Holland and Belgium Springtime River Cruise

Food and boat staff were great

Loved the trip, but didn't feel the tour manager did much to deserve a tip. Do think think there should be one, but all of the stops and tours were done by local guides.

Didn't receive medical care when I should have....

The only low point was the six hour wait at the Hilton sitting on meeting room chairs.

Did not think this tour was the usual Collette experience we had many years ago. The ship was fair, we upgraded the cabin and it should be called deluxe NOT Suite by any means, it was not.

We were not happy to sit on hard back chairs from 9AM till 3PM when we were taken to the ship in a not so hospitality room where we were given only sweets to eat, after spending the night on a plane. the gardens were spectular and in full bloom. The food was great.

There was so many interesting facts about the Netherlands and their "water" management over the centuries. Of course the tulips were amazing as expected. I felt rushed in Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges. We did not have enough free time to have a beer and fries, as the tour guides kept suggesting. I am not a big shopper, but it felt like you had to choose between shopping, going to the toilet or getting some local pastry or snack. It had become a hassle getting Euros in coin form for tipping the driver and the local guides. Many places don't take anything but credit cards, so there wasn't anywhere to get change for a 5 Euro or more. We were told they would take dollars, but this tour had seperate bus drivers and local guides everyday and sometimes 2 different sets in one day. This could be clarified in the documents so that people would understand that they needed a lot of one dollar bills, as the exchange places don't issue coins.

Tours were rushed. Not enough time to enjoy the area. No water available during tours. Local tour guides were rushed all the tours.

Excellent well planned Cruise and superb service by crew. Great food and tremendous culinary service team. All activities were carried out with precision. Would recommend this River Cruise to all of my friends.

One or two days felt a bit rushed.

Too much time spent in the ship’s restaurant. The lunch and dinner meals each took about 2 hours. We thought we were on a trip to see Belgium and The Netherlands, not the inside of a restaurant.

Seeing the tulip gardens and the windmills. The excursions and local guides were great!

The first day was awful waiting for 7 hours with nothing planned.

Food was wonderful, Collette and cruise staff were caring and efficient.

Ease of travel. I'm elderly so ship was a great venue for me

Seeing the tulips, walking through a windmill, seeing the paintings in the cathedrals.

It was an awesome tour. There were a couple of issues but the majority of the tour was wonderful. I would do another river cruise with Collette.

We were pampered throughout the river cruise. We had caring managers and staff and were treated with respect and service beyond the norm.

It was everything we thought it would be- relaxing, good food, gracious and courteous staff and crew. We saw so much in a short time

This was my first river cruise and I was very impressed with everything. Food was wonderful with great vegetarian options. Room adequate. Ship very nice. Liked that it was small. Communication excellent. Loved how the tour ended on the last day with the windmills and the tulips. Bruges was lovely. Could have used more time there.

Easy, traveling with elderly mom, didn't need to plan a thing

Ship, staff, and food served were all great. All three tour managers shared responsibilities equally well. The tours off ship were very good.

The Amadeus Brilliant was wonderful, everything about it! Staff was excellent, food was delicious. The excursions in Holland and Belgium were very interesting, with very good guides. I so enjoyed our visit to Keukenhof Gardens.

Bed was uncomfortable and room was noisy with engine noise.

Trip was good but I wouldn’t visit again. Nothing outstanding.

Everything was excellent except traveling to and from. Airline left some to be desired

I really enjoyed the Collette tulip tour. The cruise directors were very helpful& nice. Loved kuenhof! The lock experience was interesting. Everyone was great from waiters,staff, front desk staff. Food was good. Bar could have been better equipped

Was very disappointed that we only had 1 1/2 hours at our main venue. For some reason, not explained to us, our time was cut to almost nothing. Another venue was added that cut our time short.

Not well organized Miscommunication between ship tour manager and Collette tour managers Not enough time spent at activities 2hours travel time was to long to event and same back

Collette representatives were rude and made us feel unfordable. It seemed like we were a burden to them on every occasion. There also was an obvious issue between the ships crew and the Collette reps. We saw several arguments between Collette and ship employees. From the first day Collette didn’t follow the schedule that they sent us in our black book. We were in Amsterdam 2 days before departure staying in the hotel Collette arranged which was dirty and our view from the only window was a brick wall. Collette didn’t pick us up at the designated time nor made any attempt to contact us or the hotel. We were forced to take a taxi. We Explained the situation when we got on the ship to the Collette representatives and they just blew it off and they said we would be reimbursed for the cab which never happened. They never apologized or explained why we were not picked up at the time that they told us to be in the hotel lobby. We waited over an hour before asking a representative from the hotel what they suggested us to do. The hotel called the taxi. That was just the beginning of a horrible trip. Every guest I spoke to had similar feelings about Collette and their treatment of all of us. I’m sure you have received many negative responses from other customers about the trip. Several people said they would be contacting Collette expressing their mistreatment and writing letters.

