel like this on a vacation).  I think there might be some very poor planning on ABDs part with this aspect of the cruise.


----------



## met19

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I spoke to ABD yesterday about the "some excursions have limited capacity and are on a first come, first serve basis" clause on the Daily Activities Planner.  The first vacationista I spoke with told me they never sent out such literature and to call my TA.  I told her it came in my welcome package and it was most certainly from ABD.
> 
> She transferred me to a supervisor (he initially denied ABD made that statement, then he asked if I would forward him my Daily Activity Planner, then he finally agreed he would see if he could obtain one and call me back, which he did after 2 failed attempts to get the right piece of paper).  He said it was the "vendors" and the "sub-contractors" that I should be speaking to.  I asked him if I was supposed to contact them and why on earth would I when I booked the trip through ABD?
> 
> He asked me what excursions I was interested in and he told me that he would "try" to see if he could get information on whether or not my top choices would have limited capacity.  He said "the vendors put the group size restrictions in place, not us".  Uh, correct me if I'm incorrect, but doesn't _ABD_ choose the vendors?  So maybe they made some poor choices with their vendors for this tour.
> 
> I don't want to feel like I have to have a foot race to get to the boat so that we get the excursions we want.  Just not what I expect from a vacation that I paid a lot of money for.  It makes me feel like I will be going to WDW and racing to get the best FPs for the day (in the days of old).
> 
> If we can't get to the Anne Frank House I am going to be mighty upset.  That is on the top of our list.  I can't fathom that they wouldn't anticipate the demand for that particular tour.  Actually we are pretty set in what we want to do.  I sincerely hope we get our first choices -- I just can't think about anything to the contrary because it makes me .
> 
> If I had known that we were going to have to "race" to the ship so that we get our first choices I never would've stayed in Zurich the night before (actually unless I enroll in a race or fitness challenge by choice, I never want to feel like this on a vacation).  I think there might be some very poor planning on ABDs part with this aspect of the cruise.



This is ridiculous on ABD's part.  To deny literature then state its the vendors and we should contact them ourselves is just crazy.  I also agree that Anne Frank is high yield. This is a high priced trip and ABD needs to step up. This is why we pay them.


----------



## sayhello

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I spoke to ABD yesterday about the "some excursions have limited capacity and are on a first come, first serve basis" clause on the Daily Activities Planner.  The first vacationista I spoke with told me they never sent out such literature and to call my TA.  I told her it came in my welcome package and it was most certainly from ABD.
> 
> She transferred me to a supervisor (he initially denied ABD made that statement, then he asked if I would forward him my Daily Activity Planner, then he finally agreed he would see if he could obtain one and call me back, which he did after 2 failed attempts to get the right piece of paper).  He said it was the "vendors" and the "sub-contractors" that I should be speaking to.  I asked him if I was supposed to contact them and why on earth would I when I booked the trip through ABD?
> 
> He asked me what excursions I was interested in and he told me that he would "try" to see if he could get information on whether or not my top choices would have limited capacity.  He said "the vendors put the group size restrictions in place, not us".  Uh, correct me if I'm incorrect, but doesn't _ABD_ choose the vendors?  So maybe they made some poor choices with their vendors for this tour.
> 
> I don't want to feel like I have to have a foot race to get to the boat so that we get the excursions we want.  Just not what I expect from a vacation that I paid a lot of money for.  It makes me feel like I will be going to WDW and racing to get the best FPs for the day (in the days of old).
> 
> If we can't get to the Anne Frank House I am going to be mighty upset.  That is on the top of our list.  I can't fathom that they wouldn't anticipate the demand for that particular tour.  Actually we are pretty set in what we want to do.  I sincerely hope we get our first choices -- I just can't think about anything to the contrary because it makes me .
> 
> If I had known that we were going to have to "race" to the ship so that we get our first choices I never would've stayed in Zurich the night before (actually unless I enroll in a race or fitness challenge by choice, I never want to feel like this on a vacation).  I think there might be some very poor planning on ABDs part with this aspect of the cruise.


I am appalled.  I hope you got that supervisor's name.  I'd call back and ask to talk to that supervisor's supervisor.  Seriously.  That is the worst customer service I've heard of in ages!!

If it's going to work that way, they need to tell you which excursions it is now, and allow you to sign up ahead of time, NOT at the ship, so you can make alternate arrangements if you don't get what you want.

Sayhello


----------



## canadakath

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I asked him if I was supposed to contact them and why on earth would I when I booked the trip through ABD?


This - so this.  Thank you for sharing and please keep us updated on what you find out.  This was my first ABD booking, and I may switch it to something else if we can't get the excursions we want.  Travelling with 12 and 15 year old boys, there are some very definite "wants" and "don't wants".  I have planned two family trips to Europe by myself already - I was really looking forward to being more relaxed for this one (at least for the 7 days on the boat)!


----------



## carpenta

sayhello said:


> I am appalled.  I hope you got that supervisor's name.  I'd call back and ask to talk to that supervisor's supervisor.  Seriously.  That is the worst customer service I've heard of in ages!!
> 
> If it's going to work that way, they need to tell you which excursions it is now, and allow you to sign up ahead of time, NOT at the ship, so you can make alternate arrangements if you don't get what you want.
> 
> Sayhello



  If ABD is going this route of first come, first served than ABD should allow passengers to prebook their choices much like shore excursions on cruise lines. Other companies on river cruises seem not to have a problem with their guests and excursions so why does ABD? Something doesn't seem right.


----------



## OhanaCuz

carpenta said:


> If ABD is going this route of first come, first served than ABD should allow passengers to prebook their choices much like shore excursions on cruise lines. Other companies on river cruises seem not to have a problem with their guests and excursions so why does ABD? Something doesn't seem right.



I wonder if this is because the Rhine river cruise is new.  I can't find any wording in the Danube river guide book that says that excursion sizes are limited.


----------



## *WDW*Groupie*

OhanaCuz said:


> I wonder if this is because the Rhine river cruise is new.  I can't find any wording in the Danube river guide book that says that excursion sizes are limited.



The "first come first serve" clause isn't in the "guide book" for the Rhine River cruise.  It is on the "daily activities planner" which is an 8" x 10" piece of paper that was tri-folded and inserted into the adventure guide.  The clause is in fine print at the bottom of the page.

I am now stressing about whether or not I should buy tickets for Anne Frank House to do on our own just in case that excursion is full when we get there (which will be $$ down the drain if we can get on the excursion).  I know that the other excursions on the morning of the AF house tour don't interest me at all.


----------



## lpm23

Well if you would be really disappointed then i would suggest you buy the tickets. they are relatively inexpensive so it's probably worth it for piece of mind.   you might even be able to sell them that day if you end up not needing them.  However, what date do you need them for? I looked quickly and it looks like most of the tickets for June are already sold.



*WDW*Groupie* said:


> The "first come first serve" clause isn't in the "guide book" for the Rhine River cruise.  It is on the "daily activities planner" which is an 8" x 10" piece of paper that was tri-folded and inserted into the adventure guide.  The clause is in fine print at the bottom of the page.
> 
> I am now stressing about whether or not I should buy tickets for Anne Frank House to do on our own just in case that excursion is full when we get there (which will be $$ down the drain if we can get on the excursion).  I know that the other excursions on the morning of the AF house tour don't interest me at all.


----------



## *WDW*Groupie*

lpm23 said:


> Well if you would be really disappointed then i would suggest you buy the tickets. they are relatively inexpensive so it's probably worth it for piece of mind.   you might even be able to sell them that day if you end up not needing them.  However, what date do you need them for? I looked quickly and it looks like most of the tickets for June are already sold.



Tickets for our dates are sold out.  I don't want to worry about not getting to do the tour - when I saw it on the itinerary I didn't fathom that I'd have to purchase tickets myself just in case ABD decided to make this excursion "first come first serve".   This is our #1 attraction in Amsterdam and I would have purchased tickets well in advance if I even had an inkling ABD might limit the participants on this tour.  AGHHHH.  

I am still waiting to hear back from the supervisor at ABD regarding which excursions are limited capacity.  He said he would have to call California, who would then have to call the vendors in Europe, who would get back to the staff in CA who would then let him know.  Yeah -- it sounds ridiculous.  

There really has to be a better way to manage the capacity for shore excursions on the Rhine River cruise.  I think everyone should be guaranteed their top choices not have to race to the ship (in our case from an overnight in Zurich) to reserve our top choices.


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## lpm23

yes, i totally agree. We are booked on this trip for next June so am definitely interested to hear what they say.  In our case our daughter's will be 6 and 8 so there are a bunch of excursions that they either can't do or would be totally uninterested in.  I hope everything works out!


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## kkgastro

Currahee said:


> We are on the July 1st cruise. Me,my wife, 9 and 19 y/0  daughters.


Are your daughters interested in doing a fish extender?  My daughter and her friend would like to...ages 14 1nd 15


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## kkgastro

Currahee said:


> We are on the July 1st cruise. Me,my wife, 9 and 19 y/0  daughters.





*WDW*Groupie* said:


> Tickets for our dates are sold out.  I don't want to worry about not getting to do the tour - when I saw it on the itinerary I didn't fathom that I'd have to purchase tickets myself just in case ABD decided to make this excursion "first come first serve".   This is our #1 attraction in Amsterdam and I would have purchased tickets well in advance if I even had an inkling ABD might limit the participants on this tour.  AGHHHH.
> 
> I am still waiting to hear back from the supervisor at ABD regarding which excursions are limited capacity.  He said he would have to call California, who would then have to call the vendors in Europe, who would get back to the staff in CA who would then let him know.  Yeah -- it sounds ridiculous.
> 
> There really has to be a better way to manage the capacity for shore excursions on the Rhine River cruise.  I think everyone should be guaranteed their top choices not have to race to the ship (in our case from an overnight in Zurich) to reserve our top choices.



I spoke to ABD and was told that everyone will get the excursions that they want.  We also know exactly what we want to do each day.   If it makes you feel better we are going to the Van Gogh museum.  We are staying an extra 2 days in Amsterdam and are going to the Anne Frank house then.
On a more happy note, does anyone want to do a fish extender???


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## tink1970

kkgastro said:


> we are going to the Van Gogh museum.




I hope you'll post after your trip! I am planning on doing Van Gogh excursion myself and would love to hear about it before I go!


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## Momof3greatkids

I would not trust what ABD is saying about everyone will get there first choice. Frankly, I don't think they know, and it depends on who you talk with as to what you are told. The guy I talked with said if you don't get your first choice on one thing, they will work with you to get what you want on other excursions. But, he had no idea what excursions where limited availability. He also said he had talked with guest and others who had gone, and they had gotten what they wanted without any problem. But, who really knows? They don't seem to. Surely, they could contact the guides who went in April and find out to let people know.


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## canadadvc

In April, the only excursion that I am aware of that had a space limitation was the Macaron Baking on Day 3, since the kitchen where it was done was rather small.  The chocolate making class on day 6 had limited space per class but there were multiple classes (three I believe) scheduled to accommodate the demand.  However, the April cruise only had 110 odd guests and 9 kids so the summer excursions might still reach a limit.  We registered for excursions around 2:30 and did not have a problem getting our first choices.  I do remember that the adventure guide doing the registration were checking for numbers for the various excursions so they did have limits.

