AMAdagio June 21 - 28 Cruise Review

We cruised from Arles to Lyons on the Rhone and had a wonderful time. Just to put this review in perspective we have been on more than 30 ocean cruises with Carnival, RCL, and NCL, but mostly with Princess. We are both retired and are 65ish this put us on the younger side of the average age on board by our estimation but we felt at home. This was our first river cruise and we have been considering one for some time now because these ships go through the interiors of countries that we have only touched on the salt water coasts.

We stayed in Arles a couple of days prior to boarding and enjoyed the town. We walked to the ship from our hotel and embarkation started at about 3 PM. The check in process was a breeze compared to the thousands of people in line for a large ship.

The dining room was always open sitting so we met lots of people. Food was very good with a buffet / order from the menu hybrid for breakfast. Lunch had a salad bar and dessert bar with the main dish and soup course ordered from the menu. Dinner was full service from the menu. Something just slightly different here was that the dessert was ordered at the same time as the rest of the meal. Not good or bad just different than we are used to. Change is good.

Staterooms were smaller than any ocean cruise shop we’ve been on and were quite dark for the application of makeup. The showers were multi head and were a nice size with a door instead of a shower curtain. The beds were comfortable and the bed linens were very nice. Just a side note here. My wife loves the duvet that was on the bed and I find them quite hot. In place on the duvet I used the extra blanket that was already in the closet. The room steward noted this on the first morning and started making up the bed with the blanket already in place and offered to remove the duvet and replace with a blanket and sheet. As I said earlier my DW loved the duvet.

The staterooms also include a computer terminal with TV, Music, Internet access, and was included in the price. Nothing extra for use of the computers and this was a nice touch for staying in contact with people at home as well as check in for flights and rail schedules. Just a side note here that one of the music channels was labeled ‘Pop’ and the fist track that came out was Judy Garland singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. Someday perhaps these selections could be updated.

On to the people. Our cruise manager was Debbie Albrecht and she was excellent. In all our trips we have never seen a CM so involved with every aspect of the trip and she was on every tour and on every bus for a short time in every port that we did. She knew the names of many passengers and also did the lecture covering points of interest as we cruised past special sites. On debarkation day the first people left at about 5 AM and she saw them off personally. We left at 7:15 and she saw us off personally. Debbie is a high-energy ‘people’ person who clearly loves her work and I may have forgotten to mention that she was 7 months pregnant at the time. A very special person who AMA should be pleased to have as an employee.

We will definitely do another river cruise in the future and our present feeling is that we were very pleased with the AMA product so this company will be the one we consider.

If anyone has any questions we will try to answer.

Thanks for this review. We are booked on AMA next year, so hearing good things about them is always nice! And we are considering the Rhone cruise for the future, so your good experience is also good news. Glad you had a good time!

Thanks for your review. We are doing this same cruise but in reverse in August on the Amadagio but with APT. If you have time could you please post about some of the excursions you did. We have a few choices to make and any imput would be appreciated. Husband is very interested in any wine inspired excursions particularly. I am more interested in getting into the small villages and countryside.

The Cruise Directors on River Boats definitely play a different role compared to the Cruise Ships.

We are doing Arles to Lyon in 2 weeks.....(our second AMA river cruise this year)......were there any problems or concerns regarding the water levels on this itinerary.....?

Also...which excursions did you do....?

Thank you for taking the time to report and answer questions.

Sand

The excusrions that we enjoyed were:

Arles - Les Baux & Olive Farm. A visit to an old town on a hill top. Lots to see and the cafe we purchased hit the spot. Note that the comments we heard indicated that the bike tour was a little scary given the narrow streets, the lack of respect that cyclists seem to get from car drivers and the unfamiliarity. The museum was reported to be nice.

Avignon - We did the Pont Du Gard. Note that my DW is a history specilaist so we do a lot of these. That being said this is an iconic view of the region and we felt not be missed. The Papal palace can be seen after supper because it's just a short walk from the pier and that is what we did. They provide very specific directions on the ship concerning the route. There werre bands playing, the cafes were full, and lots of people hanging out in the squares even though it was 10 - 11 PM.

Vivers - Ghost walk was entertaining with live ghosts and musicians.

Viviers - Grignan excursion to an actual truffle farm. The dogs are great and so were the samples!

Tournon - We just knd of walked around and did not take the offered tour of wine tasting 'cause we don't drink. Folks at our table seemed to enjoy it.

Vienne - We took the walking tour and were very impressed with this town. The Roman ruins were better preserved than Pompei!

Trevoux - Once agin the walking tour. No ghosts but a nice walk through the old town.

