Just back AMA Sonata, High water closes down river

Traveling Budapest to Vilholfen (up river). I find people post what a company does in the crisis that helps them plan which river line they choose. I can say We barely noticed the problem. The 1st day we set sail we noticed how fast the river was flowing & how the boat sounded like it needed more effort to travel. We wondered if this was normal, being our 1st river cruise. We also noted trees floating down the river. Not branches huge trees. We were late getting into Bratislava by an hour?

After our tours the cruise manager called a special meeting and announced the river was closed due to high water & flooding. He said " a wall of water is coming"

I though "oh boy you hear about your river trip turning into a bus trip."

We were stuck in Bratislava for the night. They quickly set up a tour of palace with wine tasting about an hour away. All free, we took the tour.

Then next morning it announce we could sail later but it would take so long to get to Vienna so they bussed us to Vienna. (you could stay on board if you choose) After in Vienna we all were to meet at noon at St. Stephansplatz to gather our lunch money. Here he is in the busiest part of town handing out each person 20E for lunch money. (Since we were not able to dine on board.) We had a great day in Vienna. At 5:30 we all met up again & we were bussed back to the ship.

The rest of the trip went off perfectly, the river was very swift & trees were still flowing down & took us a bit longer to get to each port. Each port the guide would show us the mud on the sidewalks, and tell us it was due to the flooding a couple days ago, or show us how high the water came.

It was a great trip & AMA was good choice, the staff works so hard & also always had a smile on their face.

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience with high water and how well AMA handled the situation. It is always good to hear about a river cruise company that is prepared with a good Plan B. Glad that the rest of your river cruise went well.

We were stuck in Deggendorf for 2 days due to high water on a Vantage cruise. We were taken to Regensburg by bus and after touring had lunch at the oldest wurst kitchen in Europe. We were also taken to Straubing, a charming town, and we got to see the stained glass window that Durer created.

The next day we were taken to an Bavarian open air museum similar to Skansen Park in Sweden.

On the third day, the river dropped enough to clear the one bridge we could not previously.

Unfortunately, to meet our end date, we had to miss Rudesheim and Cologne. Some people were understandably upset, but we had to be an Amsterdam on a certain date.

Catskier, thanks so much for sharing your experience with less than perfect environmental conditions on the AmaSonata. We leave next weekend for Prague and will board the AmaSonata at Vislholfen next week, bound for Budapest. You seem to have a very positive attitude regarding unexpected changes.

We were equally impressed with AMA last November when the Moselle was flooded. AMA ensured we saw all that we were promised, and more. They added a wonderful sidetrip to Heidelberg. Much like your experience, we were given what we thought was a very generous stipend to cover lunch as well.

We are looking very forward to this trip and certainly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this event.

Catskier, thanks so much for sharing your experience with less than perfect environmental conditions on the AmaSonata. We leave next weekend for Prague and will board the AmaSonata at Vislholfen next week, bound for Budapest. You seem to have a very positive attitude regarding unexpected changes.

 

We were equally impressed with AMA last November when the Moselle was flooded. AMA ensured we saw all that we were promised, and more. They added a wonderful sidetrip to Heidelberg. Much like your experience, we were given what we thought was a very generous stipend to cover lunch as well.

 

We are looking very forward to this trip and certainly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this event.

Hello, are you boarding Sonata on the 12th? If so we will be ship mates. Looking forward to it and hope the water level will be OK. However, glad to hear that AMA handles these unexpected situations so well.

Let me know if you two have any questions about the ship or ports. We really had a good time, we worried a river cruise would be too sedate for us. We were so wrong. They fed you too much, the wine servers over poured. (Not that those are bad things)

The bike tours filled up really quick, not sure in your weather. But we did way too much. But you make it what you want to.

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AMA was equally impressive on one of our cruises with them where the issue was low water. While Viking and others removed everyone from their boats and turned the vacation into a bus tour, AMA was able to safely completely the journey for us. We were unable to access the Rhine Gorge with the AmaCerto due to extremely low water levels; AMA arranged to fully charter a brand new day cruiser (capacity 600) just for us, and stocked it fully with food and drinks. They made it a fabulous day!

Let me know if you two have any questions about the ship or ports. We really had a good time, we worried a river cruise would be too sedate for us. We were so wrong. They fed you too much, the wine servers over poured. (Not that those are bad things)

The bike tours filled up really quick, not sure in your weather. But we did way too much. But you make it what you want to.