When registering for the Danube cruise last year, I got more of a sense that the registration was to determine numbers for each excursion rather than a fixed maximum.  Correspondingly, changing excursions seemed to be more acceptable on the Danube than this year on the Rhine.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

canadadvc said:


> In April, the only excursion that I am aware of that had a space limitation was the Macaron Baking on Day 3, since the kitchen where it was done was rather small.  The chocolate making class on day 6 had limited space per class but there were multiple classes (three I believe) scheduled to accommodate the demand.  However, the April cruise only had 110 odd guests and 9 kids so the summer excursions might still reach a limit.  We registered for excursions around 2:30 and did not have a problem getting our first choices.  I do remember that the adventure guide doing the registration were checking for numbers for the various excursions so they did have limits.
> 
> When registering for the Danube cruise last year, I got more of a sense that the registration was to determine numbers for each excursion rather than a fixed maximum.  Correspondingly, changing excursions seemed to be more acceptable on the Danube than this year on the Rhine.



Thank you for the clarification.  I figured they wouldn't put the "first come first serve" clause on the Activities Planner if there weren't actually limits.

It would sure be nice if they would let the vacationistas that answer the phones aware of the size limitations for some excursions.  They are giving out all sorts of conflicting information which is just wrong.


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## pirates5

Gondingl said:


> Signed up for the Rhine River Cruise - the food and wine themed one - for Sept. 2018! Can't wait to hear the reviews on this cruise!





Gondingl said:


> Signed up for the Rhine River Cruise - the food and wine themed one - for Sept. 2018! Can't wait to hear the reviews on this cruise!


We are on this cruise, as well! I'm reading everything on the boards about the Rhine cruise. Very excited about this Food & Wine version!


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## pirates5

Gondingl said:


> Signed up for the Rhine River Cruise - the food and wine themed one - for Sept. 2018! Can't wait to hear the reviews on this cruise!


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## Eileenct

We're going on the June 17th Rhine River Cruise. Does anyone know if the doors are magnetic or if guests do fish extenders on the river cruises?


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## Woodview

Hello Eileenct,

  Please explain   a bit more   in your question  ?

 What difference  does it make if doors are Magnetic ?

 What are Fish Extenders ?           ...... if you mean  Fishing using fishing rods  ....  NO   is the  reply.


----------



## SCFamily4

Hi everyone!  Finally rejoining the discussion now that school is out and we are less than a month away from the July 1st Rhine River cruise!

Regarding the Fish Extenders -- I can't recall if there was a specific direction on this when we got on the ship, but on our Danube Cruise last year (also on amaWaterways), there were no door decorations at all and no "fish extender" decor as we have seen on the DCL ships.  Therefore, I am not sure if Fish Extenders would work on the river cruise.    

Am interested in hearing if anyone got any additional feedback from ABD Corporate on what excursions are limited.  There are only a few that are I had considered "must do" for my mom & daughter and me ... but knowing this new information we will plan to be flexible!  From our experience last year, we were wiped out towards the end of the Danube River cruise.  We actually decided not to go on a half day excursion so we could rest and just do some light exploring on our own.  Since there are no "at sea" days, you really do keep moving at a fast pace!  Therefore -- if an excursion doesn't work out for us, we will enjoy some down time!!

Looking forward to meeting many of you in a few weeks - and appreciate all the insight and feedback from everyone!


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## OhanaCuz

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> The "first come first serve" clause isn't in the "guide book" for the Rhine River cruise.  It is on the "daily activities planner" which is an 8" x 10" piece of paper that was tri-folded and inserted into the adventure guide.  The clause is in fine print at the bottom of the page.



I just looked at my Danube daily activity planner also and there's no mention of it.  I wonder what's different about the Rhine River cruise.


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## GSLand

We have signed up for the Sept 24, 2018 (!) Rhine River Cruise. I think this has to be the earliest we have ever planned a trip, but we were lured in by the early discount offered.
Looking forward to our first river cruise. We're just back from Amsterdam and we saw a few river boats docked there. That made me smile  thinking about our trip coming up.


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## CrazyZeus1

We are on the Christmas 2017 itenerary!  <3  That will be our 20th ABD, and our 2nd Christmas ABD.  Still getting used to being away at Christmas but we are excited!  We did the Danube last summer and it was amazing....I know good things are in store for the Rhine!


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## CrazyZeus1

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I spoke to ABD yesterday about the "some excursions have limited capacity and are on a first come, first serve basis" clause on the Daily Activities Planner.  The first vacationista I spoke with told me they never sent out such literature and to call my TA.  I told her it came in my welcome package and it was most certainly from ABD.
> 
> She transferred me to a supervisor (he initially denied ABD made that statement, then he asked if I would forward him my Daily Activity Planner, then he finally agreed he would see if he could obtain one and call me back, which he did after 2 failed attempts to get the right piece of paper).  He said it was the "vendors" and the "sub-contractors" that I should be speaking to.  I asked him if I was supposed to contact them and why on earth would I when I booked the trip through ABD?
> 
> He asked me what excursions I was interested in and he told me that he would "try" to see if he could get information on whether or not my top choices would have limited capacity.  He said "the vendors put the group size restrictions in place, not us".  Uh, correct me if I'm incorrect, but doesn't _ABD_ choose the vendors?  So maybe they made some poor choices with their vendors for this tour.
> 
> I don't want to feel like I have to have a foot race to get to the boat so that we get the excursions we want.  Just not what I expect from a vacation that I paid a lot of money for.  It makes me feel like I will be going to WDW and racing to get the best FPs for the day (in the days of old).
> 
> If we can't get to the Anne Frank House I am going to be mighty upset.  That is on the top of our list.  I can't fathom that they wouldn't anticipate the demand for that particular tour.  Actually we are pretty set in what we want to do.  I sincerely hope we get our first choices -- I just can't think about anything to the contrary because it makes me .
> 
> If I had known that we were going to have to "race" to the ship so that we get our first choices I never would've stayed in Zurich the night before (actually unless I enroll in a race or fitness challenge by choice, I never want to feel like this on a vacation).  I think there might be some very poor planning on ABDs part with this aspect of the cruise.



I can say this from the Danube (and I assume the Rhine will function the same way).  In the morning, there were different color cards assigned to each tour option for that morning/afternoon/day/whatever.  You just took the number of cards needed for your group.  That's how they managed the number of guests on tours.  I don't know if the tour participant numbers are smaller for the Rhine, but it was really easy to get what we wanted, and there was never a race to pick up anything.  Granted, we liked to pick up our cards early but it never felt like a competition.  So you could pick up your cards any time in the morning, so nobody was all trying at the same time to get what they wanted.  Does that make sense?


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## CrazyZeus1

Are they doing Fish Extenders on other Rhine trips?  We did the Danube, and it's the same boat, different name, and there's not really anywhere to hang one
from what I recall


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## kkgastro

Fish extenders  are hooks on your cabin door where you can hang crafty Disney decorated pockets.  Passengers exchange little gifts in them.  You can make them on your own or buy one on ebay. We would like to do this on the July 1 Rhine River cruise if anyone else is interested.  Our daughter is 14 and is going to make one. Google "fish Extender" for a better description .  If the door is magnetic you can use a magnet hook to hang one.


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## CrazyZeus1

For those that don't know....they're called "Fish Extenders" because on the original DCL ships, there's literally a metal fish on the wall outside of the doors.  So people made these hanging pockets that could hang on the fish and friends tuck gifts into.  And the tradition was born!


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## OhanaCuz

CrazyZeus1 said:


> For those that don't know....they're called "Fish Extenders" because on the original DCL ships, there's literally a metal fish on the wall outside of the doors.  So people made these hanging pockets that could hang on the fish and friends tuck gifts into.  And the tradition was born!




Thank you for explaining this!


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## *WDW*Groupie*

I heard back from the supervisor at ABD.  He told me that after ABD contacted 6 vendors a week ago they have only heard back from 1 of them (the zip line adventure).  He says there is a maximum of 68 allowed on this excursion.  This is of course one of the excursions my dd wanted to do so I hope we get to the ship early enough to be on the adventure.  She isn't very flexible on changing the excursions she chose since some of them are quite different.  I'm going to hope for the best.  I *may* change our train departing from Zurich to Basel from 10:00am to 9:00am, even though I don't want to rush out the door of our pre-booked champagne breakfast just to get the excursions we want.  

He also said that ABD operations was aware after the DVC cruise that there were some restrictions on capacity for certain excursions that they are "working to rectify".  No word on how they would do this or when.


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## carpenta

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I heard back from the supervisor at ABD.  He told me that after ABD contacted 6 vendors a week ago they have only heard back from 1 of them (the zip line adventure).  He says there is a maximum of 68 allowed on this excursion.  This is of course one of the excursions my dd wanted to do so I hope we get to the ship early enough to be on the adventure.  She isn't very flexible on changing the excursions she chose since some of them are quite different.  I'm going to hope for the best.  I *may* change our train departing from Zurich to Basel from 10:00am to 9:00am, even though I don't want to rush out the door of our pre-booked champagne breakfast just to get the excursions we want.
> 
> He also said that ABD operations was aware after the DVC cruise that there were some restrictions on capacity for certain excursions that they are "working to rectify".  No word on how they would do this or when.



..........missing the champagne breakfast would stink........I hope ABD resolves this problem.


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## SCFamily4

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I heard back from the supervisor at ABD.  He told me that after ABD contacted 6 vendors a week ago they have only heard back from 1 of them (the zip line adventure).  He says there is a maximum of 68 allowed on this excursion.  This is of course one of the excursions my dd wanted to do so I hope we get to the ship early enough to be on the adventure.  She isn't very flexible on changing the excursions she chose since some of them are quite different.  I'm going to hope for the best.  I *may* change our train departing from Zurich to Basel from 10:00am to 9:00am, even though I don't want to rush out the door of our pre-booked champagne breakfast just to get the excursions we want.
> 
> He also said that ABD operations was aware after the DVC cruise that there were some restrictions on capacity for certain excursions that they are "working to rectify".  No word on how they would do this or when.



So glad you finally heard back - and thank you for sharing the details.

I don't recall which sailing you will be on -- but if we are on the same cruise (departing 7/1), my family will help out!  The three of us are not high adventure - and will not be on the zip line excursion! 

I am just glad to have a heads-up on this so that we can plan for a second choice.  Am hopeful that issues will be worked out!


----------



## carpenta

SCFamily4 said:


> So glad you finally heard back - and thank you for sharing the details.
> 
> I don't recall which sailing you will be on -- but if we are on the same cruise (departing 7/1), my family will help out!  The three of us are not high adventure - and will not be on the zip line excursion!
> 
> I am just glad to have a heads-up on this so that we can plan for a second choice.  Am hopeful that issues will be worked out!



 The three of you can block the others as they scramble towards the sign up desk....... don't forget to "go low and wrap then drive, drive, drive". LOL, I hope it doesn't come to that scramble.


