The was our first holiday market cruise and it did not disappoint, primarily because it offered a nice blend of culture and festive activities. Following is a narrative of our experiences:
FLIGHTS
LAX to Amsterdam on KLM. The take-off was delayed three hours because of an issue in the cargo bay. The flight was uneventful and the crew friendly and professional. We both opted for the express meal--soup and something. This was the first time we flew the 787-10. Although I loved being wrapped in a little cocoon, the seat cushions were extremely hard and uncomfortable. I used the blanket to provide more cushioning and that worked just fine. Maneuvering through Schiphol airport was fast and efficient and there was even a Tauck representative waiting with the driver to greet us.
We did not add post-tour days in Brussels since we preferred to fly to Fyn, Denmark for our personal holiday.
HOTEL
We added a few pre-tour days and stayed at Tauck's hotel of choice for this tour--the Sofitel Legend the Grand Amsterdam. The hotel is beautiful and is centrally located close to Dam Square, the old section, and one of my favorite sections...the Little Nine Streets. Our room was nice and overlooked the courtyard, the service was impeccable and the food very good. My only constructive criticism is that we found the room to be quite dark, but such is the case with many historic buildings converted to hotels. On that note, you can take a free tour of the hotel and learn about its history. It started as a convent and ended as a City Hall before being retrofitted to a hotel. We enjoyed an excellent lunch at the more casual and very tiny restaurant. The sea bream was sublime.
WEATHER
We enjoyed one sunny day before the rain and wind started but more on that later.
ms GRACE
We were last on this boat in 2017 when we took our first river cruise. I believe it was refurbished during the off-season 2023. It looked brand new.
We also had one of the same Tauck directors as we did in 2017--Anke. Joe and Sanja were the other directors and Nick was the cruise director.
The ship was beautifully decorated for the season. I would call it understated elegance--not garish at all. There was an enormous gingerbread village in the lounge that was just stunning. As always, the crew was outstanding and the food wonderful. Those soups! The mustard, pea, pumpkin and chestnut soups were my favorite. Actually, they were all my favorite!
Special dinners were served on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The former being a roast and the latter being turkey with all the trimmings. Both were delicious. There were also regional specialties such as herring, schnitzel with spätzle, a Belgian stew, desserts, Belgian beer tastings (I passed on that), raw oysters and smoked eel and more. I was thrilled with all of it except for the spätzle which was overcooked and drowning in a cream sauce.
