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Springtime Delight Cruise with Floriade

Experience the famous Floriade Expo 2022, a once-in-a-decade celebration of green and sustainable technology. Then embark on a cruise along the waterways of the Netherlands and Belgium. Blooming tulips, Dutch artists, impressive architecture, and renowned culinary delights captures the beauty and essence of this countries in spring!

sample trip

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Package inclusions:

  • Transfers between airport/ship
  • 9-night cruise in cabin category of choice
  • All meals on board
  • Porter service of one bag per person on the ship
  • Taxes and gratuities for included services
  • Included shore excursion in every port
  • Complimentary beverages on board (including alcohol)
  • Wi-fi on board
  • Professional tour manager
  • Audio listeners
  • 1 single occupancy comp
    (based on 25 full-fare passengers; airfare not included)
  • Travel show
  • Pre-departure meeting
  • 100 brochures/marketing materials
  • Complete document packet for each traveler
  • Special surprises

All tours are completely customizable. Contact us to discuss your group’s unique interests and needs!

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Itinerary

Day 1

Today we will transfer to the airport for our overnight flight to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Note: The airport location and airline will be confirmed no sooner than nine months before departure.

Day 2

Upon arrival in Amsterdam, we will transfer to the amazing Floriade Expo 2022, just a short drive from the airport. Floriade is a once-in-a-decade celebration of green and sustainable technology. Inspiring gardens, conferences, workshops, and exhibitions will be mixed with impressive attractions, surprising tasting sessions, art, and culture. Buy a ticket to the aerial tramway for a ride across the park; visit the national pavilions where around forty countries will present their culture, plants, flowers, and local innovations and solutions to the world; or explore the spectacular greenhouse complex. We will then head to our boutique Emerald Waterways Luna to settle into our cabins. An afternoon at leisure will be followed by dinner together on board.

(Dinner included)

Day 3

We will touch on Holland’s traditional heart today with a visit to Keukenhof Gardens, the Netherlands’ most famous garden where over seven million bulbs from eight hundred varieties of tulips bloom in the spring. Row upon row of flowers run as far as the eye can see in a kaleidoscope of colors. These flower displays are designed by an expert landscape architect each year and are simply incredible!

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 4

Today’s excursion takes us into the Hoge Veluwe National Park to the Kröller-Müller Museum. This national art museum is home to around 20,000 works of art including masterpieces by artists ranging from Van Gogh to Mondriaan. The Van Gogh collection alone boasts nearly ninety paintings and more than 180 drawings, and it is considered the second-largest Van Gogh collection in the world. The Van Gogh Gallery is at the heart of the museum and features an ever-changing display of around forty works by the postimpressionist. We’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the art and the surrounding nature as we wander the museum’s halls and its sculpture garden. The more than 160 sculptures by iconic artists from Aristide Maillol and Jean Dubuffet to Marta Pan and Pierre Huyghe make this Europe’s largest sculpture garden!

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 5

Today we will arrive in Maastricht and embark on a city tour. As we explore the Netherlands’ oldest fortified city with its 1,677 national heritage buildings, we’ll see many museums, churches, historical buildings, hidden alleys, and squares. The range of architectural styles is impressive, from Roman excavations to modern designs.

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 6

Our introduction to Belgium via a Liège walking tour will give us a taste of its culture, history, daily life, and, of course, its cuisine! We’ll listen as our guide shares fascinating stories about the city and then uncover the gastronomical secrets of the area with some tastings. Belgium’s culinary delights – especially the waffles! – are spectacular!

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 7

This morning we’ll arrive in Antwerp, Belgium’s second-largest city and home to the country’s biggest port. Positioned on the River Sheltz with a large harbor linked to the sea, Antwerp has been pivotal in the country’s history. Home to the famous Baroque artist Pieter Paul Rubens, this city attracts art lovers and diamond dealers from all over the world. Antwerp is modern and organized, yet it still retains its intriguing medieval heart that couldn’t be destroyed along with the city during WWII. Today’s guided walking tour will take us through the city center, passing by its café-filled cobbled lanes, the Renaissance Town Hall, and the unique Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady. Then we will head through the Vlaeykensgang, a secret, charming, sixteen-century alley dating back to 1591.

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 8

After breakfast this morning, we will visit the Dutch Delta Works. This impressive feat of engineering consists of a storm surge barrier, dikes, dams, sluice gates, and more that together form the largest flood protection system in the world. It will be fascinating to see how the Dutch protect themselves against the North Sea! Those feeling active may choose to enjoy a guided bike tour of Veere, stopping to learn how it encapsulates the opulence of a by-gone era. Veere was once an important port for the Scottish wool trade, and signs of Scottish influence remain throughout town.

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 9

Today is all about Rotterdam’s architecture! After the war, many talented architects worked to rebuild the skyline instead of reconstructing the city as it once was. The result is something spectacular! Rotterdam has been reborn as a hub for innovative and impressive architecture, gourmet food, and trendy cafés. Our tour will end at MarktHal, a unique combination of residential and office buildings complete with a market hall underneath. Its impressive volume of artwork has given it the reputation as the Dutch version of the Sistine Chapel.

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 10

We’ll explore quintessential Holland today as we head to the heart of the charming medieval town of Haarlem. This vibrant community acts as the center of the flower-growing district and is highly regarded for its exports of flower bulbs. It comes as no surprise that Haarlem was once home to many Dutch artists, including Frans Hals, the famed painter of The Laughing Cavalier. Our guide will lead us down the cobblestone streets adorned with postcard-worthy examples of ancient architecture and introduce us to its bustling social scene, which has been attracting visitors from around the world for years.

(Breakfast, lunch, and dinner included)

Day 11

We will say goodbye to our ship after breakfast and transfer to the airport after breakfast for our flight home.

(Breakfast included)