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## OhanaCuz

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I heard back from the supervisor at ABD.  He told me that after ABD contacted 6 vendors a week ago they have only heard back from 1 of them (the zip line adventure).  He says there is a maximum of 68 allowed on this excursion.  This is of course one of the excursions my dd wanted to do so I hope we get to the ship early enough to be on the adventure.  She isn't very flexible on changing the excursions she chose since some of them are quite different.  I'm going to hope for the best.  I *may* change our train departing from Zurich to Basel from 10:00am to 9:00am, even though I don't want to rush out the door of our pre-booked champagne breakfast just to get the excursions we want.
> 
> He also said that ABD operations was aware after the DVC cruise that there were some restrictions on capacity for certain excursions that they are "working to rectify".  No word on how they would do this or when.



That sucks.  I can understand why that activity would have a limit for the number of people, but with a tour that costs this much it would be so upsetting to have to sit on the sidelines.


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## *WDW*Groupie*

Interesting thing just happened.  I had a call from ABD telling me that I didn't have to change the departure time of my train from Zurich because the excursion bookings start at 3:00pm.  What is interesting is that I never mentioned to ABD that I was pondering changing my train time -- I just posted my thoughts on this board.  To say I am a bit creeped out that ABD was reading the board, was able to ascertain my name and reservation number and contact me is an understatement.  

When I questioned how they got this information (about possibly changing the time of our train), the girl said it "was passed along to her" and refused to be specific about how she got that information.

I am trying to force myself to remember the good things about ABD and tell myself that we will have a good time no matter what.  But the idea of reading this forum and contacting guests based on what they post - I don't like it one bit. 

I did ask her what happens if we can't get the excursions we want and she said "well pick another one".  When I told her that my teenage daughter wasn't flexible with what she had chosen (I don't think she has a teenager and endured the wrath of a 15 year-old girl) she basically said "that's too bad -- she'll just have to do something else".  Sorry, I didn't pay the money I did to hear that kind of statement.  I expected to be able to do the excursions they listed on their website that appealed to us.  This situation really needs to change on the Rhine River cruise.


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## tiger04

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> Can you tell me what excursions you did in Amsterdam? In the morning we will do Anne Frank Huis. It's the afternoon that's got me puzzled. I can't decide between the Delft factory (with painting) or the Dutch countryside (with clog painting). Both sound amazing to me.
> 
> Do you have any recommendations? What was the feedback on them?



I am so sorry I am just seeing this question!  I have been trying to put a trip report together but it is extremely slow going but I am hoping to put the start of one up tonight.  For Amsterdam, we chose the Van Gogh museum in the morning - the Van Gogh excursion had a space limit because there were only 30 slots in the painting class.  Then in the afternoon we did the Delft factory, which was very cool but also had a space limit because they only had a set amount of spots for the tile painting (speaking of which, we still haven't gotten our tiles yet!)  Now our Delft experience, and the Dutch countryside excursions, were a bit truncated due to traffic issues.  The buses could not make it to the dock because of accidents on a bride in Amsterdam, so all the excursions left late.  For people who went to Volendam and Zaanse Schans in the Dutch countryside, the late buses and traffic made them cut half the trip off.  So there were two groups, and one would go to Volendam first and then go to Zaanse Schans while the other group did the opposite, but due to the late start I know the tour who went to Zaanse Schans first did not have time to go to the fishing village.  And then because we ended up taking a different bus then what was intended, as ABD sent out bus out to countryside, the bus driver on the Delft bus got completely lost so we spent an hour driving around the Delft area (literally) before we finally got to the factory.  So our tour was super short.  The tile painting was very cool though!

For the excursions, the horseback riding excursion in Alsace, the beer and wine evening tour in Strasbourg, the chocolate making class in Cologne, the Van Gogh museum, the macaroons, and the Delft factory all had space limits.  Basically, it seemed like any time the excursions involved some sort of class, there was a space limit.  However that does not mean that you will not get your excursion and spots did open up even for people who did not initially get into their first choice but I thought it was weird that they had any limits at all for these tours!


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## lola1972

Momof3greatkids said:


> Iola1972, we are sailing July 1st. I must agree that the idea of first come first serve is ridiculous on an ABD! We all pay a premium price, and they should be able to deliver the activities to all clients. They certainly don't advertise this premise on the website. This is especially grievous since you can't make any alternate plans. For example, Anne Frank house tickets should be booked way in advance, and if you don't know wether Disney will take you until you are on the cruise, you can do nothing but miss it. Another issue I have noted is that several activities have disappeared since we first signed up. Both a fondue tasting (now a Swiss Cheese tasting) and a tour of Speyer have are no longer available. Disney does say they have the right to change activities, but disappointing none the less.




Momof3greatkids

I too noticed the diappaering offerings????  My son was looking forward to the speyer afternoon tour.  Sorry I didn't reply to your post earlier... I must not have my notifications on.  Hopefully ABD will work everything out.  I'm excited to hear about your experience since you will be traveling before me.  You'll have to give me tips and pointers. Are you staying additional nights in Amsterdam?  If you are... you could book your Anne Frank tickets the day we get off the ship.  That's what we did.


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## lola1972

kkgastro said:


> I spoke to ABD and was told that everyone will get the excursions that they want.  We also know exactly what we want to do each day.   If it makes you feel better we are going to the Van Gogh museum.  We are staying an extra 2 days in Amsterdam and are going to the Anne Frank house then.
> On a more happy note, does anyone want to do a fish extender???




Which sailing are you on?


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## lola1972

Princess Tinkerbell said:


> We just booked for the July 15th sailing. We have DS 8. I hope he can meet your boys.


 

Yes!!!! I hope our boys will have a great time together!


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## mzyonse

Can anyone ask April that did the Mercedes and BMW museums please share their thoughts on how it was? Also is anyone on board this week it can say how it's going with the availability of the excursions and what the process was for signing up on the second river cruise on June 17?


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## kkgastro

SCFamily4 said:


> Hi everyone!  Finally rejoining the discussion now that school is out and we are less than a month away from the July 1st Rhine River cruise!
> 
> Regarding the Fish Extenders -- I can't recall if there was a specific direction on this when we got on the ship, but on our Danube Cruise last year (also on amaWaterways), there were no door decorations at all and no "fish extender" decor as we have seen on the DCL ships.  Therefore, I am not sure if Fish Extenders would work on the river cruise.
> 
> Am interested in hearing if anyone got any additional feedback from ABD Corporate on what excursions are limited.  There are only a few that are I had considered "must do" for my mom & daughter and me ... but knowing this new information we will plan to be flexible!  From our experience last year, we were wiped out towards the end of the Danube River cruise.  We actually decided not to go on a half day excursion so we could rest and just do some light exploring on our own.  Since there are no "at sea" days, you really do keep moving at a fast pace!  Therefore -- if an excursion doesn't work out for us, we will enjoy some down time!!
> 
> Looking forward to meeting many of you in a few weeks - and appreciate all the insight and feedback from everyone!




July 1st cruise is coming up!!
I still have not heard if anyone is interested in doing a fish extender exchange.  There are 2 girls in our group...14 and 15. 
I just watched a video of the Rhine river cruise and there were fish extenders...actually there are no fish, but the organizers were hung around the cabin number.  I bought 2 over the door organizers from amazon prime for $9.95 and the girls will decorate them.  This was cheaper and easier than actually making them. 
If anyone wants to participate contact me at kkgastro@aol.com
If you are not sure what this is just google Disney fish extender...

As an extra reminder...make sure to bring an electrical adapter to charge your phone as well as curling irons, etc
We are not arriving until later on July 1...here's hoping that there are no flight delays.....


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## carpenta

I don't think duct tape on the doors would be appropriate on a river boat.You will see when you board.


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## kkgastro

carpenta said:


> The three of you can block the others as they scramble towards the sign up desk....... don't forget to "go low and wrap then drive, drive, drive". LOL, I hope it doesn't come to that scramble.


too funny....I think that we are doing the toboggans....just to save you the  zip line spot   lol
 Our daughter turns 15 in July and we are traveling with another couple and their 15 year old daughter...
I hope that the excursions are not an issue because it took a long time to agree upon the ones we want!


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## SCFamily4

kkgastro said:


> I still have not heard if anyone is interested in doing a fish extender exchange. There are 2 girls in our group...14 and 15



My daughter is 14 -- almost 15 (birthday next month!) -- she is excited to hear about other girls her age on the trip!

We "gifted" our fish extender to my brother and his family for their Disney Cruise to Alaska this summer.  Even if we had one, I do not think that there is any place to hang it on or outside the door.  I recall from the Danube Cruise that they (amaWaterways) were specific about nothing on the doors.  

I am up to some sort of little gift exchange, however I am working right up to our departure date (6/28!) and time is a bit limited.  Let me know if you received any other interest from the Juy 1st group!

Looking forward to meeting everyone -- only about a week left!!


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## SCFamily4

Hello again!

I was hoping there might be some posts from those cruising this week regarding the excursion sign up process and which excursions may have limits.  Thank you to those who posted information from the DVC cruise in April!  When we were on the Danube Cruise last year, the ship had wifi, but it was sometimes spotty or weak - not to mention that we were exhausted from all the activities!!  Anyway, I hope everything went smoothly, and that everyone was able to sign up for the activities of interest.  

We will be departing next Wednesday (June 28th) for Zurich, and will have a few nights in Lucerne before heading to Basel via train.  

Wishing everyone safe travels - and looking forward to meeting with many of you soon!!


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## dumbo4ever

Currahee said:


> We are on the July 1st cruise. Me,my wife, 9 and 19 y/0  daughters.


We will be there also. We were on the Danube last year and loved it so we quickly booked the Rhine. we will see you there!


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## tiger04

mzyonse said:


> Can anyone ask April that did the Mercedes and BMW museums please share their thoughts on how it was?


*Mzyonse, *I have been working my way through a trip report from the April DVC ABD Rhine River Cruise and we went on the Mercedes and Porsche museums excursion.  You can check it out to get one perspective about that excursion and I will be happy to answer any additional questions you might have about it.


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## CrazyZeus1

Since this is a public message forum, I'm not surprised ABD has representatives here reading along.  I like that!  It gives a place for them to try and solve problems and give some pixie dust.  I would appreciate a company taking the initiative to reach out to me to help solve a problem.  Although, it doesn't sound like there's much ability to solve the group limit number (right now...will it change? )


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## kkgastro

SCFamily4 said:


> Hello again!
> 
> I was hoping there might be some posts from those cruising this week regarding the excursion sign up process and which excursions may have limits.  Thank you to those who posted information from the DVC cruise in April!  When we were on the Danube Cruise last year, the ship had wifi, but it was sometimes spotty or weak - not to mention that we were exhausted from all the activities!!  Anyway, I hope everything went smoothly, and that everyone was able to sign up for the activities of interest.
> 
> We will be departing next Wednesday (June 28th) for Zurich, and will have a few nights in Lucerne before heading to Basel via train.
> 
> Wishing everyone safe travels - and looking forward to meeting with many of you soon!!



Just bring an over the door organizer.  There were extenders on the you tube video of this cruise.  We will bring some little surprises for your daughter.

Safe travels and see you Saturday!!!!   Karen


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## kkgastro

Did anyone else notice that some of the excursions have been changed again?


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## SCFamily4

kkgastro said:


> Did anyone else notice that some of the excursions have been changed again?



