More AMA Tidbits,cheers, and a caveat or two

Still enjoying our AMACerto cruise from Rousse to Budapest. A few more tidbits and answers to questions--

--The bathroom has a retractable clothesline in the shower.

--The hairdryer they provide is large and very powerful

--My dual-voltage flatiron (TravelSmart by ConAir) worked fine with a European plug adaptor

--Dress continues to be casual and varied. No one seems to notice or care

--The mini-fridge is small, but it is a fridge--not a mini-bar, so we keep beverages and snacks from onshore grocery stores on it.

--There is a strange panel between the bathroom and the cabin that can be see-through or opaque depending on which lights you turn on/off

Cheers:

--the service. Wonderful on every level.

--breakfast buffet (bountiful and good)

--ship and cleanliness

A few caveats:

It seems that independent travelers like we are have to be very proactive to avoid a "bus trip on water." This seems to be the nature of river cruising with their "excursion" mindset. On our one day in Bucharest, all 170 + of us spent two hours having lunch, time I would have much preferred to have spent walking the city. We did notify the cruise manager that we were striking out on our own afterwards but had less than an hour. Since then, we have met ahead of time with the cruise manager to maximize our independent time. He has been helpful and patient, but it isn't a natural fit for people like us who hate bus tours and groups following a "lollipop sign."

Food, in my subjective opinion, is good but not great. I am a red-meat eater, and the three entries have usually been fish, vegetarian, and things like "turkey leg slices" or pork skewers. The always available steak was coffee-shop or Sizzler (a chain restaurant) level. I also found the food to be very salty, and I usually use salt fairly liberally. The meal on the included specialty restaurant was outstanding, however.

Internet is free but spotty and unreliable. Not AMA's fault. The nature of available service in this region.

In summary, AMA offers a quality product with a beautiful ship and outstanding staff. Independent travelers need to research touring options proactively.

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Thanks for your information. Just booked our first AMA Cruise for next year. Was on Avalon previously but have heard good things about AMA

It seems that independent travelers like we are have to be very proactive to avoid a "bus trip on water." This seems to be the nature of river cruising with their "excursion" mindset. On our one day in Bucharest, all 170 + of us spent two hours having lunch, time I would have much preferred to have spent walking the city. We did notify the cruise manager that we were striking out on our own afterwards but had less than an hour. Since then, we have met ahead of time with the cruise manager to maximize our independent time. He has been helpful and patient, but it isn't a natural fit for people like us who hate bus tours and groups following a "lollipop sign."

 

That is why we pay close attention to detailed itineraries and choose cruises that are heavy on port time and overnight stays. We participate in ship sponsored excursions about 25% of the time and the rest we head out on our own, at our preferred pace, and with our personal agenda.

We often hop off and walk to the train station and head elsewhere for part (or all) of the day, heading back in the afternoon. Our recent cruise to Belgium had a full day in Antwerp. We got off as soon as we docked, walked the 2 miles or so to the train station, hopped on a train to Brussels, spent about 3-4 hours there, then back to Antwerp for a few hours in the afternoon. It was a great day and that is fairly typical for us.

Our next cruise has five overnights and long days in port, perfect for those of us who want to maximize our in port experience.

A few caveats:

 

It seems that independent travelers like we are have to be very proactive to avoid a "bus trip on water." This seems to be the nature of river cruising with their "excursion" mindset. On our one day in Bucharest, all 170 + of us spent two hours having lunch, time I would have much preferred to have spent walking the city. We did notify the cruise manager that we were striking out on our own afterwards but had less than an hour. Since then, we have met ahead of time with the cruise manager to maximize our independent time. He has been helpful and patient, but it isn't a natural fit for people like us who hate bus tours and

In summary, AMA offers a quality product with a beautiful ship and outstanding staff. Independent travelers need to research touring options proactively.

 

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Now this makes we very anxious about our upcoming Danube cruise. We are very independent and rarely take ships' excursions; hate the "herd mentality". We were hoping that the active or bike options might appeal to the varied interests in our group. Did you take advantage of any of the optional offered activities?

