AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

That's terrific! We loved Amsterdam and hope to return. A word of caution... look both ways before crossing the street! There are soooo many cyclists and they're very speedy!

Thank you. Your advice is spot on. DH was working in The Hague one time and I was wandering about. A cyclist sped by me so close, I felt the wind on my nose. Talk about escaping by the skin of your teeth! We were in Amsterdam on our 25th and now returning for our 50th will be very special. Love that city and we still dream about the strawberry pancakes at the Marriott.

We are sailing AMA Prima Jun 1, Budapest to Amsterdam and I'm so excited I can't contain myself. We booked a "swan room" as someone called it ( I thought the name implied that you had to have a neck like a swan to see out! LOL). Anyway, I just had a call from our TA to say that AMA has upgraded us to a French Balcony room at no extra charge. I just can't believe it. Yesterday was my BD and this is the best present I could possibly have gotten.

 

I have to admit, I was sorry we hadn't sprung for the nicer room as we always get a balcony on our ocean cruises but it just seemed to be too much to pay, so we stuck with the lower category.

 

Wow, just wow, AMA, thank you , thank you.

WOW is right:)...congrats on the upgrade and belated Happy Birthday to you:D..and I echo the bicycle comment...

they really are ALL OVER THE PLACE..........and even a pedestrian doesn't seem to have the right of way.

WOW is right:)...congrats on the upgrade and belated Happy Birthday to you:D..and I echo the bicycle comment...

they really are ALL OVER THE PLACE..........and even a pedestrian doesn't seem to have the right of way.

When I was in Rome in 1967, the drivers seemed to deliberately swerve to almost hit pedestrians. I think that gene has been passed on to Amsterdam bicyclists! :eek:

People have asked about receiving their documents. We leave on May 23 and got our documents (with luggage tags and hotel meeting place for ship transfer) from AMA last week. Very excited!

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When I was in Rome in 1967, the drivers seemed to deliberately swerve to almost hit pedestrians. I think that gene has been passed on to Amsterdam bicyclists! :eek:

LOL....1967? I was 9;p

We'll be on the AmaCerto leaving Budapest 5/15 to Nuremberg with extra nights in both Budapest and Prague. I'm wondering if, at any of the stops along the Danube, it's possible to walk from the ship into the town without a guide?

On a previous cruise we'd sometimes leave the ship and have dinner in the immediate area and would like to do so again.

Appreciate any advice!

People have asked about receiving their documents. We leave on May 23 and got our documents (with luggage tags and hotel meeting place for ship transfer) from AMA last week. Very excited!

 

 

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We're leaving on May 18 and also received our documents last week. They include a very detailed itinerary which we found helpful.

Susan

People have asked about receiving their documents. We leave on May 23 and got our documents (with luggage tags and hotel meeting place for ship transfer) from AMA last week. Very excited!

 

 

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We sail on June 15 with a pre-cruise in Prague. This gives me an idea of when to expect ours. So excited!

We'll be on the AmaCerto leaving Budapest 5/15 to Nuremberg with extra nights in both Budapest and Prague. I'm wondering if, at any of the stops along the Danube, it's possible to walk from the ship into the town without a guide?

 

On a previous cruise we'd sometimes leave the ship and have dinner in the immediate area and would like to do so again.

 

Appreciate any advice!

Even though we docked close to town, the ship usually was sailing during dinner. In Vienna there was ample opportunity but you needed a shuttle bus or subway to get to the ship.

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We'll be on the AmaCerto leaving Budapest 5/15 to Nuremberg with extra nights in both Budapest and Prague. I'm wondering if, at any of the stops along the Danube, it's possible to walk from the ship into the town without a guide?

 

On a previous cruise we'd sometimes leave the ship and have dinner in the immediate area and would like to do so again.

 

Appreciate any advice!

There are a few but many. Most of the time the sip sails in the evening

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Amawaterways in review of Legendary Danube

Sailing April 20th to April 27, 2017

The above date are the dates of the sailing. We, however we're on a pre cruise 3 day package, and in addition arrived in Prague 2 days prior to 3 day package. We also extend another 3 Nights in Budapest.

We booked our on Flights. I try and book the least number of connections. We flew Orlando to Frankfurt non stop and then Frankfurt to Prague. On our return, we flew Budapest to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Orlando. We had to clear passport control on both going and coming. With a 90 minute connections and being unfamiliar with the Frankfurt airport, we did gate to gate service. It's not inexpensive, but they are fantastic, and make sure you get to your new gate quickly and with very little walking.

Our hotel in Prague booked with AMA was the Cosmopolitan. It is a new hotel, however I would have preferred being at the Intercontinental or the Four Season, as I find them to be closer to Old Town. Our room also over looked an inside courtyard with no view. We found the resturant to e superb. The Sofitel Hotel in Budapest was in a great location. We upgrade our room to get immediate access as we had plans for the afternoon. We were in a suite with incredible view. We had lounge access with wine, champagne, soft drinks, coffee, and food from 7 AM to 9 PM. The restaurant at the Sofitel was jammed, but you have many choices in the area.

Our Cruise Director Raul Dederichs. He was outstanding, and AMA's excursion levels were great. On the walking tour they offered fast past, regular, and gentle. We usually took the regular tour. The guides were fantastic, and we had individual headsets for each tour. The gentle tour had very little walking. Speaking of walking, be prepared to walk a good deal. There were days we walked anywhere from 4 to 7 miles. Walking is not easy. Most of the walks are on cobblestone streets. There were very few who took bikes.

Our weather was cold. We had rain, sleet, snow, and sunny days, We had one day when it reached 70, but most of the days ranged between high 30's to high 50's. Booking a balcony at this time of year is a waste, in our opinion. Although our weather was not the greatest, I would go again at this time of year after seeing the crowds in most ports. I can not image what the crowds would be like during high season.

