July 19, 2022 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Today was a transition day. We changed from independent travel, 2+ weeks, to our 11 night cruise on Amawaterways. What a great feeling to be aboard again!!!
We left the houseboat at noon expecting to walk about 20 minutes to the eastern dock area, past the Station Centraal as indicated in our precruise documents. We readied ourselves and our luggage for the trek in the increasing heat as it’s possibly the hottest day of the year!!! We crossed the little pedestrian bridge near our boat and headed down the street on the shady side when I saw, across the street, several river cruise boats docked. One looked like AmaCE…. Was it our boat AmaCerto of AmaCello???? Anne went across while I tended the bags and came back with a crew member to help. We had come upon our boat!!! It wasn’t 20 minutes away, it was about 8!!!!! What luck!!!! We wondered who else was given details that sent them to wrong dock location.
We boarded about 1215 and our luggage was tagged for our rooms and we went to the lounge for a beverage and a bit of lunch. Wasn’t much – pea soup and a small salad. We sat and enjoyed just being on board when we were told our rooms were ready. Off to unpack and change to go to the pool. Yes, it was heated, and yes it was warm but in the slight breeze it felt really good. As the afternoon wore on the temperature got up to 101 degrees. The heat is breaking records everywhere.
We changed to go for the various afternoon briefings. A little wine, a bit of bubbly to toast the crew and the captain and other departments and then dinner. So nice to be back with Amawaterways!!
We went up to the sun deck for a bit of a walk and ended up playing chess which was interesting as neither of us have played in 50+years. Anne won handily though I struggled to stay in it for a while. It was a nice evening and the heat had faded away.
July 20, 2022 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
We slept well and had a nice breakfast. It’s so nice to be waited on!!!
We joined about 9 others to go the Floriade. It’s an expo type exhibition on about 40 acres just outside of the city. We took a bus for about 45 minutes. We saw arrays of flowers and various countries hosting exhibits on agriculture or smarter, greener living. Amsterdam creates Floriade every 10 years in a different location.
We returned in time for the boat to back out into the Amstel River and start our journey south. We waved goodbye to Amsterdam, which we enjoyed immensely.
We sat up on deck and watched the scenery of the canal go by. It is some miles before the canal gives way to the river itself. The water is low…. Hopefully we’ll get through the next 10 days and the river won’t be too low to pass.
We passed through 2 locks – the second one was completely open at both ends perhaps due to there being now elevation difference with the low water.
July 21, 2022 – Cruising on the Rhine
We left Amsterdam about 1pm yesterday and today we are still sailing along to make our first stop at Cologne. We have to travel very slowly due to the low water and the massive displacement of the ship. We are delayed arriving in Cologne by about an hour.
It’s a grey and somewhat chilly day with occasional rain showers. We opt not to join any excursions today but rather to walk abit. Our first thought was to climb the tower of the cathedral but with the heavy mist/fog due to the rain it meant the view would be not worth the climb. Instead we walked a bit farther to the Chocolate Museum. We weren’t interested in the museum and were probably too late to join the last entrance. We preferred and enjoyed the shop where we bought assorted sweets and chocolates that will hopefully last a couple of weeks.
July 22, 2022 – Cologne to Koblenz, Germany
Again, due to the low water, instead of departing at 5AM this morning we left Cologne at 11pm last night. Our stop today is in Koblenz at the mouth of the Moselle. The original plan had us stay in Lahnstein on the other side of the river but the itinerary changed slightly to put us directly in the Moselle as that is where we are off to tomorrow.
The excursion today is to ride the cable car across the Rhine up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress to see the views of the river and Koblenz.
After the ride back down we walked around and back to the boat for our usual evening of a drink at the Sip N Sail which runs for an hour before dinner. Then a nice dinner, with several options. We are learning to try not to eat so much. It was great to know that we can order a half portion and to focus on the veg and salads.
July 23, 2022 – to Cochem, Germany
Today is the first day we sail up the Moselle from Koblenz to Schweich, with a stop at Cochem. On some nice mornings we join the fitness/wellness host for a walk on the sun deck track which is approximately 100 meters in length.
We typically sail to sometime between noon and 2pm. After docking the excursions depart. We tend to avoid those with bus rides to somewhere else and prefer the tours that walk around the town with a guide.
We walked up the steep hill to the Reichsburg Castle where we are able to take a nice tour and enjoy incredible views looking down the Moselle Valley.
July 24, 2022 – to Schweich Germany
Today we arrive in Schweich in the early afternoon. We opted to do our own thing which included a walk in the heat which resulted in some very enjoyable time in the pool and relaxing in our cabins, and on our balconies.
July 25, 2022 – to Bernkastel, Germany
We land in Bernkastel around 2pm and start our tour of this pretty little town, surrounded by vineyards of mostly Riesling grapes. We go to a wine tasting after the tour and sample 4 wines. The first a basic dry Reisling was good. The remaining 3 were so-so with the last being sweet and having a ABV of 8.5%. We were happy to get out of the very crowded cave and get back to the boat.
The ship sails overnight, out of the Moselle, past Koblenz and into the Rhine River Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
July 26, 2022 – to Rudesheim, Germany
We awake and the castles of the Rhine start to appear. We get a table/listing of the castles and the locations and enjoy a very warm day on the sun deck watching the pretty towns go buy and the river narrow. We see the Loreley Rock and incredible castles. And take lots of photos!!!!
We dock in Rudesheim at 2:30 and take the excursion for the cable/gondola up to the Germania Monument. A very large monument overlooking a broad expanse of the Rhine River Valley. We opt out of the afternoon’s wine tasting to avoid the crowds we had yesterday. Instead we walk around the town a little and get an ice cream. Seems getting ice cream in the afternoon is a national pastime here!
July 27, 2022 – to Speyer, Germany
We sailed overnight to get to Speyer around noon. The excursions, one to Heidelberg, involve long bus drives. We would rather enjoy the time on our own than spend most of the afternoon on a bus to get a tour in Heidleberg. We walk around what turns out to be a very pretty, moderately sized town with lots of shops. We get a good amount of steps in and then returned to the ship to sit in the pool and relax.
We only have a couple of more days on our 11-day cruise. We are starting to think about our trip to Paris on the 30th and enjoying a week there.
July 28, 2022 – to Strasbourg, France
We woke up today in France!!! Strasbourg. Due to the location of the dock and the city center we rode a bus about 20 minutes and were let off in order to have a long “active” walk from the outskirts into the city center. It was a great walk and we saw storks in their nests and saw the EU Parliament. Storks, once down to just a few mating pairs, have made a terrific comeback with over 1800 now. We walked through small neighborhoods and into the heart of the old parts of the city. It was a beautiful day, we paused for a “orange” and “citron” presse which was a perfect refreshment. We walked a bit more and then were shepherded out of the core of the city to the waiting buses for the return trip to the boat.
We decided that tomorrow, being our last day for an excursion that we didn’t want to spend 30% of it in a bus. We also thought of the hike in the Black Forest and opted to avoid the potential for shade and bugs, to walk into the town of Breisach.
