The River Empress -- She's Got Personality!

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last posting. I came back from my river cruise on the Rhine and promptly got buried in work. Now it's time to take a breath and report on the River Empress and all of her charms.

This was the first cruise of the season for the River Empress and she has just been through a makeover. Our group was the first to occupy the newly re-decorated staterooms and they are beautifully furnished and cozy. The bathroom is gorgeous but small and very large people will find it difficult to negotiate the shower stall. I fell in love with the L'Occitane hair and body products. There was plenty of closet space for both me and Steve on this seven-day cruise and our large suitcases easily fit under the bed. The bed was comfortable but I would have preferred one duvet instead of two; each of us had our own duvet so it was harder to snuggle with Steve. Given that Uniworld caters to the North American market, I wish there had been more American-style electrical outlets.

The food was excellent and I particularly enjoyed the "Zaanse" Mustard Soup with Garlic Croutons and Chives, the Creamy Carrot-Ginger Cappuccino Soup, Roasted Rack of Lamb and German Apfelstrudel. Regional specialties that were served for dinner during the week were Potato Pancake Lasagna, Dutch Crepe, Kirschplotzer, Rheinischer Herring Salad and Rheinischer Sauerbraten. Good wine was generously poured during dinner; in fact, since my glass was always full it was easy for me to fool myself into believing that I wasn't drinking very much. Our Restaurant Manager, Lajos Palotasi and Executive Chef, Ratislav Bekes, were very attentive to our culinary desires and would often point out dishes on the menu during dinner and in the buffet during lunch they thought we would like.

Our Cruise Manager, Rik Sprengers, was very charming and funny. In the Dutch language, the letter 'g' is pronounced like a guttural 'h' and Rik gave us all sore throats while helping us to pronounce Van Gogh in Dutch and say Good Morning (Goedemorgen) in Dutch. In addition to the free language lessons, Rik gave his guests a personal complimentary tour of Amsterdam's Red Light District. How many Cruise Directors do you know who would do that? He tantalized us throughout the tour by making us wonder how he knew so much about the Red Light District, i.e. how much it cost for the different types of services and how much the ladies had to pay to rent their rooms, etc. It turns out that there is some kind of official "office" in the Red Light District where you can go to inquire about pricing and services. Prostitution is legal and regulated in Amsterdam and the prices are fixed.

Altogther the cruise was a fantastic experience. The crew felt like family, the onboard lectures were fascinating and we never had to wait in line to be seated in the dining room or to embark or debark the ship. It also helps that I was traveling with a fun-loving group of fellow Cruise Holidays franchisees and we were hosted by Uniworld Sales Manager Kathie Weitzman, who was the quintessential gracious hostess. Here is a photo taken on the last night of our cruise:

More photos of the River Empress

Cruising on the Rhine on the River Empress

On Saturday I'm off to Amsterdam for a river cruise on the Rhine on Uniworld's River Empress. The cruise on this 134-passenger boutique-hotel style ship will be a vastly different experience than a cruise on a large resort cruise ship with over 2,500 passengers. I embark in Amsterdam on March 28 and for the next seven days, my floating hotel will take me to the heart of Volendam, Arnhem, Cologne, Mainz and Frankfurt.

On most large cruise ships, you don't see much while you're cruising because you're either at sea or too far away from land to see much of anything. But I expect to be surrounded by a stunning, castle-dotted landscape as I cruise through the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. I plan to find a comfortable perch in the Sky Lounge where I can just relax and soak up the scenery.

On the River Empress, I know I won't find numerous dazzling entertainment venues or a giant fitness center with the latest leading-edge equipment because there just isn't room for these amenities on a 134-passenger ship that's only 360 feet long and 37 feet wide. That's okay with me because I can easily find these things at home. What I can't do at home is travel back in time in the comfort of an elegant floating hotel and experience the exhilaration of turning a corner on a cobble-stoned street and coming upon an awe-inspiring UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Meeting the Locals in New England and Canada

I think cruising is the most hassle-free way to travel because you don't even have to think about how you're going to get to the numerous destinations you want to see because your floating hotel will get you there and you only have to unpack once. However, once you get to that place you've spent hours reading and dreaming about, do you often feel rushed to see all the things you want to see because you'll be in port for just a few hours?

