Friday, May 23 (continued)

Thought you might like to know a little about our boat, the River Navigator.  I'll try to post some pics also.  There are 130 or so passengers from all over the USA with a crew of 35.  The crew is multi-national with the majority from Romania.  All speak some level of English (American) quite well. 

Our stateroom is 150 square feet with good storage (closet, bureaus, etc.), as well as a small bath room with shower, sink, and the "necessary".  

Most days we are off the ship touring various cities, but we eat almost all our meals on the boat..breakfast (the best meal IMO), lunch and dinner.  The meals are pretty fancy and the are some meals on the menu which require some "gentle interpretation" by  the wait staff.  

Activities are fairly limited on board...no "broadway style" shows, but serveral evenings local musicians are on board to sing and play.  Additionally, the is no gambling casino on board, but lots of card games by the passengers.  

All in all, the ship is well staffed with friendly staff, the sailing is very gentle, and the sleeping is sound.

Friday, May 23, 2014

First rain of our adventure.  In Strasbourg, France. Yesterday we visited Baden Baden, Germany which is known for its wealthy citizens, spas, and casino gambling.  Beautiful city of 50,000 with lots of flowers as well as tourists.  

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

As promised, we spent an enjoyable day sailing down the Rhine River to Rudesheim, Germany on Tuesday.  The sites and scenery were spectacular...multiple castles along with unique homes along the river.  

The following pics are for  your enjoyment.

We are currently sailing down the Rhine heading to Mannheim, Germany where we will visit the sites.  Looking forward to another town.  

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Well, the adventure continues with Vantage Travel Company.  

First, three days before we departed for Amsterdam, we were advised by phone the we would be downgraded from our original stateroom due to "overbooking" to a lesser stateroom without a "French balcony".  

Our tour had to be revised as a result the closing of locks along the Moselle River due to routine, annual maintenance which, apparently caught Vantage Travel Company by surprise.  Definitely, a lack of communications between Vantage and the German government.

 

My poor wife was the recipient of spilled tomato soup on her clothes at dinner on Monday nite -- as a result of a less than attentive food server. Fortunately, she was not burned or injured and the cruise line provided laundry service for her attire.  I asked for and have received assurances that we will receive free laundry service for the remainder of the cruise.  We also received a bottle of French wine with the ship's apologies.  

And, finally, the "easy walking" tours have been considerably less than easy.  More than a couple of miles over cobble stone paths have been rather routine which has been rather difficult on us.  There are many elderly folks on board, many with canes, who struggle quite a lot with the adventures.  

Much more pleasant info and pics documenting our sail down the Rhine River to follow.

In meantime, cheers.

Monday, May 19 (continued)

We made it into Koblenz at approx. 5:00 pm and took a "gentle" walk thru the town to visit a few Roman monuments and a Basilica which was built in the year 864 AD.  (And, we think that a 200 year old structure is old...lol)

The photos that follow are random and I hope you'll enjoy.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), we depart Koblenz early in the morning for Rudesheim.  I've been told that we will have many castles and photo opportunities.  Stay tuned.

Peace and grace to you all.

Monday, May 19, 2014

It's Monday morn and we're on our way back up the Moselle River to Koblenz, Germany and the Rhine River.  

"Unique discovery" made by the Captain late yesterday (Sunday) that the main river lock into Koblenz would be closed for yearly, routine maintenance for about a week starting later today.  As a result, our stop in Berncastle (on the Moselle) -- scheduled for today -- had to be "scrubbed" and we are "rushing" north to Koblenz to avoid being stuck for about a week. 

Difficult to understand how "we" didn't know about the closing in advance!!!  Only thing we can do is to relax and chill onboard the cruise ship for the entire day today.  Good news is there will be lots of sun shine with temps in the high 70's.

Yesterday, we visited Trier, Germany which has a significant number of Roman ruins to include a collesium and the Porta Nigro (main gate into the city of Trier.  The enclosed pics are somewhat random, but reflect our visit. 

Saturday, May 17 (continued)

As we continue to journey down the Mosel (we'll return to the Rhine shortly), this continues our Saturday blog with other Luxembourg activities with you.  A walking tour of the city found us in the center of town where market activity was in high gear.  Lots of little shops selling everything from books to china pieces, antique furniture,as well as linens and lace.

The weather for the day was wonderful -- sunny with high temps. in the mid-60's.  So there were lots of folks wandering thru the shops as well as lounging in the many outdoor eating places.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was witnessing a rather unique "bachelor party".  Young men with "crowns" on the heads were celebrating a young man's soon-to-be wedding in two weeks. The celebrant was wearing some rather unusual attire and playing his clarinet for his friends as well as the crowd.  During the course of his "performance", he played our National Anthem which caused many of us to join his celebration with song.   

Lots of wine drinking in Europe as the picture of wine bottles implies.

Sunday will bring more activities which we'll share with you later.

Peace and grace from Luxembourg.