A Rhine river cruise through France and Germany is a fantastic experience filled with castles, cathedrals, fine food and wine and old-world charm. Experience it Disney-style on an AMAWATERWAYS river ship with guest Sandy Nussbaum-Giercyk, founder of Instant Impressions Travel. One of the top Disney specialists in the country, Sandy has been on more than 30 Disney cruises and travel experiences, and compares and contrasts her river experience with Disney's big ocean ships.
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hello and welcome back to CruiseCompetes cruise
podcast where we share tips,ideas, and inspiration to help
make your next cruise afantastic experience.
I'm your host Bob Levinstein.
Today we'll be talking with mygo to expert in all things.
Disney, Ms.
Sandy Nussbaum-Giersck InstantImpressions, Travel.
Sandy founded InstantImpressions in 2003 and now has
(00:35):
a team of dedicated agentsaround the country.
The agency has earned the highhonor of being named a Disney
Earmarked(as in Mouse Ears)travel agency.
In just the last five yearsalone, S andy has taken a dozen
Disney cruises, h ad more than50 trips to Disney parks plus
experienced five Adventures byDisney tours.
(00:55):
She's been a Cruise Competeagent for more than 12 years.
Today we'll be talking withSandy about both Disney ocean
and Disney river cruises rightafter this.
(01:05):
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Speaker 1 (01:12):
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today.
(02:14):
Welcome back to CruiseCompete's cruise podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
My guest today is Ms.
Sandy Nussbaum-Giersyck ofInstant Impressions Travel.
Sandy knows more about Disneyvacations than anyone I've ever
met in all my years in thetravel business.
Sandy, welcome to the program.
(02:30):
Thanks Bob.
I'm excited to be here.
I think it's pretty safe to saythat Disney travel, whether it's
cruises, tours, or resorts, ismore than just a business for
you.
It's a true passion.
It is.
I've been a Disney girl since Iwas five years old and we piled
into the station wagon and droveto Florida to go to the parks at
the time, which was only MagicKingdom.
(02:51):
And Disney has always been thatmagic happy place for me and I
am lucky enough to make it acareer now in my family.
We say we only go with where themouse takes us, and he's really
good to us.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
[.
(03:04):
What is it about traveling with Disney that makes it so
special to you?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Just so you know it's going to sound a little corny,
but there's something magicalabout it.
Disney is an entertainmentcompany as their foremost
product, and so even in theparks and on the ships, they're
all about that aspect ofstorytelling and entertainment.
They transport us out of thereal world, and somehow you can
(03:31):
be on your phone all day, youcan be a news junkie, but they
get you into that magical bubblewhere you can really relax and
forget about the world outthere, focus on your family and
having fun.
(03:45):
That sounds absolutely wonderful.
So you recently returned from aDisney river cruise on the Rhine
river through fan France inGermany.
It was absolutely amazing.
I am, as I said, one lucky girl.
What an incredible, incredibletrip to get to take.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What led you to select this particular cruise?
(04:08):
You know, I always struggle as much as I travel.
There's too many places in theworld they want to go, but I've
done 21 regular Disney cruiseson all four of their ships.
I've done seven of their landbase tours with adventures by
Disney and I wanted to trysomething else.
So we have a cruising.
Was it Disney offers fordifferent river cruise sailings
(04:31):
I narrowed it down.
I was back and forth between theDanube and the Rhine and when I
read about the wind Gorge partof the trip and visiting the
castles, I was sold.
Who doesn't love going to seacastle?
There is really something.
There's something magical aboutthat I guess to keep coming back
to that word.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So when you book a major trip like this, there's a
lot of anticipation.
I think we can easily call you apro traveler.
So what was, what's your paclingprocess like when you, when you
prepare for one of thesejournies?
(05:04):
So it's funny you say that because my family teases me.
My international packing processis very different.
A U S trip, I'm packing twohours before the flight because
I figure I can Amazon primeanything I want to my hotel, I
don't care what I leave behind.
But internationally I do startpacking about a week and a half
in advance.
I'm lucky to be a United premiermember, which means I get two
(05:28):
bags, it's 75 pounds each, whichI normally take as a challenge
to fill with everything that Iever want.
Um, but for river cruise, myspace to store my luggage is
even more limited.
So I had a couch full ofclothes.
I narrowed it down, I narrowedit down again, I made it with
(05:48):
one bag, making sure to leavelots of room for souvenirs
because the reality is you canwear something twice, you can
wash something as long as you'vegot the basics and you've got
that international outlet plug.
Because without my phone to beable to do my pictures and video
in my laptop, I'd be lost.
So I'd say that converter plugwas my prime item out of
(06:10):
everything.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Do you, carry a a battery charger?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I do.
I have a great charger that hasfour full charges in it, so it's
a little bit bulky when I'mcarrying it, but I never have an
issue getting through the day.
And again, I found this greatnew international outlet plug
that I just b ought for thistrip, even though I o wn two of
them already because it has oneplug and two USB ports in it.
(06:39):
So each night I'm able to chargethe phone and the battery backup
and the computer a ll w ith oneoutlet without having an outlet
strip, which violates mostcruise lines, policies o f items
to bring on board.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Got it.
Was there anything that, thatyou thought you would need that
you brought that you didn't endup needing?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I would say, again, I'm a what?
Whatever could happen.
I want to be prepared girl.
And the two things that I woulddefinitely leave behind next
time I had a lot of thosedisposable ponchos was rain in
the forecast for every day.
I don't know why I always packthose conscious.
I really hate them because Iliked that you can dispose of
them, but I hate how warm andclammy you get.
(07:21):
And one of the things on theriver cruise is each state room
comes with two golf sizeumbrellas.
And because you're reallytouring, not running around a
theme park, you didn't have topack that big umbrella.
But because it's that golfumbrella, not one of those mini
travel umbrellas, you werecovered.
I use that all the time.
Never took out a poncho.
(07:41):
The other thing that I packedwas probably more purses and
backpacks than anyone evershould and not something that I
use all the time at home.
Normally I have one purse that Iuse every day and when I travel
I have a backpack.
But because this was so laidback and touring was really
simplistic and just walkingaround and because it's an
(08:02):
adventure by Disney and theguides have everything you need.
My daughter teases me that mybackpack, she calls it my
apocalypse bag because it hasthe first aid kid and the water
and the ponchos and everythinglike that.
We with adventures by Disney,they carry that for me.
So I never took out mybackpacks.
I stayed with my small pursesand let them lug everything.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Was there anything that you, wish you had brought
that you didn't bring with you?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
You know, as I said, I really am an over-packer.
Probably one of the funny thingsthat I pack is I pack thank you
notes.
I have cards with me in case Iwanted my notes and giving them
out all along.
So I would say that there ispretty much nothing missing in
my suitcase.
I would say I probably couldhave paired it down by 50% not
missed anything in it.
(08:58):
Nice.
So do you usually pre-purchaseon board packages when you
cruise, like drinks, internet,cruise, or is that something
really more just for ocean?
And that's what I was just gonnasay.
When I ocean cruise, Idefinitely do.
There's advantages in discountsfor pre-booking, but one of the
things that I loved about theriver cruise, even though the
(09:18):
price tag is going to seem high,when you first get that quote,
it's all inclusive.
I had great internet for free100% of the time I was on the
ship unlimited.