Ttrevoux - Beaujolais and wine tasing - We visited the old town of Oingt that was architecturally interesting and very scenic. The vineyad visit included the owner explaining his business in French with translation by our very attractive guide ... until it got to the sales pitch and then a miracle happened because the farmer could speak perfect English!

Lyone - Quite a nice city even though we were tired and hot. Part way through the tour we left and walked back to the ship as did many others. I think we had all had enough. I personnally felt as though I needed A SEA DAY.

We did not encounter any water level issues except for that bridge in Lyons (?) where the wheel house had to be fully retracted, railings folded down, and sun deck evacuated 'cause there ws only about 7 cm clearance. It is interesting to watch this as the 2nd captain sits in the wheelhouse with her head poking through the roof as we SLOWLY passed beneath this bridge twice. Our 2nd captain was a woman and she did all this climbing around in high heels!

I think that answers the questions asked.

I am pleased that you all seemed to have read this little review. It is the first one I have posted.

Where was your cabin located since you indicate that it was quite dark. We are looking to book this cruise.

to truckmaker.......Viviers - Grignan excursion to an actual truffle farm. The dogs are great and so were the samples!

Am I correct in assuming that there are loose dogs on this excursion to the truffle farm....

This is a good 'heads up' for me...since I am not a dog lover......

Please advise...

Thanks!

Sand

Cruiseprincess - our cabin was located on the top deck - 315. The darkness was NOT due to location. People we were travelling with were on the 1st and 2nd decks and felt that the lighting in their cabins was poor as well.

Sand74 - dogs? - there were 3 dogs that were very well trained and stayed with their handler even though there was a bus load of people around. They locate the truffles. The first time we saw them they were both carrying the truffle bag towards the lady that actually dug the truffles. They looked like 2 smaller golden labs and a chiuaua that only works in the winter season.

Enjoy!

Cruiseprincess - our cabin was located on the top deck - 315. The darkness was NOT due to location. People we were travelling with were on the 1st and 2nd decks and felt that the lighting in their cabins was poor as well.

 

Sand74 - dogs? - there were 3 dogs that were very well trained and stayed with their handler even though there was a bus load of people around. They locate the truffles. The first time we saw them they were both carrying the truffle bag towards the lady that actually dug the truffles. They looked like 2 smaller golden labs and a chiuaua that only works in the winter season.

 

Enjoy!

Truckmaker...thanks for your reply...I have had back surgery....and I,m terrified of being approached by dogs....you put my mind at ease...thanks

We loved the AMA Rhone river cruise. Here is my review.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103733

Thanks for the info.

We cruised from Arles to Lyons on the Rhone and had a wonderful time. Just to put this review in perspective we have been on more than 30 ocean cruises with Carnival, RCL, and NCL, but mostly with Princess. We are both retired and are 65ish this put us on the younger side of the average age on board by our estimation but we felt at home. This was our first river cruise and we have been considering one for some time now because these ships go through the interiors of countries that we have only touched on the salt water coasts.

 

We stayed in Arles a couple of days prior to boarding and enjoyed the town. We walked to the ship from our hotel and embarkation started at about 3 PM. The check in process was a breeze compared to the thousands of people in line for a large ship.

 

The dining room was always open sitting so we met lots of people. Food was very good with a buffet / order from the menu hybrid for breakfast. Lunch had a salad bar and dessert bar with the main dish and soup course ordered from the menu. Dinner was full service from the menu. Something just slightly different here was that the dessert was ordered at the same time as the rest of the meal. Not good or bad just different than we are used to. Change is good.

 

Staterooms were smaller than any ocean cruise shop we’ve been on and were quite dark for the application of makeup. The showers were multi head and were a nice size with a door instead of a shower curtain. The beds were comfortable and the bed linens were very nice. Just a side note here. My wife loves the duvet that was on the bed and I find them quite hot. In place on the duvet I used the extra blanket that was already in the closet. The room steward noted this on the first morning and started making up the bed with the blanket already in place and offered to remove the duvet and replace with a blanket and sheet. As I said earlier my DW loved the duvet.

 

The staterooms also include a computer terminal with TV, Music, Internet access, and was included in the price. Nothing extra for use of the computers and this was a nice touch for staying in contact with people at home as well as check in for flights and rail schedules. Just a side note here that one of the music channels was labeled ‘Pop’ and the fist track that came out was Judy Garland singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. Someday perhaps these selections could be updated.