The detailed itinerary in the AMA links provide little information regarding time frames in port, or exactly what you will be seeing. I would go completely mad having to sit through a two hour lunch!

I guess we'll need to get busy making contingent plans.

Now this makes we very anxious about our upcoming Danube cruise. We are very independent and rarely take ships' excursions; hate the "herd mentality". We were hoping that the active or bike options might appeal to the varied interests in our group. Did you take advantage of any of the optional offered activities?

The detailed itinerary in the AMA links provide little information regarding time frames in port, or exactly what you will be seeing. I would go completely mad having to sit through a two hour lunch!

I guess we'll need to get busy making contingent plans.

Check out the limited edition tours and reserve yours pre-cruise. The bike tours are in this group and are generally 12-18 kms. You can also just take a bike, based on availability, and head out on your own.

We choose the active tours when we take tours and they are at a brisker pace. The cruise manager will provide more details on the options once you are onboard. Ask questions - no reason to sit through a 2 hour lunch unless that is your choice. We would not have chosen that tour and we also would have just left at that point.

We have done 3 cruises with AMA now and there are plenty of options, including DIY. And also easy to combine the two.

Our recent AMA cruise included a stop for coffee and cake at the end of a walking tour in Amsterdam and they allocated an hour. We used our time to explore the immediate area instead and then made our way back to catch the shuttle back to the boat as we were quite a distance away. You are certainly not forced into any of these things.

I wore a pedometer last trip and we logged an average of 10 miles a day walking, and this is typical for us when in Europe.

Now this makes we very anxious about our upcoming Danube cruise. We are very independent and rarely take ships' excursions; hate the "herd mentality". We were hoping that the active or bike options might appeal to the varied interests in our group. Did you take advantage of any of the optional offered activities?

 

The detailed itinerary in the AMA links provide little information regarding time frames in port, or exactly what you will be seeing. I would go completely mad having to sit through a two hour lunch!

 

I guess we'll need to get busy making contingent plans.

It's very easy to DIY on these tours. We go with the tours when the boat is docked some distance from town, and then just split off from the group after finding out when and where to meet the return bus. Other times we take a taxi to where we want to go and meet up with the bus back. You are free to,plan you own activities. I find that AMA tries to return you to the boat for lunch and then has afternoon activities. We usually stay In town rather than spend time traversing around on the bus. my time is more valuable than the meal that I missed on the boat. Besides, it gives you a chance to try out local cuisine. The active tour groups can be great except when they combine them with slower groups. Note, they walk faster but don't contain more content, but give you more free time.

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Thanks for your review, I'm glad to know about the clothes line, I plan to do some wash and hang, since I have things that shouldn't be dried.

Also, interesting about the tours. We've set up completely independent private guides in Budapest and Istanbul, rather than do group tours with AMA. I'm hoping to do some biking tours, special active tours or just independent exploring in the other stops along the Danube. My DH won't ever get back on a river cruise if he's stuck on a bus with 55 people, or at lunch with 3 busses full!:eek: So here's hoping that doesn't happen to us, or our first will be the last ;) If we like AMA, we are considering booking on board for 2016...possibly Vietnam Cambodia? Do you know if there are any on board booking incentives offered?

Just off AMA....yes, there was an onboard booking incentive. I don't remember exactly what it was, though.

Sorry it took awhile for me to post again. No usable Internet for the last few days. Not AMA's fault--we were going through Serbia and Croatia and service was difficult. In talking to other passengers, the ability to tour on your own seems to vary with the itinerary. On our trip from Rousse, Bulgaria (originating in Istanbul) to Budapest, it has often difficult. For example: bus drops you off in one place, and the ship moves to another city (and country!). The two hour lunch stop I referred to in my previous post was not in the center of town, and they couldn't tell me where the bus would park until we were taken there after lunch. Sometimes we were promised "free time" but it was sometimes no more than half an hour. Today is our last day, and there has been no mention of "fast walkers" or other differentiated groups. There are bikes available, and I believe they were used, but what was featured was a "bike tour".