We received the updated excursion list just this week.   I was intrigued by the changes -- my mother noted that church tours were removed.  Not sure why -- perhaps it is a timing issue.  A lot of the churches have super long lines and perhaps that was an issue? Looks like we still have free time at most stops, so hopefully that will allow some additional exploring.    Most of our first choices are still listed, so fingers crossed!!


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## SCFamily4

kkgastro said:


> Just bring an over the door organizer.  There were extenders on the you tube video of this cruise.  We will bring some little surprises for your daughter.
> 
> Safe travels and see you Saturday!!!!   Karen



We will bring some surprises as well!   I can't recall our room number -- will look to connect on the ship!   Safe travels, and see you Saturday!!


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## kkgastro

CrazyZeus1 said:


> Since this is a public message forum, I'm not surprised ABD has representatives here reading along.  I like that!  It gives a place for them to try and solve problems and give some pixie dust.  I would appreciate a company taking the initiative to reach out to me to help solve a problem.  Although, it doesn't sound like there's much ability to solve the group limit number (right now...will it change? )


wow..You guys are ABD machines!!!!  Are you on the July 1 rhine river cruise?...I would love some advice.  We have been with ABD to Italy , Alaska. and the Grand canyon


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## lola1972

Hey July  1st Cruisers!  Have an amazing time this weekend and make sure to take lost of pics  and post if you can.  I Would love to hear your feedback while onboard or definitely when you get back....heading out on July 15 sailing with 13 in our party.  I'm interested in learning if the changes they made will help everyone get the excursions they want.  I'm also curious to see if they will include the ABD surprises in your staterooms.... it's those little attentions to detail that make us feel special and keep us coming back.    Also would love to hear how the fish extenders worked out... anyone interested innFEs


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## *WDW*Groupie*

We were on the river cruise last week.

For those concerned about excursions, I can say that some booked up very quickly.  They were:

Macaron making
Anne Frank House
Bike riding in the the vineyards
Van Gogh Museum
Horseback riding

There may be a few others that I cannot recall.

The first day there were long lines in the lounge to book excursions.  It wasn't much fun at all.

ABD did try to work out solutions for those that didn't get into excursions; for example they had the chef on the ship demonstrate how to make macarons.  Not the same as being in Strasbourg and working with chefs, but it was a solution.

I can't see this sign up method staying around for very long.  There were a lot of guests that didn't get into their preferred excursions and they were quite upset (understandly).  Some families that arrived around 3:00pm had very limited choices.

The ship is incredible and the staff of the AMA Kristina was superb.  

There were some excursions that had no restrictions on group size so they took everyone at the same time.  For the canoe ride on the river in France this was a complete disaster.  They literally had approx. 120 guests arrive at the same time and all were given the same lesson on how to steer and paddle.  Then everyone got in the canoes one at a time and had to stay together as a group.  It wasn't much fun according to those that went (we did the boat cruise).

For me one of the best excursions was the Anne Frank House.  It was everything I had hoped it would be and much more.  It is very well done.  I highly recommend this excursion.  

If there are any questions I will try my best to answer but it may take a little while.

I will post more in a few weeks.


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## Texas Julie

We were on the 6/17 sailing. 
I didn't see any Fish Extenders on our hallway. I am not sure that they will want a door hanger to possibly mar their brand new ship.  Something to consider. The AmaKristina is literally 12 weeks old.  It's so shiny and new!

We did not take any outlet converters.  2 USB ports in the bedside table (bring a long cord) are available.  Hairdryer in the bathroom was sufficient and I'm pretty picky about that.  We borrowed a straightener from the reception desk for the week.  Boom.  No appliances to haul and no plugs to figure out.  No problem.  The usual toiletries were supplied in the bathroom.  

The MB/Porsche Museums were interesting.  We did have to travel on the coach through traffic and it took over an hour to get there. It was interesting to see the countryside, the city, and the traffic, though. We watched Jungle Book on the way home, and it took the length of the movie to make the commute.  We did like the excursion, in spite of the travel time.

The Indoor Ski Park was great fun.  Also a bit of a commute, but worth it.  They provide pants, jacket, boots and gloves.  (It's like picking up skates or bowling shoes...) We wore comfortable clothes under the gear and it was fine.

When they offer you a bottle of water as you leave the ship, take it.  

It didn't rain on us, and it was really warm (like in the 90's) for most of the week.

Hopefully they can come up with a way to do excursion sign up that is more efficient/effective.  We were near the end of the line, and therefore didn't get all of our first choices.  HOWEVER, we did participate in the on board macaroon class and it was fun.  It was actually just right for our family, so sometimes things just work out for the best. Be prepared with an alternative plan, try to be at least a little flexible, and pack your patience.  Get to know your fellow travelers in line and enjoy the snacks.  Other than that, we never really waited in another line all week long.  And, some of our wishes came true as the week went on, so again, be patient.

The Van Gogh Museum experience was really neat--but limited by space.  We were with a guide and saw some of his most recognized pieces in particular and discussed them, then we went to the experience.  We wish we had more time in the museum and gift shop, but the schedule was too tight and couldn't be flexible.  We understood that and so we just have something to put on the list for our next trip to Amsterdam.

AmaWaterways staff is fantastic.  We found a favorite server and sat in his section for most meals.  The Jr. Adventurers ate with the Guides and the Teens had a spot to eat together for dinner.  Made for a fun trip for them.  My 11 year old was especially thrilled to not have to use his table manners and sit through appetizers to dessert each night.  

They did provide surprises and pixie dust during the week...you'll know it when you see it!  You will love your Adventure Guides.  They are pros!


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## mtasuncion

lola1972 said:


> Hey July  1st Cruisers!  Have an amazing time this weekend and make sure to take lost of pics  and post if you can.  I Would love to hear your feedback while onboard or definitely when you get back....heading out on July 15 sailing with 13 in our party.  I'm interested in learning if the changes they made will help everyone get the excursions they want.  I'm also curious to see if they will include the ABD surprises in your staterooms.... it's those little attentions to detail that make us feel special and keep us coming back.    Also would love to hear how the fish extenders worked out... anyone interested innFEs


Hi @lola1972 . We are a family of 4  sailing also on July 15. Fish extenders will be a nice idea to add excitement to the trip preparation and the cruise itself.  We will just bring our fish extenders and try to hang it at our doors. we have 2 rooms. We will just probably give out some pixie dusts to those who have their fish extenders at their door.  will you be bringing your fish extenders? also for the others in the JULY 15 rhine cruise. kindly advise if you will bring in your fish extenders so we can prepare the surprises specially if you have kids>


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## mzyonse

Texas Julie or anyone else who was in June 17, a few questions if you wouldn't mind .

What time did you get in line on the ship to book excursions?  On the boat tour in Strasbourg was it an ABD guide doing commentary or was it a prerecorded audio? What was your favorite excursion?  In spite of the excursion capacity issues, did you walk away thinking it was a great trip and you were glad you went?  

Hoping last answer is yes as we are really looking forward to the trip.  Thank you!!!


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## *WDW*Groupie*

mzyonse said:


> Texas Julie or anyone else who was in June 17, a few questions if you wouldn't mind .
> 
> What time did you get in line on the ship to book excursions?  On the boat tour in Strasbourg was it an ABD guide doing commentary or was it a prerecorded audio? What was your favorite excursion?  In spite of the excursion capacity issues, did you walk away thinking it was a great trip and you were glad you went?
> 
> Hoping last answer is yes as we are really looking forward to the trip.  Thank you!!!



Booking for excursions starts at 3:00.  However there were a lot of people in line beforehand (we got to the lounge at 2:50 and were surprised at how many people were already line down up).  Then a few of the guide she had computer glitches which made the wait even longer.

My favorite excursion was by far the Anne Frank House.  A close second would be the zip lining.

The explanations of the excursions was a bit comical.  For example our day in the Black Forest said we'd visit the world's largest cuckoo clock.  We literally drove past it at 50km/hour -- we never stopped (not a 'visit' in my opinion).  The "hike" to the waterfalls was a 10 minute walk.  Lol at the marketing for this excursion -- clever but sneaky.  Anyway so the highlight was the zip lining and it was fabulous.  

The river tour in France was really nice.  ABD had a private boat and a local guide gave the commentary.  That day was very hot so not being stuck in a slow-moving group of 60 canoes was lovely.

The guides were good.  I can't say that they were great because we never really got to know any of them. This is understandable since we were usually in a group with 40-50 guests and 2 guides.  We never had any join us for breakfast or lunch and none of them sat or chatted with us on the bus.  There were a few snafus that were frustrating -- for example being told not to take our cell phones, cameras or WATER by the guides for the zip lining.  Water was absolutely necessary as it was quite a bit of uphill hiking to get to the course and some uphill hiking between the lines and it was a hot day; this activity lasted for 3 hours so having no water was not acceptable.  Also we absolutely could have taken both our phones and cameras -- the local guide asked us why no one had theirs.  Plus there were no snacks left when were done our course and we had a 90 bus ride back to the boat.  But this was still a great excursion and I highly recommend it.  Just take your phones or cameras, water, and maybe your own snacks, just in case.

Funny thing -- I got to know the Hotel Manager on the ship better than any of the guides.  That seems a bit strange to me in retrospect.  Perhaps they need another guide on these sailings.  I would be very conflicted if we had to tip them because none of them stood out to me or did anything that made me think "wow", which is unusual for an ABD tour IMHO.  I did tip a few of the ship staff that did super nice things for us.  Our cabin steward was beyond outstanding.  Our room was thoroughly cleaned twice a day and she did a magnificent job.

Also one of the guides almost left us behind for one of the excursions (it was a large group and we were sitting down in the shade).  Luckily we were able to catch up.  When I asked what had happened -- how could he leave without doing a head count, he said he did a head count and it was up to us to make sure we made sure we were with the group (totally not true, bit I didn't say anything since we made the excursion).

We got the usual ABD duffel in our room and nightly pins.  No pixie dust for us, but I don't expect any so I'm totally fine with this.  I heard a few stories of families getting special gifts though.

One tip -- when passing through the area on the Rhine River with the large concentration of castles, do go up to the top deck to listen to the commentary.  It's absolutely worth it.

We had a GREAT trip.  I hope they work out the kinks on the itinerary, which I'm sure will happen as the summer progresses.  I am absolutely glad that we went.  

I found that people dressed up for dinner almost every night.  I didn't but this is something you might want to consider.  I didn't see many guests wearing shorts and t-shirts to dinner and almost wished I had taken a few nicer outfits (I am very limited on the size of baggage for this journey).

For those headed out on the next trip , have a GREAT time!


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## ivrier

_Booking for excursions starts at 3:00. However there were a lot of people in line beforehand (we got to the lounge at 2:50 and were surprised at how many people were already line down up). Then a few of the guide she had computer glitches which made the wait even longer.
_
I read somewhere in the thread that getting on the ship early will give one an advantage to avail of the excursions. When did people start lining up? Now I'm getting anxious about getting the excursions that we choose.


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## BluesTraveler

WDWgroupie, I am so glad your trip was good.  I was getting anxious for you before you left re: the excursion!  But I will say, these posts have made me so glad we switched our trip.  We were originally scheduled for a river cruise this summer, and switched to Wyoming.  Stressing and lining up to get an excursion I feel strongly about would be too much for me.


