I'm booked on a January 6, 2010 Cosmos tour. I was curious if they ever really cancel a tour. I'm beginning to worry that my tour may get canceled. My travel agent hasn't said anything yet, but when I go to the Cosmos website I don't see the January 6 tour on there anymore. I tried to call the travel agent this afternoon and they were closed already. So I was curious if any of you seasoned travelers ever had a Cosmos trip canceled and if you did.. .. .. ..were you put on another tour.

Thanks ahead for your replies!

Karen

Just a follow up to my last post.. .. .. .. ..I found out today that it's still on! And the price dropped too, so we will get a break!
They changed the name of the tour from "European Sampler" to "Taste of Europe", also. So.. ..good news all around! Now.. .. .. . if only our dollar would quit dropping! By the time we get there our dollar will be worth 10 cents and we will have to eat potato chips for dinner!

Hi ViolinGirl,

I replied to your post on my discussion topic and read that you are going on an eight day tour of Europe, if this is the one, I did a similar one with another company and you will see wonderful things and I am sure you will love the Rhine Cruise, it is very pretty. The canal cruise in Amsterdam is really good too. And you will love Paris, it is my favourite city

Hi aussiemiss!

It's the eleven day tour, but that includes travel time. We start in London for two nights, then on to Amsterdam for two nights, then the Rhineland for one night, next Lucerne, Switzerland for two nights, and lastly two nights in Paris! I can't wait,it's just about all I can think about!

Are you from Australia? I just finished a book a couple of days ago by Bill Bryson "in a Sunburned Country" about Australia. I love his books!

Thanks for replying to my post. Seems like there isn't very much activity on this board. I also read a lot on Rick Steves website.

Yours is an 8 day tour of Europe but your added time in London and travelling make it 11 days. My tour was 7 days of Europe with just one day in Amsterdam instead of two and it would have been nice to have a whole day there instead of just the afternoon.
All the rest of the trip was the same as yours and I loved all the places we visited. Winter is great, although it is cold the tourists are much less. Mount Titlis is breathtaking and if it is offered you MUST do this. Versailles is also stunning and worth doing if you like huge palaces.
I know you will have a great time

My daughter and I are going together. She is graduating from college in December (a semester early), so as a graduation present we decided to to do this, before she really starts working and starting her life. She's been to Germany and Paris before too, so that will help me, I'm sure! Yeah, I plan on doing the Mount Titlis for sure. I'm definitely interested in Versailles also.

Thanks for your feedback and information, it helps to talk with someone who has done this before!! I appreciate it!

If the weather isn't that cold, you may want to do a cruise on Lake Lucerne. Also, the cog railroad on Mt Titlus does not run in the winter.

Yeah, we plan on taking the cruise on Lake Lucerne! Thanks for the recommendation!

I really hope that the tour allows us enough time to be able to go to the Anne Frank museum while we are in Amsterdam. I wouldn't mind seeing the Van Gogh Museum there too. If anyone has been on this Cosmos tour, I would love to know if you think there would be enough time to do these things. Oh and my daughter was hoping we would have enough time to go to the Louvre Museum while we are in Paris.

Thanks for any information anyone might have! I'm all ears!!!

Hi! I did not take your exact tour, but hope I can help you out some. I'm assuming that because your tour stays in Amsterdam for 2 nights, you will most of the full day on your own. We did the diamond factory, canal cruise, and short city tour early in the morning and then had a few hours to explore. Since you will likely have most of the day you will have plenty of time to see Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, I wish I could have seen them, but there wasn't time since we stayed only 1 night. Anybody who has actually been on this tour, please correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as Paris goes, I think your tour is mostly the same as mine was. Assuming it's organized the same the first night will either be at leisure or you can take the Eiffel Tower excursion. The first morning will be the city tour and then the rest of the day will be at leisure, unless you are taking the Versailles option which takes up much of the afternoon or the farewell dinner which takes up much of the evening. If you don't take either tour, you will have plenty of time for the Louvre. I actually did take the farewell dinner option and still had several hours in the afternoon to check out a few of the Louvre's highlights and did a little trinket shopping nearby. I hope you have a wonderful trip!!

tofurkey38.. ..thanks, that helps a lot! I know it's a tour group, but there are just a few things I would hate to miss. Who knows if I will ever be able to go again?! I think I remember you saying the farewell dinner is worth it though, so we will probably do that. I'm not much on fancy dinners though!

I know what you mean about fancy dinners. The restaurant we went to wasn't really that fancy, it was a neat old building and was pretty geared towards tourists. I mostly took it just for the trip to Montemartre and Sacre Couer, since it would have been hard for me to get there on my own. Whatever you chose to do you will have a blast!

A trip to the Louvre Museum will take the better part of a day.

If you do an independent visit to the Louvre you can wither spend a short time or a long time there. Most people with limited time want to see the Mona Lisa, some famous sculptures and paintings. It is all a personal choice as the Louvre is huge and you could spend a whole day there.

So if you visit on your own the time spent there will depend on how much time you have and what you want to see.

