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| 31st31 | MarMar | 202626 | Amsterdam, Netherlands, embark on the Avalon Envision | | |
| Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere. It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises in the world. Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory. Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet corners where time seems to be holding its breath next to streets like neon-lit Kalverstraat, and Red Light ladies strutting by the city's oldest church. Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters. It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one. Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination. There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene. It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms. With 7,000 registered monuments, most of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 160 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,500 or so bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe. Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age. This town is endearing because of its kinder, gentler nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe: consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with so many of its treasures in the untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, hidden garden courtyards, shop windows, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes(courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings. And don’t forget that the joy lies in details: elaborate gables and witty gable stones denoting the trade of a previous owner. Keep in mind that those XXX symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation. They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms—three St. Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence. The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam—the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime. AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND (EMBARKATION) Welcome to Holland. Your Suite Ship® is Ready for Boarding. Flights into Amsterdam must arrive by 3:30 pm. Guests must be on board ship by 5 pm. Your day in Amsterdam is free to explore at your leisure. You may choose to join a Guided Optional Excursion to beautiful Zaanse Schans where you’ll see a wonderful collection of well-preserved historic windmills and Dutch houses. Enjoy dinner and explore the ship on your first night on board. EVENING/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO ROTTERDAM AMSTERDAM-CANAL.jpg |
| 1st01 | AprApr | 202626 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | | |
| Rotterdam is a city that's a long way removed from most people's stereotypical notion of the Netherlands. There are few, if any, canals to be found here nor are there any quaint windmills. There is, however, a thriving modern city which is one of the busiest ports in the entire world. ROTTERDAM Dutch Treats and Flowers Sweet Visit the Adventure Center for today’s activities with your Adventure Host. ACTIVE Experience Rotterdam by foot with your Adventure Host, OR: CLASSIC Join a full- or half-day Guided Tour of breathtaking Keukenhof—known as the “Garden of Europe”—for its 70 acres of lush parkland, lakes, and the world’s largest flower gardens—with more than seven million tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths as well as other bulbs, planted each year. DISCOVERY Onboard lecture hosted by your Beer Expert. Take some free time to relax on the harbor-side in Rotterdam with an artisan beer, a slice of appeltaart (Dutch apple pie), and a koffie verkeerd, a typical Dutch drink with equal parts coffee and milk. Take a bike from your ship to explore Rotterdam and the surrounding area. Before dinner, enjoy a cruise through Rotterdam harbor. Later, enjoy live entertainment on board. EVENING/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO ANTWERP KEUKENHOF.jpg |
| 2nd02 | AprApr | 202626 | Antwerp, Belgium | | |
| Explore Antwerp, Belgium's second city. Known for its diamond cutting industry, fashion and the many great artists that lived in its vicinity, Antwerp is a city focused on art and culture. ANTWERP, BELGIUM Cathedrals, Carats and Crêpes ACTIVE Explore Antwerp by bike with your Adventure Host, OR: DISCOVERY Take a Guided Tour of this sophisticated city to visit the central Grote Markt, lined with 16th-century guildhall houses. You’ll also see the beautiful city hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady with its stunning altarpiece paintings by Rubens. Your sightseeing will end at a brewery where you will learn something more about the world-famous Belgian beers. Alternatively, you may choose to join a Guided Optional Excursion to the nearby capital, Brussels—considered home to the European Union, and admire its magnificent palaces and cathedrals. You might prefer to take time on your own to indulge in Antwerp’s signature Belgian waffles and crêpes—or explore this bike-friendly city from its old wharfs to its legendary diamond district. EVENING/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO GHENT ANTWERP-GROTE-MARKT-CAFES.jpg |
| 3rd03 | AprApr | 202626 | Gent (Ghent), Belgium | | |
GHENT Medieval Masterpieces and Flemish Finery ACTIVE Explore a different side of Ghent by bike with your Adventure Host, OR: DISCOVERY Enjoy a canal boat that will take you through the town of Ghent to one of the very special breweries where you will find how to brew the local Gruut beer. Alternatively, you may choose to join a full-day Guided Optional Excursion of Bruges to explore its canals, cobbled streets, and medieval buildings. You’ll see its crisscrossed canals, the 13th-century belfry of Market Square, and charming patrician houses. You won’t miss the opportunity to explore Ghent since this Optional Excursion ends with an orientation walk of the "Diamond of Flanders." Later, enjoy live entertainment on board. EVENING/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO MIDDELBURG GHENT.jpg |
| 4th04 | AprApr | 202626 | Middelburg, Netherlands | | |
