Enjoy a post Thanksgiving tour you'll be very thankful for experiencing.

You'll cruise the Rhine River, with a pre-cruise option to see more of Switzerland and a post-cruise option to travel through The Netherlands and Belgium.

Plenty of included shore excursions and exclusive Travel Insider benefits (at no extra charge) make this a varied kaleidoscope of European life, enhanced by the seasonal Christmas markets where a delightful variety of local craft items are offered for sale.

Rhine River Christmas Markets Cruise A magical European Christmas cruise experience Travel Insider Discount - Save 5% off published rate

Join a small group of 'Travel Insiders' and share the enjoyment of a very different style of vacation on a custom built river boat.   Glide by picture postcard scenes during the magic of the pre-Christmas season in Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and optionally Belgium too.

Maybe you've cruised on a gigantic cruise ship before.  Our Christmas Markets river cruise is very different.  The nearly new deluxe river cruiser, Amalegro, has only 73 cabins, making for a much more personal and less institutional experience.

The river cruise itinerary is also very different to a traditional ocean cruise.  You never have rough seas, and you're always treated to beautiful views out your cabin window, never just empty ocean.
 

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Cruise Dates

Start Date and Options

You should leave the US on or before Thursday 2 December 2010, so as to arrive into Basel on or before Friday 3 December.  You board the ship on Friday afternoon, 3 December, 2010.

Many people choose to arrive a day before the start of the cruise.  This means if you - or your luggage - should miss a connecting flight, or if anything else goes wrong, you still have a day up your sleeve before the start of the cruise.

It also gives you a day to 'de-jetlag' before the cruise gets underway.

We are offering a very flexible pre-cruise extension in Switzerland for one, two, three or four nights, and you can of course fly from the US even earlier and add more time in Europe as you wish prior to the cruise any way you want.  One thought is to fly to Paris, spend time in Paris, then take an easy fast comfortable train to Geneva and join our pre-cruise option there.  More details in the next section.

End Date and Options

The cruise ends in Amsterdam on the morning of Friday, 10 December.

The ship arrived into Amsterdam the previous afternoon, so you can leave as early as you like to make a flight home on Friday.  In most cases, if you fly home that day, you will arrive back in the US the same day.

We are offering another flexible post-cruise extension to Belgium, and of course you are free to add to this further or do anything else you may wish to do.  More details immediately below.

Pre and Post Cruise Optional Extensions

You are welcome to fly into Europe any time you wish, of course, and to return home at any time, too, and similarly you don't need to limit yourself to simply flying in to Basel and out of Amsterdam.

We offer a Travel Insider exclusive extension to enhance your overall tour experience.

Pre-Cruise Options - Zurich, Geneva, and more

We strongly recommend you should arrive in Europe at least one day before the cruise starts, for two reasons.  Firstly, this gives you an 'emergency day' in case you - or your bags - miss flights or have any other types of problems en route.

Secondly, it gives you a day to adjust to the new time zone and to relax after your flight(s).

We are offering you the chance to spend one or two preliminary nights in Zurich, and if your schedule allows, a third and optionally fourth preliminary night in Geneva.  In addition to touring in these two cities, we also have touring in Lausanne and Bern on the day we travel between Geneva and Zurich, and Lucerne and Basel on the day we travel from Zurich to Basel (no Basel touring is included on our cruise).

Day by day details of this pre-cruise option can be seen here.

Post-Cruise Options - Touring to Brussels

Here's a great way to see a lot more of The Netherlands and Belgium.

On Friday 10 December we'll travel by coach on a lovely day of sightseeing.  We'll stop for morning tea in The Hague (seat of government for The Netherlands and home of the International Court of Justice), lunch in Rotterdam (The Netherlands' second largest city and Europe's largest port), and afternoon tea in Antwerp (famed for its diamond trade) before arriving into Brussels late that afternoon.

For those of us spending a second night in Brussels (Sat 11 Dec), we include a city tour in the morning, leaving you the afternoon free to enjoy the area as you wish.

Day by day details of this post-cruise option can be seen here.

Special Savings

This cruise is offered to you with a special discount of 5%, making the price less than the regular rate published on the official Amawaterways site.