Minor glitches. Overall very good experience.

Seemed disorganized. Wanted to spend more than 3 hours at Keukenhof gardens.

Tour managers could have been more accommodating and friendly. Some stops were rushed and one stop to a park near the museums for 30 minutes was a waste of time. Covid testing was not organized and took way too long.

Excellent food. Would have loved to spend more time @ Kroller Muller Museum and gardens. Keukenhof Gardens was amazing. Kinderdijk was fascinating. The countryside as we cruised was beautiful.

Collette & WFSU do a great job of organizing tours. I especially liked the size of our room on the boat, the staff we're consistently friendly & helpful, & the food was excellent.

We did not do as much cruising as I expected. We were docked more. Needed more time at Floriade and Kukenhof.

The entire tripwould only ad Brussels!

The Tour Managers & City Tour Guides made it a wonderful experience overall. It was so fast paced that I'm still trying to process all of it. I would love to do it again so I could absorb more of it. The amount of walking from the tour coaches to the destinations or back and forth to the hotel was difficult. The lines to check in and get through security at the Amsterdam airport took over 3 hours. that was a bad ending to a glorious trip.

All aspects of the tour were rushed, and it was because EVERY meal was expected on the ship. Very, VERY little free time. Service on board the ship was OUTSTANDING. We are aware of a mold problem in the hot tub of the suites (yew!).

Was not organized well. To much walking for a group of seniors several with canes. First night entertainment did not happen. Last day on ship much to long, a morning excursion back to ship for lunch then two afternoon excursions one was an add on then back to the ship for a late dinner. To much for the before we were to fly home. The people at the desk on ship not very helpful but our food servers and cabin persons were outstanding.

This was my first river cruise and have nothing to compare to. Food was outstanding on ship. Schedule seemed a little hectic. Floriade was somewhat, not disappointing, but again not sure what to expect, but expected it to be complete.

When not going on a optional tour, tour guides need to provide local information in English.

Loved the upgrade to a suite. Thank you. Food was excellent, staff great. Cleanliness the best. Main complaint was the food service. It literally took two hours to eat dinner. I would rather a buffet, like breakfast, rather then sitting waiting on food. Not the servers fault; kitchen just appeared slow to get food out.

Felt as though the tour was poorly organized. too little time in Bruge, no time in Brussels. Optional trips not very interesting. More walking than advertised.

Most of the tour was wonderful. The Floriade was hyped too much, and it was not at all what I expected. It also required more walking on rough surfaces than was comfortable. And it set a bad tone for the rest of the tour.

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Keukenhof was amazing. Floriade was okay - not all finished and open.

Floriade looked unfinished Lot of waiting on buses or taxis

Tour was excellent. We saw many interesting and beautiful sites. We made wonderful friends on our trip. My only complaint was the company doing the Covid tests. It was terrible and Collette should not use them again.

I had a great time except for the land tour in Brugge. The guide went too fast, it was 2 hours in stead of 1 and we had to ask him to take us back to the meeting place. The guide from the boat did give us an extra 30 minutes for shopping. Thanks

Excellent service, can't wait to travel again

Overall excellent - tour experiences, tour managers, ship's crew

All aspects of the trip were above par from accommodations , food, and service.

Everything was well planned organized. We didn't ever wonder where we were going or what we would do. I loved the peace of mind that Collette gave us.

It was a fun interesting trip. I wanted to see tulips and I saw beautiful tulips in every color you can imagine. The service on the boat was awesome and so was the food.Over all it was a wonderful trip.

Visiting the tulip farm, Kuekenhof, and walking about with George iWeigel n the gardens. I loved Kinderdijke, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, the Botanic Garden in Amsterdam, King's Day and generally every activity. Polina was excellent as was Alina on the Amadeus Brilliant. Please arrange for prepaid tips. Since The Netherlands is mostly card only coming up with tips was a huge pain in the neck!

Great fun trip. Had great tour managers.

Friendly , enjoyed the group size

Overall it was fabulous. We often did not get the free time we expected. Sometimes on 25 minutes😥

I have used Collette for 2 other tours and must have had my expectation too high.

There were some issues with the trip (i.e., local tour guides that were hard to understand or boring; whispers not always working; long lines in trying to get through security at Amsterdam airport when departing, etc.). The most memorable part of the trip was the bus and canal tour of Amsterdam with Hank as our local tour guide.