Um, and frankly better internetthan I get on an ocean sailing
where I pay a lot of money forit.
No need to buy a drink, packagewine and beer with lunch and
(09:40):
dinner, onboard the ship, all ofyour excursions, all of your
photos.
So it really is a complete priceunless you're a big shopper like
me, which Disney has no controlover my shopping.
When you a, when you go in theocean ship,
Speaker 4 (09:56):
uh, what do you find, uh, you saved the most money on
by buying an advance?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The photo packages are great in advance.
And the other thing that isn'tnecessarily a money saver, but a
great thing is my excursionsbecause some of the excursions
sell out, which is thedisappointment.
So, even though I didn't save,if I can't have the vacation, I
envision it's not what I want.
(10:21):
And some of it really to me, Ialways say that I hate to talk
about time is money because it'svacation and you're supposed to
be relaxed and stress free.
But that pre-planning elementmakes your time so much more
valuable on board that that'sreally the saver.
Um, Disney ocean internetpackages are the same whether
(10:44):
you pre-purchase them or buy onboard.
The only other pre-purchasething, which really isn't a
cruise line pre-purchase, but Ialways recommend that clients
call their cell phone providerif they're like me and they want
to be able to use their phone inport or maybe get better
internet in the ship, internetand port talk to your cell phone
provider, you're going to needto do that in advance to
(11:06):
understand what your options areonce you turn that phone on,
either on the ship or in port.
Um, I did add an internationalpackage for Europe with my
provider so that when I was offthe ship, I did still have full
phone and email access.
And it costs me, I think it was$7 for the whole week.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Oh wow.
That's a great deal.
Yeah.
I, uh, I use a Google, a Googlefi with a Google pixel, so I've
got a 170 countries.
My data is just a, it's$10, uh,per gigabyte and then 20 cents a
minute on calls.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Perfect.
It's amazing how we can'tdisconnect and don't want to
just connect.
Even if we give up work, Ialways say to parents, they can
know I'm alive by checking onFacebook because I post
throughout the day to share whatwe're doing.
What'd you think of the show?
I loved it.
Um, it definitely, if you'regoing on and you're expecting an
(12:08):
ocean cruiser, you're going tobe disappointed because it's a
small ship.
When you look at the number ofpeople, I mean, we're a regular
ocean cruiser.
You've got 10 to 14 decks here,you've got four, you've only got
three decks of state rooms.
I was one of 160.
Yes on board.
(12:29):
That certainly doesn't eventypically account for one deck
of an ocean cruiser.
Sure.
So I loved the size.
You could be, you know, anywhereon the ship in three minutes
instead of feeling like youwalked across four football
fields.
Um, but you have to be preparedto give up some things.
You know, there's one lounge onthe ship where when I do
(12:52):
something like the Disney dreamor the Disney fantasy, if I
don't want to be in my stateroom, there's about eight
different lounge areas I can sitin here.
There's one when I'm on my oceancruise or the lobby is this
massive, beautiful thing.
Big chandelier is in case ofrain.
Um, Disney will even do theirsale away, party in the lobby
(13:16):
and they'll fit, you know, overa thousand cruisers in the lobby
area on the river cruise.
The lobby holds about 15 people.
So it's a different experience.
Um, I loved the quieter time,the less hustle bustle, and it
was definitely more intimate.
(13:37):
We got to meet a lot of ourfellow cruisers and you were
with the same people over andover because the mix wasn't as
large.
So it was a great experiencefrom that angle.
Oh, what were the, what were thepassengers like?
Were they more, um, more U S orfrom Europe?
It was definitely very heavy.
U S um, but that's the trendthat we see for the most part.
(14:02):
I think, you know, you're up ifyou're European, people hop on a
plane for$29 in jet to a cityfor the weekend where from the U
S we're really looking for thatcomplete package.
So that skews it a little bit.
Were there, were there kids onboard?
On my particular sailing, therewas not, it was an adult only
(14:24):
sailing.
But Disney one's a wonderfulkids program on the ship and I
actually have friends who guideon it.
And again, I tend not one of thebig differences from the Disney
ocean to the Disney river.
When you're on Disney ocean,there are hundreds of kids on
board.
There are more kids on boardthan the entire passenger count
(14:44):
on a river cruise.
Sure.
There are five kids clubs,there's a sports deck, there's
all those things.
Don't have that kind of spacehere.
But one of the neat things theyhave, and I think it's a
slightly misnamed on the Amishships, but they have a chef
table, which I like to call achef dining room because it's
not a single table.
(15:05):
It's a dining room with sixtables.
So it's a kind of lied yourspace.
But it is an open kitchen and alittle bit more intimate, but
it's only used for dinner.
So during the day and late inthe evening, that becomes the
kids club.
So they do run a junioradventure program.
They do have an area for thekids and obviously the top deck
(15:29):
and the pool area is usable aswell for the kids.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
What was your cabin like?
(15:38):
So I'll be honest cause that's how we roll.
My cabin was a little smallerthan I expected.
I am definitely Disney.
Spoiled Disney ocean is knownfor lodge s tate r ooms.
These are not l arge staterooms.
One of the unique things withthe partnership with Disney a nd
AMAA w aterways is the shipswere purposely built for
(16:00):
families and designed withDisney.
So they're unique in that therea ren't connecting s taterooms.
And there are state rooms thathold t hree people, unlike
Disney ocean where we have staterooms that hold four and five,
so families of four or five orsix obviously would need to get
connecting rooms.
My room was small but I reallywasn't in it.
(16:24):
I was surprised how little I wasin it besides sleeping.
U m, we have what they call aFrench balcony, so there were
two chairs in our state room onthe carpet inside the walls, but
we could slide our d oors allthe way open and turn our chairs
and move out about six inches.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And we only let the outdoors in, which I loved.
I'm on an ocean cruise.
They really encourage you tokeep the balcony doors closed
here.
We were able to kind of openthem up and really feel the
outside coming in, but for themost part we were in, in our
room.
I even had thought we might bewhen we did the Gorge sailing,
(17:07):
but because there's stuff onboth sides, you don't want to
spend that time in your room.
Most of our sailings were atnight.
So again, it would either bedark and there was some times
looking at the lights in theevening was amazing, but for the
most part we were busy and so wewere in our room to change
(17:27):
clothes, to drop off all myshopping as I said, and to, you
know, get ready for bed and goto sleep.
So I wasn't disappointed inthat.
The wound was a little bitsmaller cause I wasn't hanging
out in there, but it was on thesmaller side and not, the bottom
(17:47):
line is between a river in anocean cruise,
Speaker 4 (17:50):
the ocean cruise, it's about to ship as much or
more than it is about the portor as a river cruise.
It's really about spending, youknow, when you get off the the
boat or the ship, I don't knowhow many ships still, I guess
we're still ships.
When you get off the ship youare, you know, right, right in
downtown, you're right where youwant to be to to see things.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And I think that's definitely part of it with ocean
cruising.
Some of the Disney cruises thatI do.
I've done the ports multipletimes and I do the cruise to be
on the ship and I don't get off.
Right.
So it definitely is adifference.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Yup.
And I know, especially for kids,a lot of the time they're
happier in the kids' clubs thanthey, than they are touring
around deporting.
Yeah, definitely.
Great.
So what was the food like?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The paper was good.
