DIfficulty with air from Basel

Look for flights from Zürich. Getting there from Basel is super easy.

Basel airport only serves destinations in Europe (plus middle East and North Africa, plus one weekly seasonal flight to Montréal). A full list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroAirport_Basel_Mulhouse_Freiburg#Passenger

You need to fly from Zürich airport. There is a good rail service from Basel to Zürich airport, multiple trains per hour, and it only takes ~1 h 10. Some airlines allow you to make a booking from Basel station via Zürich, and include the rail ticket in the price. Otherwise it is CHF 39 per person.

Edit: Please say you are going to spend a night in Basel, it is a lovely city.

I did a cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, FUN! We did it in reverse. Chris is right. I think the confusion comes in when people abbreviate their itineraries in their descriptions. I've told people, "we flew into Basel". Well, yes, but via a change of plans in Paris. Probably best is to look for flights out of Zurich, but if you find them high like I typically do, look for airlines with partners. I flew Delta/Air France from Minneapolis to Basel (connecting in Paris).

cjk, you'd also need a taxi from the dock to the train station in Basel. The cruise ship will likely arrange ahead of time for taxi pickup as a lot of people will be heading there. Very easy. Just note that it costs time and money to make that extra trip, for a better flight.

You can also find where the ship will dock. If its the typical place, the trolley goes almost right to it. If you are staying in Basel, its included in hotel rates. If not, I think it was about one Swiss Franc.

We're taking the same or similar cruise in September (with a few days stay in Switzerland) and we finally decided that a round trip to Amsterdam combined with a flight from either Basel or Zurich to Amsterdam worked best for us.

We are flying from Basel to Montreal with Air Transat this summer. The flight leaves at around noon.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. My Portland, OR, daughter will take Delta and fly from Basel to Amsterdam then non-stop to Portland. I’ve decided to spend a few days in Basel and the surrounding area after our river cruise. I’ll take AA to Heathrow then Heathrow to Chicago. I appreciate your suggestions and the time you spent replying.

In case it suits you, it is extremely likely that your River Cruise company sells a transfer from Zurich airport.