Best Of

Great review Claudia, on my river cruise in May I also had the Diamond Baritones, they were a hoot, we also had dinner at Slot Loevestein and saw the play.

A few years ago on another river cruise I also stayed at the Amigo and went to the Manneken Pis Museum, the costumes are incredible.

It sounds like you had a great time. I've never done back to back trips, maybe I'll try that someday.

Always great reviews Claudia!

We decided on this cruise because Belgium isn’t on any other Tauck tour and we wanted to see more of the Netherlands.

Weather for this trip was very warm and sunny in Belgium. 80s were common and even 90 one day. Got a little cooler in the Netherlands.
We flew into Brussels airport around 8:30 am along with at least 4 other jumbo jets. The waiting line for passport control was huge. Apparently, that’s common at that airport.

With Gift of Time, this tour starts at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels which is very well located just a few minutes’ walk from the Grand Place of Brussels. Lovely area to walk around which we had to do because it wasn’t until 3pm that our rooms were ready. The room was a good size and the view was the next door police dept bldg but quiet. We slept a bit and went out later when it was much cooler. Enjoyed an excellent waffle at Obe right across from the hotel.

The usual cruise day 1 – good breakfast at the hotel, meet the TDs, get luggage tags, prep bags for pickup and go out to sight see. We walked over to the Grand Place and toured the City Museum. Small but interesting museum which includes a history of the famous Manneken Pis (peeing boy statue). The statue has quite a history and an extensive wardrobe which is kept in a different location. Your museum ticket includes it. From the hotel you walk about 2 short blocks to the statue, maneuver around all the tourists taking photos, turn left and walk another few minutes. It was fun. At 3 the coach took us all to the ship. Usual first day on board.

Day 2 excursions included a city tour or an Art Nouveau tour. We had originally opted for the city tour but the CD let us switch to the Art Nouveau which was excellent. We drove around the city viewing loads of beautiful homes then stopped at the Van Buren home (yes the American Van Buren family). The house and gardens were amazing. Glad we switched.

Day 3 was Antwerp where we were docked right in the heart of it. We had a walking tour with a local guide ending at the cathedral. Could either walk back to the ship with the TD or stay to do a bit of shopping. We shopped and walked back on our own which was very easy to do. After lunch we made another excursion switch from the Fine Arts Museum to the beer tasting tour. That included walking to 3 pubs and 3 different Belgium beers. I loved the cherry beer. That night the Diamond Baritones performed in the lounge. The most entertaining group we’ve ever had on a cruise.

Day 4 was Bruges or Ghent. We opted for Ghent in part to see the famous alter piece, in part because it was Sat when Bruges would be packed with people and because we were warned that Bruges involved 3 miles of walking just to get to it from the coach. It was 90 that day. Ghent still involved a lot of walking. We first started at a City Museum, then walked from there to canal boats which took us into the city, then a walking tour to St Bavos. We entered the church with the guide but he couldn’t come with us to where the alter piece is displayed. Shoulders and knees needed to be covered there. We then got free time and 25 euros each for lunch. Our Tauck 1920’s party was after dinner that night. Only a few people had brought special outfits but it didn’t matter.

Day 5 was Gorinchem and finally some cooler weather. We walked from the ship with a local guide to tour this very tiny town and had a stop at a small church to listen to music. Dinner that night was at Slot Loevestein which required us to take a boat to it’s island. Their guides talked about the castle’s history then we saw a special play that referenced a famous prisoner in the castle. Dinner was provided in a modern building. By then our river cruise ship had moved to the castle’s dock so we boarded it directly.

Day 6 was Rotterdam or Leiden. We opted for Leiden. The local guide started at the university’s botanical garden which was interesting then we walked to a church with a history involving American pilgrims. Guide then took us to the area along the local river which was our meeting point after lunch. Anyone who wanted to could walk up to the highest point in the city (not very high) an old fortress. Leiden is a typical quaint cobblestoned village. We had plenty of time (and another 25 euros) for lunch and shopping. Sadly though it was Mon many shops were closed. That night was the Chef’s Dinner. Not the best I’ve ever had.

Day 7 was Amsterdam. We were docked west of central station. It’s still close but different than previous cruises. We all were bused to the parking garage under the Rijksmuseum and walked over to the canal for a 1 hour boat cruise. Very underwhelming local guide so I’m glad I’ve had previous cruises there. Those of us who opted for the ebike ride went back to the coach and headed to Volendam. The coach parked and we had to walk along the boardwalk to get to the bike rental location (about 15 minutes). Took a bit to match up helmets and bikes for each rider. Part of our group were 2 young girls, and they did not get ebikes which are too large and heavy for them. They had to pedal the hard way. Kudos to them that they kept a good pace. We headed out thru town and along a local road with bike lanes. We made a brief stop for photos at a windmill then when on to the dairy/cheese farm. It had the most amazing fully automatic milking system. We ended at their shop for samples and shopping if you wanted. Back to the village, another 25 euros and lunch on our own. We opted for a walk up that had kibberling (breaded fried fish nuggets) and fries then a separate stand for Dutch poffertjes (tiny puffy pancakes).

Day 8 departure. Since we were staying over in Amsterdam a couple of days (killing time before heading to our Scandinavian Land tour) the CD arranged a taxi to take us to our non-Tauck hotel which we paid for. He also arranged the transfer service to pick us up at the hotel for travel to the airport which Tauck covered.

Odds & Ends

There’s a LOT of walking on this cruise. Pretty close to an Activity Level 3.

We had a Category 6 cabin which we’ve had on Tauck’s Sapphire, Espirit & Treasures. It’s our favorite but I found that it’s different on the Grace. The cabin, bathroom and closet doors all open into the same area making it a challenge for two people to share and it lacked the 3 drawer dresser provided on the other ships. Hopefully Tauck’s new ships don’t repeat this.

The Compass Dining room menu had 5-6 main dish options every night including a new category called Hi Protein/Low Carb. The other change is at lunch where most hot items are now ordered instead of being on the buffet. Everything I had was good. Arthurs menu primarily featured Italian dishes at dinner.

The new Tauck water bottle is insulated, has a loop on the lid to carry and a wide opening. It’s also very heavy. Fine for in-room use but heavy for sightseeing.

Since this was a “waterways” vs river cruise, we had a confusing route involving multiple rivers and open waterways. The wide open areas were a bit weird if you’re used to river cruises. You could barely see the shore and had the closest to wave action I’ve ever felt on a river cruise.

For 2026, this cruise has been renamed Heart of Belgium and Holland.

Because of the euros given for lunches (a total of 150 for the two of us) we never bothered to find an ATM and actually have some leftover for our next tour. Credit cards with chips are the norm for most everything.

Let me know if I can answer any questions.