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## Espez

We just returned from the June 17 trip and loved every minute of it!  They are definitely working out some kinks, but overall the experience was tremendous. The biggest issue is probably the excursion sign up method - a lot of confusion, but overall we found that it went well and were not disappointed. They did change a few excursions but only because after the first sailing in April, found some were a bit harder to pull off. I think we had a different experience that WDW Groupie or Texas Julie. Apart from the excursion sign up, we did not experience anything that would not be expected when traveling with a large group of people. Some of the walks/tours moved a little slower than I would have liked, but then I am used to travel with just four people and not 30. Our experience with the Adventure Guides was outstanding - they knew everyone's names, they were personable, they shared many experiences and really went out of their way to make sure people were happy. I can't speak for the ziplining excursion, but they always told us when to bring water, bags, cameras, ect...  For example on the 3 hour bike ride, they made sure everyone had multiple bottles of water. The guides also switched bikes with anyone who had trouble with their bikes. The canoe ride was a bit hectic but tons of fun and lots of laughs. It is not often you get to be part of such a large group of canoes going down a river and through a lock - that was fascinating. True, not everyone totally understood how to steer their boats, but that made it even more fun. I think that some travelers may have had an expectation that everything should run like a Disney park, but I found that considering the number of people and activities, things ran very smoothly. I found my fellow travelers to be quite warm and open and generally in good spirits.  In fact, I found myself getting choked up at the farewell slide show, as here was a group of people who came onboard strangers and left as friends. This was our first trip with ABD, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I completely enjoyed this trip, as did my family. There were several excursions that we probably would never have done on our own - the organ concert and the Sigfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet outing - so we were delighted that we had the chance to do these things. We had so much fun that I can't even pick just one highlight!

On a side note, we visited the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum on our own as we stayed in Amsterdam a few extra days. We chose the Rijksmuseum which was incredible and a must see if you love art and historical buildings. 

As far as the ship, the service could not have been any better - outstanding from start to finish, and in my mind, far superiior to any other cruise ship I have been on. 

Practical notes - someone mentioned water - we had at least six bottles of water in our room at all times, and every day they provided water before we left the ship. Also, there was always extra water on the buses, and the guides almost always had extra water in their bags. Plus, you can drink the tap water without problem in all of the areas we visited. It was unseasonably warm (90's), so check the weather and make sure to bring sunscreen.  Also, my son's seasonal allergies went haywire and he was stuffed up quite a bit. Again, though, several of the guides had allergy medicine and extra kleenex at all times!  Finally, in Strausburg there is a lot of road construction going on, so it took the buses a tad bit longer to navigate. Hopefully that will clear up as summer goes on.


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## Texas Julie

mzyonse said:


> Texas Julie or anyone else who was in June 17, a few questions if you wouldn't mind .
> 
> What time did you get in line on the ship to book excursions?  On the boat tour in Strasbourg was it an ABD guide doing commentary or was it a prerecorded audio? What was your favorite excursion?  In spite of the excursion capacity issues, did you walk away thinking it was a great trip and you were glad you went?
> 
> Hoping last answer is yes as we are really looking forward to the trip.  Thank you!!!



We didn't get in line until right at 3.  We did a walking tour in Strasbourg after the canoe trip (included a lock--so cool!) and it was led by a local guide and was very well done. When we had tours we needed to hear well, we used listening devices that you'll find in your room.  I'm not sure about the riverboat version, but I think it was a live local guide.  The canoes and the river boat passed each other on the river.  That was fun. 

I thought people dressed nicer for dinner, too, but not too fancy, and not everyone.  We traveled with carry on only, so we didn't have lots of options.  We did use their laundry service mid-week. It was cheaper than another family set of clothing AND luggage fees.  

My favorites were the Music Cabinet Museum, Gondola Ride in Rudesheim, Winter Sports Park and the Black Forest Toboggan Run and Black Forest Farm, and the Van Gogh Museum. (Clearly it's hard to choose!)  There wasn't a single excursion we didn't enjoy. I have a 16 yr old daughter and an 11 yr old son, and they can be difficult to please at the same time due to their age difference. All 4 of us enjoyed it.

Was it worth it?  Yes!  Are we glad we went?  Yes!  Are we trying to decide what our next ABD trip will be?  Yes!  (We did Costa Rica 2016 and it was amazing.)


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## Espez

We also did not board the boat until just before 3, and got to the lounge right at 3. There really was no advantage to being there earlier, as the lines were a bit chaotic. I wonder if they will change things up a bit for this next cruise? Echoing Texas Julie, I would say that the canoe trip was a lot of fun, and the Winter Sports Park as well.  That was a treat to get out of the heat! We really did enjoy everything.  Anywhere we went for a walking tour, we were led by local guides, and accompanied by the Adventure Guides. I don't recall having any prerecorded audio at all.  My sons, ages 13 and 16, really did enjoy themselves. They were a bit shy about joining in with the teens, but as the week went on, they became more comfortable.  And yes, we really did love the trip and would recommend it. I am hoping to do the land version of Germany, Austria and Prague next year.


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## ivrier

To those who boarded after 3. Were you able to get the excursions of your choice. Was there really a limitation of people to certain excursions?


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## Bobo912

ABD really needs to do something about the sign up for excursions.  I've been on family river cruises with two other companies and never had to stand in line to sign up for an excursion.  There was also never any indication that there was a limit on the number of people who could sign up for a specific excursion and I'm sure that helped prevent any chaos and confusion.   To the best of my knowledge, everyone was able to go on the excursions they wanted.  I never heard any guest complain about not getting their first choice or the cruise director/guides tell anyone that a particular excursion was fully booked.  On our Rhine cruise last summer, signing up for excursions was such a non-event, I can barely remember doing it.  In some cases I think I decided just before the excursion departed, but there were a few for which we were asked to sign up in advance.  For those, I just went up to the front desk at my leisure and let them know my choices.  We always had 2 and sometime 3 options.


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## CaliforniaGirl09

I had originally signed up for the very first river cruise (the DVC only) on the Danube a few years back. After a not so magical ABD Baltic Add-on, I became very concerned with the logistics of what ABD was promising with the river cruises. I eventually decided to move my ABD deposit to Greece. That original ABD/DVC cruise seemed to have gone off without a hitch, but it is interesting that many of the things I worried about that ABD assured me would not be issues are resurfacing now. Part of the way they sold and marketed that first cruise was with the premise that you absolutely did not need to prebook any excursions, that they wouldn't be "sold out" of anything, the groups wouldn't be huge, and you could choose your excursion the morning of if you wanted. Clearly they have completely backed away from this without any notice. I'd be so PO'd if I'd signed up for that cruise thinking I wouldn't have to choose until the day of and that everything would be available. They need to make that very clear in their marketing materials. They also need to figure out a way to have people choose ahead of time and eliminate the lining up chaos and stress.


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## sayhello

CaliforniaGirl09 said:


> I had originally signed up for the very first river cruise (the DVC only) on the Danube a few years back. After a not so magical ABD Baltic Add-on, I became very concerned with the logistics of what ABD was promising with the river cruises. I eventually decided to move my ABD deposit to Greece. That original ABD/DVC cruise seemed to have gone off without a hitch, but it is interesting that many of the things I worried about that ABD assured me would not be issues are resurfacing now. Part of the way they sold and marketed that first cruise was with the premise that you absolutely did not need to prebook any excursions, that they wouldn't be "sold out" of anything, the groups wouldn't be huge, and you could choose your excursion the morning of if you wanted. Clearly they have completely backed away from this without any notice. I'd be so PO'd if I'd signed up for that cruise thinking I wouldn't have to choose until the day of and that everything would be available. They need to make that very clear in their marketing materials. They also need to figure out a way to have people choose ahead of time and eliminate the lining up chaos and stress.


It still does work the good way on the Danube cruises.  It's the Rhine river cruises where they have come across venues and vendors that limit the number of people they'll allow.  But I totally agree they needed to have made that very clear when they brought out the Rhine river cruises that they would not work the same way as the Danube cruises, and that excursions were not guaranteed due to limits.  That *was* one of the reasons I decided to sign up for the Danube cruise (it's a wonderful feature) and I'd be really pissed to find out last minute that not only aren't you guaranteed your choice of excursions, but that you won't know until after you arrive if you get any of your top choices at all.  I do *not* understand why they are waiting until people are on the ship to sign them up.  That's ridiculous.  I understand -- Some of the places have physical limitations.  But this lack of communication, and haphazard way of handling the signups just does not seem sustainable.

Sayhello


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## CaliforniaGirl09

sayhello said:


> It still does work the good way on the Danube cruises.  It's the Rhine river cruises where they have come across venues and vendors that limit the number of people they'll allow.  But I totally agree they needed to have made that very clear when they brought out the Rhine river cruises that they would not work the same way as the Danube cruises, and that excursions were not guaranteed due to limits.  That *was* one of the reasons I decided to sign up for the Danube cruise (it's a wonderful feature) and I'd be really pissed to find out last minute that not only aren't you guaranteed your choice of excursions, but that you won't know until after you arrive if you get any of your top choices at all.  I do *not* understand why they are waiting until people are on the ship to sign them up.  That's ridiculous.  I understand -- Some of the places have physical limitations.  But this lack of communication, and haphazard way of handling the signups just does not seem sustainable.
> 
> Sayhello


I couldn't agree more.


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## sayhello

I feel I should add something here that I got in a response from ABD.  



> An Adventure Guide will sit down with “each” family “individually” to discuss the excursions and help them choose them based what the Guest wants, but what is also a great fit.  This will take place at approximately 3 pm, when Guests are on the ship.  Should a Guests’ first choice not be available, we will bend over backwards to increase our capacity, make other adjustments, etc.  We will also create wait lists, should Guests change their minds.


I did see one person on facebook who said they did not get the Anne Frank house tour, which they *REALLY* wanted to do.  Later in the tour, they got notification that tickets were acquired for them.  So I guess in some cases, folks *are* being taken care of.  And I guess, reading this, they don't want people to decide until they can discuss the the excursions with the Guides to see if it's really a fit.  I understand this, but I'm still not sure it's the right way to handle things when you have a limited inventory.  Being first to the ship should not be the criteria for getting the excursions you want.  I'm not sure what should be the criteria, but maybe the order in which you booked?  It just seems like there should be a better way to handle this.

I'm going to be interested to see how many people reporting back do not get the excursions they really wanted.

Sayhello


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## abbyjt

We are on the first night of the Rhine river cruise.  At the pre night hotel, one of the guides told us not to worry, we didn't have to get to the ship early, everyone would get all the excursions they wanted.  When we got on board, we were given a Disney character code (each family had one). When they called your code over the pa, you could go register for your excursions.  We didn't even have to wait to hear our code, one of the guides grabbed us in the hall and asked if we'd like to book ours now, he accompanied us down to where they were planning and sat us with another guide and we picked everything in a few minutes.  There were no lines and I didn't hear any complaints.  They were still calling code names around 6 pm when we were already sailing.


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## momof3greatkiddos

We are currently on July 1st sailing, and EVERYONE is getting the excursions they want. You are assigned a character and at random they call them and then the guides will explain excursions and you sign up. This started at 2:30pm and lasted several hours as many people arrived clueless as at what they wanted to do. So, credit the guides for lots of patience. 