They had a lot of differentoptions.
Again, things if you want tocompare ocean to river dining is
much more limited on a rivercruise than when you're used to
an ocean cruise.
There is no room service.
I would say that was the numberone difference.
Um, breakfast, lunch and dinnerwere set times.
(19:00):
Everybody went in, dined at thesame time, but 99% of the day
you could go up into the lounge.
There was always cookies and icetea and water available.
Late evening they would do somekind of snacks.
Everything from fingersandwiches to, I was shocked
that chicken nuggets was a bighit.
(19:22):
Even with all the adults onboard.
Um, many pizzas, little foodsamplings like that.
It definitely was what you'dexpect in cruise dining.
More courses than I ever eatwhen I'm on land.
Um, lots of good options.
Dinner was a menu, dinner,breakfast and lunch where buffet
(19:45):
with menu options.
Um, I had incredible waffles,greats salad.
They did some homemade ice creamthat was to die for.
And I would say they did also agood mix for Americans who are
not adventurous eaters.
So people who really wanted theflavor of the region that we
(20:06):
were in.
And just like ocean cruising, ifyou wanted two entrees, if you
wanted to, appetizers have addedso you really could eat anything
.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So it sounds like you didn't really spend that much
time on the ship itself, butwhen you were there, was there,
was there stuff to do in the daytime?
Was there stuff to do on boardand evenings?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
There definitely was an, I was surprised that in
talking to some of my fellowtravelers at dinner, some of
them picked the day, middle ofthe week and decided not to go
into port because they reallyjust wanted that quiet day of
downtime.
So even though it is definitelya small ship, there is one sinks
left seat at the hair salon, onetable for massages and a small
(20:53):
gym.
So you do have those kinds ofamenities.
They had a room with board gamesand books.
So you kind of sit and read.
But I personally love thesundeck, all different types of
chairs and loungers umbrellas,overhangs.
So depending what you wanted,sun shade, that great mix and
(21:14):
the pool, um, you don't find thekind of entertainment that you
find on an ocean liner.
Bingo isn't happening and towelfolding isn't happening.
That's not going on during theday.
And again, it's a little bit ofan adjustment in the evening
where when you're looking atcomparing it to a Disney ocean
cruise, and again, I saidbefore, they are an
(21:34):
entertainment leader.
So if you're used to being onDisney cruise line where you
have a Broadway style show everynight and after the show you can
go into the lounge and theremight be a comedian or a DJ or
those types of things, you'regoing to be disappointed.
Entertainment because there'sone area for entertainment,
there's one bit of entertainmenteach evening.
(21:55):
It's definitely not Broadwayshows.
Um, but it was a lot of fun.
And again, I think that led to amuch more relaxed pace.
One night we had a singer, onenight we had a couple that dance
and then taught people to dance.
We had the maker of spaghettiice cream come in and tell us
(22:18):
about the history of spaghettiice cream.
There was trivia one night andeven if you didn't want to play,
you just couldn't help last tillyour sides hurt at the
involvement and thecompetitiveness of people.
Um, they did Disney trivia, theydid regular trivia, they did
(22:38):
karaoke, which again, I wascrying.
I was laughing so hard at it.
So definitely things toentertain you.
You're also sailing at night andI have to say being so close to
land on both sides, the lightsof some of these cities was
amazing.
I was thoroughly intrigued bythe number of locks we went
(23:00):
through.
So one night I went out on thefront of the boat, there's like
six chairs, just this quietlittle area, but you could watch
really what does it take to gothrough the locks.
So I went out there as we wereapproaching and I watched this,
you know, we had to wait for thegatekeeper to give us the go
ahead.
They opened the lock and we wentthrough and watching the
(23:24):
sidewalls as the ship went downand then going out of the lock
and kind of that surreal momentthat that's what you just did
and you look behind you andyou're really not seeing ocean,
you're seeing a little bit ofwater on the speak wall.
So different entertainment, butdefinitely things to keep you
going well.
It also sounds like as you startto get to know on board,
Speaker 4 (23:46):
seeing them over again over and over again.
It's a, you know, more of ashared experience.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I have to say.
I made some great friends and Ilove technology now because I've
got two dozen new Facebookfriends offers of places to go
stay out in California andMichigan and people that I know
I'll stay friends with foryears.
We did our very first adventureby Italy adventures by Disney to
(24:12):
Italy nine years ago and I stillsee and talk to those people,
that shared experience and thatopportunity, you know while
you're walking around in port orsitting over a drink at night,
you do talk about families and Ididn't have my daughter with me
on this trip, but everybodyknows her from her pictures on
my phone now and so you do getthat nice personal attachment,
(24:36):
which is much harder to get onan ocean cruise.
You may sit with the same peoplefor dinner every night where we
didn't even sit with the samepeople, but you might not get
the chance to see them at allduring the day we're here
because it was a small group.
You were with the same peopleover and over, which was nice.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
[inaudible] okay, let's talk ports.
Yeah.
So why is the a van a neutraland steam?
Just one Stein or[inaudible]?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Same.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Which one sign?
There we go.
A capsule in Munich special to aDisney stance.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That is Walt's inspiration.
If you are a Disney person andyou've read anything about
Disney, that's the castle thatWalter fell in love with that
inspired him to design thecastle in Disneyland.
And so Disney fans know thatname.
It really holds a big attractionto them to, you know, and I'm
(25:33):
the coining Disney girl, I wasstanding with walls standing,
staring up at that same castlein awe and you can really feel
that the castle is not part ofthe Rhine river cruise.
It was a top bucket list itemfrom a, and I don't like to
arrive at cruises day of, younever know what could happen.
(25:55):
I'm the person that doesn't wantto be, you know, waving goodbye
to the sheriff and figuring outhow to get myself to the next
port to meet them.
So I at least wanted to getmyself into Europe.
We took a red eye flight intoMunich, literally landed,
dropped our bags in the hotelright in the Munich airport, and
I decided to be brave and drivea car in Germany.
(26:19):
Um, I wasn't sure I wanted todrive internationally.
That's definitely a new thingfor me in all of my travel.
I drive anywhere in the U S whenI fly, but I've never driven
internationally.
But in order to get to thecastle from the airport, we
would have had to take a subwayto a train, to a bus to a hike
and foremost of transportation.
(26:40):
And if the timing was up on thefirst two, in more than 10
minutes, we would've lost theopportunity to see the castle.
Right.
So I got a rental car, I madesure it was an automatic.
Anybody renting a carinternational, it is standard to
get a stick shift.
So if you need an automatic,like I do, you need to make sure
you've picked a place that doesthat.
(27:02):
I got a GPS that I wasguaranteed would speak English.
Um, and off I went, I didreserve my tickets to the castle
in advance.
Otherwise you'll get there andthey'll tell you they're either
sold out or come back in fivehours.
Um, but it was a true bucketlist for me to see that
inspiration.
Wow.
But you got a ton of picturestoo.
(27:23):
I did.
It was amazing.
How was your screen soon?
The Heidelberg Heidelberg looksunreal.
When you get there, you lookout, we went up to the castle
and before you get to the castlethere's this lookout and you
say, this is a postcard.
I'm not really standing here.
(27:43):
There was definitely a surrealfeeling because the beauty was
just amazing.
I couldn't believe it wasn't apostcard.