In addition, you may quality for an extra $50 saving if you are an AARP member, and another $100 if you've traveled on a previous Amawaterways/Amadeus Waterways cruise.  You could end up saving another $150 per person - $300 for the two of you!  The cruise savings will go a long way to paying your airfare.

Plus, there's still more.  You'll get extra values from The Travel Insider - great values on the pre and post cruise options (compare our four night pre-cruise option that goes to Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Zurich and Lucerne and includes more touring, priced at $975, with that offered by Amawaterways, which goes only to Zurich and Lucerne at a $920 cost), two private cocktail reception parties on board (all drinks included), as well as The Travel Insider himself (David Rowell) traveling with you all the way as your personal escort.

And there's also the Travel Insider exclusive optional extension on to Brussels via The Hague, Rotterdam and Antwerp at the end of the cruise.

About the Cruise/Tour

Like a traditional cruise, this is a fully meal inclusive cruise, and - better than a traditional cruise - it includes a generous amount of shore touring as well.  You won't have to pay extra for your shore touring when visiting the lovely towns and cities as you cruise through Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The cruise of course includes three great meals a day, plus various other snacks, on-board entertainment, as well as generous opportunities to sightsee, both from the boat as it cruises the river, and while ashore during the many stops.  You typically have time to both participate in a provided tour and also to sightsee and shop on your own.

Indeed, the shopping is part of the experience on this tour, as you visit various local craft Christmas markets in the different towns and cities.  You'll be able to buy distinctive gifts for all your friends and family this year!

A nice extra feature is free wine, beer or soda with every dinner.  And if you wish to drink more wine, you'll be delighted at the bargain prices that wine sells for ashore.

While all meals are available on the vessel, you'll also be able to experience other dining opportunities ashore if you wish.  Similarly, the on-board entertainment can be supplemented with visits to clubs and bars and shows ashore - the vessel will sometimes stay in port until late at night, allowing you a chance to experience each town by day and by night.

Because the ship carries a maximum of 148 passengers, everything is more personal.  The crew will remember you by name, and you have a chance to meet other people on board and to create new friendships.  Most people on these cruises seem to be variously middle aged and older.

More general information about river cruising in Europe can be found here.

A day by day, town by town photo journal of a Danube river Christmas Cruise can be found here.  We're of course going to different places on this Rhine river cruise, but the overall experience and markets will be similar.

Why River Cruising

River cruising is simply and absolutely the most comfortable and convenient way to travel around Europe.  You can unpack your bags and get comfortable in your lovely cabin and not need to repack or transfer until the end of the cruise - this in itself is probably all the convincing you'll need!

In addition, European towns have historically tended to be centered around the major rivers, and so river cruising is a great way to get to the lovely historic parts of Europe, at a sedate speed, and in luxurious comfort.

How else could you travel around Europe?  On a bus tour?  Yuck!  By train or car - yes, but then you have an abundance of travel hassles every day.

I've experienced every possible type of travel, and I'm a 100% convert.  River cruising is the best way to see Europe.  Try it, and you'll be sure to agree.

Why Cruise in Winter?

Ha - tricked you.  Early December is not yet winter - it is still late fall.  But, in any event, there are two good reasons to enjoy this cruise at this off-season time of year.

The first reason is simply because it is the off-season.  The crowds of people aren't as crushingly overpowering as they are in the busy season.  Instead of sometimes as many as 20 cruise ships mooring in (and overwhelming) the small towns we visit, we may be the only one, or perhaps there might be one other too.

The second reason is to experience the Christmas markets.  Because of the strong Christian tradition in the towns we visit, Christmas is viewed more seriously to start with, and the Christmas markets are a delightful celebration of our shared Judeo-Christian and European heritage.

Yes, the weather is cold, but nothing which several layers of warm clothes can't combat, and our five previous Christmas Market cruises have been blessed with good weather (ie usually no rain, very little snow and not uncomfortably cold).

I heartily recommend this cruise, and at this time of year.  I've loved it the five times I've done it, and the almost 200 Travel Insider readers who've accompanied me have been similarly charmed by it.

Try it for yourself - you'll be delighted you did.

