RobInMN

Here's the original Press Release from 2019: https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1403/new-amplified-adventures-on-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas-to-make-a-summer-splash-in-europe/

Even though I am a fan of Ama and agree with everything @AtlantaCruiser72 said, I am not sure if the excursion options is as important on a Christmas Markets cruise. I've only done 1 Christmas Markets, it was on the Danube, but it was with Grand Circle (not my choice, my parents booked & paid for it). I can tell you all kinds of differences between GC and Ama. I've never done Viking. Anyway, while there were some normal type excursions, the excursion at almost every port was the Christmas Markets. I assume that they would be the main excursion on an Ama one. Biking tours are probably not that popular on a Christmas Market cruise either, unless you are hard-core 🙂 I'll second the vote for AmaMagna. That is an amazing ship, unlike any other. It is a choice for Christmas Markets but has it's own listing. I will caution you though. I almost hate to recommend it as a first river cruise ship, as no other ship is likely to measure up if you do more in the future. 🤣

The didn't remove one on Oasis when it was Amplified. I think it's safe.

If they stick with the original plan, I believe that it was figured out that Sabor (which we really liked) would become Portside BBQ, and Playmakers is what would go where the Crown Lounge currently is. The original plan did not have Wonderland. We'll see...

Didn't need a new thread for this question. It's been asked in here: There is nothing to make anyone believe that it is a one-time deal. It's only an extension of the existing program that ended with Elite and Diamond (everything higher was limited to those). People who already had Elite that were D+ have checked and they are now showing E+

Not so much a "rumor". At the top tier event last September, the Allure Hotel Manager stated as much. She said that she hopes we enjoy it (and the Champagne Bar) while they are still around as they are going to be replaced.

I've wondered the same thing. When Allure's original Amplification was cancelled, I believe that she was less than 5 weeks from starting. I imagine that much of what they were going to install was already on site or near by. How much of that has been stored for the last 4 years, vs. what did they try to liquidate. Certainly, something like the purple slide which was custom would likely have been stored (used for Wonder or Utopia??). But I believe that it was stated somewhere that all A/V was going to be replaced. Like every single TV. That's thousands of essentially off the shelf Samsungs. Have they stored those for the last 4 years or did they liquidate them for cash? Assuming they still do this, do they want to do a fresh install with 5 year old TVs? Lot's of questions. BTW, those robots could be easily re-sold. They are not custom to RC. They are standard manufacturing robots.

Even with the original Amplification announcement, I don't believe they ever said that explicitly, but based on the plans of what they were adding, and the fact that they moved it on Oasis, I think it's safe to say that it's almost guaranteed to be moved to where it is on every other Oasis class ship. Sorry. That said, there has yet to be any announcement itemizing what they are going to do. We don't know if they are just going to dust off the original plans and implement them, or if they will make any adjustments. In 2019, they were all hot for the Bionic Bar, and Allure was going to get it. Now it's 2024, and the Bionic Bar is very meh. It's constantly babysat by crew and I don't think it generates much revenue anymore. On Utopia they went with the Pesky Parrot instead. The hotel manager on our Allure cruise last Septmeber said that the Champagne Bar was going away (as well as Sabor), but did not specifically say what was going in their place.

@SilkySal indicated that the rest of their party was in a GS, so they would already have suite benefits.

Yes, there is a sale away party on day 5. The whole cruise calendar is based on Barcelona. You are essentially doing the back end of one cruise, the the first part of another cruise. I think the split is probably going to be about 2/3 Barcelona, 1/3 Rome. While there are some disadvantages, there are some advantages also. If you are Barcelona, you have to do "Rome in a day", and it's 1.5 hours from port. If you get on in Rome, then your "In a day" is Barcelona. Also, if you want to spend extra time before or after your cruise, you can spend it in Rome instead of Barcelona. For some people, they prefer Barcelona and don't mind "Rome in a day", but for us, we spent a week in Rome pre-cruise and were just fine with Barcelona "in a day".

Try the Roll Call thread. 34 pages. Seems pretty active:

Announcement made in May's C&A Newsletter: Now we need the official announcement of exactly what they will do, and whether they stick completely with the original plans or alter those plans in any way. As a reminder, here's the original press release: https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1403/new-amplified-adventures-on-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas-to-make-a-summer-splash-in-europe/

This is not "news" per say, as the Allure Captains and hotel directors have been saying this. Also, the dry dock in March of 2025 is 6 weeks, running from the end of February to the beginning of April. There's been discussion in many threads. Here's one dedicated to the amplification that was last posted to February: This is the first we've seen any official public statement however. I also think this is the first time we've seen the term "Amplified" post-COVID. Previously, I think just "refurbished" was used. We were booked on her 2020 post-Amplification TA. We booked the 2025 TA within a couple hours of it begin released (I believe it was a Wednesday night about 8PM central). Now, the big question is: Will they stick to the original plan? or will they alter it in any way? For instance, the original plan was to replace the Champagne bar with the Bionic bar. The Hotel Manager has already indicated that the Champagne bar is going away (as is Sabor). Since I think we can all agree that the Bionic bar has run it's course, might they do something like Utopia's Pesky Parrot (which is in that same location) instead?