The Versallies optional is well worth the money IMO as the Palace and gardens have to be seen to be believed for their grandure and size.

Thanks for the info!! I am interested in Versailles, so I might have to do that! It's hard getting in everything you want to do with such a short stay!! I really want to do everything! I'm enjoying reading all of the comments from you all, it helps so much to hear about everyone's experiences!

Thanks again!

[quote="ViolinGirl"]Thanks for the info!! I am interested in Versailles, so I might have to do that! It's hard getting in everything you want to do with such a short stay!! I really want to do everything! I'm enjoying reading all of the comments from you all, it helps so much to hear about everyone's experiences!

Thanks again![/quote]
We went by train to see Versailles and spent a whole day there in 2001. Be sure to check the open and close times before going.

Hi ViolinGirl, I recently did the exact tour you are taking. If you want to see the Anne Frank Museum I suggest you try and go on the second day in Amsterdam. You have an optional excursion to Volendam & Zaanse Schans on this morning. I personally felt this was a waste of time. Basically lots of little souvenir shops. There were windmills there which we hadn't seen but other than that i wasn't impressed with this optional. The clog making took all of 3 minutes on a machine then it was time to buy. Volendam was a cute fishing village but really again just geared to tourists and souvenirs. The time of year you will be there will be very cold as well so being outside won't be that nice. If you don't go to Volendam & Zaanse you will have from about 9am - 1pm whilst everyone else goes there. The Anne Frank museum always has a long queue out the front waiting to get in so you would do best to head straight there first thing in the morning. Talk to your TD and ask her the programme for that day in Amsterdam to check you will get free time in the city that morning. Hope this helps. Happy to answer any other questions you have about this tour. By the way, we did have a lovely time and I would recommend Cosmos and this particular tour.

ps. make sure you go prepared with maps of the cities you will have free time in so you know exactly where you will be going.

Just following on from my last post, I should have made it clearer that if you don't go on the optional to Volendam & Zaanse Schans you will be dropped off back in the city of Amsterdam to fill in the time whilst the others are seeing V & Z.

Ebony.. .. ..thanks so much for this information!!! You helped a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed this particular tour. I really want to go to the Anne Frank Museum, so it's good to know I'll probably be able to, if I cut out their optional. I may pick your brain, if that's okay as the trip gets closer!

Happy to answer any questions. Wish I'd had someones brain to pick before my trip!

Ebony wrote:Happy to answer any questions. Wish I'd had someones brain to pick before my trip!

I am looking @ booking a Cosmos tour to travel through Europe 2010 April - Cosmopolitan Europe_ My first ever! I am travelling from NZ. Can u pls tell me if the Cosmos Hotels are way way out from the main city ? Is it a problem to be commuting back in the night?
luv2travel

HI max
is it possible to do The Louvre and Versailles all packed in one day?

Hi luv2travel, I have done tours with 3 different tour companies and Cosmos are excellent value for money. My Cosmos tour was not to Europe but Scandinavia and I can say of the hotels on this tour they were all wonderful and close to the city sights. If hotels are far from the city centre in expensive cities such as Paris and Rome you will always be near a bus stop or metro station.

The Cosmopolitan looks an excellent tour but there are no optionals posted yet. You could do Versailles and the Louvre in one day if both optionals are offered but it would be a very quick visit to both places. I don't know about this tour but it is usually unlikely you would be offered both optionals. In Paris you have an orientation tour in the morning and then the afternoon is when an optional is offered.

There is so much to see in Paris, I have spent a total of 12 days there with 3 visits and I still have not seen everything. You could think about spending extra days here at the end of your tour perhaps.

Thankkxx a ton for the quick reply. I know our time is very limited and so I guess it will have to be sacrificing 1 for the other. DId u do the Moulin Rouge?

Hi Aussiemiss
I was a bit disappointed with the lack of info on optional tours and the hotels not being posted. However the travel agent has advised us that we could look at the 2009 nov tour details and have a fair idea of what is on offer in terms of options n hotels. So I am sort of using that as my guideline. Any other tips that you could give us would be very very very helpful[/u]. . Never been to europe and this is a childhood dream about to be fulfilled. Since we r travelling in April and it is apparently Spring, do u have any idea as to how warm/cold it is at this time?
luv2travel

Hi luv2travel,

I remember my first trip to Europe, I went independently to London and caught the Eurostar to Paris, it was my dream come true also and I remember wanting to research everything. I was unable to see Versailles on my first visit and that was my excuse to return

To answer your first question, No I have not done the Moulin Rouge, it is not only too expensive for me but not really the sort of entertainment I like. But I truly LOVE Paris. People on my last tour to Paris liked it very much, so if you like that sort of thing then you should consider going. The weather in April will be nice, (Paris gets snow in winter and high 30's in summer), you will just need a jacket for the evening, especially on the illuminations tour, which you MUST do.

I have been to every city on your tour except Prague and have been to Amsterdam but not Brussels. Any other questions please just ask, I am more than happy to help. It is a bit frustrating not to have the optionals listed yet, but at least you have last years to give you an idea, and they don't usually change much.

Enjoy your planning