 

On to the people. Our cruise manager was Debbie Albrecht and she was excellent. In all our trips we have never seen a CM so involved with every aspect of the trip and she was on every tour and on every bus for a short time in every port that we did. She knew the names of many passengers and also did the lecture covering points of interest as we cruised past special sites. On debarkation day the first people left at about 5 AM and she saw them off personally. We left at 7:15 and she saw us off personally. Debbie is a high-energy ‘people’ person who clearly loves her work and I may have forgotten to mention that she was 7 months pregnant at the time. A very special person who AMA should be pleased to have as an employee.

 

We will definitely do another river cruise in the future and our present feeling is that we were very pleased with the AMA product so this company will be the one we consider.

 

If anyone has any questions we will try to answer.

Dear truckmaker.

We are thrilled to hear you enjoyed your experience on our AmaDagio. Thanks for the positive feedback!

We greatly look forward to having you onboard again in the future.

All the best,

AmaWaterways Customer Relations

Thank you for your details on the excursions. I think the Pont du Gard will be our choice now that you explain that it is easy to see the Palace in the evening. We are on the top deck too but As yet we don't know our cabin. Reading your review has got me really excited!

Thank you for your details on the excursions. I think the Pont du Gard will be our choice now that you explain that it is easy to see the Palace in the evening. We are on the top deck too but As yet we don't know our cabin. Reading your review has got me really excited!

We did Pont du Gard and glad we chose that. You will come back from that excursion in the afternoon, after a long day, and might not feel like more site-seeing. We came back to Avignon while on the Norwegian Epic.

Hi

Can any of the 2 new reviewers tell us about your hand baggage on the train & bus. We're trying to decide just how small to make those. We realize while we're on both train & bus they'll be stowed under our seat or in the overhead if it's large enough, BUT, when you disembark the train in Lyon and do the tour before embarking the ship - did you store your hand luggage somewhere? And also in Perpignan where you changed busses and walked around town - I'm assuming you had to take your bag with you.

We are on the Sep 30 departure from here and looking forward to a great trip!

Thank you in advance for any help you can give us.

Hi

Can any of the 2 new reviewers tell us about your hand baggage on the train & bus. We're trying to decide just how small to make those. We realize while we're on both train & bus they'll be stowed under our seat or in the overhead if it's large enough, BUT, when you disembark the train in Lyon and do the tour before embarking the ship - did you store your hand luggage somewhere? And also in Perpignan where you changed busses and walked around town - I'm assuming you had to take your bag with you.

We are on the Sep 30 departure from here and looking forward to a great trip!

Thank you in advance for any help you can give us.

We did a pre-cruise tour on our own and our hand luggage was a larger shoulder bag for my DW and I used a back pack. Both of thsese were able to be taken if necessary but at the stops we were assured repeatedly that items left in the bus would be secure amd no one had any problems that way. We also had larger rolling bags as our 'checked' luggage and it was a bit of a hassle on the trains because the storage area for that was not necessarily within view of our seats. We had no problems however but it was a little disconcerting and on a couple of occasions it was quite a lift to find a spot for our checked bags given that lower levels were already filled when we arrived.

Enjoy your trip!

We are looking ahead to 2014 and considering a river cruise with AMA. We have never done anything other than sea cruises and were wondering if there was an on board laundry service. Also, I am used to being able to have an acrylic nail fill on HAL cruises. Is this service available on AMA cruises?

If we were to take a river cruise that includes a bus tour for the last few days, are we limited to one suitcase pp on the bus portion?

Do river cruises have formal nights?

I didn't realize we would be responsible for our "checked" luggage on the train. I thought I read somewhere that those bags were transported separately. Thank you for this information because it makes a difference what size bag we'll take!

We were on AMA last year. The "checked" luggage went to the ship separately in a truck - you checked it with the AMA folks before you left the hotel. Then when you transferred from train to bus, you kept your hand baggage with you. Your checked baggage met you at the ship.

I didn't realize we would be responsible for our "checked" luggage on the train. I thought I read somewhere that those bags were transported separately. Thank you for this information because it makes a difference what size bag we'll take!

Remember that we were 'on our own' so I cannot reply to those on the AMA pre or post cruise.

It is my understanding that AMA will transfer luggage on a different train car on the TGV. My question is - once you arrive in Lyon, do they also then take our carry-on bags (some are small with wheels) and also deliver them to the ship? Or - are we stuck wheeling the carry-ons around Lyon for a few hours?

We are interested in your personal experience with this as we will be leaving for Paris in a few weeks and trying to decide if we should take ANY carry-on or not.

Thanks in advance!!

Sorry, I read your reply after posting my question!!

Do you know if it was possible to give AMA our small wheeled carry-ons directly from the hotel so as not to have anything but valuables/documents with us?

Thanks!!