SCHappilyRetired
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Posts posted by SCHappilyRetired
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Thanks, everyone! Looking forward to this trip. Alaskabound, safe travels, and looking forward to your review when you return!
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We went with AMA Waterways. Did a pre-cruise with AMA starting in Lisbon and did a couple of extra days on our own in Porto which I would HIGHLY recommend. Stayed at a b and b on the river opposite where the ships dock. The food was unbelievable! My mission was to purchase something made out of cork. I found this unique pocketbook that I always get compliments on. Enjoy!
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On 2/24/2023 at 8:02 AM, Glassishalffull said:
Debbie from KY signing in. Anyone out here have any tips for must see or must do? This is my first river cruise and I have sailed many times on the larger ships but making memories on the Seine this time. Any thoughts or input would be great.
Since we have done Normandy on an ocean cruise, we decided to skip this river cruise and branch out to areas we have not been to so I can't help you on that end. I CAN highly recommend AMA Waterways. We have never been disappointed.
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On 2/28/2023 at 9:38 AM, gam888 said:
We have been on many ocean cruises with various lines, but have never been on a river cruise before. We are particularly interested in visiting Budapest, Prague, Passau, Vienna. Trying to decide between a coach tour and a river cruise. We feel that a river cruise is more convenient because at least we don't have to pack and unpack every few days. We are from Canada, and we have to work out the logistics of getting to the cruise port a couple of days before the cruise. Since all these river cruises depart from small ports, we would have to fly into a major city in Europe, then either take a train or a regional flight to get to the port. We plan to spend about 7 to 9 days on the river cruise, and maybe stay in a hotel before and after for 2 couple of days. We would like to select a cruise line that is reasonable, not necessary luxurious, since we have a limited budget. Ideally, if there is a small lounge one can do a bit of dancing after dinner, would be a bonus. Could anyone please suggest which cruise line we should start to look at? We looked at some itineraries that sail on the Danube, we can recognize some of the town's names, but a lot of them we have no knowledge of. We are thinking of July and August. Is the water level on the Danube going to be a problem? Any information on the most scenic destinations, cruise line suggestions, where are the most convenient towns to pick as a departure or ending points, would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
We have been on 6 rivers with AMA Waterways and would highly recommend them. They never disappointed.
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On 3/5/2023 at 7:33 AM, pontac said:
Bilbao and Bordeaux have more in common than just both commencing with the letter B
They're both on a river and both were the port for the export of local wines that gained worldwide fame. Plus Bilbao's wine came from the nearby Rioja wine region that became the new home of Bordeaux winemakers after Phylloxera devastated the vineyards of Bordeaux.
In Bilbao you'll probably want to visit the Guggenheim art museum, which is close to the river. There's a big collection of stuff by Jeff Koons.
Regarding the river cruise, I've been twice,once with Viking and once with Scenic. Bordeaux is famous for its wines and all river cruise companies tend to stop at the same places, only the wineries visited differ.
Bordeaux cruise is unlike the other Europen river cruises in the it only travels a short distance, starts and ends at the same place and the riverside views are nothing special, apart from the giant castle at Blaye where no doubt you'll moor and tour.
Is there something specific you want to know?
After researching where we wanted to cruise next I did see that this river is nothing in particular and that's ok. We are interested in the wines. Guggenheim is on an excursion with AMA. Wondering how that compares to the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum? I was just wondering what the "must see" would be. Thank you for your info!
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On 3/4/2023 at 7:29 AM, tulok said:
Please report back on your cruise. We are taking our first AMA in August, but 5th river cruise. I wanted to do Bordeaux but my husband thought it would be just like the southern France one we took from Lyon. I am hoping next cruise we book, I can convince him differently. (We loved the Provdence cruise
will do. Enjoy your time with AMA. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Safe travels
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!2012 Alaska Bound.... enjoy your trip and safe travels
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We are taking AMA on the Bordeaux cruise in September. We will be doing their pre-cruise in Bilbao and San Sebastian and post-cruise in France. I don't seem to find too much on this topic. If anyone has info they would like to share it would be much appreciated. This is our 6th river traveling with AMA and have been very pleased with their product. Thank you!
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On 3/12/2021 at 11:55 AM, notamermaid said:
I have just realized that gnome12 gave you the locks on the Main Danube Canal and I gave you the ones on the Rhine, so the ones on the Main are missing. Here they are: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_(river)
If you would like some more info on the Main, here is the thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2670259-the-river-main-infos-and-river-cruising-experiences/
notamermaid
Thank you. I have been off this board awhile since our cruise was rescheduled. Time to get back in the loop!
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On 2/9/2021 at 4:58 PM, notamermaid said:
Coming from Basel up to the confluence of the Main with the Rhine there are 10 locks to go through, from wikipedia Germany "Rheinschifffahrt": town and kilometre marker along the embankment
Kembs (F)179,10
Ottmarsheim (F)193,64
Fessenheim (F)210,51
Vogelgrün (F)224,54
Marckolsheim (F)239,88
Rhinau (F)256,15
Gerstheim (F)272,23
Straßburg (F)287,36
Gambsheim (F)308,83
Iffezheim (D)334,00
notamermaid
Thank you!
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On 2/9/2021 at 4:11 PM, gnome12 said:
There are 6 locks between Bamberg and Nuremburg, and one at Nuremburg, so either 6 or 7 depending on which side of the lock the dock in Nuremburg is on.
Thank you!