 

 

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Thank you. I appreciate your post about the high water level and AMA's response. Hopefully we won't have the same problem. Thanks to all the posters on this forum who have so gererously shared their experiences and answered my questions, we feel well prepared. We leave in a few days and the excitement is really building. We also found the information that AMA provides to be very helpful. Looking forward to our adventure!

Have a great time.

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Hello, are you boarding Sonata on the 12th? If so we will be ship mates. Looking forward to it and hope the water level will be OK. However, glad to hear that AMA handles these unexpected situations so well.

Yes we are!!!!:D So very excited. We are Cat & Dave from small-town Central Virginia, traveling with Cat's friend Betty from Canada.

We decided to do the AMA pre-cruise package in Prague, mainly for the idiot-proof aspect to it, LOL! ;) We fly out Saturday and hope to land without delay in Prague on Sunday. Look forward to meeting you either in Prague or on board the AmaSonata.

Yes we are!!!!:D So very excited. We are Cat & Dave from small-town Central Virginia, traveling with Cat's friend Betty from Canada.

 

We decided to do the AMA pre-cruise package in Prague, mainly for the idiot-proof aspect to it, LOL! ;) We fly out Saturday and hope to land without delay in Prague on Sunday. Look forward to meeting you either in Prague or on board the AmaSonata.

LOL! We are small town Virginia too. We are from Forest and board the Sonata on the 17th of December in Budapest. Small world!

Thanks for posting this. Its always a good sign when companies have an alternative plan available when things dont go according to the schedule.

great story and well written. Many Thanks

Yes we are!!!!:D So very excited. We are Cat & Dave from small-town Central Virginia, traveling with Cat's friend Betty from Canada.

 

We decided to do the AMA pre-cruise package in Prague, mainly for the idiot-proof aspect to it, LOL! ;) We fly out Saturday and hope to land without delay in Prague on Sunday. Look forward to meeting you either in Prague or on board the AmaSonata.

Hello Cat, Dave and Betty. We fly out tomorrow to Prague and looking forward to our time there before boarding Sonata. I believe this makes 4 Cruise Critic members, and their traveling companions, on this cruise. That seems like a lot considering the small number of total cruisers! We are staying at the Hilton Old Town to make it easy to take the transfer to Vilshofen. Fingers crossed for non eventful flights for all of us....see you soon.

Sharon and Bernie

Hello Cat, Dave and Betty. We fly out tomorrow to Prague and looking forward to our time there before boarding Sonata. I believe this makes 4 Cruise Critic members, and their traveling companions, on this cruise. That seems like a lot considering the small number of total cruisers! We are staying at the Hilton Old Town to make it easy to take the transfer to Vilshofen. Fingers crossed for non eventful flights for all of us....see you soon.

Sharon and Bernie

Great hotel choice in Prague in terms of location. Have a wonderful trip!

We are on this same cruise. We leave on Saturday and will be staying at the Hotel Savic, supposedly a very nice local hotel. We will be using AMA's transportation from the Hilton to the ship.

We are Bob & Dorothy from Burr Ridge, Il.

We are on this same cruise. We leave on Saturday and will be staying at the Hotel Savic, supposedly a very nice local hotel. We will be using AMA's transportation from the Hilton to the ship.

 

 

 

We are Bob & Dorothy from Burr Ridge, Il.

Hotel Savic is in a marvelous location and the hotel itself is quite charming. Watch your head on the ceiling beams if you are placed on the top level! Breakfast was wonderful and staff were very accommodating. Be sure to get a map from the front desk, it can be a bit confusing finding your way thru the side streets the first time. Have fun!

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Yes we are!!!!:D So very excited. We are Cat & Dave from small-town Central Virginia, traveling with Cat's friend Betty from Canada.

 

We decided to do the AMA pre-cruise package in Prague, mainly for the idiot-proof aspect to it, LOL! ;) We fly out Saturday and hope to land without delay in Prague on Sunday. Look forward to meeting you either in Prague or on board the AmaSonata.

We are also boarding the Sonata on the 12th. There are five of us including my parents and uncle. We fly from LAX on Saturday to Prague. We are so looking forward to getting away! Looking forward to meeting you all as well.

Hotel Savic is in a marvelous location and the hotel itself is quite charming. Watch your head on the ceiling beams if you are placed on the top level! Breakfast was wonderful and staff were very accommodating. Be sure to get a map from the front desk, it can be a bit confusing finding your way thru the side streets the first time. Have fun!

 

 

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Another affirmation for Hotel Savic. We stayed there last summer. Great location, helpful staff, all around a good choice!