Guides show up at Disney hotel at 9am to answer questions and start excepting luggage. 2 buses one at 12 noon and the other at 2pm. From 12-3 Mickey sandwiches, soup, and desert is available. At 3pm til 5pm cheese and more deserts
Served. At 6pm safety briefing with champagne h'orderves, introduction of guides, general instruction given. Dinner was at 7pm. So come hungry! Rooms seemed to start getting ready at 2:00pm or so.


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## canadakath

Sounds like some of those kinks are getting worked out!  Thank you everyone who is reporting back after or during their trip!


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## momof3greatkiddos

I will have to amend my post about everyone getting their first choice excursions. We met a family who where among the last to be called for excursion sign up and they have been waitlisted for th Porsche and whatever else it is museum. The bus is full. It is sad because that is the one thing the dad in the group wanted to do most. This was frustrating to hear because they he guides swore up and down everyone would get their first choice. Many of the kinks have been ironed out, but obviously not all.


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## distravel

momof3greatkiddos said:


> I will have to amend my post about everyone getting their first choice excursions. We met a family who where among the last to be called for excursion sign up and they have been waitlisted for th Porsche and whatever else it is museum. The bus is full. It is sad because that is the one thing the dad in the group wanted to do most. This was frustrating to hear because they he guides swore up and down everyone would get their first choice. Many of the kinks have been ironed out, but obviously not all.


 
With all this drama/stress concerning the excursions I am regretting choosing this Rhine River Cruise. Like many others I thought , based on the Danube River Cruise reports , that we would get the excursions we want. The ABD river cruise was much more expensive than booking the same ship with AMA directly from Amsterdam to Basel. We loved our experience on our previous four land based ABD adventures and the excursions were more appealing so we decided to spend the extra money with ABD. 

ABD should hire transportation for this gentleman and his family. It is a museum so they don't have the excuse of not enough horses, canoes, bicycles or other equipment issues.

I've learned to be a better consumer and not show such brand loyalty  . We are scheduled for ABD Peru next year though . Hoping for the best.

Thanks for all the trip reports!


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## Currahee

For those who did not use the ABD Hotel prestay, how did you transfer from the airport to your hotel? I am aware that there exists public transportation but I am not wishing to lug our luggages through the streets.

thanks in advance


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## Currahee

ONe other thing. Where will the cruise ship dock. The brochure indicated that we were to call a certain number on the day of the embarkation. Does it dock in different places?

thanks again


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## CrazyZeus1

abbyjt said:


> We are on the first night of the Rhine river cruise.  At the pre night hotel, one of the guides told us not to worry, we didn't have to get to the ship early, everyone would get all the excursions they wanted.  When we got on board, we were given a Disney character code (each family had one). When they called your code over the pa, you could go register for your excursions.  We didn't even have to wait to hear our code, one of the guides grabbed us in the hall and asked if we'd like to book ours now, he accompanied us down to where they were planning and sat us with another guide and we picked everything in a few minutes.  There were no lines and I didn't hear any complaints.  They were still calling code names around 6 pm when we were already sailing.


OK...we are on the Christmas Rhine cruise and have heard nothing about a prenight hotel...is this through Disney?  We had an included prenight before the Danube cruise last summer and we were surprised we hadn't heard anything about a Rhine one?  Are you saying there IS one?!


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## sayhello

CrazyZeus1 said:


> OK...we are on the Christmas Rhine cruise and have heard nothing about a prenight hotel...is this through Disney?  We had an included prenight before the Danube cruise last summer and we were surprised we hadn't heard anything about a Rhine one?  Are you saying there IS one?!


You can add on a pre-night through ABD for a fee.  It's usually pretty hefty.

Sayhello


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## carpenta

...and to think Tauck gives a free pre / post night with your second + booking. I agree with you Sayhello about the "hefty" part.


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## CrazyZeus1

sayhello said:


> You can add on a pre-night through ABD for a fee.  It's usually pretty hefty.
> 
> Sayhello


We always go a few days early on our own so I know that....but for the Danube, ABD paid for the prenight stay so that everyone was at the hotel in order to be taken to the port.  I was curious if the Rhine was the same way?  We didn't find out about our ABD paid-for-prenight until months after booking...ABD added it.  Curious if that's what they're doing now?


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## sayhello

CrazyZeus1 said:


> We always go a few days early on our own so I know that....but for the Danube, ABD paid for the prenight stay so that everyone was at the hotel in order to be taken to the port.  I was curious if the Rhine was the same way?  We didn't find out about our ABD paid-for-prenight until months after booking...ABD added it.  Curious if that's what they're doing now?


Actually, they did not pay for everyone to have a free pre-night on the Danube River cruises last year.  That was a special, limited-time promotion that they offered for a period of time (for ABD Insiders only) after they announced the Danube River cruises.  I know people who did not get the free night last year, and it was not offered at all, as far as I know, for this year or 2018 for either location.

Sayhello

*ETA:*  I found this on my documentation about my 2016 Danube River Cruise:

*The following apply to the reservation which may not be valid when changes are made. Other restrictions may apply.*

Adventure Insider Offer: One free pre- or post-night stay at a city center hotel in Budapest


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## CrazyZeus1

sayhello said:


> Actually, they did not pay for everyone to have a free pre-night on the Danube River cruises last year.  That was a special, limited-time promotion that they offered for a period of time (for ABD Insiders only) after they announced the Danube River cruises.  I know people who did not get the free night last year, and it was not offered at all, as far as I know, for this year or 2018 for either location.
> 
> Sayhello
> 
> *ETA:*  I found this on my documentation about my 2016 Danube River Cruise:
> 
> *The following apply to the reservation which may not be valid when changes are made. Other restrictions may apply.*
> 
> Adventure Insider Offer: One free pre- or post-night stay at a city center hotel in Budapest


Thx for that info!!!


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## kkgastro

We had a wonderful time on our July 1 trip.
Here are my tips...
When you arrive onboard you are given a character name that they call to sign up for the excursions.  I am not sure that it was in any order but it was long and cumbersome and needs to be improved. Not everyone got what they wanted but the guides tried hard to please everyone.
Go to the organ concert
In Rudesheim, go to the gondola early.  We went around 12:30 and walked right on, but by 2pm there was a long line.
Yes, we did fish extenders which were quite easy to hang on the door number
They need to put in some nightly entertainment since the ship is small and several of the docking spots were NOT safe to walk around at night.  The movies in the room were quite limited.
The housekeeping on the ship was fantastic!
The food was fine.  I thought that it was better than on a Disney Cruise.
The guides were great as usual.  We knew Emily from Alaska last year so it was fun to catch up.
The bike ride was nice and we climbed up the cathedral in Cologne.
Finally, instead of booking the add on day we spent 2 extra nights in Amsterdam  The first day we went to the Anne Frank house, The Rik museum and the Heineken Experience. Book all of these ahead of time...The Anne Frank House and the Heineken are timed tours. The next day we booked a private all day Holland tour with Viator which was wonderful...Went to Deft pottery, The Euromast at Rotterdam and the Hague. Casper was our guide.

I would be happy to answer any questions
Karen
kkgastro@aol.com


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## *WDW*Groupie*

kkgastro said:


> We had a wonderful time on our July 1 trip.
> Here are my tips...
> When you arrive onboard you are given a character name that they call to sign up for the excursions.  I am not sure that it was in any order but it was long and cumbersome and needs to be improved. Not everyone got what they wanted but the guides tried hard to please everyone.
> Go to the organ concert
> In Rudesheim, go to the gondola early.  We went around 12:30 and walked right on, but by 2pm there was a long line.
> Yes, we did fish extenders which were quite easy to hang on the door number
> They need to put in some nightly entertainment since the ship is small and several of the docking spots were NOT safe to walk around at night.  The movies in the room were quite limited.
> The housekeeping on the ship was fantastic!
> The food was fine.  I thought that it was better than on a Disney Cruise.
> The guides were great as usual.  We knew Emily from Alaska last year so it was fun to catch up.
> The bike ride was nice and we climbed up the cathedral in Cologne.
> Finally, instead of booking the add on day we spent 2 extra nights in Amsterdam  The first day we went to the Anne Frank house, The Rik museum and the Heineken Experience. Book all of these ahead of time...The Anne Frank House and the Heineken are timed tours. The next day we booked a private all day Holland tour with Viator which was wonderful...Went to Deft pottery, The Euromast at Rotterdam and the Hague. Casper was our guide.
> 
> I would be happy to answer any questions
> Karen
> kkgastro@aol.com



I totally agree with everything you said.

Did you have a lot of photos of your family taken by the guides?  That is one thing that I found very different from the land-based trips.  Other than our zip-lining day, we didn't have any family photos taken by the guides.  At Heidelberg Castle I was searching for a guide to take our photo, but it seemed like the entire ship (as well as the entire ship from several other river cruise lines) was there and it was chaos.  Actually this was one excursion where we stood around for what seemed like a half hour, maybe more, waiting for our guide to get our tour tickets (when they were finally secured, we were of course in a hurry to move along, so there wasn't any time to take a family photo).  Now I saw families have their being photos taken by ABD guides, and I tried in vain to find one but just couldn't.  This is one strong recommendation I put on the ABD survey -- the guides need to take more family pictures.   That was always a strong point for me with ABD, but it was non-existent (at least for our family) on the river cruise.


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## met19

kkgastro said:


> We had a wonderful time on our July 1 trip.
> Here are my tips...
> When you arrive onboard you are given a character name that they call to sign up for the excursions.  I am not sure that it was in any order but it was long and cumbersome and needs to be improved. Not everyone got what they wanted but the guides tried hard to please everyone.
> Go to the organ concert
> In Rudesheim, go to the gondola early.  We went around 12:30 and walked right on, but by 2pm there was a long line.
> Yes, we did fish extenders which were quite easy to hang on the door number
> They need to put in some nightly entertainment since the ship is small and several of the docking spots were NOT safe to walk around at night.  The movies in the room were quite limited.
> The housekeeping on the ship was fantastic!
> The food was fine.  I thought that it was better than on a Disney Cruise.
> The guides were great as usual.  We knew Emily from Alaska last year so it was fun to catch up.
> The bike ride was nice and we climbed up the cathedral in Cologne.
> Finally, instead of booking the add on day we spent 2 extra nights in Amsterdam  The first day we went to the Anne Frank house, The Rik museum and the Heineken Experience. Book all of these ahead of time...The Anne Frank House and the Heineken are timed tours. The next day we booked a private all day Holland tour with Viator which was wonderful...Went to Deft pottery, The Euromast at Rotterdam and the Hague. Casper was our guide.
> 
> I would be happy to answer any questions
> Karen
> kkgastro@aol.com




I am doing something similar in Amsterdam- 2 post nights on own.  Planning on Anne Frank House.  Still looking into other options.  How was the Rik?


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## quinnc19

Different poster, but I was at the Rijksmuseum years ago and loved it! Definitely recommend.


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## Bobo912

met19 said:


> I am doing something similar in Amsterdam- 2 post nights on own.  Planning on Anne Frank House.  Still looking into other options.  How was the Rik?



