Im having serious difficulties trying to figure out which optionals to do...if i had the money i would do them all....but i dont..so i have to choose some....and i keep hearing bad things about close to ALL of them! haha so which ones should I do??????????????

i may do the canal cruise in amsterdam since its at the beginning of the trip but then again we only have one night their so id like to visit some of the coffee shops and try some of the cheaper food that the locals like. i guess the only ones im really trying to do are mt. pilatus, swiss lunch, florence dinner, barcelona dinner.

oh yeah and the wine tasting

Hey!

I just got back from this tour and it was amazing! For Optionals here are the ones that I did:
Amsterdam:
Canal Cruise (worth it totally- our entire group participated)

Switzerland
Mt Pilatus (worth it again- especially for those who have never seen snow- unfortunately I had, but it was still a good experience)

Germany
St Goar Wine Tasting- it was fun... but hey it only costed 8 euros and we got 5 (i think) wines to taste (1 red, 4 whites)

Italy
Venice- the gondola is an experience in itself. I did it last year on the Simply Italy tour. It was a tour highlight last year

Florence- The group photo is beautiful. I have one (if you'd like to see it, please let me know and I can email a copy to you)
- The Lacertosa dinner was fun! (note: that on all the optional dinners wine is included and they keep replacing the bottles- this is important to know if you're going to do the Space Nighclub and you haven't drank anything yet- you'll be way behind your other tour mates)
Space Discotheque- again, I did this on the Simply Italy tour. It was fun- there is also Karioke for the first hour you're there! (I didn't do it this year)

Monaco dinner- was really good. Plus for the price... I'm not sure how much cheaper you'll find a dinner in Monaco with 3 courses and again unlimited wine!

Barcelona- The Flamenco show was good, the food excellent (you get choices for the optional dinners- you pick it before hand) and the Sangrias were excellent!

Paris- the "La Nouvelle Eve" show was fun! It's also nice to say good bye to everyone. We all went out before hand to O'Sullivan's Bar (next to the Moulin Rouge and not a very far walk), because not everyone was going to the show.

I hope this helps! This tour was a lot of fun and I miss it!

ttfn
elissa

Thanks for the insights Elissa. Since you went in early May, I'm assuming the weather is similar to our trip on September 9th. How was the weather at the various places? Should we pack thicker jackets or save the space for swimmsuits? Thanks in advance.

I just got back from this tour and did all of the excursions except the dinner in Amsterdam, the fondue in Lucerne (it got cancelled on our tour since so few people were interested) and I didn't get the group photo.

Amsterdam: definitely recommend the canal cruise. It's the 2nd night of tour and was just a fun way to get to know everyone. Open bar was pretty great too.

St. Goar: wine tasting was great...only 8 euro and there really wasn't much else to do in the little town at that point.

Switzerland: agreed on Mt. Pilatus...we went on a cloudy day and could barely see the city, but it was still beautiful.
I did the lake cruise, basically cause I was tired and didn't want to walk around Lucerne anymore (although Lucerne is stunning!). It's an easy one to give a miss on, there's lots to see in the town and you can always rent a paddle boat with a friend and cruise the lake on your own.

Venice: the dinner was great...tons of food and wine, but I know people who skipped it also found great little restaurants for alright prices.
And to me the gondola ride was one of those things you just have to do when you're in Venice.

Florence: the group photo for us did turn out really well, despite it being taken during the only 10minutes of rain we had on our entire tour.
The Tuscan dinner was great as well...lots of food and wine again. Same thing...people who gave it a miss did find their own food in Florence and then met up with us for the disco.
The disco was a great time...cover and your first drink are included and the TM usually makes a deal with the guys at the door to ensure you get a good price on the cab home.

Monaco dinner: really good. We were there on a Sunday, so I think the people who came to Monaco but didn't do this dinner had a tricky time finding a place to eat other than a little snack counter.

Barcelona-I didn't love the food here. But I thought the dancing (and Sangria) more than made up for it.

