“You will absolutely love it”. “Best holiday we ever had”. These were just a couple of quotes from friends, when we announced we were taking a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. The sort of enthusiastic comments that can sometimes be a prelude to disappointment. In this case, not a bit of it. We loved it. Definitely one of the best holidays we’ve had.
The cruise was described as “Zurich to Amsterdam”. Most people fly into Zurich airport on the day of the cruise, and travel by coach to board the ship. Many such trips start and finish on a Sunday to suit the US and Canadian markets. The North American folk can fly out of their home on Saturday, arriving in Europe Sunday morning, and leave Europe the following Sunday to arrive home the same day. They get an eight day/seven night cruise with only a five day week break from work.
The four of us had travelled by train from Italy direct to Basel, so we could spend a bit of time exploring that corner of Switzerland. Tipped off by the Cruise Director, when we were establishing where to meet the ship, we managed to arrive at exactly 4pm, the earliest time for boarding. Before we could blink and finish paying our taxi, our wonderful ship’s crew had swept up all our luggage and preceded us on board. We were the very first to arrive!
The first sight of our ‘suite’ delighted us. We have stayed in less spacious hotel rooms, and many less luxuriously appointed. One of the best features of cruising is exactly as per the brochures and videos. We unpacked our suitcases, into the more than adequate hanging and drawer space. Shoved under the bed, we did not see those suitcases again until a week later, when we packed to leave the ship. So much better than those one and two night stops on coach tours!
We were in our suites and unpacked in less than half an hour! As was the case each night, the welcome and agenda for the next 24 hours awaited us, along with towels and fluffy bathrobes. It was time then to explore our home for the next week before ‘the masses’ arrived.
The impressive lobby of MS Avalon Visionary (above), with the flags of the nations represented on the passenger manifest. The USA took centre spot, with more than half the 126 passengers. Next to them on left was Canada with around 30, and the right Australia with 10. The UK, with 6, and New Zealand with 4 made up the total. (Below) The rear lounge with 24 hour coffee and tea facilities, and the view along the passageway, which is deliberately narrow to maximise the size of the suites. The ship is 110m (361ft) long. Most of the suites are 18.6 sq m (200 sq ft).
Compared to some other ports we were to visit, the Basel boarding location is not very sophisticated, involving a couple of steep sets of steps from the river bank to a pontoon (one of three in the area). Further, as in many other ports, the increase in river cruise traffic means that often, as here, another ship moors alongside. (First lesson, do not go to sleep with the curtains open to the river view, because there just may be another ship parked alongside when you wake up).
MS Avalon Visionary moored at Basel, with another ship alongside (above left), while some of the crew relax before the major passenger onslaught (above right)
And, indeed, masses would indeed arrive. Around 5:00pm to 5:15pm, three coaches arrived to deposit passengers for our ship. Almost simultaneously, another three coach loads arrived for the ship moored next to us, whose passengers and crew had to pass through Visionary’s lobby to board. It was very civilised, each ship waiting until all the other’s passengers and luggage were safely aboard.
The majority of passengers embarking after arriving by coach from Zurich Airport (above). The impressive team effort of our crew, transferring luggage of around 120 passengers from coach to ship. It is a genuine case of ‘all hands’, including ship’s officers and the chef [in black with red scarf] (below). It is clear at this stage that not all passengers ‘travel light’!
At the time of our journey, MS Avalon Visionary was one of the newest ships on the rivers of Europe. Launched in April 2012, it was less than six months old when we travelled. We hoped never to use the life saving equipment, but we were comforted by the fact that before leaving the shore, the alarms sounded for our emergency drill. As per the boarding instructions we had already read, we proceeded to the top deck and met at our level 3 assembly point to have our names/suite numbers checked off. We were then, and only then, ready to depart towards Strasbourg. We were also primed and ready for our Champagne Welcome Reception, at which all the ship’s ‘department heads’ were introduced. A total of thirty seven staff would run the ship and look after us for the next week.
The bridge (above) and the lengthy “Sky Deck” taken from the bridge and looking aft (below).
Scope for games on the Sky Deck (above). We were also warned that the rear deck would be closed overnight, as all the superstructure has to be folded down to allow passage under low bridges (below).
In Part 2, we will share some of the cruise experiences we enjoyed over the next week.