Culture, scenery & local delicacies on a Tauck luxury river cruise to Belgium & Holland

I was really thrilled to be invited on Tauck’s Hidden Waterways of Flanders and Holland itinerary onboard ms Grace. Tauck offer luxury River Cruises and have featured in the River Cruise Line Top 10 for Travel + Leisure magazine’s "World's Best Awards” for 16 consecutive years, so I was excited to get onboard and enjoy their award-winning experience for myself.  

A seamless arrival:

The Tauck experience is fantastic from the start – my tickets arrived two weeks prior to departure, with helpful information including what to pack. I was flying with KLM and by downloading the app I could check-in online which was very straightforward. As I flew from a regional airport, I had a connecting flight in Amsterdam which was a really smooth process, and on arrival at Brussels airport it was easy to find the Tauck sign for my transfer. Tauck provide airport or train transfers on arrival and departure, and this is a very comfortable and a relaxing start to the holiday. Once the porters took my luggage I was welcomed onboard ms Grace with a cool towel for my hands, which was very refreshing.

A relaxing home from home:

I checked into my cabin which was lovely and spacious, and I was offered a glass of champagne, which was a nice welcome. The cabin I had was a Category 7 which is one of the top suites on the ship. These can accommodate up to 3 three people. The room was so spacious for two people, with a walk-in wardrobe, a lovely bathroom with a walk-in shower and a variety of Tauck-exclusive Molton Brown bath products provided, along with terry cloth robes, towels and hair dryers.  With a sofa, a table and chair and two french balconies there is plenty of space to relax and enjoy the river views.

I had a chance to see some other cabins - the Category 3 cabin is classed as a ‘loft suite’ and is split-level with a one-and-a-half deck window that opens at the top, with table and chairs to enjoy the views, and downstairs are the bed and bathroom. These unique cabins are very light and spacious and in a perfect position on the ship. The Category 1 suite has a letterbox window and is a good size. Tauck offer these cabins with no single supplement, so they are a fantastic option for the solo traveller.

Fantastic Facilities

The ms Grace is very elegant inside and out.  Having no more than 130 guests onboard the ship made it feel so spacious. The Panorama Lounge at the front of the ship was the site of our welcome party, where we met the Cruise Director, Captain and Tauck guides. This is also the venue for evening entertainment, during our trip we had two quizzes that were very entertaining. I enjoyed every single evening, but my favourite was when the crew put on a little talent show, which was very entertaining. We had 45 crew onboard and they all came together for a few dance routines, with the bar tenders showing off their cocktail juggling skills. At one point the Captain stopped the boat so we could go up on deck to see the famous windmills and this was a perfect sunset view and a really memorable evening.

Onboard the ship the dress code is very casual. We had 2 evenings during the trip that were semi formal, and it was lovely to see everyone dressed up. Wi-Fi is included which is useful to all ages. There is a gym, spa and a small shop which sold various items from bags to teddy bears. On the top deck is a jacuzzi pool and putting green, seating to sit and read, and shady areas for sunny days.  It was very tranquil sitting on deck sailing out of the cities, watching the world go by. This was my favourite place to relax, sitting in the sun chatting to my fellow guests, or listening to music watching the world go by.

Taste sensations:

There is one a la carte restaurant and one casual dining option, with a grab and go area for fruits, pretzels, cookies, tea, coffee, water, and iced tea, which you can take with you on excursions.

Compass Rose is the a la carte restaurant, offering fine dining, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had some very tasty turkey medallions one lunchtime, and we ate here most evenings. There is a Chefs Signature Dinner one night, which is a seven course extravaganza. Each course was delicious and beautifully presented and I tried foods that I hadn’t tried before, such as scallops and lobster.

Arthur’s is the casual dining option, serving late breakfast and classic favourites at lunch & dinner. I recommend the burger, which was full of flavour, and the club sandwich which looked amazing. When we moored in Amsterdam we had a specialty Dutch sausage, with a famous mustard which was very nice.

My favourite meal onboard was Tomahawk Pork - it melted in your mouth and with the mash and the sauce the flavours complemented each other so well - you could taste everything all at once.

As part of our itinerary we had a Tauck Exclusive dinner at Slot Loevestein. This stunning location is 40 mins away from Dordrecht, set in a nature reserve where the 14th-century castle has served as a prison, residence and toll house.  We had an interesting tour around the castle followed by a glass of champagne and canapés, then a 3-course dinner, very different to those we had enjoyed onboard the ship.

Raise a glass:

Tauck’s drinks are all included and as well as the bars onboard, all cabins have a minibar stocked with complimentary water and soft drinks. I loved the champagne onboard, which was Veuve Clicquot, and the mai tai cocktails were very fruity and a lovely drink to have around the jacuzzi. Afternoon milkshakes were a refreshing option as well.  