The tour exceeded my expectations. The food was excellent and the tour was excellent. Our tour manager and Collette Guides were excellent. There was quite a range of variability in the local guides. Our visit to Kuekenhof was too short - we needed more time there, but we were rushed to leave to take us to a cheese production site. I would have preferred much more time - we didn't have time to see everything. I would prefer that the optional tours be included and the tipping taken care of within the price. The idea of having to tip every single bus driver, tour guide and employee on the riverboat seemed a bit excessive.

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we liked the entire tour a lot

Not enough "free time". I was not happy with our flights.

Had great time aboard cruiseline.

Excursions were disappointing for the cost- particularly the dam project

I fell within the first hour of being on the ship and broke my nose. It was taken care of by medical person on ship. Of course no knew my nose was broken. I suggest that you advise your guests in advance of the step leading into the bathroom. The floor was raised about 2 inches and I either missed the step or caught my toe on it. When I hit the floor, my face hit the shower step. I really don’t remember exactly how it happened. I would suggest being sure guests are made aware of that step.

the whole reason for the cruise was to see the tulips and we got to spend less than 2 hours at the Keukenhof gardens

The wind mills, Cockenhoff, The Delta Works

Our jetted tub had black particles coming from them. Could not be fixed. Two engineers and the hotel manager viewed it. Our tour guide instructed us to contact you upon arrival at home. We did, however nothing has been resolved. We ask for compensation of $1800 the next down grade. Also a refund for an excursion has not been refunded. I feel all of this should have already been taken care of.

There were glictches re COVID testing but overall I enjoyed this tour, the ship and the actual tours. The guides and tour managers were very good.

We enjoyed all of our tours. The ship was comfortable, clean with very pleasant employees. Everyone did everything possible to make sure we were happy. It was a wonderful vacation and experience.

See previous message. Poor planning for arrival and departure.

All the cities, the gardens, but needed more time in each place, felt rushed at times. Did not have enough time in Keukenhof Gardens at all.

My favorite activity was going to Keukenhof Gardens as I am a plant lover, and was so excited to be able to see so many beautiful flowers. That is the reason I did not give 5 stars, because of the short time to see Keukenhof Gardens. We needed a half day there.

we visited new cities, old cities, tourist areas, museums. Most memorable experience was the Kinderdijk.

Poor scheduling of tours. Tried to cram too much in each day.

Great time! Lueftner Cruise-Amedeus Brilliant have excellent staff/ship/etc. Our Collette Reps were amazing! Marieka & Polina did everything in their power to make us comfortable and make sure we enjoyed the trip

We covered a lot of territory in the short time of the cruise. The towns in Belgium were wonderful and we had enough free time as well as tour time. We were going for the tulips and unfortunately it was the only rainy day we had. The tulip fields were headed the day before but we still thoroughly enjoyed. the Keukenhof gardens. The windmill tour was great as was the guide. Her ancestors were millers so our tour was very personalized. The Delta City Works was also a great tour. It was very fascilnating. We were glad that we spent 2 days in Amsterdam before the cruise began. We would encourage anyone taking this tour to take advantage of a few days in Amsterdam. It was an inviting city.

It is difficult to pinpoint a favorite memorable experience, but I would have to say it's the people we encountered: fellow travelers, Collette employees, riverboat crew, and, of course, the locals we rubbed elbows with in The Netherlands and Belgium.

I did not have a particularly favorite moment.

I loved the day tours especially Amsterdam early in the morning before the crowds. I would book this trip but not over the Easter Holidays as it was very crowded and hard to take photographs without having hundreds of people in the photo.

Great experience. Loved everything

since it was advertised as a tulip tour just a little disappointed that we only saw one tulip farm and one area where the windmills were...I would have liked to see more gardens....

Visit to Keukenhof Gardens. We were only given 2 hours there.

The tour was wonderful. The Tour people were great. Everything was made easy for me. The ship was very clean and the people who took care of us were great.

As always, Collette did a good job. Very good value. Friendly staff on the ship. Excellent tour managers.

The scenery was not that pretty this time. Not crazy about the tours either.

Keukenhof , windmills, and open aitr museum.

Enjoyed river cruising and all the countryside.

Very good tour program......

The name is a little misleading. I expected more tulips and better scenery. The river time was mostly industrial.

I enjoyed the trip was not disappointed.

Excellent organization and use of time. Excellent food

This was our first river cruise and we were well pleased with our experience. The accommodations and staff were beyond our expectations. The variety in the excursions was nice. Of course our favorites were Keukenhof Gardens and Kinderdijk with the windmills. We were pleasantly surprised with the Deltaworks Project and the history and engineering. The only thing I would like would be one more day in Amsterdam with an optional tour of Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh Museum.