If you're a foodie or just like to eat  I recommend Eating Amsterdam food tours.  We did the Jordaan Food and Canals tour.  Our guide was very good and had a lot of knowledge about local history and culture and he is also a chef.  Lots of awesome food - enough for a meal or more.


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## met19

Bobo912 said:


> If you're a foodie or just like to eat  I recommend Eating Amsterdam food tours.  We did the Jordaan Food and Canals tour.  Our guide was very good and had a lot of knowledge about local history and culture and he is also a chef.  Lots of awesome food - enough for a meal or more.


  I love your idea and I am a foodie. I've been the eating Italy tour in Rome it was amazing. Unfortunately the dates are in Amsterdam are only on the October 28 and 31st and I fly out on the 30th. The boat does disembark on the 28th but the tours that day right 10:30 AM and 11 AM and there are none on the 29th.  I guess theoretically I could do it on the 28th but it depends what time we get off the ship.  Any insight?

 I'll look around for other food and canal tours as it sounds pretty good unless you feel the Canal cruise on the ABD  covers that pretty well.


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## met19

I'll be interested to hear how the next few cruises go with the excursions.  Will help me decide if I should book van Gogh and Anne Frank museums on my post days to ensure I get in.


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## Bobo912

met19 said:


> I love your idea and I am a foodie. I've been the eating Italy tour in Rome it was amazing. Unfortunately the dates are in Amsterdam are only on the October 28 and 31st and I fly out on the 30th. The boat does disembark on the 28th but the tours that day right 10:30 AM and 11 AM and there are none on the 29th.  I guess theoretically I could do it on the 28th but it depends what time we get off the ship.  Any insight?
> 
> I'll look around for other food and canal tours as it sounds pretty good unless you feel the Canal cruise on the ABD  covers that pretty well.



Our cruise was with Uniworld, so I don't know about the ABD canal cruise. We departed from Amsterdam and did 3 pre-days on our own. I would imagine both cruises would cover a lot of the same area, so a walking-only tour might be a better choice for you.  The food/drink on the cruise part of the food tour was great though.  I've been on two riverboat cruises and in both cases we were docked very early in the morning on the last day of the cruise (or maybe during the night because I think we were already there when I woke up) and could leave the boat at any time.  The ABD website says you must check out of your stateroom by 9:00, so sounds like it will be the same.  You would have time to get from the dock to the Cafe Papeneiland where the tours starts, but I assume you need to check in at your hotel and drop off your bags first, so depends on where your hotel is located.  I'm sure there are some other companies, as well, that might offer different times.


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## lola1972

Hi! I just got back from the 7/15 Rhine cruise with my husband and 2 boys 9 & 13. We had an amazing time! We are exhausted.....but reflecting now...it was a wonderful trip and I'm sad to be home. We started our trip in Grindewald Switzerland with four nights and ended with an extra two in Amsterdam. I too was concerned about the excursions...but it seemed like everyone was accommodated in one way or another. I did meet one family who did not get all of their first choices... but when it came down to it....they seemed to get space in everything they wanted...so it worked out in the end. Having said that...I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE ADVENTURE GUIDES!!!!!!!!!!!! They worked morning and night to make sure that everyone was happy..... I don't know how they do it....but they are AMAZING!!!!! They gave 150% of themselves everyday.....I only wish that they had more time to spend with us because they made the trip! They were alll great...We spent a great deal of time with Betti, Daniel, Veronica and Byron & Emily ....who I miss greatly.

From my perspective..... I would completely recommend  this trip!  Do not be afraid because of the excursion feedback from past sailings...I get the impression that with every trip improvements are made....our trip was perfect! They did take out some things that were originally on the itinerary...but they were changes for the good. I will work on a trip report that details our adventure in the next few days. I hope this helps...feel free to ask any specific questions. 

lola1972, Today at 9:22 AMEditReport
#18+ QuoteReply


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## met19

Has anyone done the ABD pre-nights in Basel?  From what I understand they are hotel only.  What activities did you do?  I have a lonely planet and have been doing some research but would appreciate people that have been in the area sharing insights.  Thanks


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## canadadvc

met19 said:


> Has anyone done the ABD pre-nights in Basel?  From what I understand they are hotel only.  What activities did you do?  I have a lonely planet and have been doing some research but would appreciate people that have been in the area sharing insights.  Thanks



We were on the inaugural cruise in April. We spent 3 night in Basel on our own. Family of 4 so going with ABD pre-nights was more than what we wanted to spend so we found alternate accommodations which were great. Most hotels in Basel offer free public transportation passes which is lovely since Switzerland is very expensive. Quite easy to get around with the use of a transit map. We did a day trip to Lucerne by train. The next day we spent touring the historical area of Basel on color-coded walking tours and made a visit to the Teddy Bear Museum. No photos allowed in the museum but it was well worth the visit as there are a lot of bears and a huge collection of doll houses. They had a set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which was pretty cool to see.


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## OhanaCuz

*WDW*Groupie* said:


> I totally agree with everything you said.
> 
> Did you have a lot of photos of your family taken by the guides?  That is one thing that I found very different from the land-based trips.  Other than our zip-lining day, we didn't have any family photos taken by the guides.  At Heidelberg Castle I was searching for a guide to take our photo, but it seemed like the entire ship (as well as the entire ship from several other river cruise lines) was there and it was chaos.  Actually this was one excursion where we stood around for what seemed like a half hour, maybe more, waiting for our guide to get our tour tickets (when they were finally secured, we were of course in a hurry to move along, so there wasn't any time to take a family photo).  Now I saw families have their being photos taken by ABD guides, and I tried in vain to find one but just couldn't.  This is one strong recommendation I put on the ABD survey -- the guides need to take more family pictures.   That was always a strong point for me with ABD, but it was non-existent (at least for our family) on the river cruise.



 That's interesting. Our guides were constantly taking pictures on the Danube River cruise. There were 3 GB of pictures posted online after we got home.


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## longtimefan1

met19 said:


> Has anyone done the ABD pre-nights in Basel?  From what I understand they are hotel only.  What activities did you do?  I have a lonely planet and have been doing some research but would appreciate people that have been in the area sharing insights.  Thanks


We are staying ABD pre-night in Basel.  Does anyone know what time the next day does Disney pick us up at our hotel to bring us to the boat?  Also, does anyone know if there is a Disney Representative at the hotel (Radisson Blu Basel) or will the hotel staff be able to give us that info.


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## sayhello

longtimefan1 said:


> We are staying ABD pre-night in Basel.  Does anyone know what time the next day does Disney pick us up at our hotel to bring us to the boat?  Also, does anyone know if there is a Disney Representative at the hotel (Radisson Blu Basel) or will the hotel staff be able to give us that info.


When I did the pre-day for the Danube River cruise, there was no ABD representative there for the pre-day, but when I checked in, the Reception staff had a letter for me from ABD that explained how everything was going to work the next day (times, where, what, etc.)  Some of the Adventure Guides were there at the hotel the next morning (which was in the letter).

Sayhello


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## CherryOnTop

Hello - My family had two cabins on the July 29th Rhine River ABD Sailing.  This is our 7th ABD and we are Platinum level on DCL. (18 cruises).  The River Boat adventure is different from DCL and different from ABD, but we LOVED it.  I believe if you have expecations that it will be like the large cruise ship or you have expectations that it will be intimate like a land based ABD,  you will be dissapointed.  If you go into it with an open mind it is an amazing vacation and the Disney difference is evident throughout.  I thought we wouldn't get to know the guides like we have on previous much smaller land based ABD adventures, but I must say we had wonderful moments with each and every one of the seven guides.  I knew Mikall and Betti from previous adventures so I thought we would just hang out with them the whole time - but there were plenty of opportunities to get to know Emily and Veroninka and Byron and Alex and Daniel.  They could not have been more accomodating.  I would be thrilled to travel again with ANY of them.  All seven are pros.  The ship was gorgeous and it was evident it was brand new - sparkling clean.  The food was fantastic and the ship crew was responsive and fun - they were so thrilled to have a crowd under age 85 to serve!  It was so easy to get on and off the ship and the excursions were all fairly close to the ship.  We had some fantastic opportunities - canoeing through a lock was so cool - making our own chocolate bar at Lindt - baking macaroons in France - easy access to the Anne Frank House, etc.  Like all ABD trips we fit SO MUCH into each day.  I've read that some folks thought there wasn't enough nighttime entertainment but we enjoyed hanging out with other guest and laughing and cocktailing.  Also - there are many early mornings so an early bedtime kept us energetic.  My daughter is 13 and LOVED the Teen table for dinners - and the teen game show was a huge highlight for her.  The only negative we had on this trip was our visit to the Van Gough Museum in the afternoon on the last day.  ABD arranges for you to actually paint after touring the museum (so cool) but the instructor took the paint brush out of my daughter's hand twice and painted on her canvas and then raised her voice at her and made her cry.  Just a passionate Dutch woman a little out of control - and certainly not the fault of the Disney team.  Overall I highly recommend this trip - Riverboating is AWESOME and there is no other way to do it than with Disney.    If anyone has specific questions I am more than happy to share our experience.  We did book the prenight in Basel and did the post trip in Amsterdam too.


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## CherryOnTop

met19 said:


> Has anyone done the ABD pre-nights in Basel?  From what I understand they are hotel only.  What activities did you do?  I have a lonely planet and have been doing some research but would appreciate people that have been in the area sharing insights.  Thanks



We did the pre-night in Basel.  The hotel pool was so nice (indoor) for trying to stay awake - it's refreshing.  We walked to the Market Halle - an awesome international Food Hall for dinner or lunch about two blocks from the hotel.  Also, the Marketplatz in the middle of town is very close as well and is surrounded by stores and restaruants.  There is a farmers market there on weekends.  We also toured the Pharmacy Museum (my sister in law is a Pharmacist) that is one block off the Marketplatz - it was surprsingly interesting and well done.


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## met19

CherryOnTop said:


> We did the pre-night in Basel.  The hotel pool was so nice (indoor) for trying to stay awake - it's refreshing.  We walked to the Market Halle - an awesome international Food Hall for dinner or lunch about two blocks from the hotel.  Also, the Marketplatz in the middle of town is very close as well and is surrounded by stores and restaruants.  There is a farmers market there on weekends.  We also toured the Pharmacy Museum (my sister in law is a Pharmacist) that is one block off the Marketplatz - it was surprsingly interesting and well done.




thanks for the advice.  i was thinking of the teddy bear museum or the the roman ruins outside of town and just wandering thru the downtown/middle of town.  Did you have issues making your choices of tours on the river cruise portion.  Several posters have commented on that.


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## CherryOnTop

met19 said:


> thanks for the advice.  i was thinking of the teddy bear museum or the the roman ruins outside of town and just wandering thru the downtown/middle of town.  Did you have issues making your choices of tours on the river cruise portion.  Several posters have commented on that.




