River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

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Meg 50
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River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#1

Post by Meg 50 »

Rhone- Saone cruise.
8 May - 16 May

we started in an unusual manner - this arrived from our TA the day before we set off:
morning
LUFTNER and all other companies have a problem on the Rhone and Saone with high water which may cause changes to the sailing schedule for the sailing on Thursday

They have offered
-a total refund of the cruise price if you wish to cancel
or
- free transfers from Lyons to the ship further North in Macon ,free excursions and to sail as far as possible South as soon as the water level drops,

Luftner will not refund travel costs and will do everything possible to offer a full programme – as always all the meals are included so the ship remains a great Hotel

If you decide to travel, I need TRAIN DETAILS – time of arrival and which LYON Station to arrange to pick you and transfer to the ship


we decided to go.....


Weds May 8th
Set off by tram/train for St Pancreas/Paris/Lyon Part Dieu. Walked to Hotel Helder. Wished we'd known the tram from Part Dieu stops almost outside - it would have saved us a half hour walk…
Hotel adequate. Not a lot of restaurants nearby - 2 day bank holiday not helping…. Weather humid and damp.

Thurs 9th
Breakfast curious no staff anywhere - just help yourself. Luggage left in a lock up while we explore town. No sign of ship or rep… Lyon a lovely city - we walked miles. Will return to do the Botanical gardens if we come back with the ship…
3pm we collect luggage from hotel and make for Quai Claude Bernard - as we approach I see a lady with a Luftner sign heading our way at speed. Coach to Macon to pick up ship thee - it's been there for at least 2 weeks cos water level too high to get under the bridges. Last week's cruise went nowhere so people were bussed/tgv'd around the area.
Eventually joined by an assortment of people and set off at 4 for Macon. Lots of flooding in fields on the way.
Hand sanitiser as board. Shown to cabin by stewards. Once luggage arrived ( about 5 mins) we set off to explore - unpacking can wait….
Very welcome tea and pastries/ savoury snacks available so exploration postponed a wee bit!
Dinner at 7.30, then safety talk/daily briefing for english speakers at 9.30.
Hope to sail tomorrow at 6pm (normal itinerary says Macon tours so they'll go ahead as planned). Hope we get to sail - it's peeing down with rain.

Friday 10th
Declined the vineyard tour and explored the town instead.
After lunch C set off on a Cluny trip while M decided to stay and sun bathe - eventually driven indoors by the lowering temperatures…. Notices have appeared saying 'be back on board by 5.30' - promising…

Yes!!!!!!!! We sailed at 6pm - northwards through Tournus and a lock. The reflections in the water are spectacular
Arrived at Chalon Sur Saone at bedtime

Sat 11th May. Chalon Sur Saone.
Just about to disembark when we were stopped cos the ship needed to move to make room for Viking Europe on our inside - they'd chickened out of moving from Macon until we'd proved it was possible. The purser was delighted it was their carpets that would have the extra foot fall rather than ours!
We explored the town and after lunch went for a massage and after thew obligatory post massage wind down we went back to do the bits of town we'd missed on the first trip.
At today's briefing it was announce d that tomorrow we sail for St Jean de Losne

Sun 12th May
Sailing , then St Jean de Losne.
As we sailed up stream the crew laid on a 'Taste of Provence - Moules, cheeses, wine ( all at 10am!) not surprisingly, not many came to lunch!
This is the first 'large ship' to have ventured this far up the Saone and we caused a sensation - people kept rushing out along the banks with cameras, and once in town ( tiny, only 1000 or so inhabitants) every one came for a look!
After lunch we went off on a trip to Dijon. A wonderful town and totally unexpected - not on the original itinerary!
Tomorrow we sail south at 12.30 pm

Mon 13th May St Jean de Losne
A trip to Louhans Market was on offer, but it appeared to only have 30 mins free time, so we declined, exploring the Marina instead.
I overheard an American passenger announce that the problem wasn't bridges or water levels, but that the ships are too big!
At the afternoon briefing the possibility of sailing to Lyon was mooted….
By 930pm it was in stone.
There was a pirate dinner - complete with waiters waving cutlasses! Followed by crew entertainment for the passengers.

Tuesday 14th May. Macon until lunchtime when we set sail for Lyon. The sun blazed down and we sat out on the sundeck and roasted while listening to the birds singing - heaven.
As we sailed into Lyon during dinner we realised the extent of the problem as we cleared one bridge with only millimetres to spare. Then it started to rain…

Weds 15th May - and rain and rain. Our planned trip to the botanical gardens was cancelled and we walked to Part Dieu shopping centre instead.

Thursday 16th May
Home time - tram to Part Dieu stn, TGV to Lille Europe (horrible place), Eurostar to St Pancreas, train to Croydon, tram home!


Stats:
129 booked, but only 81 coming after being offered cancellation
24 Hebrew
18 US (Gate 1)
23 UK
2 Chilean
Rest German

Crew mainly Eastern European - Bulgarian Hungarian, Romanian
Meg
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Dancing Queen
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#2

Post by Dancing Queen »

So how would you sum it up Meg, I realise there were problems because of the adverse weather but did it spoil any of the enjoyment, is it something you would do again, what was the food like, cabins .. were they spacious, sorry I've probably got loads of questions - as you know it is something we're looking to do.

Welcome Home :D
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Manoverboard
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#3

Post by Manoverboard »

Meg, many thanks for your report, like DQ we also have an interest in this type of Cruise.

Is this the Amadeus Symphony, if yes it looks stunning.

The rain and high water levels in March maybe but in May ... in Lyon ... that is so unfortunate and what a tough start to your holiday, the transfer sounds shambollic to me.

I am keen to appreciate the finer points about St Pancras and the train but that question is in another Topic and I would not wish to side track yours by getting into detail.

ps ... welcome home from me too.
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

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Meg 50
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#4

Post by Meg 50 »

hi - the transfer at the start was ok - I'm glad we didn't have to do it at the end too though.

the water levels were high all over - Seine and Rhine too!


the ship was lovely as were the crew and the company - cannot fault the organisation around the problems.


The travelling by train was ok as long as you ignore only running 4 coach trains in the London rush hour and that we disliked Lille....
Meg
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Meg 50
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

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Post by Meg 50 »

Yes, it was the Amadeus Symphony
Meg
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Meg 50
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#6

Post by Meg 50 »

Dancing Queen wrote:
So how would you sum it up Meg, I realise there were problems because of the adverse weather but did it spoil any of the enjoyment, is it something you would do again, what was the food like, cabins .. were they spacious, sorry I've probably got loads of questions - as you know it is something we're looking to do.

Welcome Home :D
cabins were similar to sea cruise cabins in layout, facilities and size.

Food was brill.

I'll see if I can work pout how to upload piccies
Meg
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Meg 50
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#7

Post by Meg 50 »

Meg
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Dancing Queen
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#8

Post by Dancing Queen »

Looks lovely and the boat ( are they boats rather than ships only asking before some smart ass picks me up on it :lol: ) looks very spacious.
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Romig1
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#9

Post by Romig1 »

Really interesting Meg, and nice pics too. Thanks for that. Looks like that's something we may consider in the future.


Boris+
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

#10

Post by Boris+ »

Welcome home Meg,

Just your words ..... listening to the birds sing etc - sounds like a great plan.

Many thanks for taking the time to post your report.

Em :)

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emjay45
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Re: River Cruise Saone/Rhone on Amadeus Symphony

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Post by emjay45 »

Enjoyed your report. Shame about the weather. This is something I would love to do a River Cruise, but getting to Europe without flying would be a little laborious for us I think.

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