Tulips & Windmills Cruise on the
Uniworld River Princess
4/15/202 to 4/28/2025
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Page 1 – Pre-Trip in Antwerp, Belgium - Days 1&2
Page 2 – Ship; Ports of Call: Antwerp, Belgium - Day 3
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Ghent (Bruges), Belgium; Veere, Netherlands
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Rotterdam (Delft), Netherlands; Arnhem & Nijmegen, Netherlands
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Hoorn, Netherlands; Haarlem, Netherlands
Page 6 - Ports of Call & Post-Trip: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Preface
After being on 66 cruises and 13 land tours, it is a challenge to find vacations to areas I haven’t been to that I want to visit. A river cruise to the Netherlands during tulip season was one of them. It has always been a trip we wanted to do, but others took priority. In looking for the best itinerary for us, I first looked at Viking, since we do enjoy them. I also heard many positive things about Uniworld, so I also looked at their itineraries. Uniworld’s Tulips & Windmills cruise was a little longer and stopped at more places, so we booked it and looked forward to trying a new line.
Pre-Trip in Antwerp, Belgium
As usual, we planned on arriving a day early to the embarkation port of Antwerp, Belgium. Since neither of us had been to Antwerp, we were glad that we would have more time to see this city. We were going to arrive at 10:10 AM giving us a good part of the day to explore. We were flying on Lufthansa from Miami to Frankfurt, then on to Brussels. We were on a 747. I was able to move our seats to the upper level which had a lot less seats. The window seats also had a large storage area that was very nice. The seats were OK; but the foot area was quite narrow.
Lufthansa has been upgrading their planes, but ours had not yet received the improved seating. It was still an enjoyable flight with excellent service.
Our flight arrived late in Miami. We didn’t leave that late, but we weren’t allowed to leave the gate area due to a lot of traffic. When we finally landed in Frankfurt, we had to wait an additional 16 minutes for the gate to be available. Cathy and I move quickly through the terminals after waiting for the bus to get us there. We just missed our flight to Brussels. Fortunately, the next flight was only 3.5 hours later. I was able to contact the transfer service we use, Welcome Pickups ( www.welcomepickups.com), to modify our drive from Brussels to Antwerp.
We still had a little touring time after checking into our hotel, the Rubens Grote Market, just before 3:00 PM. For some reason, I never took a photo of the hotel’s exterior.
Our room was large and quite comfortable. The bed was great! Our only issue was that the closet area was a small open area with no shelves. With us only being there one night it wasn’t a big deal.
The bathroom was broken down into separate rooms for the shower/sink and the toilet. I wish more hotels could use this arrangement.
Looking out our window we could see the restaurant that we had reservations for that night. It was really close and convenient.
We chose this hotel to be close to the main attractions of old town Antwerp. We had several places to visit this day and before boarding the ship the next day. With our hotel being a couple blocks from Grote Market, the main square of the city, we headed that way. Before getting to the square, we saw the first site we wanted to visit, the Cathedral of our Lady. We were at one of the side entrances and had to take a long walk to the front of the church. It is a very large church.
In the square in front of the church is the unique Nello & Patrasche Statue. They are characters from the popular children’s book A Dog of Flanders. The boy and his dog died of hypothermia at the church on a Christmas Eve. It is a very popular photo opp.
The cathedral exterior was quite grand. It was built between 1352 – 1521 AD.
The interior had so much to take in. It was difficult to decide what to look at first. The dome was so high it was difficult to appreciate without a telephoto lens.
The pulpit was quite exraordinary. I had to take photos from both sides of it. It has such beautiful detailed woodwork.
There was more beautiful ornate woodwork in the choir area.
The were so many gorgeous chapels.
One of them had a crystal crown of thorns.
There were so many beautiful stained-glass windows. I really like stained glass, so I was very pleased.
A major attraction of the cathedral is the four works of art by Peter Paul Rubens. I took photos of three of them.
A service was taking place in one of the large chapels. At one side of it was a small glass-enclosed statue with a cape made of an ornate fabric.
Before we left, we saw an unusual statue near the exit called The Man Who Bears the Cross. It was installed in 2015 and was the first new piece of art added to the cathedral since 1924.
We left the cathedral and walked around the corner to see Grote Market. It is a triangular shaped square with the city hall on one side and guild houses on another. These 16th century buildings are such a treat. They take you back 400 years.
In the center of the square is the Brabo Fountain that was built in 1887. It depicts the mythical hero Brabo throwing the hand of the Antigoon into the river. The Antigoon was a giant that demanded ships pay a toll to use the river. If they didn’t pay, their hands were cut off. Brabo, a young Roman army captain, challenged the giant. Brabo killed him and cut off his hand like he had done to so many others, along with his head. The hand is a very popular image in Antwerp. We found cookies and chocolate formed into the shape of a hand.
This is the body of the giant at the base of the statue. Water is spraying out of where the hand was cut off.
We continued our walk through the beautiful city. Having never heard anything about Antwerp previously, we were surprised at how beautiful the city was. There was so much to look at. It was a shame that it was a cloudy day, but we were glad it wasn’t raining as the forecast predicted.
We saw a couple of cute tables in front of a restaurant.
We needed to get back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We found very good reviews on TripAdvisor for the Bateau Perdue Restaurant. I had to make my reservations through their Instagram site at this LINK.
We got there just as they were opening, which worked out very well. We were able to talk with the owners, Bo and his wife Sophia. Bo is the chef and Sophia is waitress/bartender.
