AMA now offers Africa safari/land tour/river cruises

Check out the AMA website for their new African cruise/land tour/safaris. These trips are pricey -- but look fabulous. Already I'm thinking about budgeting for yet one more trip of a lifetime.

I have a friend who does a safari at least once a year (often more then once). She has gone with a variety of companies and all have been first class quality (stayed in tents with marble bathrooms in them, a five star chef who cooks all of their meals, private guides for the 2 (or 4) of them, etc...). She has never paid anywhere near what AMA is charging even including air.

If you are serious about it, I would encourage you to look elsewhere also and compare prices and experiences.

thanks for the link,,,one to consider in future,,,after saving for awhile,,taking my first AMA in May,,,but this ship looks GRAND...always wanted to do this,,but sort of reticent about area.After I read about all the problems with security,malaria,needed shots,,,etc...was sort of scared off,,but if anyone takes this...PLEASE let us know and give details....for all of us "King Solomon Mines" lovers,,but timid at heart,hahaha.:confused:

Thanks for making us aware of AMA going to Africa. We had been looking at a land tour of Africa for next year, but had passed on it because of the very high cost. I would love to do this AMA cruise; but it is even higher than the land tours we were looking at.

Having just returned from AMA's riverboat cruise through Russia in Sept, I was astonished to read that they have now branched into Africa. I think they should spend more time perfecting their Russian cruise and bringing it up to the promised level of quality before entering the African market. I would be VERY leary of reserving this unproven trip for next year (as we did last year on the Amakaterina) where AMA promised a luxury cruise in Russia and didn't deliver it. The explanation was 'Well, it is Russia!" There were no explanations or apologies for their shortcomings on the trip even though they had promised the problems were fixed before we got onboard. My advice would be to wait for the reviews and see if this very expensive tour in Africa lives up to the hype AMA advertises. It probably is being run by another company and AMA will have as much control over it as they do in Russia. This was our third trip with AMA and our Danube experiences were wonderful. Our next trip will be with someone else.

Hi MotherP,

I, too, was so surprised to read that AMA just goes on and on to new places in the World and new ships without fixing what is broken on their prior big adventure in Russia. We never heard back from AMA when we put a big X on the critique cards that we would NOT book them again. You would think they would want to hear some feedback from their customers. I, also, would advise everyone against going on any of their future new destinations unless the reviews are good. By the time we heard how bad the Katarina was, it was too late to cancel.

Sheila

Hi MotherP,

 

I, too, was so surprised to read that AMA just goes on and on to new places in the World and new ships without fixing what is broken on their prior big adventure in Russia. We never heard back from AMA when we put a big X on the critique cards that we would NOT book them again. You would think they would want to hear some feedback from their customers. I, also, would advise everyone against going on any of their future new destinations unless the reviews are good. By the time we heard how bad the Katarina was, it was too late to cancel.

 

Sheila

Sad thing is even writing a constructive letter to their corporate office did not even generate a canned letter in response. They never even acknowledged the letter. This tells me tons about this company! They could have simply sent a letter "thank you for your comments".

Hi MotherP,

 

I, too, was so surprised to read that AMA just goes on and on to new places in the World and new ships without fixing what is broken on their prior big adventure in Russia. We never heard back from AMA when we put a big X on the critique cards that we would NOT book them again. You would think they would want to hear some feedback from their customers. I, also, would advise everyone against going on any of their future new destinations unless the reviews are good. By the time we heard how bad the Katarina was, it was too late to cancel.

 

Sheila

cruise to Russia,on the older ship a few yrs.ago,sorry name escapes me,,BUT was lacking in so much I can t even begin to name...Loved the ports and country ,,but ship,,food,service,etc..............was below par..

Not sure if its a "russian thing" or what?? We also gave it poor rating,,but received nothing in response...Funny,,did mention in one post here,,how bathroom smell ruined cruise,,,and Viking rep responded,,,,to contact him...a few yrs.too late...but they DO READ these sites.;)

Hi Alexandra cruiser,

MotherP and I read all the hype from AMA about their new LUXURIOUS ship which was supposed to be the best on the Volga River and booked it. When the bad news broke after the innaugural cruise, we had paid our money and had to go. They did NOTHING to change anything aboard the ship and I called their offices many times before sailing. I got the same answers that everything was working great and that someone from AMA was on the ship and would handle all problems. Wasn't true! The Australians were given perks the other passengers did not get -- reduced fare, reduced bar bills, some free air, etc. APT in Australia is now the big partner of AMA and AMA just don't care about customer service. Looks like they will continue to come up with new ships, but don't care about the customer. We ended up paying Crystal prices for a Motel 6 experience. So, we will take our business somewhere else from now on.

Sheila