About the Amalegro

Our cruise ship for this cruise, the Amalegro is nearly new (it was launched in 2007), having been custom designed to meet the special needs of the Danube, enabling it to operate in less favorable conditions than many of the other boats (ie when the water levels are 'too high' or 'too low').

The boat is long but narrow.  It is 360' long and 37.4' wide, and cruises at 15.6 mph.  This might seem like a slow speed, but it is faster than most of the other cruise boats, enabling the boat to get between towns faster and giving you more time sightseeing.

Dining is single-seating and with no pre-assigned tables, so you can move about as you wish from meal to meal.  Amawaterways even provides a generous amount of complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks with your evening meal each night.

Smoking is restricted to the outside Sun Deck only.

Our cruise has been marketed primarily to English speaking people and the language on board is exclusively English.  This means you won't have the inconvenience of having to listen to every announcement being repeated in four or five different languages, and you can conveniently talk to your fellow guests (and likely soon to be new friends) on board.

Cabin Types

Cabins on the Amalegro are some of the largest of any Danube river cruise boat - a massive 170 sq ft each.  The 154 sq ft cabins on the earlier Viking cruise seemed spacious, but the 170 sq ft cabins on Amalegro are even more marvelously roomy and comfortable.

The cruise is offered in five cabin grades plus there are four suites as well.

There are 70 cabins and four suites on three decks, and all are well equipped with a/c, bathroom and shower, phone, flat screen television, internet access, hairdryer and safe.  The television has both local and satellite channels, a bridge-cam channel, and an evening movie channel.

All five grades of cabin are very similar in terms of size and amenities.  The main difference is the deck the cabins are situated on.

This picture clearly shows the three accommodation decks on Amalegro.  The top deck and the middle deck have floor to ceiling sliding doors and 'French balconies' (a very small space outside the sliding door), but the lower deck just has windows.

The most important difference though is not the style of window, but rather the height above the waterline.  There is a big difference in perspective and view between the top deck (suites and A category cabins) and the middle deck (B and C category cabins), while on the lowest deck (D and E category cabins) the floor is actually below the waterline and your windows and eye level is only a foot or so above the waterline.  On this deck, with even the slightest amount of bank on the sides of the river, you'll not see anything other than the water and bank from the bottom deck, and there may be a bit more water and machinery noise on that level too.

When moored, if your cabin is on the dockside rather than the outboard side, the lowest deck cabins will have a view blocked by the dock, the middle deck cabins may have a limited view, and the top deck cabins will usually have a view above the dock level.

These differences are much more profound than in a massive cruise ship where even the lowest deck is still a long way above the waterline.  Of course, if you do choose a D or E category cabin, you can spend the days in the public areas and enjoy the views from there, but if you can justify the extra cost to go up a deck or two, the chances are you'll be very pleased you did.

Special Exception - Rear cabins on top deck

Some passengers have found the rear-most cabins on the top deck to be noisier than cabins further forward on that deck (extra engine noise).  I've stayed in those cabins myself and haven't been troubled by the engine noise, although it is appreciably louder than further forward.

As a result, Amawaterways have downgraded the category of eight of the cabins, making four of them B and four of them C category cabins.

If you don't think you'd be troubled by the engine noise while the vessel is cruising at night, these would be tremendously good value cabins to choose - giving you the upper most deck and all its advantages, but at a lower cost than the otherwise identical A cabins a bit further forward.

Suites are 255 sq ft, cabins are 170 sq ft.

Tip :  Choose the least expensive cabin type on the deck you'd rather be on.  There is no added value in choosing a D cabin in favor of an E cabin, or a B cabin in favor of a C cabin.

Detailed Day by Day Itinerary
Click this image to have a larger map open in a new window	Click for a detailed day by day itinerary of this lovely cruise vacation. And click for a photo journal showing you the sights and experiences you'll enjoy on your Christmas Markets cruise.

Cruise Cost

Per person pricing for the cruise and the pre/post cruise options is shown in the table below and includes a special Travel Insider 5% per person discount off the regular Amawaterways fares.

Prices on the optional pre and post cruise extensions are currently slightly estimated and may vary depending on exact costs and the number traveling.

Note - save up to $150 more :

• If you are an AARP member, you can take an extra $50 off these prices.

• If you have sailed with Amawaterways (formerly Amadeus Waterways) before, you can take another $100 off these prices.

