I just wanted to do a quick report on the Rhine River Cruise we were on from 8/1/2024 to 8/8/2024.
The cruise itself was wonderful, and the ABD guides were wonderful and so were the crew and staff.
Everything was definitely wonderful... except the following:
1) The only real complaint I had was that if you didn't want to do the excursions, you either had to plan your own day, or stay on the ship. If you stay on the ship, there are limited to no activities.
As far as the overall trip, the airplane travel parts in both directions had really awful experiences for us:
1) On the way there, we had a stopover in Heathrow. We were delayed by about an hour already, but the pilots reduced that to only about 35-40 minutes. The problem was that I had a 2 hour layover, which was now 1.5 hours. Which you would think would be enough time, however, once we landed, Heathrow was "busy", so we were stuck on the runways for around 15 minutes, and then instead of giving us a normal gate, we were deplaned at a remote location and had to be bussed to the airport, which was another 15 minutes (it could have been even longer had we not pushed our way to the front as much as we could, since there were multiple buses that were loaded one at a time). Thus we now had about an hour. Then we had to deal with the normal Heathrow security and customs stuff, when there was a hellishly long security line. We asked nicely to be able to skip the line, and were able to find the security person who was willing to do so for us, saving us at least 20 minutes. At this point, we then had to navigate the maze of heathrow, and find the gate, which turned out to be bussing you AGAIN to a remote terminal. However, the signs were indicating the flight was closing, so we had to run to the gate (keep in mind, that at least for us, this was in the middle of the night in terms of time). We were the second to the last group allowed to board the plane, so all those times I was able to push through paid off, and we got on the flight. However...
2) Now the luggage didn't make it on the flight. so in Basel, we found that out, and had to fill out some forms and they would deliver it to us at the hotel (we luckily did a pre-night hotel.) The guides greeted us and we made it to the hotel. The forms indicated like 4-5 phone numbers to try to reach them if you want status, or you can look online. However, the online website never updated (and it still says it will be delivered), and none of the phone #'s worked (I had the hotel front desk try all of them, none of them worked). So I am of course freaking out that the luggage won't make it. I told the hotel front desk that they could reach me at anytime to let me know the luggage is here. At 11:55pm, the luggage arrived, but they didn't call me (the shift changed, and he didn't get the memo I guess). I wake up around 2:30am and go down just in the hope that it was delivered and got the luggage.
So at this point, I believe Heathrow is the worst airport (I had previous not so great experiences there).
However....
3) We departed from Amsterdam Airport. This was possibly one of the worst experiences I ever had at an airport. I splurged for first class on the way home. At the airport, there was no first class checkin (that I could see, maybe I just missed it). There was just so much confusion and different lines. You first had to go to a kiosk, and indicate how many bags you want to check in. Then you had to go to my NEMESIS, the self checkin baggage collector horror show. First you had to wait in line for the privledge to use this monstrosity. Then once you got there, they show you 3 ways to put your baggage in, but none of them really correspond to a normal luggage. Turns out, the images shown DON'T actually correspond to how you are supposed to put the bag in the machine. The softside luggage with spinner wheels we had, instead of putting them on the wheels like you would think (and one of the images sort of show), you have to put it on it's side, or the monstrosity won't be able to scan the luggage tag they have you put on. I put the luggage tag on the top, like I do at EVERY OTHER AIRPORT, and that was wrong. At this point, you are screwed for that piece of luggage. You are not supposed to take the tag off, so you have to have that piece of luggage manually checked in. I flagged down a helper, and he was able to get my second bag checked in correctly through the monstrosity, and told me approximately where to go to get my first piece checked in.
4) At this point, I go to where he approximately pointed, and I couldn't figure out what new line to stand in. I tried a couple places that were wrong, then I found the right place. Here I waited, and I got the luggage checked in (I possibly, and am not sure, but I might have skipped part of the line, it was so confusing, so I felt bad about that, but at that point I was beyond frustrated).