Um, again, one of the uniquethings with adventures by
Disney, we had period guideswaiting for us.
So they, you know, talked abouthow they serve to the King and
(28:04):
all about that time and theywalked us through and really
give us a tour and understandthe architecture and the design
and how the castle was used.
Um, we then got to ride aparticular, which I haven't done
since I was in Italy and that'salways a fun way to get down a
very steep Hill.
And then they set us free forshopping in Heidelberg, which
(28:28):
has lots of great shopping.
Um, Germany is on Christmaspresents, purchased all my
Christmas presents or purchase.
So the other tip, make sure thatsuitcase has some spare room in
it.
Um, what was the best thing youbought?
I, well, I bought all myChristmas presents and I bought
everybody gifts.
(28:49):
They have all these uniquecandles, um, and candle holders.
So if any of my family'slistening, kind of a surprise.
Spoiled, but that's okay.
I bought everybody candles andGermany's known for gummy bears,
so lots of gummy bears came homein my suitcase.
Um, because they're also, youcould get the things like you
(29:11):
can get here in the U S but Igot Shanae gummy bears.
We sling gummy bears, beer,gummy bears.
So wow.
Laughter, unique flavor to them.
And those wondering again aboutmy suitcase.
Gummy bears are heavy in yoursuitcase.
So my suitcase and my carry onwere definitely packed to the
(29:34):
gills.
I was lucky that I kind of snuckon with the second carry on and
they didn't say anything to me.
Make you went to a pipework andcountry.
Oh my God.
What an amazing evening.
So we were back on the ship fordinner and we had been told we'd
be headed out that night, whichwas really the only time that we
(29:58):
left the ship so late in theevening.
And they took us to the stThomas Church, which is just old
and gorgeous.
I'm fascinated by all thechurches in Europe.
I could spend the next year justgoing from church to church to
admire the architecture in them.
Um, but they took us in for thisconcert.
(30:19):
The pipe Oregon there was builtin 1741 this sounds in that
church.
The acoustics were phenomenaland the pipe organ is up in a
loft.
And so you're sitting down belowin the church pews and just
absolutely magnificent.
And then they came over to eachrow and they kind of put their
(30:41):
hand up to the nose show, followme.
And row by row.
We were able to climb the stairsup into the loft and watch the
gentleman playing the pipe organand actually see the pipe organ
up close.
It was incredible to see.
The sound was amazing.
I actually tennis scooted myselfinto a little corner up in the
(31:05):
loft and was able to video andentire songs so that you could
see the emotion he put into itand the beauty of the Oregon and
so I have a blog post dedicatedsolely to the pipe organ and
Strausberg because it definitelywas an unforgettable evening.
Can you give our listeners thatURL so they can find that?
(31:29):
Oh definitely.
It's www.ezdisordisneyez.com andjust go under a vlog and for the
vine, wherever you'll see everysingle day has a recap.
And then some of the specialevents like the pipe Oregon have
their own dedicated blog andthere's also a bridge tour.
(31:52):
If you want to get an idea howsuper tiny the bridges on a ship
like the AMAA Maura.
So a great way to experience itto see if this is for you.
And so finally, the, uh, theRyan castle Gorge, uh, I could
do that every day.
Um, so it was one of the rareafternoon sailings and that
(32:16):
morning we were in wood or shineand we had actually done a wine
tour and wine in Europe is justWilly good and really cheap and
many of the places we'll deliverback to the ship for you so you
don't even have to carry thealcohol around.
So I had for my big$7investment, this incredible
(32:39):
bottle of white wine that I tookup to the top deck.
We were told pick up, there wasa little pamphlet for us that
outlined the order of thecastles, the name of them, and
whether they would be on theleft or the right as we were
sailing.
It was a four hour sailingthrough the Gorge where we
(33:00):
witnessed 30 castles from thebank and many churches, since
I've told you I'm obsessed withthe beautiful churches and you
know, we popped open our wine.
They came by with some hottotties.
They came by with special propsfor photo ops and you just, it's
nothing like you'd ever see inthis country.
(33:21):
Just absolutely beautifulcountryside.
And again, because you're riversailing, not ocean sailing that
you can see both bang thedistance from one bank to the
other as probably three Weaver,three ocean cruise ships wide.
So it's a small space you caneasily see and get phenomenal
(33:45):
photos from both sides.
Again, just a plug for the freeinternet.
Um, my father's family is fromGermany and when we were nearing
the city that my grandmother hadtalked about going to often, I
was able to FaceTime my parentsand, and let them see Germany
while we were going along.
Just a amazing, amazingafternoon.
(34:10):
Any overall summary or adviceyou'd like to give to our
listeners?
I would give one little warningbefore I give advice.
And that is, this is Europe andthis is a river cruise.
It doesn't have the mobilityfriendliness that we have in the
U S so for instance, that topdeck that I was talking about
can only be accessed by stairs.
(34:32):
There's a couple of parts of theship that if you don't have good
mobility and stairs are an issuefor you, unfortunately you're
either going to miss out onspecific things on the cruise or
river cruising just doesn't fityou till Europe catches up with
America's ADA.
Um, but I would say if you'relooking for that slower pace,
(34:57):
that more tranquil, again,comparing ocean to river,
there's not a hundred tourbuses.
When you get in the port for allthe excursions, the adventure
team typically was three to sixbuses to accommodate everybody.
It's a much smaller group.
And I would also say you'regonna look at adventures by
Disney.
(35:17):
You're gonna look at I'm awaterways again, I was very
transparent.
It is an AMO waterway ship andyou're going to say, wow,
there's a big price difference.
Why do I want to go withadventures by Disney?
And it's because of what Disneyoffers.
Yes, it's the same ship.
Your state room isn't changing.
Your dining isn't changing.
(35:37):
Your experiences changingadventures by Disney.
It's seamless travel frombeginning to end from the minute
they pick me up at the airport.
That's included to all of myexcursions that are included to
the entertainment.
That's the big difference.
You're getting everything.
(35:57):
And as the planner in my family,what I love about traveling with
adventures by Disney and nowwith river cruising, with
adventures by Disney, is it'snot up to me.
I'm not the one saying, okay,everybody's gotta be up at nine
and we've got to get out thedoor, or where did I put the
tickets for this?
Or I need to reserve this inadvance.
Disney does all of that for me.
(36:19):
I don't have to think about it.
I get to show up and as the mom,I actually get to be on vacation
too.
So it's really an incredibleexperience.
I'm looking at actually doingthe Ryan again myself because I
was so in love with it.
And then I'm going to move on tothe Dan you, because the style
of river cruising is justsomething I'm ready to do again
(36:42):
and again.
Oh, well that sounds like awonderful, a wonderful
experience.
Do you want to give that to thatURL for your blog one more time?
You bet.
It's www dot E Z D I S likeDisney, easy.com because we make
your Disney vacation planningeasy.
(37:03):
Sandy, it's been a pleasure andI hope we can have you back on
the program after your nextcruise.
Thanks so much, Bob.
I really enjoyed it.
Thanks.
So thank you so much forspending time with us today.
Again, my guest has been.Sandy yaumuSandy Nussbaum.
You're sick of instantimpressions travel.
I'm Bob Levinstein for c ruisecompete.
Hello and welcome back to CruiseCompetes cruise
podcast where we share tips,ideas, and inspiration to help
make your next cruise afantastic experience.
