Amadeus Waterways

Hi all,

Is Amadeus out of business or were they bought out by another company? I had cruised on them in Europe and can't seem to find them now.

Any insight would be helpful.

Mary

They are now called AMA Waterways. Same company, different name.

Wrong. AMA is a separate and unrelated company. Was formed by ex VP Rudi S hreider. He had a different focus - service and unparalleled experience. He achieved it. We loved it. Only fault... too short.

Amadeus still exists. Primarily serves and markets to non-US customers.

This is what is on the Cruise Critic site: "In 2002, Schreiner helped opened up AmaWaterways (then called Amadeus Waterways; the name was shortened in June 2008)."

The question also came up in a dinner some of had had with a cruise director on a Christmas cruise in 2011. She indicated there had been a legal issue with using the name Amadeus, and the company had changed the name for that reason.

There does seem to currently be a German company that uses the name Amadeus. Perhaps that is the source of the legal issue.

Thanks for the info. I'm originally from Philadelphia. How about yourself?

Thanks for the info. I'm originally from Philadelphia. How about yourself?

I'm a displaced Oregonian but have lived most of my life since 1967 in the Philadelphia area. In Bryn Mawr for the past 35 years. One of my times away from this area was when I was teaching not all that far from you in Gainesville. Go Gators.

The following is a copy of a letter that was written by Rudi Schreiner that tells how he founded AMA Waterways:

Rudi Schreiner

President

(800) 626-0126 (U.S. and Canada, toll free) | +1 (818) 428-6198 (direct dial) | (818) 772-7335 (fax)

rudi@amawaterways.com

Dear Mr Reynolds,

The Latin meaning of AMA = LOVE and DEUS = GOD.

AMADEUS was frequently used as a boy’s first name in Austria and Switzerland.

AMADEUS is a beautiful name and means LOVE OF GOD.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made the name AMADEUS almost into a trademark.

In 1990, I opened a student travel company in Woodland Hills, California. Being Austrian and organizing tours to Europe it seemed appropriate to name my company Amadeus International Tours. Unfortunately, during the first Gulf War in 1991, student travel was very limited and in 1992 I closed down the company and I started working for Uniworld. Uniworld was a small tour company which operated motorcoach tours through Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe. Here, I designed and planned the first river cruise trips through the newly opened Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.

In 1996, I contacted an Austrian company which operated old Romanian ships on the Danube (Dr Lueftner Reisen). I asked them if they would build a ship for Uniworld which Uniworld would lease for several years. They agreed to build a ship for us and I named that ship the MS AMADEUS. The ship started cruising for Uniworld in 1998. In 1999, the MS AMADEUS II was built (renamed later to MS AMADEUS RAPHSODY) and Uniworld started using this ship for the next several years. The ship owner, Dr. Lueftner, continued building more ships. The MS AMADESU CLASSIC was number three.

In 2000, I left Uniworld in Encino and I started up Viking River Cruises a few miles down the road in Woodland Hills. For two years, I was President of Viking River Cruises. In 2002, I left Viking River Crises and I started up AMADEUS WATERWAYS in Chatsworth, a few miles from Viking River Cruises. I always liked the name AMADEUS, and I thought again that it was appropriate to have a cruise line with ships in Central Europe with this name. I signed a charter agreement with Dr. Lueftner to build a new ship for our company and this ship was named the MS AMADEUS SYMPHONY. We chartered this ship for 4 years (2003/04/05/06) and then we started building our own ships. To have a very unique ship identity, I decided to name our own ships AMA plus a musical term – all in one word. The MS AMADAGIO was our first ship and the name is a combo of AMA and ADAGIO. Then came the AMALEGRO, the AMACELLO, the AMADANTE, the AMALYRA, the AMADOLCE and currently under construction is the AMABELLA.

Dr. Lueftner also continued building more ships which he named AMADEUS ROYAL, AMADEUS PRINCESS, etc.

In 2003, I applied for the trademark AMADEUS in the USA. But it was blocked by the airline reservation system AMADEUS, which registered the name two years before I opened my company AMADEUS INTERNATIONAL TOURS. I finally gave up on the trademark AMADEUS and in 2007, I renamed our company AMAWATERWAYS (the Love of Waterways). Our ship names also all start with AMA. We have no longer trademark conflicts with the airline reservation system and we also distinguish our ships clearly from the ships of Dr. Lueftner.

I hope to have answered your question.

Warm Regards,

Rudi Schreiner

President

(800) 626-0126 (U.S. and Canada, toll free) | +1 (818) 428-6198 (direct dial) | (818) 772-7335 (fax)

rudi@amawaterways.com

Thanks for posting that letter. It clears up a lot of confusion on Amadeus vs. AMA.

Terri

Great letter. I spoke with Rudi 2 years ago on the phone for about 30 minutes when I was checking out the different cruise lines. He was most gracious and helpful. You can see the tone he sets for the company.

PS I lived in King of Prussia for 15 years. Miss the hills and trees. Palms just don't cut it.

Thank you! I know I had googled it because I hadn't seen anything on Amadeus anymore.

I appreciate your letter explaining the name change! Mary

So does anyone know anything about this river cruise line? They seem to be cheaper than APT, Scenic etc.

Rassa

So does anyone know anything about this river cruise line? They seem to be cheaper than APT, Scenic etc.

Rassa

We cruised with them on their Amadeus Diamond in 2009. the ship was chartered by Gate 1 Travel from Luftner. We enjoyed the cruise and the ship was very comfortable. the only thing we found strange was that they said they had a pool and it was only a little footbath used as a skylight over the atrium. Strange. The staff spoke english well. We had free wine with dinner but that may have been a perk from Gate 1 Travel.

Most of the European cruise companies, Lueftner included, don't have a lot of excursions as part of the price. You can add them on. for us it worked perfectly because we are native German speakers and much of the trip is through Germany and Austria (Rhein, Main Danube cruise). We chose them for that reason.

We cruised with them on their Amadeus Diamond in 2009. the ship was chartered by Gate 1 Travel from Luftner. We enjoyed the cruise and the ship was very comfortable. the only thing we found strange was that they said they had a pool and it was only a little footbath used as a skylight over the atrium. Strange. The staff spoke english well. We had free wine with dinner but that may have been a perk from Gate 1 Travel.

 

Most of the European cruise companies, Lueftner included, don't have a lot of excursions as part of the price. You can add them on. for us it worked perfectly because we are native German speakers and much of the trip is through Germany and Austria (Rhein, Main Danube cruise). We chose them for that reason.

Thanks for your reply. I would probably be quite happy with the cruise and most importantly, it is cheaper than other offerings in Australia, even taking into consideration the tours are pre-paid when purchasing in Australia.

Rosie

So does anyone know anything about this river cruise line? They seem to be cheaper than APT, Scenic etc.

Rassa

I think that APT is the same as Amawaterways. It is my understanding that they are a major shareholder and market the cruises here as APT while you actually cruise on Amawaterways ships.