5) Then you have to get to the rest of the process. I was in a specific terminal, and the signs for that terminal were all blocked off, and the only way to proceed was to go where the signs tell you not to go (i.e. I had to go to Gates G9, but the signs were indicating that you were going to gates A-D, for example) . So I ask, because I am not going to go around in circles at this point, and they indicate that all the signs are wrong, because they had to close off part of the airport for unspecified reasons (I got the feeling it was for staffing reasons, but am not sure). So I am following signs that are wrong (others around are saying the same thing). Eventually, we get to security and customs. Customs was quick, and they said that priority (remember I was supposed to be in first class) was only available for security. I didn't see the sign for priority for security until I was about half way through the security line, so oh well. Security wasn't so bad, so I wasn't too upset about that. Then, because we were routed to the wrong area to begin with (because it was closed off), we had to walk extra far to where we were supposed to go.
The combination of the self check in monstrosities plus the signs that were incorrect made me feel like Amsterdam was the worst airport I have ever experienced. I can't believe anyone would think that having these monstrosities is any better or saves on staffing that just doing things with humans accepting your luggage and putting it on the belt. (Please note that I have had worse experiences at airports, due to bad weather, etc., but those are really out of the airport and airlines control, but I feel that what is happening at Amsterdam is caused by them, because they wanted to experiment with the latest robot scanning luggage tag technology. I hope for the sanity of everyone that this experiment fails).
I used to have high opinions of European airports in the past (except for Heathrow), now, not so much.
First class was nice, I must admit once I got on the plane. I do wish I was able to decipher how to make it easier for myself at the airport (unless they just don't have a first class check in).
6) The final thing was more just an observation at how stupid the TSA is. We arrive at Philadelphia from Amsterdam. We have to go through customs and security. Even though it's a connecting flight to my final stop, we had to collect our luggage in Philadelphia, walk a short distance, and then hand that same luggage to someone else who then does nothing with it (or even ask you any questions) other than putting it on a belt. They claim it's for security reasons, but when you look into more details, most of the reasons have to do with smuggling or crime, not with actual security, which is nice, but I don't think it's worth the extra hassle for everyone. Since the only times that the luggage is even checked is if the customer is flagged in some way, I really don't see the point. There are lots of reports of people missing their connections because of this needless step. Luckily we had enough time, so this wasn't a problem, just an annoying step. Otherwise it was relatively painless (other than the long walks we had to do to get to our connecting flight).
As far as the river cruise itself, if you have any questions, let me know.
Here is a video of how it's supposed to work. It's too bad that they don't provide enough instructions during the actual process, plus it's a complete madhouse in real life.
The cruise itself was wonderful, and the ABD guides were wonderful and so were the crew and staff.
Everything was definitely wonderful... except the following:
1) The only real complaint I had was that if you didn't want to do the excursions, you either had to plan your own day, or stay on the ship. If you stay on the ship, there are limited to no activities.
As far as the overall trip, the airplane travel parts in both directions had really awful experiences for us:
1) On the way there, we had a stopover in Heathrow. We were delayed by about an hour already, but the pilots reduced that to only about 35-40 minutes. The problem was that I had a 2 hour layover, which was now 1.5 hours. Which you would think would be enough time, however, once we landed, Heathrow was "busy", so we were stuck on the runways for around 15 minutes, and then instead of giving us a normal gate, we were deplaned at a remote location and had to be bussed to the airport, which was another 15 minutes (it could have been even longer had we not pushed our way to the front as much as we could, since there were multiple buses that were loaded one at a time). Thus we now had about an hour. Then we had to deal with the normal Heathrow security and customs stuff, when there was a hellishly long security line. We asked nicely to be able to skip the line, and were able to find the security person who was willing to do so for us, saving us at least 20 minutes. At this point, we then had to navigate the maze of heathrow, and find the gate, which turned out to be bussing you AGAIN to a remote terminal. However, the signs were indicating the flight was closing, so we had to run to the gate (keep in mind, that at least for us, this was in the middle of the night in terms of time). We were the second to the last group allowed to board the plane, so all those times I was able to push through paid off, and we got on the flight. However...
2) Now the luggage didn't make it on the flight. so in Basel, we found that out, and had to fill out some forms and they would deliver it to us at the hotel (we luckily did a pre-night hotel.) The guides greeted us and we made it to the hotel. The forms indicated like 4-5 phone numbers to try to reach them if you want status, or you can look online. However, the online website never updated (and it still says it will be delivered), and none of the phone #'s worked (I had the hotel front desk try all of them, none of them worked). So I am of course freaking out that the luggage won't make it. I told the hotel front desk that they could reach me at anytime to let me know the luggage is here. At 11:55pm, the luggage arrived, but they didn't call me (the shift changed, and he didn't get the memo I guess). I wake up around 2:30am and go down just in the hope that it was delivered and got the luggage.