I'm your host Bob Levinstein.
Today we'll be talking with mygo to expert in all things.
Disney, Ms.
Sandy Nussbaum-Giersck InstantImpressions, Travel.
Sandy founded InstantImpressions in 2003 and now has
(00:35):
a team of dedicated agentsaround the country.
The agency has earned the highhonor of being named a Disney
Earmarked(as in Mouse Ears)travel agency.
In just the last five yearsalone, S andy has taken a dozen
Disney cruises, h ad more than50 trips to Disney parks plus
experienced five Adventures byDisney tours.
(00:55):
She's been a Cruise Competeagent for more than 12 years.
Today we'll be talking withSandy about both Disney ocean
and Disney river cruises rightafter this.
(01:05):
CruiseCompete.com is a simple concept.
We give you the tools to findthe perfect cruise and request
quotes.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Independent travel agents can then see your
requests and they respond withthe best custom cruise offers
they can all competing to offeryou the best deal.
You compare these offers in oneconvenient place along with
consumer ratings and reviews ofthe agencies as only the best
agents survive in thiscompetitive environment.
You'll have some great optionsto choose from you then remain
(01:34):
anonymous unless or until youdecide to contact the nation by
phone or by email to askquestions or to book.
Find out why more than a millioncruisers are members of our free
unique service and start savingboth time and a significant
amount of money on your cruisevacation via cruise compete
today.
(02:14):
Welcome back to CruiseCompete's cruise podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
My guest today is Ms.
Sandy Nussbaum-Giersyck ofInstant Impressions Travel.
Sandy knows more about Disneyvacations than anyone I've ever
met in all my years in thetravel business.
Sandy, welcome to the program.
(02:30):
Thanks Bob.
I'm excited to be here.
I think it's pretty safe to saythat Disney travel, whether it's
cruises, tours, or resorts, ismore than just a business for
you.
It's a true passion.
It is.
I've been a Disney girl since Iwas five years old and we piled
into the station wagon and droveto Florida to go to the parks at
the time, which was only MagicKingdom.
(02:51):
And Disney has always been thatmagic happy place for me and I
am lucky enough to make it acareer now in my family.
We say we only go with where themouse takes us, and he's really
good to us.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
[.
(03:04):
What is it about traveling with Disney that makes it so
special to you?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Just so you know it's going to sound a little corny,
but there's something magicalabout it.
Disney is an entertainmentcompany as their foremost
product, and so even in theparks and on the ships, they're
all about that aspect ofstorytelling and entertainment.
They transport us out of thereal world, and somehow you can
(03:31):
be on your phone all day, youcan be a news junkie, but they
get you into that magical bubblewhere you can really relax and
forget about the world outthere, focus on your family and
having fun.
(03:45):
That sounds absolutely wonderful.
So you recently returned from aDisney river cruise on the Rhine
river through fan France inGermany.
It was absolutely amazing.
I am, as I said, one lucky girl.
What an incredible, incredibletrip to get to take.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What led you to select this particular cruise?
(04:08):
You know, I always struggle as much as I travel.
There's too many places in theworld they want to go, but I've
done 21 regular Disney cruiseson all four of their ships.
I've done seven of their landbase tours with adventures by
Disney and I wanted to trysomething else.
So we have a cruising.
Was it Disney offers fordifferent river cruise sailings
(04:31):
I narrowed it down.
I was back and forth between theDanube and the Rhine and when I
read about the wind Gorge partof the trip and visiting the
castles, I was sold.
Who doesn't love going to seacastle?
There is really something.
There's something magical aboutthat I guess to keep coming back
to that word.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So when you book a major trip like this, there's a
lot of anticipation.
I think we can easily call you apro traveler.
So what was, what's your paclingprocess like when you, when you
prepare for one of thesejournies?
(05:04):
So it's funny you say that because my family teases me.
My international packing processis very different.
A U S trip, I'm packing twohours before the flight because
I figure I can Amazon primeanything I want to my hotel, I
don't care what I leave behind.
But internationally I do startpacking about a week and a half
in advance.
I'm lucky to be a United premiermember, which means I get two
(05:28):
bags, it's 75 pounds each, whichI normally take as a challenge
to fill with everything that Iever want.
Um, but for river cruise, myspace to store my luggage is
even more limited.
So I had a couch full ofclothes.
I narrowed it down, I narrowedit down again, I made it with
(05:48):
one bag, making sure to leavelots of room for souvenirs
because the reality is you canwear something twice, you can
wash something as long as you'vegot the basics and you've got
that international outlet plug.
Because without my phone to beable to do my pictures and video
in my laptop, I'd be lost.
So I'd say that converter plugwas my prime item out of
(06:10):
everything.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Do you, carry a a battery charger?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I do.
I have a great charger that hasfour full charges in it, so it's
a little bit bulky when I'mcarrying it, but I never have an
issue getting through the day.
And again, I found this greatnew international outlet plug
that I just b ought for thistrip, even though I o wn two of
them already because it has oneplug and two USB ports in it.
(06:39):
So each night I'm able to chargethe phone and the battery backup
and the computer a ll w ith oneoutlet without having an outlet
strip, which violates mostcruise lines, policies o f items
to bring on board.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Got it.
Was there anything that, thatyou thought you would need that
you brought that you didn't endup needing?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I would say, again, I'm a what?
Whatever could happen.
I want to be prepared girl.
And the two things that I woulddefinitely leave behind next
time I had a lot of thosedisposable ponchos was rain in
the forecast for every day.
I don't know why I always packthose conscious.
I really hate them because Iliked that you can dispose of
them, but I hate how warm andclammy you get.
(07:21):
And one of the things on theriver cruise is each state room
comes with two golf sizeumbrellas.
And because you're reallytouring, not running around a
theme park, you didn't have topack that big umbrella.
But because it's that golfumbrella, not one of those mini
travel umbrellas, you werecovered.
I use that all the time.
Never took out a poncho.
(07:41):
The other thing that I packedwas probably more purses and
backpacks than anyone evershould and not something that I
use all the time at home.
Normally I have one purse that Iuse every day and when I travel
I have a backpack.
But because this was so laidback and touring was really
simplistic and just walkingaround and because it's an
(08:02):
adventure by Disney and theguides have everything you need.
My daughter teases me that mybackpack, she calls it my
apocalypse bag because it hasthe first aid kid and the water
and the ponchos and everythinglike that.
We with adventures by Disney,they carry that for me.
So I never took out mybackpacks.
I stayed with my small pursesand let them lug everything.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Was there anything that you, wish you had brought
that you didn't bring with you?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
You know, as I said, I really am an over-packer.
Probably one of the funny thingsthat I pack is I pack thank you
notes.
I have cards with me in case Iwanted my notes and giving them
out all along.
So I would say that there ispretty much nothing missing in
my suitcase.
I would say I probably couldhave paired it down by 50% not
missed anything in it.
(08:58):
Nice.
So do you usually pre-purchaseon board packages when you
cruise, like drinks, internet,cruise, or is that something
really more just for ocean?
And that's what I was just gonnasay.
When I ocean cruise, Idefinitely do.
There's advantages in discountsfor pre-booking, but one of the
things that I loved about theriver cruise, even though the
(09:18):
price tag is going to seem high,when you first get that quote,
it's all inclusive.
