By Going on a cruise can be an adjustment to really independent travelers. You have your set time for meals and activities planned for you throughout the day. There’s no sleeping in. I mean I guess you could, but my approach to Europe is ‘SIEZE THE DAY’. Get up and explore. That being said, I never did make the 7 am yoga/stretch class. So my sieze the day perhaps wasn’t as energized as others! There is some free time, but you are not in control of your departure times, so best not be late! There was one passenger whose luggage didn’t arrive until the 3rd or 4th day of the trip. And one passenger from Greenville SC who didn’t get to the boat until Wednesday (we left Amsterdam on Monday) due to Delta cancellations. I believe she said it was a $400 ride from Schiphol to the port. I think her luggage arrived a day or two later. I can tell you if Delta had bumped me or canceled my flight, I would simply have not gone. I would have been disappointed for sure but I would not have enjoyed chasing a the boat. And yes, the PSA here is to buy traveler’s insurance for big international vacations.
Today (this was Tuesday) was a lovely trip to Giethoorn, known as the little Venice of the Netherlands. The dull reality of cruising, even on sweet little river boats, is that the port is rarely near the ‘action’. So we take buses often. I’m not complaining, because I LOVE that I only have to unpack once and I don’t have to stress about meals and I don’t have to stress about what to do and if I missed something. I can tell. you I’ve only been to Amsterdam as either a stop over city or I believe this is where our AESU bus tour of Europe kicked off when I was in college. So my knowledge of The Netherlands was limited. Luckily on the drives to the destination of the day, the tour guides educate on The Netherlands.
Mavis slept in on this trip.
Giethoorn is absolutely adorable. It is a canal town…so we left our boat, got on a bus and drove to the town where we got on another smaller boat to tour the town. The Hydrangeas were phenomenal. It was a peaceful and pleasant way to really begin the trip.
We were back on the boat and on our way to Harlingen after a lovely visit to Giethoorn. The weather was beautiful (spoiler alert – it was great all week). While we cruised, I took some pictures on the top deck and saw a lovely windmill farm. We went through a lock which gave me a lovely opportunity to admire the captain from afar (that’s why my grin is wide in the pic). The day ended with an official welcome dinner. Tomorrow is Harlingen and 70’s night!
