Tulip Time April 2017 over Easter Holiday

KEAllen

Hello All,
The Northbound 4-15-17 Tulip Time Trip is coming up!! We are so excited to be able to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on this trip!
I have done as much prep as I can. We have two pre- cruise nights at Pulitzer hotel and 1 night post cruise at Sofitel Hotel. Our Anne Frank tix are bought. Our reservation for the Hotel Pulitzer canal boat are made, and we have plans to spend a day with my husband's cousin who lives in the Netherlands.
I am wondering how our cruise will be affected by the Easter holiday? I didn't even realize this when I made the trip reservations.
Any ideas? Anyone else going on this trip?
Thanks, Karen

vivamus

KEAllen: I, too, am on the 4/15/17 Northbound Tulip Time cruise. Nor did I study the calendar for holidays before booking. Easter and Easter Monday are both National Holidays in both Belgium and Netherlands. After I had discovered that we would be there over the holidays, I did some reading to try to learn what may be open. Read on internet that some tourist area restaurants may be open. I have not yet read what museums will or will not be open. Having travelled with Tauck before, I am sure Tauck will have suggestions and alternate plans as necessary to assure we have full/enjoyable days. I would hope that someone who reads this forum has travelled there over Easter and Easter Monday can alert us on what to expect. I am taking this trip as I understand gardens at Keukenhof to be magnificent. Hoping for sunshine and lots of tulips in bloom while we are there. I am staying an extra day after the cruise. I have read that there is a big floral parade on that Saturday, the 22nd that passes Keukenhof. Have any of the Taucktourians attended the parade? Worthwhile to go back to Keukenhof to watch parade? Too crowded? Thanks in advance to anyone who has info.

British

When I saw the initial post, I read your itinerary and most of it on those days appears to be mainly walking tours and if I remember correctly, one of the afternoons you cruise on to the next destination. So I would not be concerned and don't forget that a lot of Europe has changed and they are far less religious than the US population appears to be, it was one of the things I noticed when I moved to the US. So although it is a holiday, most of the 'Attractions' are likely to be open, busier than usual at that time of year, and if not open, Tauck will have alternatives or switched things around as best they can. Also surprised to see the tour is not full.

KEAllen

Thank you both for your replies. I just saw too that most of the activities those days are on our own and walking tours. I think that is great. Maybe that is why they switched this to a northbound cruise as it was originally southbound. That parade sounds great. Thank you for that info. I was wondering if we should return to the gardens post cruise to see more of the tulips and gardens. I think maybe we will need more time to explore. That parade may be the extra reason to go again. I bet it will be quite crowded too so we will see. I will ask my husband's cousin about this and also ask about it when we get there pre-cruise and figure it out. I am already praying for good weather and will be prepared either way.
This is our first Tauck trip. I too am surprised about it not being sold out. We are in a cat 4 cabin and those seem to have some availability. Of course there are more of those than any other.
I look forward to seeing you on the trip Vivamus. I think 118 passengers is a good amount of people. Not too big a crowd. We are from the northeast. I am hoping to go to the flower auction pre-cruise. I understand that is quite beautiful. I think being in the middle of Tulip season we should be good for seeing lots of blooms.
Only 6 more weeks!!
K

British

If you live in the NE, you might want to check out the Philadelphia Flower Show.from March 11th to 19th. The theme this year is 'Holland, Flowering the World' i will be there, the only two times I have missed it is when I have been on a Tauck tour. I am hoping to get back to The Netherlands soon, although I've spent a lot of time at Schipol airport!

Dixie Chick

Those of you on the April 15 trip might want to check out tulipsinholland.com. It is a great website with lots of info about the blooming progression of the flowers. According to the website, Easter weekend and flower parade weekend are the two busiest weekends of the entire flower season. Imagine the crowds when they fall at the same time!!!
So for those wondering---no, going to Keukenhof to see the parade on Saturday woukd probably be a really bad idea.
We are going on the same trip in 2018, at the exact same time, and we changed our departure from southbound to northbound when we realized that we would be going to Keukenhof on the Saturday of flower parade.
By the way, the itinerary for 2018 has been changed and is now going to/from Brussels/Amsterdam instead of round trip
Amsterdam/Antwerp.
And for what it is worth, I do not think that only one morning(about 2 1/2 hours) is nearly enough time to see Keukenhof. That is the main reason that I am going on this trip... to see the tulips. Tauck needs to rethink this cruise and add a couple of days, as do Uniworld and Viking, to include a whole day option at Keukenhof.
Whatever you do, enjoy the flowers.