I had great internet for free100% of the time I was on the
ship unlimited.
Um, and frankly better internetthan I get on an ocean sailing
where I pay a lot of money forit.
No need to buy a drink, packagewine and beer with lunch and
(09:40):
dinner, onboard the ship, all ofyour excursions, all of your
photos.
So it really is a complete priceunless you're a big shopper like
me, which Disney has no controlover my shopping.
When you a, when you go in theocean ship,
Speaker 4 (09:56):
uh, what do you find, uh, you saved the most money on
by buying an advance?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
The photo packages are great in advance.
And the other thing that isn'tnecessarily a money saver, but a
great thing is my excursionsbecause some of the excursions
sell out, which is thedisappointment.
So, even though I didn't save,if I can't have the vacation, I
envision it's not what I want.
(10:21):
And some of it really to me, Ialways say that I hate to talk
about time is money because it'svacation and you're supposed to
be relaxed and stress free.
But that pre-planning elementmakes your time so much more
valuable on board that that'sreally the saver.
Um, Disney ocean internetpackages are the same whether
(10:44):
you pre-purchase them or buy onboard.
The only other pre-purchasething, which really isn't a
cruise line pre-purchase, but Ialways recommend that clients
call their cell phone providerif they're like me and they want
to be able to use their phone inport or maybe get better
internet in the ship, internetand port talk to your cell phone
provider, you're going to needto do that in advance to
(11:06):
understand what your options areonce you turn that phone on,
either on the ship or in port.
Um, I did add an internationalpackage for Europe with my
provider so that when I was offthe ship, I did still have full
phone and email access.
And it costs me, I think it was$7 for the whole week.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Oh wow.
That's a great deal.
Yeah.
I, uh, I use a Google, a Googlefi with a Google pixel, so I've
got a 170 countries.
My data is just a, it's$10, uh,per gigabyte and then 20 cents a
minute on calls.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Perfect.
It's amazing how we can'tdisconnect and don't want to
just connect.
Even if we give up work, Ialways say to parents, they can
know I'm alive by checking onFacebook because I post
throughout the day to share whatwe're doing.
What'd you think of the show?
I loved it.
Um, it definitely, if you'regoing on and you're expecting an
(12:08):
ocean cruiser, you're going tobe disappointed because it's a
small ship.
When you look at the number ofpeople, I mean, we're a regular
ocean cruiser.
You've got 10 to 14 decks here,you've got four, you've only got
three decks of state rooms.
I was one of 160.
Yes on board.
(12:29):
That certainly doesn't eventypically account for one deck
of an ocean cruiser.
Sure.
So I loved the size.
You could be, you know, anywhereon the ship in three minutes
instead of feeling like youwalked across four football
fields.
Um, but you have to be preparedto give up some things.
You know, there's one lounge onthe ship where when I do
(12:52):
something like the Disney dreamor the Disney fantasy, if I
don't want to be in my stateroom, there's about eight
different lounge areas I can sitin here.
There's one when I'm on my oceancruise or the lobby is this
massive, beautiful thing.
Big chandelier is in case ofrain.
Um, Disney will even do theirsale away, party in the lobby
(13:16):
and they'll fit, you know, overa thousand cruisers in the lobby
area on the river cruise.
The lobby holds about 15 people.
So it's a different experience.
Um, I loved the quieter time,the less hustle bustle, and it
was definitely more intimate.
(13:37):
We got to meet a lot of ourfellow cruisers and you were
with the same people over andover because the mix wasn't as
large.
So it was a great experiencefrom that angle.
Oh, what were the, what were thepassengers like?
Were they more, um, more U S orfrom Europe?
It was definitely very heavy.
U S um, but that's the trendthat we see for the most part.
(14:02):
I think, you know, you're up ifyou're European, people hop on a
plane for$29 in jet to a cityfor the weekend where from the U
S we're really looking for thatcomplete package.
So that skews it a little bit.
Were there, were there kids onboard?
On my particular sailing, therewas not, it was an adult only
(14:24):
sailing.
But Disney one's a wonderfulkids program on the ship and I
actually have friends who guideon it.
And again, I tend not one of thebig differences from the Disney
ocean to the Disney river.
When you're on Disney ocean,there are hundreds of kids on
board.
There are more kids on boardthan the entire passenger count
(14:44):
on a river cruise.
Sure.
There are five kids clubs,there's a sports deck, there's
all those things.
Don't have that kind of spacehere.
But one of the neat things theyhave, and I think it's a
slightly misnamed on the Amishships, but they have a chef
table, which I like to call achef dining room because it's
not a single table.
(15:05):
It's a dining room with sixtables.
So it's a kind of lied yourspace.
But it is an open kitchen and alittle bit more intimate, but
it's only used for dinner.
So during the day and late inthe evening, that becomes the
kids club.
So they do run a junioradventure program.
They do have an area for thekids and obviously the top deck
(15:29):
and the pool area is usable aswell for the kids.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
What was your cabin like?
(15:38):
So I'll be honest cause that's how we roll.
My cabin was a little smallerthan I expected.
I am definitely Disney.
Spoiled Disney ocean is knownfor lodge s tate r ooms.
These are not l arge staterooms.
One of the unique things withthe partnership with Disney a nd
AMAA w aterways is the shipswere purposely built for
(16:00):
families and designed withDisney.
So they're unique in that therea ren't connecting s taterooms.
And there are state rooms thathold t hree people, unlike
Disney ocean where we have staterooms that hold four and five,
so families of four or five orsix obviously would need to get
connecting rooms.
My room was small but I reallywasn't in it.
(16:24):
I was surprised how little I wasin it besides sleeping.
U m, we have what they call aFrench balcony, so there were
two chairs in our state room onthe carpet inside the walls, but
we could slide our d oors allthe way open and turn our chairs
and move out about six inches.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And we only let the outdoors in, which I loved.
I'm on an ocean cruise.
They really encourage you tokeep the balcony doors closed
here.
We were able to kind of openthem up and really feel the
outside coming in, but for themost part we were in, in our
room.
I even had thought we might bewhen we did the Gorge sailing,
(17:07):
but because there's stuff onboth sides, you don't want to
spend that time in your room.
Most of our sailings were atnight.
So again, it would either bedark and there was some times
looking at the lights in theevening was amazing, but for the
most part we were busy and so wewere in our room to change
(17:27):
clothes, to drop off all myshopping as I said, and to, you
know, get ready for bed and goto sleep.
So I wasn't disappointed inthat.
The wound was a little bitsmaller cause I wasn't hanging
out in there, but it was on thesmaller side and not, the bottom
(17:47):
line is between a river in anocean cruise,
Speaker 4 (17:50):
the ocean cruise, it's about to ship as much or
more than it is about the portor as a river cruise.
It's really about spending, youknow, when you get off the the
boat or the ship, I don't knowhow many ships still, I guess
we're still ships.
When you get off the ship youare, you know, right, right in
downtown, you're right where youwant to be to to see things.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
And I think that's definitely part of it with ocean
cruising.
Some of the Disney cruises thatI do.
I've done the ports multipletimes and I do the cruise to be
on the ship and I don't get off.
Right.
So it definitely is adifference.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
Yup.
And I know, especially for kids,a lot of the time they're
happier in the kids' clubs thanthey, than they are touring
around deporting.
