Travelmarvel hosted the Irish travel trade and ITTN onboard her new ship, Capella for a 2-night river cruise sailing from Amsterdam to Cologne. ITTN’s Sharon Jordan and Shane Cullen joined the fam trip with Dawn Conway & Megan Bourke (Cassidy Travel), Jean Cussack (Icon Travel), Stella Grant (O Hanrahan Travel), Katrina McMullan (Travel Counsellors Ireland), Alice Swords (Sunway Holidays), Caroline Kelly (Strand Travel Worldchoice), Paula Cross (Platinum Travel), Zina Charbane (Best4Travel) and host, Elaine O’Brien (Travelmarvel).
River versus Ocean Cruising
River cruising is, of course, a fantastic way to explore the cities and countries throughout Europe. While both float, the experience differs from the ocean cruising many of the travel trade will be familiar with. River cruise ships are smaller offering a more intimate experience. By virtue of their size, they often can dock in the very heart of the cities they visit. View these more like “boutique hotels” offering a unique doorway to different cultures, daily.
The Capella is new-to-market at just a year old. She is stylish and sleek with well-appointed rooms and en-suites, luxurious lounges, a main restaurant and with an added connection to our market, an Irish pub that also serves food. This targets the 4-star market compared with some of her ultra-luxurious competitors in the market. Travelmarvel is sister to the 5-star APT brand and is offering a more affordable option in the river cruise sector (though she could easily pass for 5-star on looks alone).
In order to gain market share there are very good offers at the moment (a very relaxed second holiday for those returning from the heat!). This includes the solo traveller with no single supplement.
Water Water Everywhere – Amsterdam
An early start to our first full day of the fam began with another water adventure – in the form of a glass-top boat gliding through Amsterdam’s maze of waterways listening to a guide detail the sites along the streets and canals.
These canals date back to the middle ages originally built for defence, and then, for trade as Amsterdam merchants sought to transport goods through the city. In fact, in the 17th century, Amsterdam grew to become the third largest city in the world, behind London and Paris. Today, there is an impressive 100km of canals covering a quarter of the city’s surface. These are UNESCO listed with a network built forming concentric arches emanating from Centraal Station.
In fact, the river cruise ships dock just beside Centraal Station (a 2-3 minute walk) leaving travellers in the centre of the city.
The glass-top boat tour is an excursion included in the Travelmarvel package. However, guests are free to roam the river and canal banks or opt for one of the many experiences in the city such as the very moving Anne Frank House (1.5km / 20-minute walk). Venture a little further to visit both the Van Gogh Museum and Heineken Experience (both are quite close together, are a 10-minute cycle or 30-minute walk from Centraal Station) – equally, taxis or public transport are easily accessible. Alternatively, soak up the city’s atmosphere, stunning architecture and vibrant, cosmopolitan culture.
Rembrandt & Windmill
Guides brought interested travellers (including our group) to the site of the windmill painted by Rembrandt. He, one of the most acclaimed Dutch artists, hailed from Amsterdam and depicted this landscape in the 1600s. The towering Windmill van Sloten (Sloten Windmill) is a reconstructed, working mill and the only mill open to the public in Amsterdam. Here you can learn about life in the 17th century, the life of the artist and the essential workings of mills of this kind. Fascinatingly, this is still used today to drain water from the land – Amsterdam is 2 meters below sea level like almost half of the Netherlands!
Lock, Stock & Barrel
We said goodbye to our Dutch home and headed through locks and canals to journey along the Rhine to our next port of call, Cologne. Cologne in Germany is the largest city on the Rhine River. A transfer brought us the 10-minute journey from where we docked to the centre of the city (complimentary coach transfers brought guests to and from the ship every hour).
Members of the group ventured on the excursion to the Castle of Augustusburg, an impressive residence with stunning gardens that date back to the 18th century. It was also once home to the prince-archbishops of Cologne. Travellers enjoyed a guided tour of the many ornate rooms of this Unesco World Heritage site.
For those of us who opted for the city, the spectacular Gothic structure that is Cologne Cathedral was the first port of call on our visit. Parts of the structure date back as early as the mid-1200s though construction was paused for centuries and was only finally finished in the late-1800s. However, craftsmen kept to the original design. As it stands, this twin-spired facade is the largest of any church in the world. This site is also on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Guided tours are available and visitors can climb the 533 steps to the viewing platform 100 meters above ground. Entry to both the Cathedral Treasury and Tower cost €9 for adults / €4.50 for children (family ticket costs €18). The Cathedral opens daily from 10 am to 5 pm except Sundays which open between 1 – 4 pm. You can attend mass and should check for special events which may impact opening hours.
Travelmarvel Destinations
This fam trip took us along the Rhine though other itineraries on offer by Travelmarvel include cruises along the Rhine and Danube in Europe. For more itinerary inspiration, check out https://www.aptouring.com/.
For me, I would earmark a week visiting the Christmas markets and can happily see myself sitting back in McGeary’s with an Irish Coffee having wandered through the stalls and lights of festive cities along the Rhine.
One of the Christmas Market itineraries that stuck in the back of my mind takes in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland. Ports include Amsterdam to Basel, docking at Cologne, Cochem with half-timbered houses and Cochem Castle, Rüdesheim, Strasbourg with fairytale houses and cobblestone streets, Breisach with the Black Forest Museum before finally reaching the city of Basel.
For More on Travelmarvel
For more on Travelmarvel’s Fam Trip with the Irish travel trade, check out:
