Tulips n' Windmills river cruise

Travel and Leisure

I had previously written about our two most recent river cruises (upper Danube with Gate 1 and lower Danube with Emerald), but someone posted a request for this itinerary on the Facebook group the other day, so I thought I'd jot down some thoughts and notes regarding our experience. Since we travelled with Vantage, which is now bankrupt, this post will be more about the stops and places visited rather than a review of Vantage, for obvious reasons. 

The route for this region will vary by river cruise operator, so this is something that you should make sure you understand before booking. We chose this itinerary (and Vantage) on a whim, as we came across a ludicrous deal on Travelzoo that we couldn't refuse (well under $200 per night in a French balcony room). Of course, the timing for this cruise is springtime, so you typically only have a month's worth of sailings for a given operator to choose from; mid-April to the end of the month seems to be the sweet spot for the best chance of catching the tulips in full bloom.

Pre-cruise extension in Brussels

We never fly in and head directly to the ship; getting over the trans-Atlantic flight and ensuring that any travel delays don't affect our cruise are important factors for us. Since we were embarking in Antwerp, we booked two nights in Brussels. There are folks that will say that Brussels isn't worth visiting, but we'd disagree, and the old town area and the Grand Place are certainly worthy of a visit.

We stayed at the Ibis/Novotel Brussels off Grand Place, which as it sounds, is right off the Grand Place, and only a short few minutes walk from the Brussel-Centraal station. If you haven't stayed at an Ibis or Novotel chain, they are modest, but clean and comfortable hotels that you can find all over Europe. We had our eye on a cute B&B on the other side of the old town area, but they were only available for one night, so settled with the Ibis. We didn't opt for their breakfast package (15€ per person), but we found a little café in the beautiful Galeries Royales across the street.

For only 7€ each, we got this massive amount of carbs to start our day. We actually ate only the croissants, juice and coffee, and took the baguette and cheese along for our mid-morning snack. It's not something I/we normally do, but neither is a 5-km walk before lunchtime. So a tip for you first-time European travellers, is to stock up a bit more on your food intake for breakfast or bring a snack, as you might need a little more energy than you are used to. 

Embarkation and Day 1 in Antwerp

Since we did our own pre-cruise extension, even if the cruise operator had included transfers for us, they wouldn’t have been applicable. It was a short and easy train ride from Brussels to Antwerp, then a brief taxi trip to the port where our ship was waiting. Interestingly, since the port there is tidal, when we arrived, we couldn’t even see the ship, and the only thing visible at the dock was a banner for the cruise line. We walked down a ramp onto the top deck and then down the stairs to the front desk for an efficient check-in.

After unpacking, we walked back into the Antwerp old town area for a little exploring on our own. Since we knew from our itinerary that we were going to get a walking tour the next day, we didn’t do a big, extensive walk, and headed back to the ship for a cold beverage on the top deck. That evening, we had the on board welcome reception and briefing. Our first full day of the itinerary started with a guided walking tour of Antwerp, with the rest of the day to explore on our own. After paying 7€ the previous afternoon for a beer on board, I picked up some local Belgian beer at the corner store before returning to the ship.

Stateroom / ship (now the Gate 1 Monarch Queen)

Despite the fact that Vantage is out of business, it is worth mentioning the stateroom we had, as the Vantage ship lease has been picked up by Gate 1, under the new name “Monarch Queen”. At the time, we had only cruised with Uniworld up to this point, in a room with only a window, not floor-to-ceiling glass doors, and a small bathroom with a tiny triangular shower area. Uniworld still has rooms like this, on some of their "Regal" series of ships; something to be aware of if you need a little more room when bathing. 

By comparison, this room was palatial, with a bathroom large enough for the two of us to stand side-by-side in front of the sink! It had a much larger, square shaped shower enclosure, with ample room to move around, vs. the cramped Uniworld one. We found out later that the ship was new, and so everything looked perfect, with no visible signs of wear and tear. The ship has an American “Golden Age of Jazz” music theme, and the suites are named for famous jazz greats. You'll find vintage photographs, jazz-themed artwork, quotations, and biographies to read. All of this jazz memorabilia blends with the casually elegant art-deco-inspired earth-tone decor. For anyone looking to book a Gate 1 river cruise, the Monarch Queen is the ship to look for.

