A full days traveling by train from Hamburg to Cologne, The train left on time but it didn’t last long, a tree down on the line was the first hold up followed by a medical emergency. As we pulled into one of the stations the medics were waiting with a trolley stretcher, only they went to the wrong carriage door, eventually they found the casualty who had somehow exited from another carriage and was on one of the platform seats where they eventually found them and we continued on our way, a good half hour late getting into Cologne. However we had a bit of time in hand and the announcement said it was coming into platform 6 doors open on the right and our next train would leave on platform 7, same platform opposite side, The left hand doors opened and we arrived on a different platform. A quick trot round and we are ready to go, then less than a minute before the train to Brussels Nord arrived they changed the platform it was coming into, so off to another platform with all the rest just as it drew in.
From Brussels to Ghent was another train and then just one stop out to where the boat was moored. I had bought tickets for that online but when we enquired at the ticket office which platform to use I was told I could have gone for free as the ticket we had already covered it. They also told us it was platform 11 when it was actually platform 1. The whole station is just one building site at the moment and if you want to use the loo its €1-10c so two coins needed.
We got in the wrong carriage for the short transfer to Dampoort, it was only 10 minutes and one stop, but we travelled first class. From Dampoort station it was about a 5 minute walk to find the boat and we arrived almost at 6pm. our allotted time. We were the last to arrive and Kevin the boat captain immediately recognised us from 2 previous trips we had done with him. We were soon shown to our cabin 105 on CroisiEurope's Raymonde. Raymonde is just over 5Mt wide and 38Mt long with a centre corridor and cabins off both sides so shall we say she is cosy in the cabins with twin beds and ensuite bathroom. Thankfully all cabins have air conditioning and large windows about 75mm above the water level. .
Twin Beds and a tight fit | Our Bathroom | The view from our window, we were bank side, things improved greatly |
There were only 21 passengers onboard, the maximum is 22 and a crew of 6. We were the only English couple, there were 5 Americans, 4 French and 6 Swiss. After all the crew were introduced it was time for drinks and our evening meal.
After dinner we went for a short walk around the Dampoort area of Ghent. Its an old part of the town with some interesting buildings some with wall art.
We passed a lock on one of the narrower canals that actually has a canoe pass beside it. Some locks on the Thames have these as well as skiff rollers.Unfortunately we didn’t see anybody using it which would have been interesting
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