It isn't impossible to tour on your own. We were docked in the city in Vidin, Bulgaria and Novi Sad, Serbia, and today, we will take the tour bus to Pecs, Hungary, and wander the town on our own. The cruise manager was as helpful as possible, but his mindset (and AMA's) is that of a bus tour on water. For what it's worth, we went on Avalon a few years ago and had the same experience.

AMA is an excellent company--I am just suggesting that if you are the DIY type, you research the daily itinerary carefully and ask lots of specific questions. Some Western European itineraries seem to be easier to navigate for DIY'ers according to past passenger reports.

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Sorry it took awhile for me to post again. No usable Internet for the last few days. Not AMA's fault--we were going through Serbia and Croatia and service was difficult. In talking to other passengers, the ability to tour on your own seems to vary with the itinerary. On our trip from Rousse, Bulgaria (originating in Istanbul) to Budapest, it has often difficult. For example: bus drops you off in one place, and the ship moves to another city (and country!). The two hour lunch stop I referred to in my previous post was not in the center of town, and they couldn't tell me where the bus would park until we were taken there after lunch. Sometimes we were promised "free time" but it was sometimes no more than half an hour. Today is our last day, and there has been no mention of "fast walkers" or other differentiated groups. There are bikes available, and I believe they were used, but what was featured was a "bike tour".

 

It isn't impossible to tour on your own. We were docked in the city in Vidin, Bulgaria and Novi Sad, Serbia, and today, we will take the tour bus to Pecs, Hungary, and wander the town on our own. The cruise manager was as helpful as possible, but his mindset (and AMA's) is that of a bus tour on water. For what it's worth, we went on Avalon a few years ago and had the same experience.

 

AMA is an excellent company--I am just suggesting that if you are the DIY type, you research the daily itinerary carefully and ask lots of specific questions. Some Western European itineraries seem to be easier to navigate for DIY'ers according to past passenger reports.

 

 

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Thank you for coming back with an update.

Just to clarify, are you saying that AMA never offered the differentiated tours they advertise - "active walkers" to be specific?

Did you try any of the Limited Edition Tours?

It seems as if you feel that both Avalon and AMA were of the "bus tour on water" mindset, which certainly doesn't appeal to me personally. Have you considered that this style may actually be an inherent nature of river cruising in general? I can't say, because this will be our first river cruise, but I did do tons of research and chose AMA because, of all of the lines out there, they seemed to be the one that would allow for the most options for our group of varied ages, abilities and interests,

Thank you for coming back with an update.

Just to clarify, are you saying that AMA never offered the differentiated tours they advertise - "active walkers" to be specific?

Did you try any of the Limited Edition Tours?

It seems as if you feel that both Avalon and AMA were of the "bus tour on water" mindset, which certainly doesn't appeal to me personally. Have you considered that this style may actually be an inherent nature of river cruising in general? I can't say, because this will be our first river cruise, but I did do tons of research and chose AMA because, of all of the lines out there, they seemed to be the one that would allow for the most options for our group of varied ages, abilities and interests,

On our three AMA cruises so far, we have always had the option of active level tours, and escorted bike tours. We did not do the itinerary being discussed here so not sure if that is a difference.

On Avalon, there was no choice at all for more active travelers and they were very slow for us. Those did feel like a bus tour to us and did not suit our travel preferences.

On our three AMA cruises so far, we have always had the option of active level tours, and escorted bike tours. We did not do the itinerary being discussed here so not sure if that is a difference.

 

On Avalon, there was no choice at all for more active travelers and they were very slow for us. Those did feel like a bus tour to us and did not suit our travel preferences.

I think the availability of guides will greatly effect whether there are active groups, or not. many of the smaller towns may not have enough qualified guides to lead too many multiple groups. Escorted biking tours are definitely not offered at every stop. In some ways, "it is what it is", there are some towns that just don't have enough attractions to make a lot of different tours worthwhile. That is why many port stops are short in duration. We are not "bus tour" people either, but on river cruises you sometimes have to go along with the program if you want to see much. Most major city ports will offer you the opportunity to DIY.