So at this point, I believe Heathrow is the worst airport (I had previous not so great experiences there).
However....
3) We departed from Amsterdam Airport. This was possibly one of the worst experiences I ever had at an airport. I splurged for first class on the way home. At the airport, there was no first class checkin (that I could see, maybe I just missed it). There was just so much confusion and different lines. You first had to go to a kiosk, and indicate how many bags you want to check in. Then you had to go to my NEMESIS, the self checkin baggage collector horror show. First you had to wait in line for the privledge to use this monstrosity. Then once you got there, they show you 3 ways to put your baggage in, but none of them really correspond to a normal luggage. Turns out, the images shown DON'T actually correspond to how you are supposed to put the bag in the machine. The softside luggage with spinner wheels we had, instead of putting them on the wheels like you would think (and one of the images sort of show), you have to put it on it's side, or the monstrosity won't be able to scan the luggage tag they have you put on. I put the luggage tag on the top, like I do at EVERY OTHER AIRPORT, and that was wrong. At this point, you are screwed for that piece of luggage. You are not supposed to take the tag off, so you have to have that piece of luggage manually checked in. I flagged down a helper, and he was able to get my second bag checked in correctly through the monstrosity, and told me approximately where to go to get my first piece checked in.
4) At this point, I go to where he approximately pointed, and I couldn't figure out what new line to stand in. I tried a couple places that were wrong, then I found the right place. Here I waited, and I got the luggage checked in (I possibly, and am not sure, but I might have skipped part of the line, it was so confusing, so I felt bad about that, but at that point I was beyond frustrated).
5) Then you have to get to the rest of the process. I was in a specific terminal, and the signs for that terminal were all blocked off, and the only way to proceed was to go where the signs tell you not to go (i.e. I had to go to Gates G9, but the signs were indicating that you were going to gates A-D, for example) . So I ask, because I am not going to go around in circles at this point, and they indicate that all the signs are wrong, because they had to close off part of the airport for unspecified reasons (I got the feeling it was for staffing reasons, but am not sure). So I am following signs that are wrong (others around are saying the same thing). Eventually, we get to security and customs. Customs was quick, and they said that priority (remember I was supposed to be in first class) was only available for security. I didn't see the sign for priority for security until I was about half way through the security line, so oh well. Security wasn't so bad, so I wasn't too upset about that. Then, because we were routed to the wrong area to begin with (because it was closed off), we had to walk extra far to where we were supposed to go.
The combination of the self check in monstrosities plus the signs that were incorrect made me feel like Amsterdam was the worst airport I have ever experienced. I can't believe anyone would think that having these monstrosities is any better or saves on staffing that just doing things with humans accepting your luggage and putting it on the belt. (Please note that I have had worse experiences at airports, due to bad weather, etc., but those are really out of the airport and airlines control, but I feel that what is happening at Amsterdam is caused by them, because they wanted to experiment with the latest robot scanning luggage tag technology. I hope for the sanity of everyone that this experiment fails).
I used to have high opinions of European airports in the past (except for Heathrow), now, not so much.
First class was nice, I must admit once I got on the plane. I do wish I was able to decipher how to make it easier for myself at the airport (unless they just don't have a first class check in).
6) The final thing was more just an observation at how stupid the TSA is. We arrive at Philadelphia from Amsterdam. We have to go through customs and security. Even though it's a connecting flight to my final stop, we had to collect our luggage in Philadelphia, walk a short distance, and then hand that same luggage to someone else who then does nothing with it (or even ask you any questions) other than putting it on a belt. They claim it's for security reasons, but when you look into more details, most of the reasons have to do with smuggling or crime, not with actual security, which is nice, but I don't think it's worth the extra hassle for everyone. Since the only times that the luggage is even checked is if the customer is flagged in some way, I really don't see the point. There are lots of reports of people missing their connections because of this needless step. Luckily we had enough time, so this wasn't a problem, just an annoying step. Otherwise it was relatively painless (other than the long walks we had to do to get to our connecting flight).
As far as the river cruise itself, if you have any questions, let me know.
Here is a video of how it's supposed to work. It's too bad that they don't provide enough instructions during the actual process, plus it's a complete madhouse in real life.
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