From my perspective the booking excursions issues had been worked out by the time we cruised - we were the last cruise of this summer for them.  We made our reservations in the hotel lobby in Basel before we ever transfered over to the ship - so I guess the pre-night folks had an advantage.  That said, it sounds like they added more of what was popular.  So for example, there were TWO macaroon making classes and also a demonstration onboard the ship from the ship chefs.  There were TWO groups going to Anne Frank House and an afternoon option for Van Gough museum.  There were TWO groups going canoeing and the second group started just 45 minutes after the first.  I honestly didn't hear from anyone that didn't get to do what they wanted to do.  I felt like the Adventure Guides were being VERY accomodating as far as suggesting options to get everything you wanted - putting together the puzzle pieces of a schedule to fit everyone into everything.  We met with Mikall to get everthing booked but then had a discussion with Emily later to confirm we had picked what was really right for our group.  It was nice to say "tell me how hard is the canoeing, REALLY?" and have the freedom to make changes right up until that day.   Also - people were changing their minds and skipping or changing excursions as the week went on - so there was alot of exchanging of color cards.  

This is a vacation that is NOT Disney Cruise Line with tons of excursions and a heiarchy of how you get to sign up for limited spaces (platinum then gold then silver- that no one complains about) and it's not an ABD Land based where everyone does everything on the agenda except for some rare exceptions when there is an alternative - it's somehwere in the middle.


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## sayhello

CherryOnTop said:


> From my perspective the booking excursions issues had been worked out by the time we cruised - we were the last cruise of this summer for them.  We made our reservations in the hotel lobby in Basel before we ever transfered over to the ship - so I guess the pre-night folks had an advantage.  That said, it sounds like they added more of what was popular.  So for example, there were TWO macaroon making classes and also a demonstration onboard the ship from the ship chefs.  There were TWO groups going to Anne Frank House and an afternoon option for Van Gough museum.  There were TWO groups going canoeing and the second group started just 45 minutes after the first.  I honestly didn't hear from anyone that didn't get to do what they wanted to do.  I felt like the Adventure Guides were being VERY accomodating as far as suggesting options to get everything you wanted - putting together the puzzle pieces of a schedule to fit everyone into everything.  We met with Mikall to get everthing booked but then had a discussion with Emily later to confirm we had picked what was really right for our group.  It was nice to say "tell me how hard is the canoeing, REALLY?" and have the freedom to make changes right up until that day.   Also - people were changing their minds and skipping or changing excursions as the week went on - so there was alot of exchanging of color cards.
> 
> This is a vacation that is NOT Disney Cruise Line with tons of excursions and a heiarchy of how you get to sign up for limited spaces (platinum then gold then silver- that no one complains about) and it's not an ABD Land based where everyone does everything on the agenda except for some rare exceptions when there is an alternative - it's somehwere in the middle.


I'm glad they got that all worked out.  I was pretty sad about what we were hearing from the first few Rhine cruises this year.  And I agree with your evaluation of where these river cruises fit in the spectrum. 

Sayhello


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## JsMom2

CherryOnTop said:


> From my perspective the booking excursions issues had been worked out by the time we cruised - we were the last cruise of this summer for them.  We made our reservations in the hotel lobby in Basel before we ever transfered over to the ship - so I guess the pre-night folks had an advantage.  That said, it sounds like they added more of what was popular.  So for example, there were TWO macaroon making classes and also a demonstration onboard the ship from the ship chefs.  There were TWO groups going to Anne Frank House and an afternoon option for Van Gough museum.  There were TWO groups going canoeing and the second group started just 45 minutes after the first.  I honestly didn't hear from anyone that didn't get to do what they wanted to do.  I felt like the Adventure Guides were being VERY accomodating as far as suggesting options to get everything you wanted - putting together the puzzle pieces of a schedule to fit everyone into everything.  We met with Mikall to get everthing booked but then had a discussion with Emily later to confirm we had picked what was really right for our group.  It was nice to say "tell me how hard is the canoeing, REALLY?" and have the freedom to make changes right up until that day.   Also - people were changing their minds and skipping or changing excursions as the week went on - so there was alot of exchanging of color cards.
> 
> This is a vacation that is NOT Disney Cruise Line with tons of excursions and a heiarchy of how you get to sign up for limited spaces (platinum then gold then silver- that no one complains about) and it's not an ABD Land based where everyone does everything on the agenda except for some rare exceptions when there is an alternative - it's somehwere in the middle.



We are staying in Zurich before the cruise, and plan on taking the train in that morning.  Would you recommend going over to the Radisson to sign up for excursions, rather than going to the ship and waiting for them to start making reservations in the afternoon?


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## met19

What time do you leave the ship on the last day?  I am wondering only because their is an eating amsterdam food and canal tour on saturday at 1030 which is only available then.


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## sabrecmc

We switched to the July 2, 2017 departure, since a family from my daughter's school plans to do that one, so we know a couple of people.  Thinking Disneyland Paris after.


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## ivrier

met19 said:


> What time do you leave the ship on the last day?  I am wondering only because their is an eating amsterdam food and canal tour on saturday at 1030 which is only available then.


we were told that we could leave before 2 pm. We stayed till 11 am because we decided to see the city and check in early onto hte Marriot hotel.


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## met19

ivrier said:


> we were told that we could leave before 2 pm. We stayed till 11 am because we decided to see the city and check in early onto hte Marriot hotel.




I would like to the eating amsterdam jordan food and canal cruise and food tour.  it leaves at 1030a on saturday of disembarkation.  Do you think if I leave by 830a Ill have time to get to my hotel to leave my bags and then back to the food tour.


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## JsMom2

ivrier said:


> we were told that we could leave before 2 pm. We stayed till 11 am because we decided to see the city and check in early onto hte Marriot hotel.


How was the Marriott?  I'm looking for a hotel in Amsterdam.


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## JsMom2

kkgastro said:


> We had a wonderful time on our July 1 trip.
> Here are my tips...
> When you arrive onboard you are given a character name that they call to sign up for the excursions.  I am not sure that it was in any order but it was long and cumbersome and needs to be improved. Not everyone got what they wanted but the guides tried hard to please everyone.
> Go to the organ concert
> In Rudesheim, go to the gondola early.  We went around 12:30 and walked right on, but by 2pm there was a long line.
> Yes, we did fish extenders which were quite easy to hang on the door number
> They need to put in some nightly entertainment since the ship is small and several of the docking spots were NOT safe to walk around at night.  The movies in the room were quite limited.
> The housekeeping on the ship was fantastic!
> The food was fine.  I thought that it was better than on a Disney Cruise.
> The guides were great as usual.  We knew Emily from Alaska last year so it was fun to catch up.
> The bike ride was nice and we climbed up the cathedral in Cologne.
> Finally, instead of booking the add on day we spent 2 extra nights in Amsterdam  The first day we went to the Anne Frank house, The Rik museum and the Heineken Experience. Book all of these ahead of time...The Anne Frank House and the Heineken are timed tours. The next day we booked a private all day Holland tour with Viator which was wonderful...Went to Deft pottery, The Euromast at Rotterdam and the Hague. Casper was our guide.
> 
> I would be happy to answer any questions
> Karen
> kkgastro@aol.com


Where did you stay in Amsterdam?


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## met19

I am reserved at the renaissance.  will be there in about 8 days


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## dsiind

firegirl47 said:


> For those who have traveled on the Rhine River this year,   how many kids are on the boat?   Watching the Video review  above only showed adults. We booked for July 9th next year (2018) and have a 11 year old.  We are concerned there wont be other kids for him to meet.    We did the Germany tour last year and had a nice balance of kids and  adults.  Any feedback from those who traveled would be great to hear!


We are booked on same and have 10 and 12 year old girls.


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## CrazyZeus1

Is anyone on the Christmas Rhine trip coming up?  We need advice for packing!  I'm pulling out so many things because we have no idea how to dress for cold, rainy weather!  WHAT are you wearing for keeping warm outside?!  Do we need waterproof jackets? Snow jackets?  A million layers?  Halp!


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## tink1970

CrazyZeus1 said:


> Is anyone on the Christmas Rhine trip coming up? We need advice for packing! I'm pulling out so many things because we have no idea how to dress for cold, rainy weather! WHAT are you wearing for keeping warm outside?! Do we need waterproof jackets? Snow jackets? A million layers? Halp!



I'm going but am no help packing...if it looks cold and rainy I'll stay on the boat  Floridians here and suspect DD would be the only one of us three willing to get wet/cold if the weather is too unpleasant.

That said, taking heavy coat, gloves, scarves and leggings/sweaters, silk long underwear and sigh...I guess an umbrella. Last year we were on the Danube Christmas cruise and the weather was clear, crisp and cold and we did fine. Flying out in less than a week...see you real soon


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## sabrecmc

We (12 year old daughter and I) are on the July 2, 2017 Rhine cruise.  Very excited!  We will be flying to Basel from Paris after a stay at Disneyland Paris.  Is the Radisson Blu still the preferred hotel for the pre-night?  

Is anyone planning on booking the Anne Frank house on their own?


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## TimeforMe

sabrecmc said:


> We (12 year old daughter and I) are on the July 2, 2017 Rhine cruise.  Very excited!  We will be flying to Basel from Paris after a stay at Disneyland Paris.  Is the Radisson Blu still the preferred hotel for the pre-night?
> 
> Is anyone planning on booking the Anne Frank house on their own?


Hello:  yes, we are doing similar!  Will be in Paris for 4 nights before flying to Basel but we were planning to fly to Basel in the morning.  Are you flying in the night before?  We will be doing the Anne Frank house on our own as we will be staying in Amsterdam for 3 nights after the cruise.  We are on the July 23rd sailing.


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## JsMom2

TimeforMe said:


> Hello:  yes, we are doing similar!  Will be in Paris for 4 nights before flying to Basel but we were planning to fly to Basel in the morning.  Are you flying in the night before?  We will be doing the Anne Frank house on our own as we will be staying in Amsterdam for 3 nights after the cruise.  We are on the July 23rd sailing.



Where are you staying in Amsterdam?  DD (19) and I will be staying 2 nights in Amsterdam post cruise.  We've already done the Anne Frank house, and still need to plan our tours!


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## TimeforMe

Still up in the air.  Considering the Hoxton or Banks Mansion or....  Any suggestions?  Where are you guys staying?  We plan to do 
Anne Frank house and a couple other museums.


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## JsMom2

TimeforMe said:


> Still up in the air.  Considering the Hoxton or Banks Mansion or....  Any suggestions?  Where are you guys staying?  We plan to do
> Anne Frank house and a couple other museums.



  We are staying at the Grand Hotel Amrath on Prins Hendrikkade.  I'm still working through our Switzerland activities in Zurich, but need to get on the Amsterdam activities!


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## quinnc19

Is anyone going to Brussels post-cruise?


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## JsMom2

quinnc19 said:


> Is anyone going to Brussels post-cruise?



No, but we lived there for 3 years.  Definitely plan on using GPS to get around if you'll be renting a car.


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## quinnc19

Thanks for the information but fortunately I'm planning just to train in, stay near where I will be visiting, and take the train out the following day. I've been to Bruges previously and loved it, so I'm looking forward to seeing Brussels.


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## quinnc19

Sorry, duplicate post.


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## dsiind

JsMom2 said:


> No, but we lived there for 3 years.  Definitely plan on using GPS to get around if you'll be renting a car.


I lived there too! International School of Brussels Grad, Class of 84!


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## sabrecmc

Does anyone know when the last transfer from the Radisson Blu to the ship will happen?  Our Daily Activities Planner says check in on ship at 3pm.  Just wondering how much time we'd have in Basel that morning.


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