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As has been brought up in other threads, it would help everyone if all the cruise lines information included much more detailed itineraries. Their brochures /books are large enough to include this with the caveat that there could be deviations due to unforeseen situations. I have no idea what we will receive with our final cruise docs so maybe it is included with those but it's too late then and certainly too late if you don't find out until after you board! I do not know why it has to be such a mystery.

Back from our last day on the river in Pecs, Hungary. Today worked the way we had had hoped for and anticipated. Bus from Mohacs to Pecs with good info from excellent guides. Most passengers followed the guides on tours, but we were free to wander on our own. We were given maps, and the busses remained where we were dropped off. A few passengers went on bike tours as well. This was the first time there was any mention of an "active walkers" group, but it was never announced. The cruise manager just sort of toldeople he thought might be interested. We chose to walk independently.

I do think that the itinerary had a lot to do with the difficulties we had in traveling independently, and tour options were limited. Only two "limited edition" tours were offered I believe (cooking and some kind of visit to a brandy distillery, I believe). We usually had a choice of two regular excursions, but they were both bus-based with walking in fairly large groups behind guides with "lollipop" signs. On our itinerary, I would rate the DIY availability as follows:

Good--easy to tour on your own: Vidin, Bulgaria; Novi Sad, Serbia; Pecs, Hungary

Possible with research and careful coordination with Cruise Manager--Belgrade (shuttle busses provided in the afternoon, but we ended up on a tour we didn't want and couldn't escape from in the morning).

Virtually impossible--Bucharest, Romania (far from port and highly regimented group touring). We managed about 45 minutes to see something specific before sprinting back to meet the bus) and Vukovar, Croatia (our only choices were wine-tasting or civil war memorial tours. No option for independent exploration.

I need to say clearly that the tours we did take had nice busses, good organization, and excellent guides. If you are good with group touring, you should be very pleased with AMA. For us they were certainly a cut above Avalon in quality in every respect. I just posted this information for travelers like we are who always either hire private guides or walk towns ourselves. Hope the info is useful.

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Just back from Ama Danube. My husband rode the three guided bike tours and thoroughly enjoyed them...even the one on which they became drenched! He said the bikes were good and the tour guides did a good job. We did have distinct walking level groups. Several people participated in the 'slow walkers' group. And, during one tour, one particular lady didn't think she could continue with the regular walking group and our tour guide arranged for the guide of the slow walkers to come get her.

There were times I'd wished we'd had a little more time in certain towns. But, it just means I'll have to go back.

Thank you all for the great input. I must say that I spent tons of time today on the itinerary and doing research online, I think I have come up with a very exciting plan that is a combination of AMA offered tours, optional tours, DIY and Limited Edition activities (of which I signed up for two). We have already arranged for privates guides on both ends (Prague and Budapest). I just can't imagine that we will feel like a bus tour on water, but we'll see.

I do have a couple of questions, which I will send to AMA, and hopefully get a response prior to cruising.

Just off AMA....yes, there was an onboard booking incentive. I don't remember exactly what it was, though.

Thanks!!

Back from our last day on the river in Pecs, Hungary. Today worked the way we had had hoped for and anticipated. Bus from Mohacs to Pecs with good info from excellent guides. Most passengers followed the guides on tours, but we were free to wander on our own. We were given maps, and the busses remained where we were dropped off. A few passengers went on bike tours as well. This was the first time there was any mention of an "active walkers" group, but it was never announced. The cruise manager just sort of toldeople he thought might be interested. We chose to walk independently.

