Belgium and Holland with Vantage Deluxe

Some people stop to smell the roses. I decided to stop and admire the tulips on a “Waterways of Holland & Belgium: Tulips, Windmills & Canals” cruise-tour with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 888/514-1845, www.vantagetravel.com), April 29-May 9, 2014.

For a single cabin on the River Splendor I paid $7,447, which included airfare Miami-Brussels and Amsterdam-Miami, taxes and surcharges, insurance and optional excursions. There were no single supplement charges at all.

I arrived in Brussels on April 25 to start a 4-day, 3-night pre-cruise extension, which cost an additional $699. I stayed at the Steigenberger Grandhotel.

The extension included a city tour. The core of Brussels, Belgium’s capital, is made up of the Lower Town, which is the floodplain of the Zenne (a river that now runs partially underground), and the Upper Town, which is more residential and dedicated to business.

As Copenhagen is known for its statue of “The Little Mermaid,” Brussels is known for “Manneken Pis,” a small bronze statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain. The statue is often wearing clothes. That day it was wearing a policeman’s uniform.

A web of medieval streets surrounds the superb Grand Place. The square offers some of the finest examples of ornate 17th-century architecture, built within a few years of 1695, when, in three days of cannon fire, the French destroyed all but the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) and two guild buildings. 

Our city tour continued to the luxury shops and cafés of the glass-roofed Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, one of the world’s first indoor shopping arcades, opened in 1847. 

We also saw the Atomium (which I originally saw at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair), with a display of antique cars.

On a free day, I took an optional tour to Ghent, a beautiful medieval town. We were given €15 (near $17) in lunch money for our walking tour, which included Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, the Town Hall (dating from the 15th century) and Saint Michael’s Bridge.

The following day our group motored to Amsterdam, Netherlands, a few hours away, stopping in The Hague, where we viewed the Peace Palace. Lunch was at the Grand Hotel Amrath Kurhaus, which first opened as a bathing establishment 200 years ago.

I boarded the River Splendor that afternoon with our group.

The morning began with a lecture on “Dutch Canals and Waterways,” followed by a walking tour of the delightful town of Schoonhaven. Silversmiths have been there since the 17th century. 

Arriving at Kinderdijk, we saw the 19 windmills that were used to drain the lowland Alblasserward. Windmills have been part of the Netherlands’ landscape since the 13th century.

A 2-hour sailing took us to Rotterdam, where we had a choice of excursions to Delft or Gouda. I chose Delft. Its town market was built between 1383 and 1510 and underwent restorations following the 1536 fire and the arsenal explosion of 1654. 

We stopped at the Delft Museum and factory, where we had a demonstration on how Delft pottery is made. Loaded with Delft souvenirs, we headed back to the ship to depart for Terneuzen, back in Belgium, and then Bruges.

On our walking tour of Bruges we visited the main square, lined with 17th-century buildings. The Belfort, or belfry, built between the 13th and 15th centuries, is an octagonal tower 272 feet high.

Again we each were given €15 for lunch. Before heading back to Terneuzen, we took a canal boat ride.

Our ship sailed on to one of Europe’s busiest harbors. Antwerp started as a settlement in the second century AD, and its Golden Age is reflected in the main square, lined with guild buildings decorated with gilded figures. We admired the carvings around the door at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of Our Lady).

Later we watched Belgian chocolates being made by hand. Yes, there were samples. Finding them superior, I bought three boxes.

I took an optional walking tour in the beautiful, unspoiled town of Lier. Its rococo-style Town Hall has a belfry dating to the 14th century. An astronomical clock was added to the keep in the town wall in 1930 and the tower was renamed Zimmer Tower, in honor of the astronomer who built the clock.

In the marketplace, we saw a wedding party exiting a church. The guests released white, helium-filled balloons. As they drifted upward, a guest lit a smoke stick, and light-green smoke encircled the bride and groom.

The tour ended at a sidewalk café, where we had hot chocolate and Lierse vlaaike, a cake made of candi syrup and four spices.

Our next river stop was Arnhem, where I chose the excursion to the Kröller-Müller Museum, which displays the life’s work of Helene Kröller-Müller — 15,500 works of art that she turned over in 1938.

The museum also has the second-largest van Gogh collection in the world (after the Van Gogh Museum), with 90 of his paintings and 180 of his drawings. It also possesses works by Monet, Seurat, Picasso and Mondrian, not to mention one of Europe’s largest sculpture gardens, with more than 160 sculptures.

In the morning, there was a lecture on board about the Dutch 17th-century tulip bulb investment craze and bust. 

Docking at Enkhuizen, we took a small ferry to the Zuiderzee Museum. Depicting a fishing village, this outdoor museum was delightful. It’s how you expect a Dutch town to be — very picturesque. There were nets out to be repaired, fish on racks drying or being smoked, open houses and people in costume.

That afternoon, in groups of six, we visited the homes of locals, comparing our ways of life and enjoying cheese, coffee and homemade cakes.

From the port of Hoorn, we took buses to visit tulip growers, seeing an explosion of colors as we passed fields of tulips in bloom. 

We found ourselves back in Amsterdam the next day, where, after a lecture on “Art and Life in the Golden Age,” we took a boat ride on the canals and visited the Rijksmuseum, seeing “The Night Watch.” Dinner that evening was the Captain’s Farewell Party.

On our last day, we went to Keukenhof Gardens. Words cannot describe the millions of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in bloom. (Spring often comes late to the Continent, which explains why the gardens were in full bloom.) I was surprised at the colors and even the shapes of the tulips.

The River Splendor holds 176 passengers and offers eight cabins for singles. It’s a very clean ship and caters to Americans’ tastes. There is a very small elevator plus a small library and a well-equipped gym. Meals were open seating, with meat, fish and vegetarian main dishes. The food and service were perfect.

The onboard lectures were interesting, and talks about what to expect were very helpful. The concierge was always available to help passengers make additional plans.

The weather on our trip was good, with temperatures 49°-55°F, though strong winds added a chill factor.

I truly enjoyed this trip and think it was well planned. In fact, I booked with Vantage again for a cruise in Germany. Same boat, same cabin.

PHILIP SHART

Tamarac, FL