Extras and Inclusions

• Port Taxes are $133 per person.

• Single rate is 150% of the above per person share twin rates for cabins or 200% for a junior suite.  A guaranteed single share program is also available for category B cabins (see below).

• Single rate for the pre and post tour options varies depending on the number of days you're adding.  Please ask for the applicable rate.

• Air can be arranged for you by us through Amawaterways or you can make your own arrangements as you wish.  Air fares can be quoted from most cities in the US.

• Rates have been reduced 5% from the regular Amawaterways rates as a special Travel Insider discount

• Rates also include two Travel Insider cocktail parties on board Amalegro

• Rates can be discounted by an extra $50 if you are an AARP member, and/or $100 if you are a past Amawaterways customer (ie you can get as much as $150 extra discount if both apply)

You can pay for your cruise using a credit card with no credit card surcharge.

A $400 per person non-refundable deposit is required to confirm your participation and to hold your preferred grade of cabin on this cruise, and the balance is due 90 days prior to departure.

Single Guaranteed Share Program

If you are planning to travel by yourself, but would prefer to avoid the single surcharge, Amawaterways offer a guaranteed twin share program with another person of the same gender, in their category B cabins.

Alternatively we will make a best effort to connect you with another single Travel Insider group member, but can't guarantee to find someone compatible.

What about the Air Fare?

We suggest you check to see if you can use any frequent flier miles you might have for this travel, and/or check to see what the best fare you can get on your favorite airline is, and possibly use the www.kayak.com comparison service to see what the best airfares may be.  That's what we do, ourselves.

You are therefore free to make your own arrangements, any way you wish, to travel to Basel (or Zurich, Geneva, Paris, or anywhere else) and then home again from Amsterdam (or Brussels, Paris, or anywhere else), and you can of course make extra stops and arrive earlier or stay longer.  You can choose whichever carrier has the best fare and the best schedules for you, and you can also choose a carrier that you wish to earn miles with.

We'll be pleased to answer any questions you might have about arranging your air transportation, of course.

Which cities to fly in and out of

This might seem like an obvious issue, but remember that Europe is very small and so if you can't get convenient flights (or fares) on your preferred airlines to and from the obvious cities at the start and end of your tour, consider flying in or out of nearby airports and then using a train to get between that airport and the city you need to be in.

Amsterdam has a major airport with good service for most airlines to most places, but Basel is a secondary city, potentially costing more to fly into and with fewer flight options.

A suggestion to consider might be flying to a major airport and then taking a train to Basel, or, if you are doing any of our pre-touring, to either Zurich or Geneva.

In particular, you might want to think about a simple roundtrip to/from Paris, and then take fast comfortable convenient trains from Paris to Geneva for the start of the optional pre-cruise touring, and back to Paris from either Amsterdam or Brussels (if you're also doing the post-cruise touring).

Travel Insurance

We generally recommend you should protect against the various types of losses that may occur while traveling.

Amawaterways offer a policy that covers you for trip cancellation and interruption costs, medical costs, trip delay, and baggage delay or loss.  This is $245 per person.  The premium is payable with your deposit.

To add an extra trip cancellation premium that will allow you to cancel for any reason at all, add another $50.  With this add-on premium, if you cancel for a reason not covered by the main policy, Amadeus will refund you as much of your payment as is covered by their usual policy, and give you a voucher to be redeemed against future travel any time in the next year for the balance.

Click here for a new page with more information on the Amawaterways travel insurance.

How to Extend or Vary this Tour

There are many ways you can extend or vary this tour.

In addition to the pre-packaged extensions we are offering (see above), you're of course free to add anything you like, before or after the cruise.

We recommend you consider arriving into Europe at least a day before the cruise starts, so as to give yourself a day to resolve any problems that may occur such as missing/delayed flights or losing luggage.

If you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  We're here to help ensure your experience is as good as possible.

Need More Information?

If you've a question or need more clarification, go ahead and ask.  Click for Live Chat Help (if we're online) or send us an email, or feel free to call us at (206)337-2317.

The Travel Insider is licensed by the State of Washington as a seller of travel - registration number 602 036 247.

Originally published 16 Apr 2010, last update 28 May 2011