Dutch Waterwaya with ' Saga '

[Manoverboard]

Dutch Waterways with ‘ Saga ‘.

Our latest Riverboat holiday was a six day venture / adventure, into the Dutch Waterways at a time intended to coincide with the blooming of Tulips in the wonderful Keukenhof Gardens, nr Amsterdam. We booked April 13th to the 18th, inclusive.

The ship was the ‘ Regina Rheni II ‘ and the cruise started and ended in Amsterdam. Although booked with Titan this vessel is chartered exclusively by Saga but given that these two companies have recently merged it seems reasonable that they would share resources. To reach, and to return from, the ship we were offered a choice ... fly to / from Schiphol, use the Eurostar rail link or travel by coach via Folkestone and the Chunnel. We booked Eurostar for an additional £100 each.

We booked the holiday via ‘ Titan ‘ once again in order to take advantage of their itinerary and included Home Collection service, we were driven to the Park Inn nr Heathrow Airport the previous day to save us having to get up at silly o’clock to catch the morning Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels Midi. The distance from the Hotel to St Pancras is a tad over 20 miles yet it took one and a half hours and although the train journey ( and security ) was swift and uneventful we had then to endure a four and a half hour coach ride to get to our ship in Amsterdam. RAC ‘s mileage calculator suggests 2 hours 15 minutes. The passengers who travelled by coach had a rubbish experience in their overnight Hotel in Folkestone plus similar delays en route due to the horrendous traffic congestion in Amsterdam and its environs. My advice therefore for this particular destination is to fly.

Titan offered ‘ Regina Rheni II ‘ to cover the Dutch Waterways but also alternative holidays that would use higher graded Operators like Uniworld but these were for a longer duration and would additionally visit several Cities in Belgium which at the time of booking we had no wish to return to nor a desire to pay extra for the privilege.


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The Journey

DAY 1

The first day was spent getting there. We left London in sunshine but gradually the weather deteriorated to become increasingly cold, wet and miserable. We eventually arrived at about six in the evening and with dinner due at seven thirty there was deffo no chance of strolling into the City. During dinner we set sail for an overnight stop in Hoorn, it was to be an extremely short journey.

DAY 2

The other tours were included but we additionally booked the optional walking tour to discover the highlights of delightful Hoorn. This would depart at 09:00 hrs, albeit in the rain. We had booked in advance for a mere £8 and were back on board by 11:15 for our 11:30 planned departure to Enkhuizen. Arrived mid afternoon and armed with a thicker pullover / jumper we set off to locate the highlights but unfortunately there didn’t seem to be any.

DAY 3

This was the BIG day ... a visit to the beautiful Keukenhof Gardens.

Unfortunately it was raining again, only harder, and for good measure we had to go by coach via the outskirts of Amsterdam so spent yet more precious time sitting in their bl**dy traffic queues. The ship had thoughtfully provided us all with a packed lunch but these were only fit for the litter bin .... Dutch Apple Pie and coffee / hot chocolate in one of the Garden’s Cafes was to prove to be the preferred choice for many of the passengers.

It is reported that there are seven million tulips out there somewhere but obviously they do not all come out at the same time, no idea how many we saw but certainly ‘ lots and lots ‘ plus umpteen hyacinths and orchids etc. The indoor displays and outdoor settings were absolutely gorgeous and after five hours of walking I think we did manage to see everything. Signage is a tad confusing initially but becomes clearer as the day wears on, the supplied map was ok too but so wet that it fell to bits as indeed did the packed lunch bag prior to it being popped into a litter bin.

Meanwhile the ship has sailed to Lelystad for the overnight stay, we were once again transferred by coach .... .


DAY 4

By now we have adorned our thermal vests !!!

The Master Plan was to depart at 07:30 for Volendam but we had torrential rain coupled with a gale force 8 so the ship couldn’t get away from the harbour wall nor indeed was it deemed safe so to do even if it were possible. Lots of blah, blah, blah while they worked out what to do, meanwhile we will explore the highlights of Lelystad. It’s quite hard to walk in a straight line and it’s really cold but we struggle on towards the replica of an East Indies trader ship only to find that it is not presently open to visitors, I drew the line at visiting the shopping outlet so we zigzagged back to the ship for lunch.