Yeah, definitely.
Great.
So what was the food like?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
The paper was good.
They had a lot of differentoptions.
Again, things if you want tocompare ocean to river dining is
much more limited on a rivercruise than when you're used to
an ocean cruise.
There is no room service.
I would say that was the numberone difference.
Um, breakfast, lunch and dinnerwere set times.
(19:00):
Everybody went in, dined at thesame time, but 99% of the day
you could go up into the lounge.
There was always cookies and icetea and water available.
Late evening they would do somekind of snacks.
Everything from fingersandwiches to, I was shocked
that chicken nuggets was a bighit.
(19:22):
Even with all the adults onboard.
Um, many pizzas, little foodsamplings like that.
It definitely was what you'dexpect in cruise dining.
More courses than I ever eatwhen I'm on land.
Um, lots of good options.
Dinner was a menu, dinner,breakfast and lunch where buffet
(19:45):
with menu options.
Um, I had incredible waffles,greats salad.
They did some homemade ice creamthat was to die for.
And I would say they did also agood mix for Americans who are
not adventurous eaters.
So people who really wanted theflavor of the region that we
(20:06):
were in.
And just like ocean cruising, ifyou wanted two entrees, if you
wanted to, appetizers have addedso you really could eat anything
.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So it sounds like you didn't really spend that much
time on the ship itself, butwhen you were there, was there,
was there stuff to do in the daytime?
Was there stuff to do on boardand evenings?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
There definitely was an, I was surprised that in
talking to some of my fellowtravelers at dinner, some of
them picked the day, middle ofthe week and decided not to go
into port because they reallyjust wanted that quiet day of
downtime.
So even though it is definitelya small ship, there is one sinks
left seat at the hair salon, onetable for massages and a small
(20:53):
gym.
So you do have those kinds ofamenities.
They had a room with board gamesand books.
So you kind of sit and read.
But I personally love thesundeck, all different types of
chairs and loungers umbrellas,overhangs.
So depending what you wanted,sun shade, that great mix and
(21:14):
the pool, um, you don't find thekind of entertainment that you
find on an ocean liner.
Bingo isn't happening and towelfolding isn't happening.
That's not going on during theday.
And again, it's a little bit ofan adjustment in the evening
where when you're looking atcomparing it to a Disney ocean
cruise, and again, I saidbefore, they are an
(21:34):
entertainment leader.
So if you're used to being onDisney cruise line where you
have a Broadway style show everynight and after the show you can
go into the lounge and theremight be a comedian or a DJ or
those types of things, you'regoing to be disappointed.
Entertainment because there'sone area for entertainment,
there's one bit of entertainmenteach evening.
(21:55):
It's definitely not Broadwayshows.
Um, but it was a lot of fun.
And again, I think that led to amuch more relaxed pace.
One night we had a singer, onenight we had a couple that dance
and then taught people to dance.
We had the maker of spaghettiice cream come in and tell us
(22:18):
about the history of spaghettiice cream.
There was trivia one night andeven if you didn't want to play,
you just couldn't help last tillyour sides hurt at the
involvement and thecompetitiveness of people.
Um, they did Disney trivia, theydid regular trivia, they did
(22:38):
karaoke, which again, I wascrying.
I was laughing so hard at it.
So definitely things toentertain you.
You're also sailing at night andI have to say being so close to
land on both sides, the lightsof some of these cities was
amazing.
I was thoroughly intrigued bythe number of locks we went
(23:00):
through.
So one night I went out on thefront of the boat, there's like
six chairs, just this quietlittle area, but you could watch
really what does it take to gothrough the locks.
So I went out there as we wereapproaching and I watched this,
you know, we had to wait for thegatekeeper to give us the go
ahead.
They opened the lock and we wentthrough and watching the
(23:24):
sidewalls as the ship went downand then going out of the lock
and kind of that surreal momentthat that's what you just did
and you look behind you andyou're really not seeing ocean,
you're seeing a little bit ofwater on the speak wall.
So different entertainment, butdefinitely things to keep you
going well.
It also sounds like as you startto get to know on board,
Speaker 4 (23:46):
seeing them over again over and over again.
It's a, you know, more of ashared experience.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I have to say.
I made some great friends and Ilove technology now because I've
got two dozen new Facebookfriends offers of places to go
stay out in California andMichigan and people that I know
I'll stay friends with foryears.
We did our very first adventureby Italy adventures by Disney to
(24:12):
Italy nine years ago and I stillsee and talk to those people,
that shared experience and thatopportunity, you know while
you're walking around in port orsitting over a drink at night,
you do talk about families and Ididn't have my daughter with me
on this trip, but everybodyknows her from her pictures on
my phone now and so you do getthat nice personal attachment,
(24:36):
which is much harder to get onan ocean cruise.
You may sit with the same peoplefor dinner every night where we
didn't even sit with the samepeople, but you might not get
the chance to see them at allduring the day we're here
because it was a small group.
You were with the same peopleover and over, which was nice.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
[inaudible] okay, let's talk ports.
Yeah.
So why is the a van a neutraland steam?
Just one Stein or[inaudible]?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Same.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Which one sign?
There we go.
A capsule in Munich special to aDisney stance.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
That is Walt's inspiration.
If you are a Disney person andyou've read anything about
Disney, that's the castle thatWalter fell in love with that
inspired him to design thecastle in Disneyland.
And so Disney fans know thatname.
It really holds a big attractionto them to, you know, and I'm
(25:33):
the coining Disney girl, I wasstanding with walls standing,
staring up at that same castlein awe and you can really feel
that the castle is not part ofthe Rhine river cruise.
It was a top bucket list itemfrom a, and I don't like to
arrive at cruises day of, younever know what could happen.
(25:55):
I'm the person that doesn't wantto be, you know, waving goodbye
to the sheriff and figuring outhow to get myself to the next
port to meet them.
So I at least wanted to getmyself into Europe.
We took a red eye flight intoMunich, literally landed,
dropped our bags in the hotelright in the Munich airport, and
I decided to be brave and drivea car in Germany.
(26:19):
Um, I wasn't sure I wanted todrive internationally.
That's definitely a new thingfor me in all of my travel.
I drive anywhere in the U S whenI fly, but I've never driven
internationally.
But in order to get to thecastle from the airport, we
would have had to take a subwayto a train, to a bus to a hike
and foremost of transportation.
(26:40):
And if the timing was up on thefirst two, in more than 10
minutes, we would've lost theopportunity to see the castle.
Right.
So I got a rental car, I madesure it was an automatic.
Anybody renting a carinternational, it is standard to
get a stick shift.
So if you need an automatic,like I do, you need to make sure
you've picked a place that doesthat.
(27:02):
I got a GPS that I wasguaranteed would speak English.
Um, and off I went, I didreserve my tickets to the castle
in advance.
Otherwise you'll get there andthey'll tell you they're either
sold out or come back in fivehours.
Um, but it was a true bucketlist for me to see that
inspiration.
Wow.
But you got a ton of picturestoo.
(27:23):
I did.
It was amazing.
How was your screen soon?
The Heidelberg Heidelberg looksunreal.
When you get there, you lookout, we went up to the castle
and before you get to the castlethere's this lookout and you
say, this is a postcard.
I'm not really standing here.
(27:43):
There was definitely a surrealfeeling because the beauty was
just amazing.