MIDDELBURG, HOLLAND A Spicy History in Middelburg’s Dutch Harbor Town Join your Adventure Host for today’s special activities. CLASSIC Join a Guided Walking Tour through the winding cobblestones and canals of Middelburg. See the 15th-century Gothic Town Hall and learn about its important role in the spice trade and Dutch East India trading. Spend some free time biking or walking through Middelburg to sample Babbelaar cookies, fries, or beer before cruising to Veere. During lunchtime enjoy a short sailing from Middelburg to Veere. ACTIVE Alternatively bike from Middelburg to Veere with your Adventure Host. VEERE Heritage and Hidden Gems CLASSIC Join a Guided Walking Tour of Veere—a delightful historic town dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Explore the charming streets and uncover hidden gems. DISCOVERY This evening, enjoy an onboard food and beer pairing dinner hosted by your Beer Expert. EVENING/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO WILLEMSTAD MIDDELBURG-DETAIL.jpg |
| 5th05 | AprApr | 202626 | Willemstad, Netherlands | | |
WILLEMSTAD Willemstad’s Windmills and Historic Harbor ACTIVE See Willemstad by bike with your Adventure Host, OR: CLASSIC Join a Guided Walking Tour of Willemstad and discover its many beautifully restored buildings from the 17th and 18th Century. DISCOVERY Later, enjoy a Beer & Cheese Tasting on board as you prepare to sail to Amsterdam. AFTERNOON/OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO AMSTERDAM WILLEMSTAD.jpg |
| 6th06 | AprApr | 202626 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | | |
| Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere. It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises in the world. Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory. Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet corners where time seems to be holding its breath next to streets like neon-lit Kalverstraat, and Red Light ladies strutting by the city's oldest church. Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters. It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one. Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination. There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene. It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms. With 7,000 registered monuments, most of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 160 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,500 or so bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe. Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age. This town is endearing because of its kinder, gentler nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe: consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with so many of its treasures in the untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, hidden garden courtyards, shop windows, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes(courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings. And don’t forget that the joy lies in details: elaborate gables and witty gable stones denoting the trade of a previous owner. Keep in mind that those XXX symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation. They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms—three St. Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence. The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam—the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime. AMSTERDAM Canals of Colorful Amsterdam ACTIVE Start your day joining your Adventure Host on an early morning walk in Amsterdam, OR: CLASSIC Explore the iconic waterways of Amsterdam on a Guided Canal Cruise past stately homes of Amsterdam’s “Golden Age” followed by a real Dutch beer experience. This afternoon, choose among the many Guided Optional Excursions available. Take some free time to explore Amsterdam’s colorful streets and canal houses, galleries, and shops. OVERNIGHT DOCKING IN AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM-CANAL-CRUISE.jpg |
| 7th07 | AprApr | 202626 | Amsterdam, Netherlands, disembark the Avalon Envision | | |
| Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere. It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises in the world. Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory. Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet corners where time seems to be holding its breath next to streets like neon-lit Kalverstraat, and Red Light ladies strutting by the city's oldest church. Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters. It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one. Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination. There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene. It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms. With 7,000 registered monuments, most of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 160 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,500 or so bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe. Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age. This town is endearing because of its kinder, gentler nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe: consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh. Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with so many of its treasures in the untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, hidden garden courtyards, shop windows, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes(courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings. And don’t forget that the joy lies in details: elaborate gables and witty gable stones denoting the trade of a previous owner. Keep in mind that those XXX symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation. They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms—three St. Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city: flood, fire, and pestilence. The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam—the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime. AMSTERDAM (DISEMBARKATION) Your cruise ends with breakfast this morning. AMSTERDAM-SUNRISE.jpg |