We did all the optional tours except Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. I would suggest definitely not missing Salzburg, or Terezin. Our guide with the World War II tour was exceptional. The night sailing in Budapest was absolutely awesome. We had booked the special interest tour in Vienna, and was advised to take the regular tour as we would miss many sites.

AMA provided fabulous meals and tremendous service. The Chef's table was outstanding. I could not believe that our cruise director dedication to service it was wonderful. On one occasion he hired a cab for someone who missed the tour bus. He was on the phone daily hunting for luggage that did not arrive. He did everything possible to make everyone have an outstanding trip. We found our fellow passengers to be a fun and a cohesive group. We traveled as a couple by ourselves, but generally had a fun table each evening of 6 or 8.

In my opinion this is not a good trip for children. There is really nothing geared toward them. Also, it would be almost impossible for anyone in a wheel chair.

Yes, we did have a few negatives but not onboard. We booked this cruise well over a year in advance. The website made me crazy. The commentary on the itinerary changed at least thee time. The diagram of the suites and mini suites were incorrect. The website showed only 2 full suites, when in reality there are 3. Unless I missed it, I saw nothing that stated what extras were included in the suites. I.e refrigerator with "free" sodas and juices plus beer. A coffee maker, and fresh fruit were also provided. I would book a suite or mini suite for the extra room. We had a mini suite, our shower was small, but nice. Watch, when you turn the shower on! It has many controls, and the first day I had water all over the floor!

A few things we did that I would wound recommend:

1. Doing extra days in Prague with private tours. We did the Jewish tour, and went into the country side to Kunta Hora. Excellent guide-Jeri with tours by locals.
   
2. Go to see parliament in Budapest. You can book times and tickets with jegymester.hu.
   
3. Take a extra time in Budapest and do some private tours. We did an additional 4 hour tour, and saw many more sites. Also did a trip out of Budapest to Danube Bend, (Esztergom-Visegrad,-Szentendre) with Gabriella privatetoursbudapest@gmail.com This was an all day tour and it was superb.
   
4. Make sure you have local currency. Coffee hour in Salzburg only accepted cash.
   

If you have any additional questions, email me at jim816@aol.com

Sandy

Great trip report, doktor (Sandy)! Thanks so much! I'm filing this away for our December sailing.

Thank you so much for the review doctor! Can't wait!

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Sandy,

Thanks for your review. We leave in 2 weeks. Happy to hear all your positive comments. Since this is our first river cruise we're trying to learn as much as possible. Happy to hear the food was good as well as the tours. On a personal note, I'm curious about your screen name. There was a prominent family with that name in the town where I grew up. Is Doktor your last name? Thanks again for taking the time to post your review.

Susan

Sandy,

 

 

 

Thanks for your review. We leave in 2 weeks. Happy to hear all your positive comments. Since this is our first river cruise we're trying to learn as much as possible. Happy to hear the food was good as well as the tours. On a personal note, I'm curious about your screen name. There was a prominent family with that name in the town where I grew up. Is Doktor your last name? Thanks again for taking the time to post your review.

 

 

 

Susan

It was a nickname of my husbands which I stole. He was a mechanic.

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doktor,

Thanks for the report! While our itinerary is not the same, we are also on AmaDante and start in Prague, with both the AMA pre-cruise and additional days that we booked independently . . . so I was really interested in those aspects of your review.

Based on your earlier reports of Frankfurt airport, we've already researched the gate-to-gate service and plan to book that. Glad to hear you were pleased and felt it was worth the cost.

Thanks for the running commentary and your final review. We are taking this cruise, but in reverse, in September, including additional days in Budapest and Prague, and your insights have been very helpful I am curious about what the AMA tour in Budapest includes since I would like to do tours on our own but would rather not waste time by repeating what the AMA tour will cover. For instance, does it include a tour of Parliament, or is it essentially just a drive through the city? Thanks.

Thanks for the running commentary and your final review. We are taking this cruise, but in reverse, in September, including additional days in Budapest and Prague, and your insights have been very helpful I am curious about what the AMA tour in Budapest includes since I would like to do tours on our own but would rather not waste time by repeating what the AMA tour will cover. For instance, does it include a tour of Parliament, or is it essentially just a drive through the city? Thanks.

Parliament is not included. In as much as Budapest was a morning tour with afternoon free, I booked 1:00 time. The tour was to last until 1:30. We were leaving in castle district, but traffic was heavy so we left at heroes square. It was a walk through the market, bus, stop at hero square. I understand they also had a stop in the castle district where some paid admission and went into Church. No time to buy anything in market. The private tour we took allowed us to tell guide what we wanted to see. Avoid if possible the market on Saturday. It was a zoo!

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Thank you, doktor. That's very helpful.

Couple of other things-concert dress smart casual. Many men wore jackets. Captains dinner smart casual. Captain, cruise director, and staff in formal attire. Dinner each night was a mixed of jeans to smart casual.

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Couple of other things-concert dress smart casual. Many men wore jackets. Captains dinner smart casual. Captain, cruise director, and staff in formal attire. Dinner each night was a mixed of jeans to smart casual.

 

 

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Thanks for this info! Very helpful.

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Above are photos of A+ cabin on AMAdante

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Thanks Sandy for your report. I leave next week for Prague and then board the AmaSerena on the 15th. I'm getting very excited for my first river cruise. Was Kunta Hora a full day or half day tour?

Judy

I just returned home from a 7 day Tulip Time cruise on the AmaCerto, and had a fabulous time. Happy to answer any questions about the ship or this route.