Day One of our Enchanting Rhine River Cruise with AmaWaterways began in Toronto, Ontario and ended in Basel, Switzerland.

Heather and I drove to Toronto Pearson Airport on the afternoon of November 10th for our KLM flight to Basel, Switzerland, where we would board the AmaStella for our Rhine river cruise.

Flight from Toronto to Basel via Amsterdam

We arrived well in advance of the recommended check-in time, and had to wait for a little while before we could drop our bags and check-in with the airline. Once we cleared security and checked in with KLM, we headed to the gate, where we enjoyed a glass of wine in the lounge while we waited for our flight, and looked over the excursion options from our cruise documents. (Ordinarily, guests can select their excursions online ahead of time, but our booking was last minute, so this wasn’t possible.)

The flight was excellent, with wonderful service. A full meal with beer or wine was served. All passengers were required to wear face masks except while actively eating or drinking. Heather managed to get some sleep on the plane, but I am rarely able to actually sleep during a flight. I dozed here and there.

Pandemic Paperwork for Travel

Our flight featured a brief stopover in Amsterdam. There, we went through passport control. We expected that we would need to show a lot of paper work upon entry to the European Union, and although it wasn’t required for entry into the EU at the time, we had taken a PCR test in Ontario prior to the trip. We were ready to present our negative COVID-19 PCR test result, proof of vaccination against COVID-19 and a questionnaire that AmaWaterways had suggested should be completed. In the end, we were simply asked to see our proof of vaccination. Border officials asked us the usual questions about where we were going and for how long, and we were on our way.

From Amsterdam, the flight to Basel was short. We were served coffee or tea and a sandwich on the flight, and we were soon on the ground in Switzerland, ready to make our way to the waiting ship for the Enchanting Rhine river cruise.

Transferring from the Airport to the Ship

We had arranged our transfers from the airport to the ship through AmaWaterways, which was a fantastic choice. Once we exited the terminal, our driver was waiting for us with AmaWaterways signage, making it very easy to find her. She was friendly, courteous and informative as she drove us directly to the ship. The drive took approximately 15 minutes.

The AmaStella was waiting for us, and we were among the first guests to arrive, ship-side. We left our luggage with the cruise line representatives there and went off to explore a little until it was time to board.

Enchanting Rhine River Cruise Itinerary

Before getting started describing our day in Basel, here’s the full itinerary of our 7 day Rhine River cruise sailing, so you’ll know what to expect in future posts about this cruise. In all, we’d be visiting four different countries: Switzerland, France, Germany and The Netherlands.

• Day 1–Embarkation in Basel, Switzerland
• Day 2–Riquewihr and Strasbourg, France
• Day 3–Strasbourg, France
• Day 4–Heidelberg and Rudesheim, Germany
• Day 5–Rudesheim and the Rhine Gorge followed by Lahneck Castle in Lahnstein, Germany
• Day 6–Cologne, Germany
• Day 7–Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Day 8–Disembarkation in Amsterdam

Day 1 of the Enchanting Rhine River Cruise–Basel, Switzerland

Basel was a very quiet place that day, and we stopped to ask a young man if businesses were closed due to it being Remembrance Day, but he told us he was from Germany and wasn’t familiar with that. A lot of shops and cafes were closed due to COVID, we think, but we enjoyed wandering around for about an hour. Heather and I are both gardeners, so being able to see herbs and flowers still growing in gardens in mid-November was especially pleasurable.

After twelve o’clock, we returned to the ship and were permitted to board. We were welcomed warmly by the crew, and opted to have a light lunch in the lounge. The whole space was so bright but also cozy, and we were just so thrilled to be on board, we were delighted with everything. This first taste of wonderful service would prove to persist throughout the entire voyage.

For lunch we had soup and some sandwiches and cookies. Heather had a glass of wine and I opted for a beer, which I thought would go best with the soup. 

Soon our stateroom was ready, and we were guided to the room, which was an upgrade from the stateroom category we were booked into originally. 

In this short video, you’ll take a tour of our stateroom on board the AmaStella.

We learned that there were a total of just 56 guests on board for the sailing, the majority of which were traveling together as a group.

Our luggage was brought for us to the stateroom, and we spent some time unpacking and settling in before taking a walk around the ship to orient ourselves. 

Before dinner, we spent some time in the lounge, enjoying some “bubbles” and the evening cocktail hour, when the daily featured drink and a limited bar menu was available, free of charge. 

Soon it was dinner time, and we were led to our table in the main dining room. While ordinarily, guests would be able to choose their seat from one night to the next, assigned seating is a policy during the pandemic. This arrangement worked out very nicely for us, as we enjoyed daily dining with a lovely couple from Tampa, who we became very friendly with as the cruise progressed. 

We headed back to the lounge after dinner to hear the talk from our cruise director, Dajana, who gave us a wonderful talk about what to expect during our Rhine river cruise for the week ahead.

Guests were expected to wear face masks on the ship everywhere, unless seated in the lounge with a drink or at the table for dinner. All guests on board were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and PCR testing was strongly recommended before boarding.

Soon enough, the previous 24 hours of travel had crept up on Heather and I, and we headed back to our cozy stateroom for bed. It was going to be a busy week!

Would you like to start to planning your own Rhine river cruise? Please reach out and we can plan together.