Being Diamond has no affect on any suite related benefits. C&A and suite benefits are completely separate. But as indicated, a JS is basically an extra large balcony with a tub, and you get 2 points per night instead of 1. You also get access to the CK for dinner if there is availability. The older ships have a large walk in closet. You really get no actual "suite" benefits. That said, my wife really likes the tub over the tube shower. Those new showers on Icon look doable though.

A mod should pin this! (originally used the term 'sticky')

Interesting that is a little different from our experience. When we did the B2B Attic Circle and Iceland & Ireland in 2022 also on Jewel, we were given our new cards and an In Transit card and sent to a single security podium where they scanned our old card then our new card. Never took the old cards. So we do have both cards. Otherwise fairly similar experience.

It really is an amazing ship. I almost hate to recommend it to someone as a first river cruise ship, because when you take subsequent cruises, it will be difficult for the ship to measure up 🙂 AmaMagna does do a Christmas Market cruise. 😉

Maybe other lines are different, but Ama has hand rails on both sides. Found a couple videos for you timestamped where you can clearly see the outside stairs that go to the top deck.

On the 3 Ama cruises I've been on, I am not aware of anyone outside of the US and maybe Canada. It is a US company, and while they don't seem to have the same marketing budget Viking does, it does market to the US, and maybe somewhat exclusively in the US, I have no idea.

@gnome12, AmaMagna's elevator goes to the top deck. It pops up 🙂

I am pretty sure that all AmaWaterways ships have elevators that go to all floors. AmaMagna's elevator even goes to the top deck (not really an issue if you are doing Christmas Markets 😉 ) We've only done 4 river cruises, 3 with Ama, 1 with Grand Circle, and I want to say that every port we stopped at had a ramp (degree of incline varied greatly), with the exception of Passau, where we went to the top deck and took a ramp across. Once on land, there might be other ramps and/or steps. I don't recall ever needing to "climb an embankment" that did not have standard stairs or ramp. When rafting, I think they prefer people go up, over, down. But I have experienced walking through, and even going in, down their stairs, and then out. I want to say there was an instance where someone with mobility issues was allowed to go through instead of up & over, but can't confirm. The outside stairs from the inner deck to the top deck can be steep, but not like a loft ladder. I do know that there was an elderly lady on my last cruise that needed to use those forearm crutches to get around. Her husband was very patient. One of our cruises was a Christmas Market cruise from Nuremburg to Vienna. This one was on GC. There were many nights where you could go to the market at night. None of them were right at the port. Depending on distance, you'll need to walk or they might run a shuttle. I am pretty sure there was at least 1 case where they got someone a car/taxi when it was just a bit too far. Uber (or similar), can be an option in some countries/cites. I've never been woken up by any locks at night. I assume we've gone through a couple at night, but can't really say as I never looked up if we would or not. I have never needed to switch ships (so far), and not sure if this is an issue during Christmas market season, but my parents did this once and they just packed their luggage and left it in their room, went on an excursion, and when they returned, they returned to the other ship on the other side of the bridge, and their luggage was in their room waiting for them. I imagine most cruise companies will make this as easy as possible. Obviously, I don't know you or your husband, or how sever his mobility issues are, but if it's important to you, go for it. Even if you don't get to see every market at every port, go and enjoy what you feel you can manage. Again, only 4 cruises, on only 2 different lines, I feel like every crew member we've had so far would do whatever they could to help you and your husband make it to the markets and back. That said, if there's snow and/or ice, things could be that much more difficult. Make sure he's got good shoes/boots.

First time I saw "S2S" my brain went "Ship to Ship" instead of "Side to Side"? 🙂 Made sense to me

I do know that certain cruise lines cater and market to certain countries. I don't know if there's one that is truly multi-national and market equally to everyone. But there's others that have a lot more experience than I do. I can help with AmaWaterways. On the 3 Ama cruises we've done so far, I think everyone might have been from North America, if not specifically America, but not totally sure. The Grand Circle cruise we did was the same. I am not sure if these companies (or others) are exclusive to US and Canadian travelers or if that's just where they focus their marketing. It's possible that there are companies that only accept reservations from people with addresses in certain countries. There's at least 1 that I've see referenced here more than once that is targeted to German travelers - where the primary operating language is German - but don't recall the name. They don't market to the US. And I think I recently saw something mentioned about a Chinese company may be operating now? And I would assume they are all Chinese and operate in Chinese. Interesting question. Look forward to see what others add.

I've seen this reference before, and was curious, so I did a little Google searching. As I believed, they are 2 separate companies. APT is owned by the McGeary family. Ama is owned by husband/wife team Kristin Karst & Rudi Schreiner, and original third owner Jimmy Murphy's share appears to now be owned by his son Gary Murphy. The Wikipedia page for APT indicates that APT was an investor with Jimmy Murphy in starting Ama. The Ama page makes no mention. Apparently last year, APT chose not to renew their 18 year partnership with Ama which ends after this year. It sounds like they chartered AmaWaterways ships? Sounds like this will be the last year. They have launched their own (owned?) ship on the Duro, and it appears that they are launching 2 new (owned?) ships for the Rhine, Main and Danube. I can't see anywhere on the APT site to book, so I can't confirm if they fully charter certain Ama sailings or what. But the APT site says they use AmaWaterways cruise managers.

They did