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Viking or AMA Waterways?


Jammy Bun
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We were all ready to book another Viking River cruise, when the friends we will be travelling with threw us a curved ball. Check out AMA Waterways, they said. (Their travel agent had recommended AMA)

 

Have any of you cruised with both these lines, and how do they compare? It will be a European 7 night cruise, probably the Danube or France.

 

thanks in anticipation

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We’ve never taken Viking but went on a Melodies of the Danube Cruise with Amawaterways and it was marvelous. The service, the food and excursions were all outstanding. They offer the Chefs Table for dinner for each pax. If you are considering Viking for Paris please note that because Viking uses Long ships, the ship is too long to park at the quay located in Paris close to the Eiffel Tower which the other cruiselines utilize. Viking is docked an hour away.

 

 

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Have done both and while they were both fantastic, we prefer AMA. It just seems that AMA “went the extra mile”, providing lots of little extras that were missing on Viking. They both do basically the same routes,tours, have very nice boats and have excellent crews, so its the additional perks that make AMA standout. Things like the cookie rack, hot chocolate,gluhwein and pretzels served when you return to the boat, special ornaments from Santa, 12”. Chocolate santas left in our shoes, lovely ladies scarves as a gift and the cabins with the double balcony are really nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Itineraries are always my primary choice. But there aren't many navigable rivers in Europe, so most river cruise lines offer nearly identical itineraries.

 

I'll be cruising on AMA in a couple weeks. I chose it based on excellent reviews here, but also - and more importantly for me - I compared the square footage of similar cabins on Viking and AMA. Suggest you do the same.

 

Two friends of mine shared the smallest cabin on a Viking cruise, and were very unhappy in the cramped quarters. I think the smallest french-balcony only cabin on Viking longships is ~135 sf. I can't imagine spending a week or two in a room that size....

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I'll be cruising on AMA in a couple weeks. I chose it based on excellent reviews here, but also - and more importantly for me - I compared the square footage of similar cabins on Viking and AMA. Suggest you do the same.

 

....

 

Thanks - good idea, and I'll do that.

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Itineraries are always my primary choice. But there aren't many navigable rivers in Europe, so most river cruise lines offer nearly identical itineraries.

 

 

 

I'll be cruising on AMA in a couple weeks. I chose it based on excellent reviews here, but also - and more importantly for me - I compared the square footage of similar cabins on Viking and AMA. Suggest you do the same.

 

 

 

Two friends of mine shared the smallest cabin on a Viking cruise, and were very unhappy in the cramped quarters. I think the smallest french-balcony only cabin on Viking longships is ~135 sf. I can't imagine spending a week or two in a room that size....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My very first river cruise was with AMA and I did not know what to expect because I had no idea there were any river cruise companies other than Viking--that just goes to show how Viking saturates the U.S. market with advertising. I have since traveled with Viking many times as well as Emerald and Amadeus. Viking and AMA are both excellent, but the earlier post is correct--AMA just seems to have a little more customer detail. For instance, the wines at dinner were generally from the country we were sailing through--not so with Viking. The passengers are mostly international on AMA (heavily from England)--Americans are in the minority. It is just the opposite on Viking. I liked meeting people from other countries. As part of the Christmas celebration, AMA had a crew member dress as Santa while we sang Christmas carols and had our picture taken with Santa. Then we put our shoes outside our stateroom so Krumpas could leave us chocolates (and he did leave quite a bit of Lindt chocolates all festively wrapped). To be fair, Viking had a men's choir from Bratislava come on board and give a Christmas concert, which was exquisite--they ended with Silent Night sung in American, in German, and then in Slovakian.

 

Itinerary should be your first choice, though. The differences between the two is miniscule. FYI: Budapest has the best Christmas market--spend your money there.

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I will mention something here which other posters have not. We have done two Viking River cruises and one AMA. The big difference to us was AMA had a small fitness room, which we used. They also offered two biking excursions on a seven night cruise. Viking had neither of these options, thus we feel AMA is more directed towards "active" cruisers. This is NOT a criticism, it is just our preference. I emailed Viking after they came out with their new "longboats" and asked why they did not add a small fitness room and active (biking and hiking) excursions and their reply was "that is not the demographic we are aiming for".

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I will mention something here which other posters have not. We have done two Viking River cruises and one AMA. The big difference to us was AMA had a small fitness room, which we used. They also offered two biking excursions on a seven night cruise. Viking had neither of these options, thus we feel AMA is more directed towards "active" cruisers. This is NOT a criticism, it is just our preference. I emailed Viking after they came out with their new "longboats" and asked why they did not add a small fitness room and active (biking and hiking) excursions and their reply was "that is not the demographic we are aiming for".

 

On our last Ama cruise in September, they rolled out their new wellness program, with daily classes, including stretching, yoga, runs, etc. On past cruises, the bike tours were excellent. You can also sign out a bike and go out on your own. We hope to sail on our 4th Ama cruise next year!

 

Allyson

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Another consideration is how the company handles issues when things don't go as planned, such as water levels that are too high or too low. Spend some time reading the reviews - AMA tends to shine here (and we experienced it first-hand on the Rhine). Our tally is 6 river cruises with AMA, so they obviously get our vote.

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As you have thrown in the idea of a Christmas market cruise, Jammy Bun, I would like to add one thing. The south of France does not have the traditional Christmas markets that you may well know from photos of Germany. Normandie and Paris is perhaps nice, but again not really that good for Christmas markets. For that I would head to the Danube, preferably including Budapest, Vienna, Passau and Nuremberg. Beginning of December is best for snow, but there is no guarantee for snow in the valleys.

 

I have cruised with neither company, so I would just like to say that the Amawaterways ships have always looked more appealing to me. From what past cruisers have reported Ama has a better wine selection with Viking not really focussing on getting local wines from the region. If that is something that is important to you, I mean pairing the wine with the food and the region you will be sailing through.

 

notamermaid

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We recently cruised with Viking and loved every minute with them. Enough to book two more cruises. The boats are very clean and modern with a great and helpful staff. The food was outstanding as well. Now to me where they really excel are the tour guides. The best we have ever had. Ama and Viking are both outstanding lines so I'm sure you can't go wrong with either of them.

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We were all ready to book another Viking River cruise, when the friends we will be travelling with threw us a curved ball. Check out AMA Waterways, they said. (Their travel agent had recommended AMA)

 

Have any of you cruised with both these lines, and how do they compare? It will be a European 7 night cruise, probably the Danube or France.

 

thanks in anticipation

 

Just booked our 3rd AMA. You will not be disappointed. Service is outstanding & friendly and never cloying. Food is wonderful-book the Chef's Table (inc with cruise price) for a great tasting menu.

Enjoy

CArole

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