Hi Ladies.  Nancy and Melinda from Salt Lake City, Utah.  We're getting excited for the trip next month.  It's our first trip to Europe and our first Olivia vacation.    We've been checking some things out and thought some of you might be interested in a Lesbian-owned restaurant that we discovered a few doors down from the Anne Frank House.  I've been in contact with the owners, Esther and Carla, and they seem nice.  Here's the link if you're interested (I love their graphic of the two cute Dutch girls):

http://www.bistrobijons.nl/index-en.html

See you all next month!

Hi everyone, April & Linda from Stockton, California here.  Today is our 26th anniversary and the reason we are taking the trip next month. We are getting very exited about it and It's our first trip to Europe and our first Olivia adventure.  We are arriving a day early and will be staying at the Renaissance Hotel on Saturday nite.  We're looking forward to to seeing all we can while in Amsterdam but we're especially looking forward to seeing the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh Museum. 

Thanks for the tip about the price drops we'll check it out.  Anyway, we're looking forward to the meeting everyone and making new friends along the way.

Hi ladies, Aimee & Alisa from Columbus, Ohio.  We are getting really excited about the trip too and look forward to meeting all of you!  We are also planning extra time in Amsterdam (on our own, not Olivia package) before the trip and in Switzerland afterwards.  I think we will definitely take the Keukenhof Gardens tour on Sunday so as not to miss the Holland tulips!

A travel tip for you:  We just checked the current airfare price for our flights and found a dramatic price drop-- almost in half!  It appears there may be good deals to Europe out there right now.  So you may want to check-- depending on your airline, you might be eligible for a credit or voucher as we were. 

Ann and I are very excited about this trip, including the pre cruise time inAmsterdam!

We are going to be in Basel a day or two afterward, also. This will be my first trip to Europe, can't wait!!

Melissa 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trip is just about a month away, and we are really getting excited.  We did sign up for the two-night pre-trip package and are looking forward to meeting everyone.  See you soon!

Connie and Laurie

Hola Carol and Pura! We are happy to have you join us!  Some of us know a little bit of Spanish, so we will work hard at it. :-)

And everyone else joining us on this trip - Hello!  We are finalizing details, and wanted to let you know that those who are not on our 2 night pre-trip package will be meeting us at the Renaissance Hotel in Amsterdam for your transfer to the ship on April 12 no later than 3:30pm for a prompt 4:00pm departure to the ship.  So those arriving into Amsterdam the morning of April 12, or on their own prior to April 12 need to keep this in mind. 

Also, apart from the package tour to Kukenhof Gardens that Olivia provided to the guests on our 2 night package only (and is full), we have asked Avalon to provide an optional Kukenhoff Gardens Tour that will depart the Renaissance hotel at approx. 1pm on April 12 for guests not on the Olivia Package.  You can sign up at the hotel any time between 8am and 12 noon for approx. $40US and pay by $US dollars, Euros or credit card. We strongly encourage you to take this tour, as this is your opportunity to see every species of Tulips that there are, and it is breath taking! So, if any of you were interested in seeing the Rijks Museum or the Van Gogh Museum, we suggest either seeing it on the morning of April 12, or skip the Kukenhof Gardens tour and see it in the afternoon. There will be little time if any to see these museums on April 13.

That's all for now!  Heading out on the Amazon to do the site inspection . . . Are any of you thinking of joining us on that trip???

In travels,

Jill

Hi everyone!

Happy New Year!

My girlfriend Kim and I are going on our first Olivia cruise and we are so excited to embark on this great adventure and to meet tons of new friends. We've been wanting to go on a cruise for some time but never bit the bullet until now - this trip was too good to pass up. And with all the exciting details Jill has provided us, we are more excited than ever.

Do any of you have any tips for some first timers?

Hope to meet ya'll soon!

Allison and Kim (from Texas)

Hi Jill and all the wonderful/brilliant/beautiful women who are adventurous enough to be traveling with Olivia!  I haven't packed for Amsterdam yet (too busy getting prepared for Galapagos - leaving in only two days).  The memories from the Provence and Burgundy cruise last July are still so fresh (enhanced by all the wonderful photos I took) that I'm already getting excited about seeing/meeting you all and sharing another fabulous week with Olivia...

