Today was an amazing day of river cruising. This is our very first river cruise and it’s fitting that we are on Riverside Luxury Cruises. Riverside is a relatively new cruise line that started in 2022. A German family started this business after success in the hotel industry. Their hotels are called Seaside Resorts. Anyway, they are the luxury cruise line for the first-time river cruiser. Their goal is to attract 40-55 year old foodies. The food is phenomenal and every dish is not only artfully presented, but delicious.
Riverside prides themselves on being adaptable and catering to the needs of the clients onboard. Breakfast has been from 7:30am to 9am each morning and many of us have missed it. Today, they adapted. Breakfast ends at 9:30am and for the first time in a couple days we’ve had a proper breakfast. I discovered mango juice today. Also, I ordered tea for the first time. The waiter brings a teapot with a basket of loose leaf tea. He places the basket in the teapot and then places a sand timer on the table. He tells me that my tea is ready when the timer is done. How fancy! It was a nice breakfast.
Soon enough it’s time for the top deck picnic. There are large green egg grills and today’s lunch is served on the top deck. There is a small buffet with salad and desserts. We order our meal with the waiter. We both get steak. The meal comes at 1:05pm and our tour starts at 1:15pm. We race to eat then race to the room to grab our headsets for the tour.
We’ve signed up for a wine tasting tour in Maastricht and I’m wearing sneakers in case this ends up being a two hour walking tour. We do walk some, but all of the tasting is in the same venue. We have a guide for the walk who tells us about the city. We are in two groups for the walk and then we all rejoin at the winery. It’s a bit chaotic when we first arrive and there are a lot of people in a small space. We’re then told to go downstairs. We’re in the cellar and it feels claustrophobic. The ceilings are low and there are too many people for the space. Some of us spill over to the next room, but we’re asked to come back so we can hear the guide. We’re given our first glass of wine and our first food pairing. Our sommelier tells us all about wine and then we move to the next room. I escape down the corridor. I’m having flashbacks of the most terrifying ride at Disneyland: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. I don’t like confined spaces. The hallway is really cool and I find wine bottles and barrels and other interesting things. We then go upstairs on traditional Dutch stairs which feel more like a ladder than a staircase. We go outside to see one of two city wineries in Europe and then move to the tasting room.
The tasting room is a stark contrast to the cellar. There are tall ceilings with windows and light spills through the space. It looks like the area is setup for a wedding with pressed white linen table cloths and wine glasses. Each seat has five wine glasses, one water glass that is not much larger than a shot glass, a napkin, and a fork. Wine is poured in our glasses and we’re served more food. Each glass of wine comes with its own snack. Local wines are chosen for the experience. It’s a really cool experience and at the end we’ve had 6 “samples” of wine. I didn’t finish my last two. I look around and I’m amazed by how many have finished all the wine. They are on a higher level of river cruising than me!
The group is quick to disperse afterwards. I use the tiniest bathroom in the world and when I come out almost everyone is gone. The bathroom is so small that you could wash your hands while sitting on the toilet if you wanted to.
We walk around with our new river cruise friends. We stumble upon a chocolate shop and I order one Easter bunny and a truffle. It’s less than 2 Euro and was amazing. We quickly become friends with Maryanne, the woman in the shop, and she gives us a recommendation for a bar. We’ve each just finished six glasses of wine. Of course we need a bar.
There are seven of us who go to the bar and we have a lovely time getting to know each other. There are two menus at this bar. A small one and a big one. At home, the small one is usually the drink menu. Not here. The very large menu is filled with pages and pages of beer. The last page has non-beer options and I choose an Italian Coffee. It’s coffee with amaretto and whipped cream. I’m very happy with my selection. Also, it’s served with chocolate. All aboard is at 6:30pm so at 6pm, I find the waitress so we can pay and walk to the ship. We’re cutting it a little close considering we don’t 100% know our way back. On our walk back, we find more people from our ship and they’re eating street snacks. We then decide we need street snacks too. They are these mini pancakes with powdered sugar. Soooo good, but they take a little longer than we’re anticipating. The good news is that someone from this new group has a decent understanding of where the ship is. We make our way to the river and at first she says, the ship is right by the bridge. Then, oh that’s the wrong bridge. We need to hustle. We put on our fast feet and hightail it to the ship. We make it. This cruise line is very relaxed about going on and off the ship. I don’t think they would notice if some of us were missing.
It’s now cocktail hour so we socialize and drink. Then, head to dinner. Then, back to the lounge. I don’t drink much back home. I’ve probably had more alcohol in the month of March than I’ve had the last two years. I’m definitely going to need a bit of a sugar and alcohol detox when I get home!
留言