Thanks for all the good messages about Hotel Savic. I booked it months ago and got an incredible rate. I think their popularity has caught on as current prices are twice what we paid.

Looking forward to our stay - we leave tomorrow!

This was why we chose AMA...I read and read and read reviews and time and again, I was happy with the way AMA solved problems proactively; they don't wait till everyone is all peeved off to find a solution or worse, say "too bad!"

We were lucky not to have any flooding or low river problems, on our recent cruise, but inevitably little glitches come up (not enough bikes, the Bucharest restaurant accommodated latecomers from another cruise line bumping us by an hour) and time and again, the problems were addressed as quickly or proactively as possible.(making extra bikes available from the local guides in each port, and giving us extra touring time before lunch)

Our tour even had a major issue, sadly, a lady passed away, and they could not have been more sensitive and attentive to handling it (even when the lady's own national embassy was unavailable to notify the family and basically told the AMA TM, "too bad, your problem") I cannot speak highly enough about the type of proactive service we witnessed...your report pleases me, but doesn't surprise me:D

Catskier....we were on the Avalon Expression the same time as your cruise, same direction up river, slightly ahead of you most of the way(saw your boat in fact) This was our first river cruise, although we have extensive experience in Europe.

We got the same briefing from our Captain as well, who told us that Austria had closed their portion of the river but we didn't get stuck anywhere overnight. Avalon was excellent in their response as well with their already planned excursions departing and then meeting the boat in Wien.

I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed sailing with Avalon, especially with Captain Alex taking care of business. I am a professional mariner and I know seamanship when I see it and our skipper was way ahead of things from the start. Our Captain, who was in fact born on a boat, knows the Danube and everyone along it in every capacity possible like the back of his hand.

So call this a shameless plug for Avalon if you will, but on our trip everything went as smoothly as it could, everyone looked and sounded happy and I'm going back next year and do Avalon again. I think that most of the cruise lines do the best they can under the circumstances that can pop up. Oh ......the food was great, coffee 24/7, great service onboard and most important of all, my wife was happy.

Happy Trails

I saw your ship too, In fact one night we were in a lock together. ( I think) or we docked together early am.I noticed you staff, in a tiny room, last level, smoking around a chair, It was funny. That morning our neighbor witnessed the same thing, and we both laughed about it. It seemed like a private moment that we witnessed, the staff being themselves. They work so hard, and its nice to see them relaxing prior to their long day.

We also looked into Avalon,I think I ended up choosing AMA because we stopped in Bratislava. I am glad Avalon is a good choice and they were proactive as well as handling the rough water.

A happy wife is always a good thing. Whats that saying? a happy wife=a happy life

Catskier....we were on the Avalon Expression the same time as your cruise, same direction up river, slightly ahead of you most of the way(saw your boat in fact) This was our first river cruise, although we have extensive experience in Europe.

 

We got the same briefing from our Captain as well, who told us that Austria had closed their portion of the river but we didn't get stuck anywhere overnight. Avalon was excellent in their response as well with their already planned excursions departing and then meeting the boat in Wien.

 

I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed sailing with Avalon, especially with Captain Alex taking care of business. I am a professional mariner and I know seamanship when I see it and our skipper was way ahead of things from the start. Our Captain, who was in fact born on a boat, knows the Danube and everyone along it in every capacity possible like the back of his hand.

 

So call this a shameless plug for Avalon if you will, but on our trip everything went as smoothly as it could, everyone looked and sounded happy and I'm going back next year and do Avalon again. I think that most of the cruise lines do the best they can under the circumstances that can pop up. Oh ......the food was great, coffee 24/7, great service onboard and most important of all, my wife was happy.

 

Happy Trails

Thanks for your Shameless Plug! Sailing with Avalon in Sept and love hearing good reports...

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Catskier, we are taking our first River cruise (many ocean cruises) on the Sonata in March. Did you by any chance have one of the double balcony cabins? If so, can you share your experience? Also, how was the food and wine on board?

Any other info on the Sonata is much appreciated. We are doing the Tulip Time AMS-AMS cruise. Any must see, can't miss suggestions? We will have time in AMS before and after the cruise.

Thanks!!!

PS, Hi Caviargirl, long time no post for me, but you have always been such a help to me in the past!!!!!!

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We will be on the Sonata on 12/17 and would be happy to share once we get back. In the mean time, take a look at my review of the AMAPrima last May. It is essentially the same ship so it should give you a lot of great info.

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