On the Cruise Holidays Client Appreciation Cruise to Canada and New England on September 12-26, I'm going to take a different approach. Although I've planned an authentic tour of Québec City while we're there, Québec At Its Finest, I haven't planned any group shore excursions for the other ports of call.

I will be participating in the Rotary International Conference in Montréal in June and while I'm there I know I will be meeting some very interesting people from Québec,the Canadian Maritime Provinces and New England who will have intimate knowledge of our ports of call. So, I'm thinking that I will cultivate some friendships at the conference and ask questions about where the locals go and what they do in such places as Bar Harbor, Portland, Halifax and Charlottetown. Then I could potentially organize an event that would be more fun than being hauled around in a motor coach. I don't know about you but I would much prefer to feel like I'm part of a place even though I'm there for only a short time rather than feeling like I'm on the outside looking in.

Come Celebrate Autumn With Me!

I've always wanted to visit New England during autumn to see the beautiful fall foliage. The closest I came to actually doing it was when my friend Lew Hollerbach took me up in a small plane one afternoon while I was in Boston for a short time some five or six years ago. If my memory serves me right, we launched our flight from Minute Man Air Field in Stow, MA and flew to Laconia Municipal Airport near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. I had a lot of fun that day and wonder why it has taken me so long to go back to this very colorful and historic Northeastern corner of our wonderful country.

I'm going back and I'm inviting you to go with me. Steve and I and my colleague, Jackie Roberts, are cruising on the Celebrity Summit from September 12-26, 2010 and believe me, we'll have the opportunity to do some serious leaf peeping on this trip including stops in Newport, Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Québec City and Charlottetown.

We have a special excursion planned in Québec City exclusively for our group that begins with a lovely stroll through Québec City followed by a trip to Montmorency Falls and lunch featuring local delicacies at Auberge La Goéliche on Ile d’Orléans. On this excursion we will have a guide from Québec City, an authentic Québécois or Québécoise. However, I'm currently working hard on my French conversation skills so that you will have a second French-speaking guide who promises to make you laugh.

The Baths and Devil's Bay National Parks

As far as shore excursions go, my trek through the Baths to Devil's Bay at Virgin Gorda was the highlight of my recent cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. Rather than taking the excursion organized by MSC Cruises, this adventure was organized exclusively for our Cruise Holidays group by one of my colleagues onboard, Tim Walsh, who called D&D Boat Charters. One of the advantages of organizing your own shore excursion rather than purchasing it through the cruise line is that you are among friends when you go and you can tell the shore excursion operator what you want to do.

On this trip, our original plan was to arrive at The Baths by boat rather than by bus. However, the strong current prohibited us from docking at the The Baths so we tied up at the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor instead and took a bus to the The Baths and Devil's Bay National Parks.

It was a beautiful but circuitous and tricky walk through The Baths to Devil's Bay and to be honest I didn't have the best shoes for this expedition. I was wearing tennis shoes which worked fine until the water started getting deeper. I wish I had packed my aquatic shoes which are waterproof and effective when walking on slippery and wet rocks. I'm glad we allowed enough time to do this walk as we encountered many hesitant people along the trail who were slowing progress. We couldn't walk around them as the trail was narrow and surrounded by high boulders in many places.

One of my colleagues remarked that he wouldn't recommend this walk for seniors because there were too many uneven surfaces. Not long after he said this, a senior couple passed me on the trail. I couldn't resist stopping them and asking them what they thought about my colleague's remark. The gentleman laughed, told me he was 81 years old and said something to this effect, "What's the big deal? If an old guy should happen to pass out and die here, just bury him!"