At this juncture I was informed that we were docked in fresh water and the half a dozen masted sailing ships on the other side of the harbour wall were in salt water that was an extension of the North Sea, the two are separated by the harbour wall plus locks of course.

All sorted, there’s only one thing for it ... we will order up another soddin’ coach to take us to Vollendam and the included excursion to the Zaane Schans Windmill Village.

There were three coaches, two went via Amsterdam but our driver, who was presumably as fed up with this route as we were, decided to take the road over the dyke, hmmm.

Try to picture a strip of built up land that was, I guess, not much more than 60 feet wide curving back in forth for 34 Kilometres in the middle of the sea / huge lake / ocean. On one side was the fresh water that we have been sailing on for the past three / four days and on the other side was water from the North Sea. Half way across we were advised that approx 27% of Holland lies below sea level and that ‘ our ‘ part was six metres below sea level. The scaredy cats in the front seats moaned ‘n’ groaned causing us to return via Amsterdam, presumably just in case the dyke fell apart with them stranded without a life jacket in the middle of a raging sea.

Anyhow we arrived safely and noted the six windmills, a clog factory plus a cheese making establishment but I am getting increasingly wet and cold, am also rapidly losing interest and just want to go home, light the fire and watch the footy.

We return ( by coach, naturally ) and sail later for our 2 nights in Amsterdam.

DAY 5

The sun is shining and we are moored up in the commercial dock well away from the City but no matter we will be taken to the ‘ Grey Line ‘ operator for a comprehensive canal boat cruise followed by a tour of the different parts of the City in one’s trusty coach No ‘ 2 ‘. There was some free time to see one of the museums or the diamond factory etc but the queues were massive so we went back to the ship to get the packing out of the way.


Day 6

Departure time is 07:30 and it would be five thirty when we eventually got home.


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Saga’s ship ‘ Regina Rheni II ‘


The cabin

We upgraded to deck 3 and paid a significant premium for doing so.

There are no coffee making facilities nor a fridge but coffee is available 24/7 from the coffee station.

The bathroom was the pokiest we have ever encountered and the toiletries were wrapped but basic at best.

The electronic safe wouldn’t lock on a number of occasions and when it eventually did ( with repeated help from Admin ) it wouldn’t open again, it seems that a number of other passengers also experienced difficulties in this regard.

The bed and pillows was really comfy ... thanks for that.


Food and Dining

One is allocated a table on the first night and it remains yours for lunch and dinner for the entire cruise. We shared table No 9 with two other couples and we spent most of the time laughing which was a real tonic given the somewhat depressing weather we were experiencing.

Breakfast was somewhat limited but entirely acceptable for our needs, lunch was essentially a buffet with a few extra menu choices. One’s evening meal was also perfectly acceptable but for us it was rather disappointing and lacking in creativity or presentation when compared to the other Riverboat Lines that we have cruised with. A limited choice overall and more akin to school dinners than ‘ A la Carte ‘. Wine was plentiful at lunch and during the evening meal but was restricted throughout to a standard Chardonnay and a slightly vinegary and lightweight Cabinet Sauvignon.

We had Gala dinners for the usual Captain’s Welcome and Farewell Do’s which improved parts of the menu, it also upped the dress code a notch from ‘ Smart Caj ‘ to ‘ Jacket n Tie ‘ required.

I have read reports suggesting that the food is superb on Saga Holidays but that was not our experience, albeit it was perfectly reasonable at the cheapest cabin price point if 3 star cruising is your preference.


Service and gratuities

The service was perfectly satisfactory but not outstanding. It did not seem to be a happy ship, hard to put a finger on it but something was amiss.

Titan provided advance advice about tipping together with the appropriate amount, it seemed to be on the low side but perhaps it was correct for the grade of ship I decided. However, midway through our Captain’s Farewell Gala Dinner some Muppet announced over the airwaves that they would require a minimum gratuity of between 5 and 7 Euros per person per night ... they were lucky that we left a tip at all given that outburst.


Entertainment

Always low key on a riverboat cruise but it was suitable for our needs.


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Titan

The transfer drivers to and fro at either end of the holiday were superb as always but although we are aware that porterage is not always available in transit it would / could have been extremely difficult for some of the elderly passengers to negotiate their luggage from the revised drop off zone to the Brussels Midi Eurostar check in desks. These are presently some 150 yards away and were accessed via a cobble stoned pavement. Army personnel were patrolling this district but we felt perfectly safe making this journey via the tunnel.