After talking with Bo, we decided to get their Chef’s Table dinner. Bo asked us about likes, dislikes and allergies. He said he would make us a special meal. He certainly did. The bread course was the kind of bread you dream about. He then brought out the appetizer course that had some wonderful herring and some stuffed pastries with hummus.
Bo asked us if we liked bone marrow, which we did. We couldn’t believe the size of the bones he brought out. It was so good!
We then had a ravioli type dish along with some other very tasty items.
Before opening this restaurant, they had a very popular ice cream shop. They make all their own ice cream at this restaurant too. We had some for dessert along with a couple Belem Tarts and even some hand cookies. It had been an outstanding dinner. It was a wonderful way to start our vacation.
Before going back to the hotel, we wanted to go back to Grote Market to see if it was illuminated. Boy, was it ever!
We were so glad we decided to do that after dinner walk. It was such a treat to see the illuminated area without the crowds.
Antwerp - Day 2 & Embarkation
We would be checking out of the hotel and boarding the River Princess later in the day. But first, we had some places we wanted to visit. Our first stop was at Vlaeykensgang, a historic alley with very old buildings. The alley was created in 1591 and originally inhabited by shoemakers. There were many of these types of alleys in the city. In the 19th century, living conditions in the alleys were terrible. Most of the alleys were redeveloped in the 20th century. This one was supposed to be demolished in 1960, but an antique dealer purchased the houses and restored them. It is now a quiet refuge from the city, other than all the tourists passing through.
We looked for this place the previous day but never found it even though we passed by it. You must be looking for the alley to find it. There aren't any signs to let you know what is in the alley, so watch for it if you are in Antwerp.
After leaving the alley, we continued down the street. We saw a chocolate shop that we previously saw on some Antwerp videos, Elisa Pralines. It is apparently quite popular based on the crowd waiting to go in. We passed on checking out until later.
We continued our walk passing by so many pretty sights on our way to the next destination on the Scheldt River.
As we approached the river, there appeared to be a bridge. As I walked up, I realized that it was just an elevated area over a canal. There wasn’t much to see across the river, but in the center was the Statue of Minerva Goddess. Kind of an unusual look to the goddess.
From the elevated area, there was a nice view looking back at the city.
We then took a short walk to our main destination, Het Steen, an old castle that was built in 1225. Now that is old! It was originally the gateway to a much larger castle that was destroyed in the 19th century. It is the oldest building in Antwerp. In front of the castle is a statue of the Antigoon being looked up at by two men. Since they still have their hands, I guess they paid the toll. I had to take a photo from behind too.
There is a charge to go into the castle museum. Since the interior is basically modern construction, we didn’t bother with it. We could walk through the courtyard which was quite nice.
Across from the castle were other gorgeous buildings.
We headed back to Grote Market. On the way there, we saw the old warehouse hangars, as they are called. When we drove in to our hotel, we saw these structures for several blocks. The iron work is amazing. Our driver told us that they are to be renovated. I was able to take a photo of the iron work the next day.
We heard that French fries are very popular in Belgium and made differently. They are also normally served with mayonnaise, which also is supposed to be different. We really wanted to try some, but it was almost noon, and we didn’t want to spoil our lunch. When we saw a French fry restaurant, we gave in and ordered some. They had lots of sauces to choose from. We got mayonnaise and a curry sauce. The fries were really good. The mayo wasn’t that different, but the curry sauce was to die for.
On the way back to the hotel, we passed the Elisa Pralines chocolate shop. Since there was no line, we had to go in. We purchased a couple different chocolates and then saw the sign for the Dubai chocolate. It is apparently a big thing and more expensive. We had to try one of them to share. I must say, it was very good.
I had to stop for some more pics of Grote Market on the way to the hotel. I liked the detail and statues on the buildings.
We picked up our luggage and walked outside to order an Uber to go to the ship. We were in an area where Uber couldn’t pick up customers, so we asked the front desk attendant if he could order us a taxi. It wasn’t long before we were picked up and delivered to the ship, since it wasn’t faraway. The taxi cost the same amount as what the Uber would have cost.
Embarkation on a river cruise is a piece of cake. They took our luggage, we walked on, showed our passport, got our key card and went to a late lunch at 2:00 PM. It was just too quick and easy.
After unpacking, there was one more place I wanted to visit. With us spending the night in Antwerp, there was no rush to get back on the ship. I walked over to the St Paul’s Church that didn’t appear to be that far away. When I arrived, there was construction going on at the entrance.
I was sure that there was another entrance. I had to decide to go right or left. I went left. Bad decision! I walked around the multiple blocks to try to find the entrance. I did finally find it after a 10-minute walk.
I bought my ticket and first went into the calvary area. It has 63 statues. It is quite a site with the Garden of the Prophets on the left and Garden of the Evangelists on the right. It leads to the main artificial rock Calvary climbing up the side of the church. It was quite a sight!
I then went into the main church. There was a lot of renovation going on, but there was still lots to appreciate. The interior was quite beautiful even with the renovation work going on.
The woodwork in the choir area was stunning.
There were Rubens and Van Dyke paintings in the church, along with other well-known artists.
They also had a treasury room which was mainly a museum containing their ornate objects. Very nice objects!
When I left the church, I took a turn around the corner and saw the entrance that I first arrived at a few feet away. I made a bad decision but got more exercise.
It was time to go back to the ship. On the way I passed by an interesting walkway down to a different dock at the port. Rather cool!
When I got back on the ship, I took more public area photos including the top deck. I saw a building in the distance that interested me. I would hopefully get to explore it the next day.
That night we received our orientation information and met the senior staff members. This was going to be a most enjoyable cruise.
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