A Retrospective on Cruising

 

 

As everyone knows, I LOVE Cruising.  This was going to be my first time RIVER Cruising, and we had heard SO much from SO many people about how much better River cruising is over Ocean cruising.  Bill's step-dad had sworn off Ocean cruising, in favor of River cruises, and well, I had to try it.  

Overall, it was an amazing experience.  The people we met, the food we ate, and the places we went were all amazing.  We made friends that I think will probably remain close contacts over the years, and we made memories together that are irreplaceable.  

That being said, there was a conversation we had with our new friend Ilene about River cruising that I feel I should convey, as it summarizes much of our experience on cruising.  The question Ilene asked our table on the final evening was: "Would you choose AMAWaterways for your next vacation?"  Thankfully there were other people at the table that answered before it got to me.  I had to modify the question before I answered.  When it was my turn, I responded with: "If I were to river cruise again, would I choose AMAWaterways?"  The answer was, "Yes."  However, the better question is: "Would I River cruise again?"  The answer is: "Eventually."

Now, don't get me wrong.  AMAWaterways went above and beyond to ensure that our trip was amazing in every way.  Including making Bill a special lunch/dish that was reminiscent of his childhood.  However, we are definitely not the target audience for River cruises.  I think 1) we're too young and 2) we don't really do cocktail hours.  

A lot of the trip is geared towards sitting in the lounge drinking wine and spirits.  Oh, those wine and spirits? Even though you pay an arm and half a leg for the trip, wine and spirits are ONLY included during lunch and dinner.  They are NOT included the rest of the time.  Neither are soft drinks.  The ONLY thing included is water (which is in a carafe thingy in the lounge) and iced tea (next to the water).  Beyond that, it's pay, pay, pay.  I find it horribly offensive that soda is not something just offered as part of the fare.  Also, while the food is AMAZING, (AMAzing?), it's irritating that if you want a snack at 2pm, or some other time that's not lunch or dinner, you're just S.O.L.  Further, room service.  Simply not available.  When Bill had his fall, we called to have dinner delivered to him, and we were told "nope."  

Bill's Sweatshirt

Yes, it's making an appearance again.  Recall earlier I mentioned that the people we met were/are great people.  On our second to last night we met up with a couple, Chris and Laura (or Lauren, we're not sure), that arrived to the boat 2 days late.  On the 2nd to last day, their luggage still had not arrived.  They literally had the clothes they were wearing, and a couple souvenir type outfits that they had purchased in port.

As we all know, Bill has a huge heart and loves to help.  So, what does he do?  He offers up his sweatshirt to them, as they needed something warm.  We had spares, so...not a big deal.  But, I found the irony of "I lost my sweatshirt!" "I found my sweatshirt" and then "I'm giving you my sweatshirt that I lost but found!" pretty comical and Blog worthy.

European Bathrooms

I know this sounds weird, but I always find the culturally different bathrooms intriguing.  Not in a weird perverted way, but in a "why do they think this is appropriate" kind of way.  For example, in Australia the bathrooms are literally just a wall of water running down it that you pee into/on as a guy.  There's no stalls, no privacy, just a wall that you communally pee on.  In Japan, they're urinals, at least, but again, no stalls between them.  Instead they have handles on either side.  I'm not sure if Japanese pee with such force that they need to hold on, or...?

Anyway, European bathrooms are a whole new breed.  First...you have to PAY to use them.  Yep, anywhere between .50 and 2 Euro for the privilege to pee.  At least they're clean.  Thankfully there are stalls in most of the bathrooms I used here.  Unfortunately, many of the urinals, while having a privacy screen, were either back to back with the urinal behind you (I swear some of them you were using the person in the urinal behind you to to support yourself while peeing), or you were arm in arm with the person next to you, since the urinals were SO CLOSE to each other.

Anyway - some retrospectives for you before I move on to the Innsbruck posts.