Highlight were the tulip garden but had inadequate time for a comprehensive visit. Flight travel was very traumatic with inadequate time to manage connections with no help from your staff. Inadequate time was scheduled for shopping in every location.

everything was great except we had two tours stating at 8 am on our first day after having 6 hour jet lag it was very tiresome and made for a very tiring day need more time for us to adjust to the jet lag times especially for most of your travelers over 65

The Flower Show at Kunkenhof was a favorite as was a trip to see Ghent and Bruges. I wish we had more time at each location.

Disappointed as had expected to see tulips as we cruised the canals. Visits to towns ok, but not what I wanted to see.

Beautiful ship, excellent itinerary, relaxing travel, and variety of tours.

great tour but would have been nice to be able to see Middleburg and spent more time in Bruge Difficult to rate tour manager as she did not spend much time with us. there were three buses, two tour managers, and we often were not the bus who had someone

The Amsterdam River tour and the Tulip tour were very good.

Tulip tour and Amsterdam Canal tour were good.

Did already above. please read. Check out was a horror. They gave a time frame of two hours. The lines were very long, only one person settling accounts. Had to wait over an hour to check out.

This was not one of my better Collette trips, but I did enjoy the tulips and windmills.

The boat was OK but needed to be upgraded. The beds and chairs had holes in them where you would sink in. Not acceptable. The best places were the windmills and Brudges and we only spent a few hours in each. More time spent in towns with nothing to see.

I was prepared for the weather but it was still uncomfortably cold and damp. The best part was the excellent town tour guides - very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

See original comment--have combined comments of these two sections there.

The beautiful Gardens of Keukenhof

Tour was great as exprcted from Collette.

The entire tour was enjoyable but I especially liked the Deltaworks Project.

The Keukenhof Gardens and the windmills

The Amadeus Queen ship was wonderful. The place was very clean. The entire staff were amazing. They were friendly, professional and made you feel welcomed every day. Good at all place was great. Full bar with daily specials were fun. Beer and wine with dinner was a lovely touch. The planned trips were incredible. One better then the next. It was our first river cruise but won't be the last. We are already looking at other Amadeus cruises. Their people, ships and tours are each 5 stars.

Although this was the most expensive trip we been on Tulip River Cruise was a pleasure.

Everyone had a great time and it was fun and professional. Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Everyone was excellent the best crew ever.

Tulip farm was outstanding as were all tours

Windmills and tulip gardens

Tulip gardens and Delta Works tour were my top two - very different but hard to judge which was best.

KINDER DIJK AND the tulip gardens

We enjoyed all stops but two favorites were Dalta Waterworks and Keukenhof Gardens

The 2 Collete tour managers were seldom seen. Favorite experience was the tulip gardens and Delta Dam excursion.

Since the tour was entitled Tulip Cruise, I think there should have been more than 2 1/2 hours at the KUKENHOFF Gardens.nthe included excursions were nice, but the trip felt rushed at the end. The two highlights were both on the last day

Seeing all the beautiful tulips

Enjoyed traveling the Low Countries

The whole trip.was a wonder experence. The only thing I would change is if you are leaving from California leave a day early. We got there at 10 PM and sailed the next morning.

The trip met our expectations. It was well planned and not lacking in experiences. The local guides were well informed and friendly.

We truly enjoyed the company of so many people on the boat. The entertainers, singers, were wonderful. The excursions were all so good. We enjoyed looking at the land with its houses, livestock, etc. as the boat went from port to port. The canal cruise in Amsterdam was very interesting.

The trip was nice and very inclusive but a notch or two above my energy level, too much walking. the Keukendof Gardens were magnificent. On foreign trips the guides should have good English. The Collette guides were not bad but the Cruise Director on the ship was very nice but had a heavy Romanian accent that was hard to understand.

Our tour manager was Boryana. She was good. She was competent, but as is the case with many Central Europeans, very serious, and more focused on tasks. Jane Pritchett was the Tour Manager for the other half of the 87 person tour group, and she was outstanding--personable, upbeat, very helpful, positive, kind, caring, genuine. Both did their jobs well, we just preferred Jane's style. The ship was amazing, and the staff was great. We would definitely like to ravel on that cruise line again. The tour inclusions were very good. We liked the places we visited. There was a lovely balance of walking, standing, and riding. Great daily guides, very informative. We liked the tours and then the free time to do a few things on our own. The trip was great from start to end! Collette went out of their way to make it possible for four of us to visit the Airborne Museum in Arnhem. Only one person booked and paid before the tour left the US, and Collette not only honored their commitment to take the trip with one or more people, they paid the costs for all of us to go there. My father was a pilot that dropped the paratroopers on Sept. 17 for Operation Market Garden which the museum in Arnhem commemorates. It was very important for my husband and me to get there, and we are very impressed and grateful that Collette made that possible. Thank you.

Everything about the tour was good - last day seeing the tulips was our highlight - we love flowers.

Delta Works tour and Keukenhof Gardens