Cruising on the River Rhine

This weekend saw me fly out of Heathrow with British Airways to Amsterdam, where I am lucky to be joining the beautiful Uniworld River Cruise Ship – SS Antoinette for 3 nights sailing on the Castles along the Rhine River Cruise. This cruise operates on an 7 night itinerary sailing from Amsterdam and will finish in Basel, although sadly we will be departing the ship in Rudesheim for our flight home from Frankfurt.

We will sail from Amsterdam, and call into Cologne where we will join in on the Cologne walking discovery tour with Cologne Cathedral visit. I went to Cologne a few years ago for the Christmas Markets so will be good to see how different the city looks without the snow and the smell of Cinnamon in the air.  The following day we sail to Koblenz and here we will have a choice of two excursions either the Koblenz walking discovery tour OR aerial cable car ride to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, I am not sure which one I will be taking and will wait to hear what the Cruise Director says about each one. the following day we will arrive into Rudesheim where sadly we will be disembarking and being transferred to Frankfurt airport for our flight home.

The SS Antoinette is 443 foot long and holds 154 passengers and 57 crew (so a huge difference in size and people compared the Harmony of the Seas I was on earlier this year).  The ship has its own on board Cinema, and in the two-story foyer there is a 10-foot blue Strauss Baccarat chandelier with huge sapphires (so hoping that will have more wow factor than the P&O Britannia Star Burst above the atrium) the ship also has its own Swimming Pool, spa, and fitness Centre (to help me stay on track with my couch to 5k programme).

Uniworld ships are All Inclusive, and the gratuities are included.  I must admit I didn’t know much about the Uniworld ships apart from doing some research from their website since being offered this trip and can’t wait to sample the Uniworld luxurious floating boutique hotel, and the  farm-to-table culinary experience.

My next post will obviously about my time on board and will have lots of pictures posted to my facebook throughout my time on board.

Have a good couple of weeks

Kerry

xx