Trip Index
- Trip planning, London, Book of Mormon, British Museum, good eats
- More museums, train to Harwich, ferry to Amsterdam
- Amsterdam sightseeing and more good eats
- Embarking on AmaPrima, canal tour, Chef's Table
- Cologne, Rhine River cruising, Rudesheim
- Miltenburg, Wertheim, Wurzburg bike ride
- Bamberg and Nuremberg
- Regensburg, Passau, Linz
- Melk Abbey, one-way bike ride to Durnstein
- Vienna and Bratislava
- Budapest, disembarkation, post-cruise day 1
- Post-cruise day 2 in Budapest, returning home via London
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Kaleb decided to take a 4-week sabbatical from work, so off to Europe we will go! I've always wanted to try a river cruise to see the interior of Europe and also enjoy the slower pace. Plus, I needed to complete a 10+ night cruise to finish my
CLIA Elite Cruise Counsellor certification. (too bad the
leaf-peeping cruise last year was only 9 nights!)
After researching and reading river cruise reviews on
Cruise Critic, I decided to go with AmaWaterways'
Magnificent Europe 14-night river cruise, sailing through five countries. I was intrigued by their active excursions (hiking and bicycling) and fine dining, plus,
Adventures by Disney was chartering their vessels so I wanted to have first-hand experience to share with my Disney clients.
Emerald Waterways would have been my second choice.
Our Magnificent Europe itinerary would start in Amsterdam and end in Budapest, passing through Germany, Austria, and Slovakia. The cruise also operated in reverse. There was a lot of discussion online whether going west to east or vice versa was better. In the end, I decided that the departure date was more important than the direction, as most of the ports were the same. The ultimate solution would be to take the cruises back-to-back, but we didn't have time for a 28-night cruise, at least not at the moment...
FLIGHTS/FERRY
Since we booked the cruise mid-January, award flight availability was not ideal - really long transfers, two or more connections, high mileage costs. It didn't help that it was an open-jaw into Amsterdam and out of Budapest. I got creative and did the following to efficiently use our miles and points:
- Fly non-stop San Francisco to London on Virgin Atlantic
- Take the overnight Stena ferry from London to Amsterdam
- Fly non-stop from Budapest to London on British Airways
- Fly non-stop London to San Francisco on Virgin Atlantic
Every January, if you hold the
American Express Business Platinum Card, you get to select an airline for redeeming the $200 airline incidentals credit as well as the 50% points rebate (sadly now 35%). The flight to London was a codeshare on Virgin Atlantic, but was marketed as a Delta flight, so I could utilize the 50% points rebate by selecting Delta as my airline of choice. There was an airfare sale going on at that time, around $650 per person total roundtrip. So I redeemed about 130,000 American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points through the AMEX travel site to buy two roundtrip tickets same as cash, and got 50% of the points rebated back into my account. In the end, our flights cost 65,000 points total, or $325 cash value per person! Another benefit of doing this is that by redeeming MR points through the AMEX travel portal, we would earn frequent flyer miles on the flight, versus transferring MR points to an airline for award tickets that do not earn miles.
We would stay in London for three nights, then take the overnight ferry to Amsterdam and stay two nights pre-cruise. I had found this option while researching how to get from London to Amsterdam via
Seat 61's website and thought it would be fun to do something different. By following the instructions on Seat 61, it was easy to book. Another bonus - sleeping in a cabin on the ferry eliminated a hotel night from our trip, saving a lot of cash and/or points compared to staying in London or Amsterdam. I'll share more details on the ferry when we get to that point in the blog.
We also planned to stay in Budapest for two nights post-cruise before flying back to London. I had a stash of
British Airways Avios miles to spend (thanks to the
British Airways credit card bonus) on two one-way tickets from BUD to LHR. Due to the flight schedule, we wouldn't be able to fly to London in time to catch the return flight to SFO the same day, so I decided to get into Heathrow around dinner time, spend the night at an airport hotel, then fly to SFO the next morning. The only award flights available were in
Club Europe (not true "business class" but coach with a free middle seat) plus lots of taxes, so I didn't get as great a redemption value compared to the transatlantic flight, but it was still less cash out of pocket.
HOTELS
I had a lot of
Hilton Honors points (thanks to the
Hilton Honors credit card as well as
Daily Getaways packages), so I redeemed them for three nights at the
Hilton London Paddington. I chose the hotel for the location, since it was the endpoint for the
Heathrow Express train from the airport and a convenient
Tube stop. It also came with free lounge access due to my having Hilton elite status, providing complimentary breakfast and refreshments.
I also used Hilton Honors points for our two nights in Amsterdam, at the
Doubletree Amsterdam Centraal Station. Again, I chose this hotel for its location near the train station as well as the river boat pier as I didn't want to deal with taking taxis or trams with luggage. Lounge access was provided as well due to Hilton elite status.
In Budapest, I was able to get a travel agent reduced rate at the
Budapest Marriott. The hotel's architecture was ghastly compared to jewels like the
Four Seasons or
Boscolo, but again, location was key. It was walking distance to the river boat pier and near the metro. We also had lounge access here due to having Marriott elite status.
We stayed at the
Hilton London Heathrow Airport the night before our return flight to San Francisco. It was located on airport grounds, which was convenient. Again, lounge access was provided due to having Hilton elite status.
It was nice to be able to go to the lounges at the hotels to eat breakfast and snacks throughout the trip. Minimum
Hilton Gold and
Marriott Gold status (reciprocated from having
Starwood Gold status) are easily achieved just from holding either the American Express
Platinum Card or
Business Platinum Card, making it worth the annual fee if you travel a lot.