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- Hi everyone! We rescheduled our Medieval Treasurers cruise from October 2020 to September 2021. A bit bummed as we were to sail on the new AMALucia and are now on the AMACerto. Not the end of the world considering what's been going on. Joyful both of us received our first Moderna Covid 19 shots yesterday! Anyway, staying positive, does anyone know how many locks we will go through starting in Basal and ending in Nuremberg? Just curious. We are brining friends of ours (their first rivercruise) and they are excited to get all the info they can. Thank you!
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We have our 4th cruise booked with AMA for October 2021. We only have invested so far a deposit of $800. We will wait and see before paying anything else. Sounds like if you final pay, only FCC are given. Doesn't sound like a company we want to do business with in the future if that's the case. Too bad as we had no complaints with our prior cruise and they truly went out of there way to accommodate our every request. We will wait and see. AMA are you listening to your customers???
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We have our cruise on AMLucia September 2021. Holding our breath!
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41 minutes ago, JohninAult said:
Sue, did you do the post-cruise package in Lucerne & Zurich. We're trying to decide whether to do that or arrange our own thing. Most concerned about the hotels. Thanks.
We have been on 5 rivers with AMA and never disappointed in their hotels. We are planning Medieval Treasures fall 2021 and will use their hotels in Switzerland and Prague. Use to book our own but are happy with their selections. You can go less $$ on your own but at this point in our lives just point me in the right direction and I'm there. Enjoy your cruise!
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Well that solves that problem. Thanks for the PI work!!
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My TA was good enough to call Princess and Holland and both said they still use this company. I'll be patient and wait a bit and try back. Thanks everyone!
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2 hours ago, Daniel A said:
I just tried the link for Cruise Line Formal Wear and got the same 'down for maintenance' message. Did you try their e-mail? custservice@cruiselineformal.com
No, not yet. Will try again tomorrow. If all else fails, I'll try the email. Thanks!
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3 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:
Depends where in SC you are but I know a guy that has a Formal Wear business and does specials for cruises...awesome stuff... he's in Myrtle Beach!
We are very close but really don't want to pack and lug it. Thanks!
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Hi everyone! I have been trying for 3 days to order DH a tux for our NYE Princess Cruise on this site and it says "down for maintenance" Decided to call them and after the recording, I keep getting disconnected. Is this company still in business? Any thoughts? Thank you!!
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On 9/4/2019 at 1:51 PM, gmaonboard4 said:
I did all that. Check-in complete, cruise paid for............so I called AMA and gentleman said it would be around 60 days out before I could see them. I am a bit confused, as this is our 4th trip with AMA, and I always thought we saw them earlier. Oh well, guess I will wait.
Odd as all our AMA trips, once we paid in full, we were able to view everything. Things changed?
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37 minutes ago, musiclovingmom said:
This question is for people who have cruised on AMA before. We are not cruising till next April, when we are doing Tulip Time. Does my husband need a suit? Any other tips or suggestions if you've done this particular cruise would also be appreciated. I've been reading through the 20 pages here. Thanks!
Definitely not a suit. If he wants to bring a sports jacket that would be suitable. However, our Duoro cruise last year on Captains night a group of men from California wore shorts, tee shirts and flip flops that night. Actually now that I think of it, they had the same attire each evening. So, I guess AMA has relaxed on their dress code? My husband did bring a jacket but only wore it on the Captains night. Otherwise he wore a collared polo shirt and docker style slacks. Needless to say, neither of us were happy campers. We did approach, along with many other guests, the dining manager, Igor, and he just shrugged his shoulders stating he did not want to "upset" those guests. Guess he didn't care about the rest of the ship passengers. I must say all our other cruises with AMA were not like that. Most men were in docker style pants, polo/dress shirt and jacket. Some with ties, some without. Sorry I can't help on other tips as Tulip Time is still on our bucket list. Just not enough time to do them all!! Enjoy!!
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We took AMA in the beginning of October 2019 and the weather was perfect! I think 1 rainy day. AMA has a new ship sailing this year on the Duoro along with AMAVida which we took. All our other river cruises were taken in September/October with beautiful weather.
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3 hours ago, 2islandhoppers said:
SuzCruise, we embark from Nuremberg on October 3. We are actually taking the Medieval Treasures from Basel to Nuremberg on Sept26 on the Ama Dante, and then doing the back-to-back to Luxembourg. We are taking the train and flying out of Frankfurt and from what I can find out, it will be easier to take the train from Wasserbillig than take a taxi into Luxembourg City.
I find it interesting that you are able to see your shore excursions on the Ama website. We've received the Ama documentation with the detailed itinerary for the Sept 26 cruise, but not for the second cruise. Ama would like us to select our shore excursions for the first cruise but we are reluctant to do that until we have a look at both cruises and can compare excursions. There is some duplication of stops, but some of the excursions are different and we want to make sure we see what we were looking forward to. We've contacted Ama and asked for the second set of detailed shore excursions so we can make comparisons, but were told we'd just have to wait until they send out the complete package. Rather disappointed in Ama in this respect as we won't receive the second set of excursions until the cut-off for the earlier cruise.😕
On all of our AMA cruises we found that once we paid in full, we were able to view and pick what we wanted online. We could change our excursions once onboard with no problems. Actually, some passengers did not pick beforehand. However, if your going on a "special limited excursion", I would secure that as soon as possible. I did a cooking class on our Rhone trip and that was limited to only 12 people.
Medieval Treasures will be our next cruise and I hope you post a review. Enjoy your cruise!
Review of AmaWaterways Bordeaux Wine Cruise
in River Cruising
Posted
Thank you for your review! We are so looking forward to this pre/post and cruise come August.