Claudia Sails

I kind of wonder sometimes about how Tauck plans itineraries. We're on the Seine plus Versailles cruise this summer because we did'nt have time to see enough of Paris or any of Versailles on French Waterways cruise. The Seine cruise has a tour and lunch of a different chateau on day 2 then make you choose between Versailles or Monmarte on day 3. Why would a main feature of a tour be an optional activity? Thankfully we'll have the Gift of Time to see some of the Versailles gardens on our own.

vivamus

For those on the April 15 departure falling over Easter: I did a little more reading on internet to see what was open and what was not. In Antwerp: Rubens House Muesum says it is to be open both Easter & Easter Monday. Museum Plantin Moretus (historical books and printing presses) open Easter and closed Monday. Most museums seem to have a Monday closure year round, so that some are open on Easter Monday which is an exception. Seems that most shops are closed on Sundays and being open is an exception. I have so enjoyed my 10+ Tauck trips. I look forward to the Tauck guides advice. They are so knowledgeable and will have useful recommendations. So, no worries when traveling with them. .... For anyone who might be staying the extra day after the trip, I googled "Holland Tulip Parade" and got to the web site with information about the parade. It appears that more will be posted as the time gets closer. There are photos of prior years floats. Being a fan of the Tournament of Roses parade, I am fascinated at constructing a float out of flowers. There is also a map of the parade route, with the predicted times that the route will pass various towns, etc. Keukenhof's web site said that visitors to their gardens could exit when the parade came by and re-enter the gardens. I intend to double check all the openings and closures before leaving on the trip and anyone planning to see one of these should do so, too. Please do not rely on my info, as I am not professional guide, and just passing on to keep the conversation going as to what others may be planning to do. While I rely on the guides, I think reading about the places we are to visit and making some tentative plans is most enjoyable.

KEAllen

I agree Vivamus. Thank you for the helpful information. This is our first Tauck trip. My husband keeps telling me to let 'them' do the worrying. I too looked at the map after your information the other day. I just am not sure of the logistics and where the Grand Sofitel is in relation to the map. I will ask our Tauck guides who I think may be at the Pulitzer pre-cruise. Maybe they can help with this. I love the Tournament of Roses Parade also and that is exactly what I thought of when looking at the floats of past years. I wonder if it would help to prebuy garden tickets for those days. The only problem being not knowing time frames for disembarking and arrival at Sofitel. I will think about it. We are planning to go to Zaanse Schans with my husband's family on Fri 4/14. That sounds interesting. I am sure the Tauck guides will have suggestions, as you say, for our time on our own.
British= the Philadelphia Flower Show sound lovely but that is quite far from me. A day trip by Amtrak for sure. I am in Massachusetts, near Boston. We will be attending my 12 year old niece's State hockey tournament that weekend.
Dixie Chick - our trip was originally southbound and it was switched by Tauck. Interesting that the airport will be opened by 2018.

AshvEd

Dixie Chick wrote:

Those of you on the April 15 trip might want to check out tulipsinholland.com. It is a great website with lots of info about the blooming progression of the flowers. According to the website, Easter weekend and flower parade weekend are the two busiest weekends of the entire flower season. Imagine the crowds when they fall at the same time!!!
So for those wondering---no, going to Keukenhof to see the parade on Saturday woukd probably be a really bad idea.
We are going on the same trip in 2018, at the exact same time, and we changed our departure from southbound to northbound when we realized that we would be going to Keukenhof on the Saturday of flower parade.
By the way, the itinerary for 2018 has been changed and is now going to/from Brussels/Amsterdam instead of round trip
Amsterdam/Antwerp.
And for what it is worth, I do not think that only one morning(about 2 1/2 hours) is nearly enough time to see Keukenhof. That is the main reason that I am going on this trip... to see the tulips. Tauck needs to rethink this cruise and add a couple of days, as do Uniworld and Viking, to include a whole day option at Keukenhof.
Whatever you do, enjoy the flowers.

@DixieChick. We are on the April 21, 2018 cruise that begins in Amsterdam. Is that your cruise? Ed and Vicki (Asheville, NC)

Dixie Chick

To AshvEd
We will be on the trip that begins April 14, 2018, sailing from Brussels to Amsterdam. I know we will all have a wonderful time.
Nancy

Weather2Travel

It is quite chilly! The average maximum daytime temperature in Amsterdam in April is just 12°C (54°F). At night this drops down to a very cold 4°C (39°F). There are only around 5 hours of bright sunshine each day too.

If the sun is shining, take advantage of the many parks including Vondelpark, the most famous in the Netherlands. Events take place in each park all through the year. Just wrap up warm!

AshvEd

There are comprehensive weather charts at weatherspark.com which we always consult for historical weather, and there most recent forecasts.