There were three Titan personnel on this cruise, a new one on us, but we thought that two of them fell short of the usual high standard.


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Overall impression.


The main attraction was Amsterdam itself plus the beautiful Keukenhof Gardens of course, both lived up to expectation but the other places were less impressive, on reflection we should have booked a longer cruise with a more diverse itinerary.

We had not anticipated spending as much time in a transit coach nor had we envisaged such a short period of daytime sailing in the ship. Having said that the area is as flat as a pancake and virtually featureless so forget about taking photographs of the landscape.

I had a preconceived idea of a Saga Cruise, crammed to the rafters with old folk and an imbalance of slow moving widow ladies ... that was exactly how it was.

We will not book another Saga Cruise but will be happy to sail again with Amadeus or Uniworld with Titan.

Glad we went but have no intention of returning any time soon.

FIN

[Mervyn and Trish]

Disappointing Moby, but thanks for helping us to dodge a bullet! We enjoyed the one river cruise we've done to date and plan more sometime - but Saga are now off the short list!

[qbman1]

Really interesting, thanks, particularly as we are considering a similar cruise next spring. Not planning to go anywhere near Saga though !

[Mervyn and Trish]

We used Avalon Cubie - excellent - and we hear good reports of Viking too

[oldbluefox]

Welcome back Mob. Sorry to hear you were disappointed with the cruise but doubt the weather would have helped. Keukenhof is well worth a visit. Glad now that I didn't send you the footie results since they weren't good either.

[qbman1]

Anyone have any experience of Shearings river cruises? They seem to have a good Holland itinerary

[Manoverboard]

Welcome back Mob. Sorry to hear you were disappointed with the cruise but doubt the weather would have helped. Keukenhof is well worth a visit. Glad now that I didn't send you the footie results since they weren't good either.

Our footy result was good ... we beat West Brom, saw it on Sky News on telly in t' cabin

[Manoverboard]

Anyone have any experience of Shearings river cruises? They seem to have a good Holland itinerary

Funny that you should ask that, had never seen one let alone sailed in one but we had to clamber over one of theirs to get to the coach on days 5 and 6 cos we had double parked at Amsterdam. The main staircase to their sun deck was horrendously steep and the ship as a whole looked tired and very dated. The tone overall was deffo of Butlins rather than Cunard ... not for us we thought at the time.

[oldbluefox]

I wasn't talking about your footie results Mob!!!

[Lynda and David]

We used Avalon Cubie - excellent - and we hear good reports of Viking too

We were on Avalon's Creativity earlier this month on their Paris to Normandy cruise and we have to agree with Mervyn and Trish that they are excellent. This was our first river cruise and we are already planning to use them for a Rhine cruise next year and also their Bulb fields cruise from Amsterdam at some point.

We were talking to a couple from our ship who have cruised a couple of times with Viking and they too said Viking are very good.

When I get some spare time this weekend I'll post a review of our river cruise.

Lynda

[Gill W]

Thanks for the review, it doesn't sound like the best of cruises, but it sounds like you made the most of it.

[GillD46]

An interesting review, thank you. Not for us definitely, can't travel for long on coaches, but still interesting reading.

[kaymar]

Whoops! Thanks for the excellent report, moby - perhaps we'll give this one a miss!

Better luck next time?

[Happydays]

Interesting to read your report. It brought back memories for me
We went to the gardens, windmills and Amsterdam quite a few years ago on a coach holiday and enjoyed it very much, the flowerbeds were spectacular. We were lucky with the weather as it was dry and sunny that does make a difference.

[Manoverboard]

Interesting to read your report. It brought back memories for me
We went to the gardens, windmills and Amsterdam quite a few years ago on a coach holiday and enjoyed it very much, the flowerbeds were spectacular. We were lucky with the weather as it was dry and sunny that does make a difference.

Yes, the weather would have made a huge difference.

The trip reminded us of two previous cruise ship visits to Amsterdam, the first had torrential rain and we couldn't see a thing out of the canal boat windows and the second time, although sunny, I was quarantined due to the dreaded Noro.