OMG!  This trip is going to be AWESOME~ I just returned from our site inspection trip on the Avalon Tapestry, and did the entire itinerary exactly how we will be doing it on our cruise (with a few little tweaks as we normally do to enhance the trip).

Amsterdam is amazing, and if you have not signed up for the optional 2 night package with us, don't miss out! It's not only that you get to do things together with other Olivia travelers, but we get priority tickets without standing in line for hours for the Anne Frank House! That itself is worth it!  You are also getting a special tour of the Gay area of Amsterdam along with all the other common tourist stops. We will be able to recommend great restaurants, things to do and places to see!

Our cruise begins on Sunday, and really the day is yours to enjoy however you wish before meeting us at our hotel for the transfer to the ship at about 4PM. We will have some optional excursions available to sign up for at the hotel if you wanted to go to the Van Gogh Museum or the Rijks Museum, or maybe to the Kukenhoff Gardens. So if any of you are arriving on the day of sailing, you can take a taxi to the Hotel -about 50 Euros, or a train from the airport  - about 7 Euros which is only a 10 minute walk from the train station to the hotel. You can leave your luggage there, and take an optional tour or just explore the city on your own.

The following morning (Monday) we have a canal ride on the famous Amsterdam Canals to give us a nice overview of the city. We have about an hour of free time after this, then we set sail for Cologne and have the entire afternoon to relax on the sun deck and watch the world go by.

Cologne is going to be fabulous. Not only have we hand-picked wonderful guides to give us a city tour, but we are also working with the women's community to offer assistance after the main tours to get people to the Chocolate Museum, the Sports Museum or some assistance back to the main shopping area! We have also picked a very popular local brewery to meet for dinner as an option for the evening, where some of the other local women will be meeting us as well. You know Cologne is the home for the 2010 Gay Olympics, so they really want to make a good impression on us! And, we have found a local lesbian singer who just might join us on board and share a few fun songs for us.

All in all, the trip was magical with beautiful castles that we pass by on the way to the next city. There are a lot of churches, but we have decided that our tour guides will save them for last on each of the tours and give you the option for more free time in the towns, or to join them for the church tours since we know some of you may be interested to see many of these Gothic style churches that each town is so proud of, while others may just want to shop, taste the chocolates or have a pastry and coffee and watch the world go by.

Heidelberg was exceptional, as well as the small town we visited. Two wonderful surprises were the "optional " tours being offered. One is a wine tour in Strasbourg to the Alsace countryside that is well known for white wines, and especially Rieslings. I ended up buying a wonderful Pinot Gris and a Gewürztraminer. Don't miss this if you are a lover of the sweeter wines.

The other tour that was just added, again optional (meaning it costs extra - something like $40) was a trip to Colmar. What a quaint, beautiful village. It is also known as the "Little Venice". We may change this up a bit so you can be there a little longer as there were some wonderful cafés and places to eat, and a great museum to visit but on the tour we just did not have the time to do it all.

Going to the Black Forest was fun to see. Again, we may change this up a bit as well as the drive up itself is quite beautiful. They take us to a store that sells Cuckoo clocks and lots of other "touristy" things, as well as serve cherry wine samples and black forest cake. But, in all honesty, do this included tour only if you want a cuckoo clock, or would just enjoy the drive through the Black Forest, and enjoy the cherry wine and black forest cake. Otherwise we think you would enjoy the small town we dock near much more for free time or perhaps some lunch. They have a lovely market there as well. We would definitely shorten that "Black Forest" tour tour just a bit so you have plenty of time in the smaller town as well.

Lots of time on the River Rhine to enjoy the scenery and relax! We know you will really enjoy this trip. So glad we are going in April as this is when the flowers should be in bloom. Though it was a beautiful time to be there in the fall and watch the colors start to change, it was so cold. I was wearing my Chicago winter jacket, scarf and mittens most of the time. Everyone I talked to said that April is a beautiful time to be there. And, from our experience last year on the Tulip cruise, I remember beautiful weather in the 70's!

As soon as I have more free time, I will post some photos to this group site. Looking forward to seeing all of you in April!

