River Cruise in spring?

Cardinal_Fang
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 16:54:40 +0000

It was fantastic!

We went on the tulip cruise on AMA Waterways, to Belgium and the Netherlands. We started and ended in Amsterdam, and in between went to some little cities, plus Antwerp and Ghent. The food was great.

Every day there were tours led by local guides, but you could just wander around whatever city or town you were in instead, or ride one of the bikes that were carried on the ship.

The first day we had a canal boat tour of Amsterdam (loved it, I could live there). The last day was the highlight of the trip, a visit to the Keukenhof , a huge garden of acres and acres and acres of tulips. Every year the garden designers plant tulips in different striking designs and patterns. You could point your camera anywhere, and you’d get one of the best pictures of your trip. We stayed there for four hours, but we could’ve happily stayed longer. The Keukenhof has wheelchairs available, so Mom was able to enjoy it with us; with no wheelchair, it would have been much too much walking for her.

I’d say the average age was maybe 70. It was definitely active retirees. People who need wheelchairs or walkers would have trouble, because the river ships are docked side to side in port, so to get on and off the ship when it was docked, we had to clamber through one or two other ships, which involved stairs.

The ship would typically cruise starting around dinner, and through the night. My favorite part of the trip, other than the Keukenhof, was just sitting alone on the deck early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a bun, watching the banks of the river go by.

For a more active trip, you could consider bike and barge. While at the Keukenhof, we ran into another tour group doing at VBT (formerly Vermont Bike Tours) bike and barge trip. They were travelling on a barge, and then each day they’d ride the bikes to a destination. From my point of view as a cyclist, the riding was easy (15-30 miles a day) but they seemed to be having a great time. Whereas the river cruise ships hold 150 guests, the barges hold 24, so it would be a much more intimate trip.

To sum up, I highly recommend the AMA Waterways Tulip Time cruise. [I should get a commission; already a couple of CCers have signed up for river cruises after hearing about my experience. ; ]