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Yes! definitely comfortable casual for the Pilatus party and very secure walking shoes if you want to be comfortable. In July the weather is generally nice, but anything is possible. At the top it is cooler, think upper 50's to lower 70's Fahrenheit during the day depending on weather. In Luzern at that time of year it all depends on the weather. When it is rainy, it is in the 50's, and "hot" to us is mid-80's. Evenings are generally cool, and you would probably need a sweater.

For the Buffet cruise, I will make the reservations, and we will pay on on the ship. Note that there is a charge for the cruise and for the buffet. The ship is transportation, and only the upper deck is the Buffet. Other people are downstairs going to the various villages around the lake. I have done this Buffet Cruise before, and it has been fabulous. The food is a really nice selection of Swiss favourites, and the views from the upper deck are wonderful. Dress for this event is dressy casual.

For the Pilatus adventure, we will buy the tickets for the "Silver Roundtrip" at the train station as a group for the discounted rate. Then we will rendezvous about 9:00 Saturday morning and take the train to Alpnachstadt for the cable car ride up to the Kulm. (Peak).

I think the best option for us for Saturday lunch is to go to the restaurant upstairs from the Piano room. We do not have enough people to get a good rate for lunch served in the room, and the restaurant will give us more choices. We can play piano when we arrive, then have lunch and do a bit of exploring, and then go back and play more piano. We will be on the mountain until 5:00 pm or so, so we have lots of time for everything.

For Friday night, I will make reservations at the restaurant at des Alps for 7:30. Gary (Mr. SwissMS) will be on the mountain Friday afternoon making sure that everything is set will the piano. So, he will join us about 8:00.

When is everyone planning to arrive? I will try to assist you in getting from Zurich Airport to Luzern, or answer any questions that you have. As we get closer, I will pm my contact information.

Oh, this is getting exciting!!

Great information - love the plans as you've outlined them SwissMs!

I am not sure what time we will arrive --- it will probably be early afternoon on the Friday, traffic permitting!

I will be arriving on the Thursday and spending a night in Zurich before taking what looks to be a fantastic train ride to Luzern on the Friday. Hotel des Alps looks to be a nice walk from where I am staying so I will see you there at 7.30pm. Not sure I can do dressy casual but I'll try

Still getting things sorted with my grandparents who have agreed to help with transport to the airport in Gatwick, as soon as I have everything sorted I'll send you a pm

Great plans.... Don't forget the pictures and videos, please.

earlofmar my friend, thanks for your words. I'm sure we will meet one day

earlomar - The train ride from Zurich to Luzern is indeed very picturesque! Zurich is a great place to explore as well.

UKIkaris - Let me know when you get things sorted out on arrival, and we can possibly meet you if you are coming in before Friday.

Today is a gorgeous, clear day and I can see the hotel at the top of Pilatus from home. I am praying to the weather gods for a day like today!!

We should arrive on July 2 and staying at Hotel des Alps. We would love the Sunday cruise so please sign us up. We went to the website and so many choices...don't want to get it wrong.

Wisebuff - If you are not renting a car, we could pick you up in Zurich on the 2nd and bring you to Luzern, if you would like. I look forward to meeting you! I am glad you are joining us for the Buffet Cruise as well. I will make reservations for all of us this week.

We are in the final 30 day count down!

Seems the ibis hotel I was looking at (only site that shows a means of accepting debit cards) is booked out, the hotel des alpes was all booked out like 3 weeks ago when I checked, lucky WiseBuff!

Im a bit stuck currently as I have no idea where I would stay

I do not know this hotel, but it is very close to the Chapel Bridge and the train station. They still show rooms available.

Hotel Alpine

http://www.alpina-luzern.ch/?lang=en

Will be there, hope to see some familiar faces and some new ones too

Doris
What a nice offer. Let me discuss with MR. Wisebuff about you picking us up from the train in Zurich.

SwissMS, thanks so much for the organization!

I plan to arrive with my sister on Friday afternoon. We come from Bern. I haven't decided on a time yet; but if the dinner starts at 19:30, it makes sense to arrive at least 1-2 hours before, so we can check in our hotel, maybe rest a little, and then be ready to go.

The brunch cruise for Sunday: When is it supposed to end?
I am planning to drive back to Nürnberg the same afternoon by train, and the last train where I would arrive not too late in Nürnberg starts at 15:54 from Luzern. If the cruise is not finished until then, I may have to reconsider participating in it; which would be a pity.

EDIT: Just clicked on the link you provided. "Wer lesen kann ist im Vorteil." (if you can read, you have an advantage)
Cruise ends at 13:00, and all is well. I plan to participate.

Great! So I will book for everyone for the brunch cruise. I glad the timing worked for you PatH.

This is going to be fun!

Doris
We'd love to take you up on your offer to pick us up in Zurich but the logistics are not clear to me. I don't know what time the train is yet. We'll have international phone service though and can connect that way when we have times. Just tell me how to make it work. :-)

Hi Wisebuff - I can pick you up at the airport, so there will be no train involved. I will send you a pm.

We are getting close! Less than three weeks to go!

The Buffet cruise reservations are set. We will buy the Pilatus Silver round trip tickets at the train station as a group on Saturday morning. See you all soon!

Soon indeed!

So excited about seeing everybody!!

Since we have a smaller group, we are working with the hotel to see if we can still get lunch in the room instead of going to the restaurant. I like that better, so we can be piano centric. I should know in the next couple of days. I will keep you posted!

That would be super. I hope they go for it!