 

I do think that the itinerary had a lot to do with the difficulties we had in traveling independently, and tour options were limited. Only two "limited edition" tours were offered I believe (cooking and some kind of visit to a brandy distillery, I believe). We usually had a choice of two regular excursions, but they were both bus-based with walking in fairly large groups behind guides with "lollipop" signs. On our itinerary, I would rate the DIY availability as follows:

 

Good--easy to tour on your own: Vidin, Bulgaria; Novi Sad, Serbia; Pecs, Hungary

 

Possible with research and careful coordination with Cruise Manager--Belgrade (shuttle busses provided in the afternoon, but we ended up on a tour we didn't want and couldn't escape from in the morning).

 

Virtually impossible--Bucharest, Romania (far from port and highly regimented group touring). We managed about 45 minutes to see something specific before sprinting back to meet the bus) and Vukovar, Croatia (our only choices were wine-tasting or civil war memorial tours. No option for independent exploration.

 

I need to say clearly that the tours we did take had nice busses, good organization, and excellent guides. If you are good with group touring, you should be very pleased with AMA. For us they were certainly a cut above Avalon in quality in every respect. I just posted this information for travelers like we are who always either hire private guides or walk towns ourselves. Hope the info is useful.

 

 

 

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This is very helpful info...we had an idea that this itinerary had less options for "independent" - you can see on the map how far Bucharest and Belgrade are from the port! But this will help us prepare ourselves!

Thanks for your review, I'm glad to know about the clothes line, I plan to do some wash and hang, since I have things that shouldn't be dried.

 

Also, interesting about the tours. We've set up completely independent private guides in Budapest and Istanbul, rather than do group tours with AMA. I'm hoping to do some biking tours, special active tours or just independent exploring in the other stops along the Danube. My DH won't ever get back on a river cruise if he's stuck on a bus with 55 people, or at lunch with 3 busses full!:eek: So here's hoping that doesn't happen to us, or our first will be the last ;) If we like AMA, we are considering booking on board for 2016...possibly Vietnam Cambodia? Do you know if there are any on board booking incentives offered?

Just off AMA and there was a 5% future cruise benefit discount.

Just off AMA and there was a 5% future cruise benefit discount.

Thank you Yvie! We are thinking Vietnam. But your Spain and France trip sounds neat too , did you enjoy it?

We're headed in a few days to do the Romantic Danube on AMA Sonata. We have friends from Salzburg who would like to meet up with us in Linz and drive us to a totally different town for the day. Does AMA allow you to go out totally on your own as long as you are back at the boat before it departs that evening?

We're headed in a few days to do the Romantic Danube on AMA Sonata. We have friends from Salzburg who would like to meet up with us in Linz and drive us to a totally different town for the day. Does AMA allow you to go out totally on your own as long as you are back at the boat before it departs that evening?

Absolutely. You aren't a prisoner to the included excursions.

We're headed in a few days to do the Romantic Danube on AMA Sonata. We have friends from Salzburg who would like to meet up with us in Linz and drive us to a totally different town for the day. Does AMA allow you to go out totally on your own as long as you are back at the boat before it departs that evening?

On a recent GCT river cruise one of the travelers overnighted off the ship with a friend. I would assume that other lines also allow this. He got his passport before leaving the ship . . . No issues that we heard about

We're headed in a few days to do the Romantic Danube on AMA Sonata. We have friends from Salzburg who would like to meet up with us in Linz and drive us to a totally different town for the day. Does AMA allow you to go out totally on your own as long as you are back at the boat before it departs that evening?

We often go for full days on our own and have sometimes over nighted (with AMA). Just let reception know of your plans.

Thank you all for the great input. I must say that I spent tons of time today on the itinerary and doing research online, I think I have come up with a very exciting plan that is a combination of AMA offered tours, optional tours, DIY and Limited Edition activities (of which I signed up for two). We have already arranged for privates guides on both ends (Prague and Budapest). I just can't imagine that we will feel like a bus tour on water, but we'll see.

I do have a couple of questions, which I will send to AMA, and hopefully get a response prior to cruising.

We are doing AMAPrima in September Prague to Budapest. I am curious which private guided tours you are doing and who did you book them with? Also, how do we contact AMA directly?

Thanks