Jill

Jill,

 So how did your site inspection go?  Only a little over 5 months from now we will be in Amsterdam.

We're getting excited!

Is there a formal night?  It would be great if Zoe Lewis was one of the enterainers. She's great

 

Margaret & Merri

Hi!

We are Karol and Pura, from Spain! This is going to be our first Olivia trip and we are really excited!!

We love travelling, and we have already been in several European countries, but never at a cruise like this one. We wish there were someone who speaks Spanish, but otherwise we will try to make lots of friends in English. We will try out best!!

We are in the Spanish army at partial time, and we love it. That is why we have contacted you, because maybe we will have things in common.

Great to meet you!

Hi Chris and Candace!  Glad to hear you will both be on this trip - I had no idea that you were both retired  - congrats!

I am heading out for Amsterdam on Oct. 17 to take the site inspection cruise to Basel and will be able to come back with some fun tips and experiences to make this trip the best it can be for you. We even have a lesbian or two along the way that is helping us to make sure we visit the sites that are "must see's" in case the ship does not include it. No matter what, the Olivia experience will be a better trip than one you would normally take :-) We make sure of it!

Stay tuned for more!

Jill

Hello!

Just wanted to introduce myself and my partner, Chris & Candace.  We'll be on this trip, and we're looking forward to meeting you and having an awesome time!

This will be our sixth Olivia adventure.  We also cruised on Nice-Rome '03, Boston-Montreal '04, Greece '05, Barcelona-Rome '06, and Tahiti '07.

Candace & I are both recently-retired military officers.  We live in the mountains of western NC, about an hour north of Asheville.  I have started a personal chef business, and we both own and operate a vacation rental cabin next door to our home.  If you're interested:  http://www.bannerhai.com

We love to travel!  We're planning to stay on in Switzerland a week after the cruise with our Olivia pals, Carol & Carol, who will also be on this trip.  Other Olivia buddies, Pat & Pat, will be along on the boat, too.  (I'm not making up these names!)  Seriously, the best thing about our Olivia cruises, has been the life-long friends we've made!

Neither Candace nor I have ever been to Amsterdam or Switzerland, so we welcome any tips or recommendations for getting the most out of our vacation.

See you over there!      - Chris (& Candace)

Hi everyone,

My partner Laurie and I are very excited about this trip too!  We were just on the Danube II cruise in August this year and won a 2-for-1 for this trip next April!

We have also been on Olivia's Alaska cruise a few years ago, and had a wonderful time.  This was a smaller ship and smaller group but we found the riverboat trip just as much fun even though it was an entirely different experience.  We were able to see so many historic and interesting cities and villages this way.  We also met  many, many wonderful women this year and hope to see some of them again next year.  I am not that comfortable being on the ocean even though we live near the beach in Long Beach, California!  Being on the river is quite different from the ocean - we didn't feel even the slightest wobble even though we were going against the current and passing some other ships at a pretty good clip.  One night we were treated to an awesome thunder and lightning storm during dinner, followed by a perfect full double rainbow.  (Jill, can you arrange that for next time???)

We haven't decided about pre-and-post travel yet, probably will depend on work schedules.  After this past cruise we took a train to Paris and spent 5 nights there.  It would have been tough to leave Europe immediately and I'm glad we stayed a few extra days.

And I do have to compliment all the Olivia staff, particularly Jill.  They make you feel so cared for without being hovered over or told what to do. 

Looking forward to meeting you on the next trip.

Connie and Laurie

Hi Joanne. Yes, I will be on this trip and very excited you are joining us!  Riverboats are a much different experience than the big trips - no bingo, photographer, casino . . . but the experience of pulling up into a small town, and literally walking in. The guides are wonderful and full of interesting, rich information about their town and history. After the tour there is free time to explore and shop or enjoy some of the local cuisine at a "local" restaurant, away from the big city touristic feelings. The days are filled with tours, or cruising on the river, enjoying the sunshine and new friends, and the evenings we come together to share our days experiences and have Olivia entertainment or local entertainment (or our own talent show or oldywed/newlywed game).  After the show, there are usually a handful that want to stay up and dance, and our POD DJ is qued up and ready to play an  hour or 2. :-)  You are going to love it!