Arrive in Basel - Your home for the next seven nights, our dedicated crew will be there waiting to welcome you on board, and ensure you settle in. There’ll be time to familiarise yourself with this first-class floating hotel before dinner in our stylish restaurant. On the first night, there’s always an exciting sense of expectancy and conversation with your fellow adventurers is sure to revolve around the journey ahead.
Lucerne & Stanserhorn - Our first stop today is Stanserhorn - one of the mountains near Lucerne - where we’ll take the cabrio cable car high up to the peak. This naturally beautiful area is almost 1,900m above sea level, so you’ll be able to enjoy fresh mountain air while you take in the amazing views of the Swiss Alps. Not content with treating just your sight, you’ll also be indulging your tastebuds with a visit to the revolving restaurant that sits atop the mountain. Specialising in Swiss food, you’ll get the chance to sample a local favourite - Älplermagronen, the Swiss Alpine version of macaroni and cheese. This delicious mix of pasta, potatoes, cream, cheese and onions is a true comfort food! After a mountain-top feast, you’ll make your way back down the mountain and make the short journey by coach to Lucerne. Spectacularly nestled in the mountains, providing epic landscapes, it is by far Switzerland’s most beautiful city and has been attracting well-heeled visitors for two centuries, one of the most famous of which being our own Queen Victoria. We’ll enjoy a guided walking tour of the city – including where to get the best local pastries – and, after that, you’re free to explore at leisure. We recommend taking an invigorating stroll along the Chapel Bridge: this symbol of the city is a unique covered wooden walkway crossing the lake, supported by stilts, lined with colourful flower-filled window boxes. It’s a superb way to absorb Lucerne’s rather regal atmosphere. Arriving back to our ship, you’ll have time to refresh before another splendid dinner in the excellent restaurant.
It is extremely difficult to convey just how extraordinary this outstanding ship really is and exactly what distinguishes it from similar vessels. It would be very easy to just say ‘luxurious’ but it’s much more than that; we have deliberately avoided the current trend for a minimalist style where you could be anywhere in the world, creating instead a unique yet exquisite blend of understated taste, style and elegance at the highest level. Immediately striking is just how exceptionally spacious this new vessel is as you enter a gleaming, richly coloured marble-floored lobby flooded with natural light from a stunning atrium above. Moving inside, exceptional creativity from Europe’s finest design studio has produced a superbly balanced masterpiece of onboard style, utilising sustainable rich hardwoods, gleaming brass and polished copper, sparkling glass and intricate wrought iron. The ship is beautifully illuminated throughout – including the exterior and imaginatively furnished with harmonious colour schemes, all designed to create the serene atmosphere reflective of the golden age of cruising which time after time you tell us you adore.
The restaurant rivals the finest on shore establishments taking fine dining to another level complemented by delicate European porcelain, gleaming glassware and the intuitive service in which the Swiss excel. This superb vessel carries 44 in-house trained crew members serving just 167 guests (similar size vessels may carry well over 190 passengers) giving the ratio which our experience proves is concurrent with our first class service levels.
Cabins
A gleaming wood door opens revealing your exceptionally appointed suite. At 17 square metres (183 square feet), its generous dimensions are amongst the largest you will find on a cruiser gracing any European river. Imaginatively designed and appointed to the highest specification, with all the luxury you would expect to find in a smart ‘boutique style’ hotel, your comfort definitely won’t be compromised on any level!
The sparkling marble bathroom features a powerful fully glazed shower with a large ‘rainshower’ head, superbly refreshing after a hard day’s sightseeing. Clever design allows for ample space, and contemporary lighting, complimentary quality cosmetics and fluffy towels, makes preparing for the day ahead an absolute pleasure.
The chic styling of a talented designer’s eye extends to the entire suite with generous use of hand-crafted tropical hardwoods blended with premium fittings, discreet thoughtful lighting and a colour scheme of calming neutral tones, creating an ambience to put you in the most relaxed frame of mind from the very first minute! A full size bed assures a good night’s rest in crisp cotton linen of the finest quality - a turndown service each evening adds the finishing touch. Please note all suites have two twin beds with individual bedding which can be moved together or separated accordingly.
You will enjoy a particularly generous seating area with two chairs and a table, enabling you to unwind in comfort in the privacy of your own suite whilst a bow camera conveys live images of the ship’s progress to your flat screen TV, ensuring you won’t miss a thing. Careful consideration has been given to the tiniest details with individually controlled air-conditioning so you set the temperature that you desire, a hairdryer, safe, mini fridge, telephone and the convenience of tea (our meticulous planning even extends to familiar teabags!) and coffee making facilities ensure a home from home experience.
Suites on the Diamond and Ruby Decks have ‘French Balconies’ – panoramic floor to ceiling sliding glass doors bringing riverside life just that little closer!
View a 360 tour of the MS Geoffrey Chaucer