Rhine River Getaway - 2017

There's nothing quite as relaxing as taking a riverboat cruise up the Rhine River. Recently, we were on AMA Waterway's newest riverboat, the AMAKristina, for a seven day river tour of the Rhine, from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. After departing the ship in Basel, we'll be taking a rail trip through Switzerland.

Three Days in Amsterdam
Before boarding the AMAKristina, we had three days on our own in Amsterdam. We've previously been to Amsterdam, so we tried to focus on places we missed during our first trip to this city. We spent one day on a relaxing city walk that allowed us to browse the many city areas and visit the Rijksmuseum, home of Dutch master paintings, including several by Rembrandt and Vermeer. We also toured the Royal Palace Amsterdam. On days 2 and 3, we met with a private tour guide from the Dutch Travel Advisor. Our first guided tour was at Delftse Pauw, one of two Delft pottery manufacturers still operating in Delft. We continued to view the old town of Delft and The Hague. At Den Hague, we visited the Mauritshuis Museum, Panorama Mesdag and old town areas and a walk by Binnenhof and Ridderzall government buildings and Noordeinde Palace. The second private guided tour brought us to the Flora Holland flower auction in Aalsmeer, a visit to the largest grower in the world of African Violets (30,000 plants shipped per work day), lunch with a local Amsterdam family and, finally, a visit to Keukenhof Gardens. Keukenhof Gardens is home to 7 million flowering bulbs and displays of other flowers over 70 acres of gardens. The timing of our visit was terrific as Keukenhof Gardens is only open two months of the year for the peak blooming period.

Keukenhof Gardens was constructed in 1949 with contributions from some of the largest regional flowering bulb growers. The gardens are very popular with visitors and a 60,0000 daily visitor count is common when the flower blooms are at their best.

Watching the action at the flower auction was fascinating. Flowers move from grower to auction house to bulk purchasers within a building covering 300 acres. 20 million flowers are moved through the auction each work day. Custom order of flowers, riding on trollies pulled by electric scooter, move quickly to ensure the delivery of fresh flowers and plants.

Walking Amid Tulips

Auction Theatre

Plants and Flowers on Trollies

Flowers and Plants Moving to Shipping

African Violets Young Plants 

African Violets, Ready for Shipping

AMAKristina
This ship entered service in Spring 2017. The AMAKristina is 435 feet long and has a staff of 51. Most of the 74 cabins have balconies offering 210-235 square feet of floor space and there are four larger suite cabins (350sf). The upper deck provides scenic viewing and a heated sun deck pool. The ship hosts a large dining area, fitness equipment, relaxing lounge area, spa and several bicycles for guest use during port stops. Unlike the previous river boats we've been on, the AMAKristina also has an elevator.

The general schedule provided one or more guided tours at each port stop. The tour options often included bus trips, walking tours and bike tours. This particular trip included stops in:

• Cologne, Germany
• Rudesheim, Germany
• Mannheim and Heidleberg, Germany
• Strasbourg, France
• Breisach, Germany and
• Basel, Switzerland

As time permits and photos are reviewed, I'll be posting updates to this blog for each port stop and our post-cruise rail tour of Switzerland.