Day 2 - trip to Bruges

After our first full day of our itinerary exploring in Antwerp, our ship sailed overnight to Ghent. I don’t recall if anyone stayed in Ghent (which apparently is worth visiting), as everyone seemed to go on the excursion to picturesque Bruges, one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities and a UNESCO World Site. Luckily, Vantage got us off the boat quickly in the morning, so we were able to do the guided walking tour of town before the masses arrived.

We finished our tour with a brief canal boat ride through this beautiful little area. For a fun, pre-cruise activity, watch the movie “In Bruges” with Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell; you’ll recognise the areas where key scenes were shot. On our cruise, we were given an ample allowance for lunch on our own, and so after the tour, we headed off to get a bite and continued exploring. After, we found an incredible beer store called 2be, which had a staggering selection and variety! As I always suggest to others, I picked up some tasty Belgian beers to enjoy back on the ship (at a fraction of the price charged at the bar in the lounge).

Day 3 - Middelburg, The Netherlands 

Waking up in The Netherlands, we embarked on our morning walking tour of Middelburg, a city and municipality in the south-western Netherlands serving as the capital of the province of Zeeland. The old historic part of town is quaint, and has an interesting Town Hall. Without the guided walking tour however, it would not have 

seemed very interesting, as you’d walk down the narrow lanes and along the canals with no context to what you are seeing, or the history that is embedded within. That said, Middelburg was probably the least favourite of our stops on this cruise itinerary. Back on the ship for late afternoon cruising - we needed to get through some locks, so not very interesting sailing, and certainly too cold to be up on the top deck. Note to self: in the land of windmills, it can get very windy.

Day 4 - Rotterdam and Keukenhof Gardens

After breakfast, we had our own free time in Rotterdam to explore in the morning. Since it was heavily damaged by bombing during WWII, Rotterdam has been mostly rebuilt with modern architectural styles, and it was worth a walk to see some of the unique buildings and structures there. We found a free, self-guided architecture walking tour for our smartphones and spent a little over an hour wandering around the area, which was very close to where we were docked.

Back to the ship to catch a 60-minute bus ride to the tulip gardens; again, we got there before the dozens and dozens of other coaches packed full of tourists arrived. We had an escorted tour of the gardens, where we were informed of the late spring they were having, and that normally the tulips would have bloomed already (we visited on May 3rd). It was quite a sight to see, that many tulips, but after a couple of hours, I was tulipped out. Vantage gave us a generous meal allowance, and the lunch options at the massive food court were fantastic.

I know they were trying to get us to Keukenhof early to avoid the crowds, but I think I would have preferred a guided tour or longer in Rotterdam, and then less time or a later visit to the gardens. 

Day 5 - Kinderdijk and afternoon cruising to Arnhem

Waking up next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, we chose to take the bikes out for a short ride into town along the river for an hour or so. Returning the bikes to the ship, we walked with our tour guides into the canal area to see the nineteen original 18th-century windmills, and went inside one of them. These windmills controlled the canal flood gates, versus the ones that most people think of that mill flour. They were very interesting to see up close, but don’t get too close to the sails! They look graceful from a distance, but those vanes come whizzing by fast; now they have ropes up to prevent inattentive tourists from getting killed, but I’m sure someone got taken out by one at some point.

Back on the ship for lunch and afternoon cruising to Arnhem; unfortunately, as you can imagine, the landscape on this itinerary is quite flat, traversing a number of locks, so there’s not a lot of interesting viewing while you are at sail. We docked in Arnhem under “A Bridge Too Far”; while technically not the same bridge as the one from the famous WWII movie, the John Frost Bridge was rebuilt in 1948 in the same style as the original one.

