Rhine Getaway Day 8 - Basel, Switzerland to Home Sweet Home

We are back home. The flights from Basel to Amsterdam (KLM) and Amsterdam to Portland (Delta) went off without a hitch. It seems like they went really fast, and I SLEPT probably six hours total between them. SO YAY!   When I was awake, I watched a movie called Yesterday. So cute! I also listened to my audiobook: Into Thin Air because I am leading a book club discussion tonight. 

We came in an hour early to Portland. The only bugaboo was that only two of the eight Global Entry kiosks were working. So, it was actually longer to go through that line since we were first off the plane and could have gone to the regular immigration kiosks that were working. So much for paying extra money to expedite things. :)

Today, I am going to do a little comparison between our last cruise (Grand European Amsterdam to Budapest, 15 days) and this cruise (Rhine Getaway, Amsterdam to Basel, 8 days). 

Things We Liked Better on this Cruise: 

- PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Nancy was superb. As I mentioned in the previous post, her narration of the Romantic Rhine castles was so lovely. The program director from the last cruise was a stressed-out curmudgeon at times (refusing to even narrate for those on top of the boat when only one person wanted to stay inside). That director got more relaxed toward the end of the trip but after Nancy, I realize how terrible the last one was by comparison. 

- BOAT: This boat was a four-month-old longship. The last one was their oldest ship in the fleet that would be retired after its trip back from Budapest to Amsterdam. The longships are beautifully decorated and spacious. The old ship did not have even enough room in the lounge to house all the people on the ship. The dining room was also very crowded.

- AQUAVIT TERRACE: Even though it was cold, we sat out there during the castles, and it was lovely being in the bow and having lunch service out there. There is also an inside eating area. We never ate dinner there because it was dark at that time, but I bet that it is a popular place to eat dinner in the summertime. It is much smaller and more intimate too. 

- THE CAPTAIN: Funny and polite. The last captain was very shy. You could tell he hated having to talk in front of people. 

- LOCAL MENU OPTION: There was a special menu that had the dishes from the place we were visiting. That is new since our last cruise and based on passenger feedback. We especially liked the Dutch menu.

- VERANDA DECK: We like spending time in our room, and this allowed us to still sit outside and enjoy the view. We are Oregonians. So we did not mind the cold. George had his quiet time out there almost every single day. We paid extra for this, and we feel like it was worth it. 

- NO SLOPPY DRUNK PEOPLE: Last time, we had a "party" group that did not come together but found each other and could be quite disruptive at times. They dragged throughout tours because they were so hungover from partying the night before. No such people this time. 

Things We Liked Better on Our Last Cruise

- ITINERARY: Most of the places we stopped at on the Grand European put us right in the heart of the city whereas, on this cruise, we docked in a smaller, less interesting town and were bused to the interesting cities on the tour. So this meant much more time on buses and in transit versus just getting off the boat and being there. This meant less time in the cities, and I always felt like 1-2 hours to explore the city was not enough time. 

Cologne was an exception to that as we were there until very late that evening both times, but even with that, now they bus you from a smaller city (Zons) and the boat eventually meets you at Cologne. That is a change from our last itinerary where we just walked off the boat into the heart of the city. We also like the Danube River better than the Rhine. As one person on our trip put it, it is magical, and I would have to agree. 

- FIFTEEN DAYS VERSUS EIGHT DAYS: We realized this cruise was too short. Fifteen days was much more time to enjoy Europe. Relationships had more time to form on the last cruise too. 

- LESS STAFF: There were many more waiters and waitresses in the dining room last time. There was also a concierge who would give you directions to things to do in the city. I think it was a big mistake to get rid of the concierge. 

- FEWER CHEESES: One of my favorite things about the last cruise was the vast selection of about ten local kinds of cheese at breakfast that changed with the area we were in. This time, there were the same three kinds of cheese every time.

- NO RHINE BOOKS: Last time, we had a book about the Rhine River that pointed out all the different things we were seeing on the way. I did not bring mine from last time because I assumed we would get another one. Of course, Nancy did narrate the most important part to us. Last time, I was the narrator (read from that book) for the people up on deck since our last director refused to do it. 