This particular cruise is a beer lover’s delight and I enjoyed two beer tours as part of the shore excursion programme. In Antwerp I tried Bolleke - a hop beer brewed in Antwerp since 1952, Kasteel - a fruity cherry beer and Gouloise -  a 6% hop beer. In Rotterdam the beer tour had the added excitement of water taxi transport between venues. Here we visited three different locations across the city and enjoyed platters of cheese and bitterballen at some sites, which accompanied the beers beautifully.

Discover each destination:

A Tauck cruise includes all shore excursions, and my trip was a brilliant mix of culture, scenery and local delicacies - I saw so many things, but some of my destination highlights would be:

Brussels: we got the shuttle bus into the city Brussels, it was a 25-minute transfer from where we docked. Our guide was very knowledgeable – as well as historical and cultural insights he took us to see the Jeanneke-Pis, the literal translation is ‘Little Pissing Joan’ and is a small bronze statue is of a little girl urinating into the fountain base!  This was commissioned in 1985 as a counterpoint to the city's famous Manneken Pis - ‘Little Pissing Man’ which was originally sited in 1619!

Antwerp: here we had another walking tour to understand the history of Antwerp. The Het Steen is Antwerp’s oldest preserved building and just 5 minutes from the ship. The  Grote Market is Antwerp’s main square, and here the Brabofontein illustrates how Antwerp got its name. Antwerpen is from the Dutch handwerpen (‘hand-throwing’) and a giant called Antigoon is said to have lived near the Scheldt River and demanded a toll from passing boatmen. He severed the hand of anyone who did not pay and threw it in the river. The giant was finally defeated by Barbo who cut off the giant’s own head and flung it into the river – the sculpted Brabofontein depicts his moment of victory!

We visited the Cathedral of the Lady, the largest gothic church in Belgium, built in 1300 and originally designed with two large towers, the second of which has never been completed. This is the home of Rubens’ famous Elevation of the Cross painting, painted in 1610.

A more contemporary sculpture is Nello and Patrasche – Nello, a poor orphan boy, befriends the dog Patrasche and together they roam the streets of Antwerp. One Christmas night it was snowing they could not find their way back home and they died from the cold, the sculptor depicts the pavement as a blanket to keep them warm.

Bruges: another lovely walking tour seeing the Sashuis historic lock house; the famous De Halve Maan brewery, whose pipes run for 2 miles underneath the city to the bottling plant; the Gruuthusemuseum and then free time to explore and shop at our leisure.

Ghent: we took a small boat down the picturesque river into the heart of Ghent to visit the Sint Baafskathedraal, a site of worship for over 1,000 years. Here we saw the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a multi-panelled painting by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, started in 1426 and taking 7 years to complete.

Dordrecht: is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and its residents are known as  Schapenkoppen (Sheepheads). In the Middle Ages Dordrecht was a prominent trading city, and law demanded that all goods going in and out of the city were subject to tax, so two residents dressed a sheep they had bought in scarecrow clothing to try and evade the tax - the plan failed due to the sheep bleating! We also saw the Cathedral and the 19th Century Damiate drawbridge.

Amsterdam: we took a canal boat tour in the morning, passing the local attractions such as the Anne Frank Museum. We finished the canal tour just outside the famous Rijksmusem, housing great works of the Dutch Masters Rembrandt and Vermeer.

There were plenty of other excursions that you could have chosen on this cruise; a tour of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Tour in Antwerp; a bike ride to Dame; an Architecture tour of Rotterdam or a walking tour of Leiden; in Amsterdam a bike tour to the Volendam fishing village and cheese makers - there really is something for everyone.

The Tauck Experience

It has been a truly amazing experience, with the feeling of being looked after from day one. The staff were amazing onboard, nothing was too much trouble and they are certainly a credit to Tauck. The waiters were very knowledgeable and learned what you liked to drink, the guides were very informative too, friendly and always smiling. The food was fantastic, from having dinner in the a la carte restaurant to casual dining in Arthur’s restaurant. Tauck offers a truly inclusive price, with wi-fi, gratuities, all drinks and even lunch money when we were away from the boat in Bruges for the day. The only extras are spa treatments and shop purchases, and we felt very well cared for throughout.

The maximum guest numbers of 130 passengers meant there was always a place to sit and relax and I particularly liked the way the small groups were of no more than 15 on the trips. Tauck is tailored to an older clientele but there were some families with older teens on our trip who were having a brilliant time. I enjoyed every moment onboard. It was a wonderful experience, and I will truly treasure these memories.

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You can find Natasha at our Lymington Branch.

To find out more about Tauck Cruises please contact your local branch

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