Of course, I researched where to eat in every locale and made all the necessary reservations prior to departure.
Enough of the planning details, let's go!
OUR TRIP BEGINS...
We rented a car from our local Hertz office one-way to SFO. This was a cheaper option than parking the car in the long-term lot for almost a month. You could also do a stay-and-park offer at an airport hotel, but I didn't want to leave a car there for so long.
Our flight was departing from the International A gates, so we could not visit the
American Express Centurion Lounge; we used
Priority Pass to enter the
Air France - KLM Lounge.
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| decent food and drink at the lounge |
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| also, beers in the fridge |
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| my late afternoon snack |
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| view of our plane from the lounge |
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It was our first time in a Boeing 787
Dreamliner. The window had a button to electronically control the shading. The in-flight entertainment also had a chat feature.
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| a bit cramped in coach |
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| window shade control |
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| "seat chat" |
The plane was configured in a 3-3-3 fashion. Virgin Atlantic doesn't let you choose seats until 24 hours before departure without paying a fee, unless you are part of the
Flying Club - then you get to choose earlier for free. By signing up for a Flying Club membership and putting our numbers into the reservation, we were able to select seats 72 hours before departure without fee. I wasn't sure if I could change the frequent flyer numbers to our Delta ones without messing up the seats, so I didn't bother. I'm sure I could have changed it at the airport during check-in, but since we took advantage of the early seat assignments, it was good enough. I'm sure we'll be able to find use for 5,000+ Virgin Atlantic miles.
We were fed and hydrated well on the flight. The chicken entree was tasty and the "Gu" salted caramel chocolate ganache dessert was to die for (I don't think we can buy it in the US). When it was time to catch some zzz's, I tried out the
Trtl Pillow (a Christmas gift from my best friend Sandy) and it worked really well compared to traditional neck pillows!
Before landing, we were served breakfast and also got a roll of
Love Hearts, though I forgot to take a picture of the candy.
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| economy menu |
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| "Penn State" pretzels |
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| chicken and kale, delicious for airplane food |
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| Thai veggie green curry, was ok |
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| breakfast |
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We had no problems through immigration. After retrieving our luggage, we took the
Heathrow Express non-stop from Terminal 3 to
Paddington Station. I had purchased tickets online more than 90 days in advance, so it only cost about 12 pounds per person versus 27 pounds the day of. It is much cheaper to take the
Piccadilly line on the Tube (1 hour journey), or hop on a
National Express bus 40 minutes to Victoria Station (
I've done both before), but I wanted to try out the 15 minute train ride, plus it would get us to our hotel quicker.
The
Hilton London Paddington was connected to the train station. I suspected that there was a door that led from inside the train station into the hotel, but it wasn't apparent, so we walked out of the station and went through the front door.
Our room was comfortable and quiet as it looked onto empty space between buildings.
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| complimentary "Hildon" water (not "Hilton"!) |
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While I took a nap, Kaleb went to the
Three store to purchase SIM cards for our unlocked iPhones, about 20 pounds each, good for one month. Our phones would now work throughout our journey in Europe. (and I can keep playing Pokemon Go...)
Since I had Hilton Diamond status, we had access to the Executive Lounge on the ground floor, which offered complimentary breakfast and snacks all day. We went down to check it out. There were remainders of afternoon tea snacks. Around 6pm, happy hour began and appetizers were served.
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| snacks and drinks |
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| afternoon tea pastries |
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| variety of teas |
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| view of Paddington Station from the lounge |
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| I am so awake |
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| evening appetizers |
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| hot appetizers |
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| almost can make a meal of it |
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Needing to stay awake until "normal" bed time, we walked to
Hyde Park to look around and play some Pokemon Go. I was hoping to catch Mr. Mime, at the time only found in Europe.
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| lots of ped/bike trails |
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| beautiful gardens |
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| my first Girafarig! |
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| the Serpentine |
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We grabbed some late dinner to go from
Pret-a-Manger before heading back to the hotel. I saw a Mr. Mime but I was too tired to go searching for it.
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| Mr. Mime is out there! |
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The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the lounge, then rode the Tube towards the
Prince of Wales Theatre to pick up will-call tickets for the
Book of Mormon afternoon show. I had pre-purchased the tickets the day they were made available online, so I got almost dead center seats in the front row of the Dress Circle. Afterwards, we walked to the
British Museum to take in some sights. Even though we had been there before, it is always very interesting. (and I caught Mr. Mime!)
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| British Museum |
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| finally got him! |
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After spending the morning in the museum, we headed back towards the theater district and had lunch before the show at
Kanada-Ya, a highly acclaimed ramen house. Deeeeeee-licious! (must add the egg)
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| didn't get to see this (haven't read the book yet either) |
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| Kanada-Ya menu |
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| spicy yuzu ramen |
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| tonkotsu X |
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The Book of Mormon was hilarious! I can see why it is so popular. It helps to know a little bit about
Mormonism to fully appreciate the jokes.
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| view of the stage from our seats |
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For dinner after the show, I had an afternoon tea reservation at the
Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon inside Fortnum and Mason. It was busy so we had to wait a bit longer to be seated. The food was good though service was a bit inattentive because of the crowds.
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| inside Fortnum and Mason |
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| live piano music |
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| afternoon tea for dinner |
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| you get a slice of cake after finishing the tea |
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To walk off the calories (and stay awake), we visited
Regent's Park before heading back to the hotel.
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| walked by 221b Baker Street |
Tomorrow, we visit some more museums, then head out to Harwich to board the ferry to Amsterdam...stay tuned!
***
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Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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