The Amawaterways "tulip cruise" was very good, but not exactly what I expected. The waterways of Holland and Belgium are heavily industrialized and the landscape is flat. Therefore, there was not much scenic cruising to be done. In fact, the boat mostly moved from one location to another during the night, which I think was the right choice.

Although the brochures make it seem that the entire country of Holland is blanketed with flowers and windmills, these are actually clustered in a few spots, and due to the harsh winter, most tulips were still dormant although we were there at what is usually the peak time (April 20th).

Every day, we had an opportunity to tour very interesting towns, either as part of a group or on our own. I enjoyed them all. The tours used wireless earphones, so you did not have to be right on top of the tour guide to hear what was being said. The trip built to a nice conclusion. On the final three days, we went to 1) Brugges, then 2) Willemstad and the Kinderdijk windmills, and finally the 3) Keukenhof Flower Gardens. (You spend the first and last nights at the dock in Amsterdam, within walking distance of the historic district). Read more