At any rate, at the end of the walk we reached Devil's Bay which was a gem of a cove. The water was welcoming and warm even though the current was strong. Just be careful as you don't want the water to slam you into the rocks. And bring your own snorkel gear as there is no equipment to rent.

Dining in Old San Juan

Although I've been to San Juan, Puerto Rico many times and seen most of the ancient fortresses, I'd never taken the time to relax and savor traditional Puerto Rican cuisine. So my colleague and I, Renee Fye, decided to plop ourselves down at a table at Caficultura on Calle San Francisco in Old San Juan, enjoy the evening and get to know each other better. A coffee bar by day, Caficultura turns into quite a happening tapas bar during the evening and was an ideal place for conversation and camaraderie as we could talk to each other without shouting.

Before we actually sat down, we told the hostess that we were looking to be adventurous in the food department that night and wanted to try authentic Puerto Rican appetizers or "cucina criolla." She told us we were in the right place and recommended a tapas assortment (the Tapa Cafi sampler)that included fried catfish, plantains, creole chicken and empanadillas. They were so tasty that Renee and I decided to order more. The tapas went especially well with the local brews, one Kofresi (dark) and one Medalla (pale).

We were never rushed while we there and the waitress shared stories with us about life in Puerto Rico and how tense it was after the layoff of thousands of government workers.

Review of the MSC Poesia

A friend of mine, Garry Thompson, reminded me at an NCL presentation this week that my blog was woefully out of date. He's right. Shame on me. I'm thinking I should blog first thing in the morning instead of waiting until the end of the day when inspiration is lacking.

There's no doubt that the MSC Poesia is a gorgeous ship and the public areas are beautifully decorated. If my visit had been a ship inspection only, I would have been wowed. Unfortunately, the food and service were disappointing.

If I had spent the entire week indulging in Italian cuisine such as pasta, risotto and gelato, I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven. The pasta dishes from the different Italian regions were delicious. However, the fish, poultry and beef dishes that I had were bland and dry. And if you like strong coffee, MSC Cruises comes out on top. I particularly like coffee that's robust and I've found that most of the cruise lines serve coffee that tastes like flavored water with a touch of cardboard. Come on now -- I want to wake up and smell the coffee! There's nothing like a great cup of java to get the day going.

And another thing I should mention -- alcoholic beverages are very reasonably priced. The same could not be said for salon services, however. I went up there for a nail polish change and decided against it after they quoted me $30. After finding some $3 nail polish remover in St. Maarten I was content to do it myself.

Being in the cruise business, I feel the need to keep in touch with my clients while I'm gone. Unfortunately, the Internet service on board the MSC Poesia was intermittent and slow compared to what I've experienced on other lines. My bill for wireless Internet service made me cringe. I don't expect the Internet service on board ship to be any where near as fast as my broadband connection at home but I don't expect it to be an experience akin to watching grass grow either. Of course, if you're not a workaholic and are cruising to get away from it all you won't care about the speed of the Internet connection.

Although we had a very attentive, friendly and humorous Italian waiter from Calabria in the dining room, he was the exception rather than the rule. I was rarely greeted with a smile or a "Good Morning" by any of the staff as I wandered around the ship. Most would not acknowledge me until I acknowledged them. I spoke about this with my colleagues on board and some of them thought this was perhaps a cultural thing as Europeans prefer staff to remain in the background. I realize that MSC is an Italian cruise line with mainly a European clientele, but over 90% of the passengers aboard the MSC Poesia on this Eastern Caribbean cruise were from North America and we generally like cheerful, outgoing staff.

The conference facility was small, which is fine for a cohesive group of around 20-30. However, it's important to bring transformers and/or adapters as the room had only one outlet for an American-style plug.

MSC Cruises also plays by a different set of rules than most American cruise lines. Most cruise lines don't allow women on board who are past their 24th week of pregnancy and infants under the age of six months. I saw infants who were obviously less than six months old and a woman on board actually gave birth in the casino one night which caused an unexpected stop in Freeport.

Pictures of the MSC Poesia