LIKED THEM EQUALLY

- FOOD: Excellent presentation and taste. I had a better strategy for eating this time so I did not gain as much weight. (Eating a very light breakfast off the buffet upstairs and only eating the heavier cooked meal twice.)

- PEOPLE: They were interesting and reciprocal in conversation. While there were still older people, there were many younger people this time. Eight days was not long enough to get to know 180 people. Last time we had fifteen and 148 people. I really like getting to know others and people on both cruises were much more relational than our Rick Steves Tour in France last year. 

- SERVICE: Even though they had less staff, the staff we did have was wonderful. It just took longer, but we did not mind. The person who took care of our room was EXCELLENT, by the way. 

- AMSTERDAM, KINDERDIJK, COLOGNE: We loved going to these places again. We got to see things we missed in Amsterdam last time. Biking the windmills was such fun in Kinderdijk, and we did two of the same things we did last time in Cologne (climbing the tower and going up to the Cologne Triangle) and loved them just as much. We also did a few new things (like eating Picasso Chocolate, oh my). The only thing that was not as interesting was going to Marksburg Castle again, but there wasn't really much to do there unless we paid that extra money for another excursion in Koblenz (This should have been on the "did not like as much category." Last time, we docked right in Koblenz very early. If we had done it this time, we could have gone into the city and toured around there and only had to pay for a taxi ride of 45 Euros to where the boat had moved on to at Marksburg Castle. As it was, it would have cost us about 100 Euros to go from Marksburg to Koblenz and back. I cannot complain though because I had spent two days researching Koblenz only to find they do not dock there. When I told the customer service this, they gave me a credit for my trouble.) It was fine to see Marksburg again, but you could not see the Rhine because of the fog. The rest of the day was a repeat, but seeing the Rhine castles in the fall was amazing. The colors just popped! It was a totally different experience than seeing it in the spring. So I didn't mind doing that again!

- FALL versus SPRING: The weather was so much colder, but I didn't mind because of the beautiful fall leaves everywhere we went, and we are Oregonians, by golly. We go out in any weather, and I had just the right clothes for it this time. While it was warmer last time, I thought it would be much warmer. Consequently, I did not bring the right clothing so I ended up being colder in the spring than in the fall! I didn't mind the light rain that only happened on one tour (Heidelburg) for about fifteen minutes. We had more rain in a downpour in Nuremberg on our first cruise. I also liked that the fall afforded us less crowding because there were fewer people visiting the places we went to. 

Personally, I did better emotionally on this trip. Not that I did not have a great time last time, but I am not as much of a people-pleaser now. I didn't need to "fit in" with others. I didn't feel excluded (something I used to struggle with) when people wanted to sit with people and were saving seats in the dining room (actually 1/3 to 1/2 of the boat included pre-established groups of 4-10 people - something that did not happen last time. The only groups last time were four Oregonians and three New Yorkers, both of whom we hung around with at different times on the trip).

I kept on reminding myself that my primary reason for being there was not to make new friends but to be with George and to celebrate our 30th. He was my focus, and that was all the relationship I needed. Anything beyond that was the icing on the cake. As it was, we met some really lovely people on this trip. I think we will stay in touch with the Atlanta gang. 

George only had one negative interaction with another passenger, He YELLED at George because George moved his chair back unknowingly making it so that this man could not see the screen (that had nothing on it by the way). I had my back to him and heard a man yelling and did not know why. It was pretty weird. There is a way to say that nicely, but I don't think this man knows how to be very nice.

Thankfully, we were never on any tours with this man but I observed him frowning on many occasions.  Actually, there were many more unpleasant individuals on our last cruise, but we had no negative interactions but just observed them. This man's wife was also not a happy person. She complained through the entire tour of the Marksburg Castle (thankfully her frowning husband must have stayed on the boat for this tour because he was not with her), but it did not bother me (and would have five years ago). 

That was probably more information that I needed to share, but there is growth in me, and I am happy about that.

I am also pleased I was able to get meaningful time with God every day and also connect with him amid our activities. 

All in all, it was a GREAT trip, and I cannot believe it is over!