Day 6 - WWII history or Kroeller-Müller museum visit

We had coincidentally arrived on May 5th, which is Dutch Liberation Day. Canadians played a pivotal role in the liberation of Holland from the Nazis, and to this day, the Dutch still greet Canadians with open arms as a result. As such, we chose to go on the bus tour that went to the Groesbeek interactive Liberation Museum with WWII displays and exhibits. It wasn’t her favourite, but I found it fascinating to visit. Those who went on this tour also stopped at the Canadian War Cemetery, where over 1,000 Canadian soldiers are buried. It would have been fun to stop in Nijmegen to celebrate with the Dutch, but that wasn’t in the cards, and we were carted back to the ship for lunch.

I didn’t ask anyone who went on the other tour how it went, so can’t comment on that unfortunately. I went for a stroll into the colourful shopping streets of Arnhem that afternoon, wondering what the others heard from the local guide on their walk through town after their museum visit.

Day 7 - Enkhuizen and the Zuiderzeemuseum

We woke again in a new Dutch town, this time it was Enkhuizen. The included tour was something that didn’t really appeal to me/us, so we decided to stay and visit the Zuiderzeemuseum, which showcases the stories of the people living around the Zuiderzee, and brings the past to life. It consists of indoor and outdoor museums, with over 130 authentic houses, shops and workshops.

Actors portraying the working folks of the era showcased the life of the residents back then. We probably spent almost three hours exploring, and we could easily walk to and from the Zuiderzeemuseum from the ship. It was a great option for those that didn’t want to go on the “cultural connection” tour and home-hosted visit that day. In the afternoon, we had time to stroll the old town area of Enkhuizen before cocktail hour back on the ship.

Day 8 - Amsterdam and disembarkation

We were moored very close to Amsterdam Centraal Station, and so it was very easy to get into town to explore. We were given an included canal boat tour, which ended near the Rijksmuseum; they escorted us past the lineup into a few selected halls to view some of the artwork on display. It’s a great museum to see, and is probably better than time spent in the lineup to the Ann Frank House (which is overrated in my opinion). We chose to walk back to the ship, and used the Rick Steves free Audio Europe app to do our own self-guided touring.

He has three walking tours in the canal district, so we did Jordaan and the City Walk; we had saved the Red Light District one for after dinner, but we ran out of juice. Amsterdam is one of our favourite cities, but not unlike other European destinations, is suffering from over-tourism. I had the good fortune of spending a few days in my college mate’s flat in Amsterdam a long time ago, so had a chance to experience it before the mass tourism days started. But if your cruise starts or ends here, it’s still worth spending at least a couple of days here on your own, even if you get a day or tour included with your itinerary. We had one last night on the ship before disembarking on the following morning; since we had been to Amsterdam before on our Rhine river cruise, we opted not to have a post-cruise extension here. We didn't do our air with Vantage, so we simply took the train from Amsterdam Centraal back to Schiphol for our flight home.

Summary

At the time we took this cruise, we knew nothing about this itinerary. It definitely has unique cities and stops along the way, somewhat different to the Rhine and upper Danube routes, and as indicated, each operator does slightly different variations. Obviously, being a Tulips n' Windmills trip, you have to stop at Kinderdijk and go to the Keukenhof Gardens. We probably could have done without Middelburg, but maybe it's too much cruising or too many locks to get from Ghent to Rotterdam overnight. I thought we had time to visit Nijmegen as part of the WWII history swing from Arnhem, but perhaps that also wasn't feasible.

In any case, we felt that this itinerary had a wide variety of places to see and visit, from the big city of Amsterdam down to small, historical Bruges. As with other itineraries in Europe, part of the value of river cruising, is that you will stop at places and see things that you would likely not have visited if you were touring on your own. I'd rank this itinerary/area third, behind top rated Rhine and upper Danube routes, but not a distant third, mind you. It's also well situated for good pre- and post-cruise excursions, so that is also something to keep in mind as you look at planning your next European river cruise.