Paris: I really enjoyed the Nouvelle Eve show. It is a lot of money, but I thought it was worth it for the show and the meal. We also went to O'Sullivans before and after the show since it was our last night.

Like Elissa said, all of the optional dinners have choices or at least a few options (for the 2 in Italy, they just keep bringing platters of food to the table, you can pick what you want to eat from that) for what you want to eat and wine on the table that keeps getting replenished (and water too)

If you have any other questions, just let me know

I just went on this tour as well, in fact I was on tour with the last person that posted. HI CIANA!

I also did all of the excursions as well since most of the people were doing them.

Amsterdam: Not the most exciting excursion but it was great because it's unlimited wine and beer. Plus that was when everyone really got together and got to know eachother.

St. Goar: There is not much to do in this town at all, so since it's only 8 Euro I would recommend it. You get 5 small tastes of wine. The best part was just hanging out in the bar at the hotel afterward (and getting kicked out).

Switzerland: Mt. Pilatus was fun. It was cloudy so we didn't see much but I would definitely recommend heading over to the Taboggan run aftwerwards. That was the best part of the Mountain. I would skip the lake cruise if I was to do it again. Everyone was exhausted from walking around all day and some people even fell asleep, plus you get 1 free drink on board.

Venice: The gondola ride is definitely worth it, especially because by the time it comes around your feet will be killing you from walking around all day. The dinner was fantastic so I would highly recommend it.

Florence: I didn't buy the group photo but I saw it and looking back I wish I would have. The Tuscan dinner was amazing and teh space disco is pretty fun. Although most of the locals that go there look like they are between 16 and 18 (very young crowd!)

Monaco: The dinner was great! I would definitely recommend it.

Barcelona: The food was not that great. The meatball dish came with 4 small meatballs. But you do get all you can drink Sangria and the Flamenco show was pretty cool.

Paris: It's pretty pricey but the other shows in the area are more expensive. The food was good, the show was good, and the wine was unlimited which meant it was good.

Personally, I thought the excursions were worth doing. You get to be with the group and you don't have to worry about fending for yourself. Hope this helps! Enjoy your trip and if your lucky you will get Rachel as your Tour Manager. She was the BEST!

Ha, I was just on this trip with Ciana and Jenn! Miss you gals!

Amsterdam
Nice cruise with unlimited drinks. The optional dinner was great. Order the fish (in the fishing village). It was like butter. If your manager gives the option for a sex-show, do it! So much fun!

Switzerland
Skipped the fondue and there weren't enough people so it got cancelled. The mountain was okay as it was cloudy. Hit or miss. Skip the Lucerne boat cruise. The scenery is so-so and you only get 1 drink.

Venice
I did the gondola ride 5 years ago so skipped it this time. I guess it's a must do but if you're not with a girlfriend or signinficant other I wouldn't do it again. The pasta dinners were great and the singer was good.

Florence
My sister got the group photo. The Tuscan dinner was amazing and singers and some dancing. 2nd time at Space was just as fun.

Monaco
Dinner was great. Liver pate was great. All of the extra dinners include all you can drink wine!

Barcelona
Fugg, the meatballs were like from Costco. The show was cool and the all you can drink sangria made it bearable.

Paris
The Nouvelle eve show was fantastic. I never go to any shows. Once again the liver pate was good but the steak was horrid. Just plain with the sauce on the side.

Suggestion for a pricey lunch in Paris would be La Fumoire just south of the Louvre (Place de Louvre?) The beef carpacio is the best ever. Also their lemon tort is to die for.

Most of the time, the extra stuff is worth it since you'd have to take taxis to meet up with the groups. It's a bloody marathon of fun. Enjoy.

Peter

P.S. I'm still having trip withdrawl.

Aww...Pete and Jenn...yay us for giving feedback!

(And I'm in bigtime withdrawl too...real life just isn't as fun as Contiki life!)