I couldn't believe it wasn't apostcard.
Um, again, one of the uniquethings with adventures by
Disney, we had period guideswaiting for us.
So they, you know, talked abouthow they serve to the King and
(28:04):
all about that time and theywalked us through and really
give us a tour and understandthe architecture and the design
and how the castle was used.
Um, we then got to ride aparticular, which I haven't done
since I was in Italy and that'salways a fun way to get down a
very steep Hill.
And then they set us free forshopping in Heidelberg, which
(28:28):
has lots of great shopping.
Um, Germany is on Christmaspresents, purchased all my
Christmas presents or purchase.
So the other tip, make sure thatsuitcase has some spare room in
it.
Um, what was the best thing youbought?
I, well, I bought all myChristmas presents and I bought
everybody gifts.
(28:49):
They have all these uniquecandles, um, and candle holders.
So if any of my family'slistening, kind of a surprise.
Spoiled, but that's okay.
I bought everybody candles andGermany's known for gummy bears,
so lots of gummy bears came homein my suitcase.
Um, because they're also, youcould get the things like you
(29:11):
can get here in the U S but Igot Shanae gummy bears.
We sling gummy bears, beer,gummy bears.
So wow.
Laughter, unique flavor to them.
And those wondering again aboutmy suitcase.
Gummy bears are heavy in yoursuitcase.
So my suitcase and my carry onwere definitely packed to the
(29:34):
gills.
I was lucky that I kind of snuckon with the second carry on and
they didn't say anything to me.
Make you went to a pipework andcountry.
Oh my God.
What an amazing evening.
So we were back on the ship fordinner and we had been told we'd
be headed out that night, whichwas really the only time that we
(29:58):
left the ship so late in theevening.
And they took us to the stThomas Church, which is just old
and gorgeous.
I'm fascinated by all thechurches in Europe.
I could spend the next year justgoing from church to church to
admire the architecture in them.
Um, but they took us in for thisconcert.
(30:19):
The pipe Oregon there was builtin 1741 this sounds in that
church.
The acoustics were phenomenaland the pipe organ is up in a
loft.
And so you're sitting down belowin the church pews and just
absolutely magnificent.
And then they came over to eachrow and they kind of put their
(30:41):
hand up to the nose show, followme.
And row by row.
We were able to climb the stairsup into the loft and watch the
gentleman playing the pipe organand actually see the pipe organ
up close.
It was incredible to see.
The sound was amazing.
I actually tennis scooted myselfinto a little corner up in the
(31:05):
loft and was able to video andentire songs so that you could
see the emotion he put into itand the beauty of the Oregon and
so I have a blog post dedicatedsolely to the pipe organ and
Strausberg because it definitelywas an unforgettable evening.
Can you give our listeners thatURL so they can find that?
(31:29):
Oh definitely.
It's www.ezdisordisneyez.com andjust go under a vlog and for the
vine, wherever you'll see everysingle day has a recap.
And then some of the specialevents like the pipe Oregon have
their own dedicated blog andthere's also a bridge tour.
(31:52):
If you want to get an idea howsuper tiny the bridges on a ship
like the AMAA Maura.
So a great way to experience itto see if this is for you.
And so finally, the, uh, theRyan castle Gorge, uh, I could
do that every day.
Um, so it was one of the rareafternoon sailings and that
(32:16):
morning we were in wood or shineand we had actually done a wine
tour and wine in Europe is justWilly good and really cheap and
many of the places we'll deliverback to the ship for you so you
don't even have to carry thealcohol around.
So I had for my big$7investment, this incredible
(32:39):
bottle of white wine that I tookup to the top deck.
We were told pick up, there wasa little pamphlet for us that
outlined the order of thecastles, the name of them, and
whether they would be on theleft or the right as we were
sailing.
It was a four hour sailingthrough the Gorge where we
(33:00):
witnessed 30 castles from thebank and many churches, since
I've told you I'm obsessed withthe beautiful churches and you
know, we popped open our wine.
They came by with some hottotties.
They came by with special propsfor photo ops and you just, it's
nothing like you'd ever see inthis country.
(33:21):
Just absolutely beautifulcountryside.
And again, because you're riversailing, not ocean sailing that
you can see both bang thedistance from one bank to the
other as probably three Weaver,three ocean cruise ships wide.
So it's a small space you caneasily see and get phenomenal
(33:45):
photos from both sides.
Again, just a plug for the freeinternet.
Um, my father's family is fromGermany and when we were nearing
the city that my grandmother hadtalked about going to often, I
was able to FaceTime my parentsand, and let them see Germany
while we were going along.
Just a amazing, amazingafternoon.
(34:10):
Any overall summary or adviceyou'd like to give to our
listeners?
I would give one little warningbefore I give advice.
And that is, this is Europe andthis is a river cruise.
It doesn't have the mobilityfriendliness that we have in the
U S so for instance, that topdeck that I was talking about
can only be accessed by stairs.
(34:32):
There's a couple of parts of theship that if you don't have good
mobility and stairs are an issuefor you, unfortunately you're
either going to miss out onspecific things on the cruise or
river cruising just doesn't fityou till Europe catches up with
America's ADA.
Um, but I would say if you'relooking for that slower pace,
(34:57):
that more tranquil, again,comparing ocean to river,
there's not a hundred tourbuses.
When you get in the port for allthe excursions, the adventure
team typically was three to sixbuses to accommodate everybody.
It's a much smaller group.
And I would also say you'regonna look at adventures by
Disney.
(35:17):
You're gonna look at I'm awaterways again, I was very
transparent.
It is an AMO waterway ship andyou're going to say, wow,
there's a big price difference.
Why do I want to go withadventures by Disney?
And it's because of what Disneyoffers.
Yes, it's the same ship.
Your state room isn't changing.
Your dining isn't changing.
(35:37):
Your experiences changingadventures by Disney.
It's seamless travel frombeginning to end from the minute
they pick me up at the airport.
That's included to all of myexcursions that are included to
the entertainment.
That's the big difference.
You're getting everything.
(35:57):
And as the planner in my family,what I love about traveling with
adventures by Disney and nowwith river cruising, with
adventures by Disney, is it'snot up to me.
I'm not the one saying, okay,everybody's gotta be up at nine
and we've got to get out thedoor, or where did I put the
tickets for this?
Or I need to reserve this inadvance.
Disney does all of that for me.
(36:19):
I don't have to think about it.
I get to show up and as the mom,I actually get to be on vacation
too.
So it's really an incredibleexperience.
I'm looking at actually doingthe Ryan again myself because I
was so in love with it.
And then I'm going to move on tothe Dan you, because the style
of river cruising is justsomething I'm ready to do again
(36:42):
and again.
Oh, well that sounds like awonderful, a wonderful
experience.
Do you want to give that to thatURL for your blog one more time?
You bet.
It's www dot E Z D I S likeDisney, easy.com because we make
your Disney vacation planningeasy.
(37:03):
Sandy, it's been a pleasure andI hope we can have you back on
the program after your nextcruise.
Thanks so much, Bob.
I really enjoyed it.
Thanks.
So thank you so much forspending time with us today.
Again, my guest has been.Sandy yaumuSandy Nussbaum.
You're sick of instantimpressions travel.
I'm Bob Levinstein for c ruisecompete.
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