Rhine cruise questions/pre-night and post-night recs?

[TravelJunkieHubby]

We are booked for the Rhine river cruise in July, planning to get into Switzerland 3-4 days before the cruise starts from Basel (probably staying around Interlaken).
1) Any tips for taking the train to Basel and getting to the cruise terminal?
2) We are debating about flying back from Amsterdam on the last day of the cruise vs. staying an extra 2 nights. I was curious if others who've taken the cruise feel like they saw enough of Amsterdam on Day 7 of the cruise or what activities you'd recommend for post-nights?
3) When do you pick the excursions during the cruise? Is it common for ABD to run out of slots for everyone interested in a particular excursion? How do the guides handle this situation?

Thanks!

 

[Eastridge]

1) Any tips for taking the train to Basel and getting to the cruise terminal?

I don't know about taking trains to Basel, but there really isn't a terminal. The boat pulls up along the side of the river. I did a pre-night and at the hotel they told us where the boat would be. They had buses taking people from the hotel to the boat, but since we were wandering around Basel we just took public transport and went their directly.

You might ask ABD in advance how to find where the boat will be.

2) We are debating about flying back from Amsterdam on the last day of the cruise vs. staying an extra 2 nights. I was curious if others who've taken the cruise feel like they saw enough of Amsterdam on Day 7 of the cruise or what activities you'd recommend for post-nights?

Depends on what you are interested in. We stayed an extra night. There is the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank house, van Gogh museum, Rembrandt house

3) When do you pick the excursions during the cruise? Is it common for ABD to run out of slots for everyone interested in a particular excursion? How do the guides handle this situation?

I reserved excursions as soon as I was able. Don't wait until you board the boat. Ask a Vacationista when you can do so. At least when I went, some activities fill up in advance.

 

[Steven G]

For #3, I am also going on Rhine river cruise (Aug 1 to 8), and I just talked to Disney, and they said that around 60 days before the trip, you will get an email providing the handbook as well as information as to how to choose excursions. You would then call ABD and book your excursions. This is assuming you have paid in full already.

I agree that you should NOT wait until you get on the boat if there is something you specifically want to do.

 

[Bobo912]

I did the Rhine cruise with another company, so I can't comment on anything ABD specific. But we did some tours in Amsterdam that I would recommend. We started with two tours with Eating Europe - one was a walking tour and the other a canal tour. Obviously, we like to eat. We also did a bus tour that I booked through Tours & Tickets, called Charms of Holland, which went to several different locations outside Amsterdam. It was a small group tour (max 15, I think) on a large motor coach and there were never any other tour groups at any of the locations while we visited, so it was worth paying a bit extra for the small group tour. There might be some overlap with your ABD activities. This was in 2017, so some things may have changed, but these tours are still listed on their websites and the descriptions look the same, except I didn't see any mention of regular vs small group, but it may be there somewhere. In Basel, we took the train to Lucerne. From there we went on a cruise on Lake Lucerne to the base of Mt Pilatus, and then took the cog wheel train to the top of the mountain. It was a very nice day trip. Hope you have a great cruise!

 

[Donalyn]

We did the Rhine ABD this last summer (and loved it, by the way). Here is what we did:

* We spent two nights in advance in Basel - we considered doing a day trip to Bern or outside of Basel for the one full day, but decided that there was enough to do in Basel to keep us interested, as we adjusted to the time change. Also, that reduced the stress of traveling for us. (We went to the Paper Mill museum, the toy museum, saw both city gates, the City Hall, the main church, the fountains, walked around old town, had some good food, walked around the river, etc. There are also great art museums.)

* We spent 4 extra nights in Amsterdam after the end of the cruise. There is so much to do and see in Amsterdam! There are 4 world class museums - and you will see only one with the ABD. And there are other interesting museums and things to do, fun food, etc. And even with the extra 4 nights, we didn't get to see everything that I wanted to see. (But my family doesn't move very fast, to be fair.) I again considered a day trip to a different Dutch city, but given the dates and when we could get tickets for Anne Frank, etc., we decided to just stay in Amsterdam.

And definitely book your excursions when they let you if there are things that you really want to do. (I got up an hour early to book ours on the day that they let insiders book.) What do you want to make sure that you get?

 

[carolinadj]

I did the Rhine cruise with another company, so I can't comment on anything ABD specific. But we did some tours in Amsterdam that I would recommend. We started with two tours with Eating Europe - one was a walking tour and the other a canal tour. Obviously, we like to eat. We also did a bus tour that I booked through Tours & Tickets, called Charms of Holland, which went to several different locations outside Amsterdam. It was a small group tour (max 15, I think) on a large motor coach and there were never any other tour groups at any of the locations while we visited, so it was worth paying a bit extra for the small group tour. There might be some overlap with your ABD activities. This was in 2017, so some things may have changed, but these tours are still listed on their websites and the descriptions look the same, except I didn't see any mention of regular vs small group, but it may be there somewhere. In Basel, we took the train to Lucerne. From there we went on a cruise on Lake Lucerne to the base of Mt Pilatus, and then took the cog wheel train to the top of the mountain. It was a very nice day trip. Hope you have a great cruise!

How did you get to the Basel train station? Did you purchase your fare online ahead of time? Would you recommend taking the train over flying to Zurich or Lucerne as far as convenience? Sorry about all the questions!

 

[Bobo912]

How did you get to the Basel train station? Did you purchase your fare online ahead of time? Would you recommend taking the train over flying to Zurich or Lucerne as far as convenience? Sorry about all the question

We walked to the train station. We were just taking a day trip to Lucerne, so we didn't have any luggage to deal with. You can also take the tram. Our hotel gave us a free tram pass for the length of the stay. I purchased our train tickets once we arrived at the station.

I don't believe there is an airport in Lucerne. You can fly to Basel or Zurich. From Zurich, you can take the train to Basel or Lucerne. Our cruise was from Amsterdam to Basel and we flew home from Basel, so I didn't visit Zurich. If time isn't an issue, I would take the train, just to be able to see more of the country. Also, I don't get to take a train very often, so for me it's more of an adventure than flying.

 

[carolinadj]

We walked to the train station. We were just taking a day trip to Lucerne, so we didn't have any luggage to deal with. You can also take the tram. Our hotel gave us a free tram pass for the length of the stay. I purchased our train tickets once we arrived at the station.

I don't believe there is an airport in Lucerne. You can fly to Basel or Zurich. From Zurich, you can take the train to Basel or Lucerne. Our cruise was from Amsterdam to Basel and we flew home from Basel, so I didn't visit Zurich. If time isn't an issue, I would take the train, just to be able to see more of the country. Also, I don't get to take a train very often, so for me it's more of an adventure than flying.

Thanks for the information. You’ve been very helpful!

 

[EvelynL]

Interested to know if OP has been able to book excursions yet for a July trip.