Re our Rhine in Flames trip in September our main complaint relates to the mooring in Strasbourg. We arrived in Strasbourg in the afternoon on day 6 and found the ship being tied up in an old commercial dock outside town and with the view of old warehouses and silos. However, with plenty of time to spare before dinner, being good walkers, and having been given a map with the walking route hand-marked by the staff, we set off to walk into town. After about 15 minutes we still hadn’t got very far and turned back. We had not been the only ones to give up. Had we been adequately informed we could have taken a taxi. The next morning we had the guided coach trip into Strasbourg – quite a long drive considering we were supposed to be in Strasbourg – followed by the walking tour, which we had to cut short as, when finally some toilet facilities at the main square were reached, they were found to be out of order. There was no alternative for us than to leave the tour and visit a restaurant. To get to the return coach was another long walk owing to coaches required to park near the edge of the town, and then only for a short while. Initially we had planned to return to the town after lunch on the ship, to take a little landtrain circuit through the old town, but lunch, having taken longer than expected and being faced with two further long walks from and back to the coach, we stayed on board. Consequently, between days 6 in the afternoon and day 8 in the morning we had about one and a half hours in Strasbourg, the town supposedly being one of the highlights of the trip. There was also a disappointment in Ruedesheim. On the map we had been given, ship’s staff had marked for a possible visit a Torture Museum. This, however, couldn’t be located as it had closed down a few years previously, we eventually found out. With the food choices we were very happy, but our vegan companions were not always catered for adequately. To get a table for 4 at dinner time one had to quey early and rush into the dining room as it was always free-for-all. A booking system would be more relaxing. We would also have liked water-refill stations and the one tea/coffee maker in the public area at the very back of the ship for the 150 guests is not enough. The evening entertainment lacked local flavour and management seemed to lack local knowledge as the on-board information on the daily trips was minimal. Based on this and a similar complaint we had to make after a rail trip to the Dordogne earlier this year we shall not book with this company again.
