Avalon or AMA for a Danube river cruise in 2014?

[stipmom]

Want to see both Prague and Budapest. Pros and cons of each cruise line please. Will be our first river cruise .Thanks

[alexandra cruiser]

and sure everyone has their FAVORITE line and ship. Out of 10 river cruises and different lines, the AMAcerto(AMA) from Prague to Budapest has been one of my favorites.Loved the 2 balcony cabin,quality of guides and personnel onboard and off.Meals seem a bit better(NOT like Ocean ships,but GOOD.)

Liked Avalon,but (all things being considered,AMA would be my preference.);)

[jafslg1]

Hands down AMA. Did Budapest to Prague on AMALyra. Make sure to spend extra time; at least 2 days in Budapest and 3 in Prague.

[sippican]

I did quite a bit of research for our group of 16. We ended up booking the new AMAPrima, Prague to Budapest, for 2014. I am eager to hear reviews of her maiden voyage.

[bocaraton]

We are doing Ama from Passau to Budapest on June 25...Will spend 3 days in Prague First and hope to spend 2 days in Budapest after. Any suggestions? Is anyone going on this tour interested hiring sharing cost of a private guide for one day in each of above cities and Vienna to do sites of Jewish Historical interest that Ama is not covering on this cruise? Does anyone know if a forum exists specifically for this cruise?

Please reply by private message or to: themayblums@yahoo.com. Thank you all. We are experienced cruisers but have never done a river cruise before.

[caviargal]

We did several Avalon cruises before discovering AMA and never looked back.

 

We prefer AMA for :

 

- Superior food quality, including the wonderful cheese boards at lunch and dinner

- Nicer included wines

- Less congested dining room lay out

- Staff and crew who were warm and gracious versus the more formal style of Avalon.

- We really enjoyed the engaging CDs on our AMA cruises. Avalon's CDs were efficient and professional but the CDs on AMA were delightful as well as excellent.

- More diversity in included tours including active pace, biking, culinary.

- Twin balcony staterooms which are bright and unique

- Power showers in the bathrooms

- masseuse on board

- more lively in the evenings than Avalon

 

We have two more AMA cruises booked and leave in 4 weeks for Tulips and Windmills on the AmaBella.

[Buddysmom10]

Oh no!

 

We could not decide between the two but have chosen Avalon as the dates worked out better for us.

 

Seems like AMA is better.

This will be our first (in May). We have nothing to compare it to since it is our first river cruise but I'm sure we will have a great time!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We have two more AMA cruises booked and leave in 4 weeks for Tulips and Windmills on the AmaBella.

 

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to your review as this is on our future cruise list.

[jojocmcla]

We're cruising the Danube on AmaLyra in May, Prague (Nuremberg) to Budapest, with 2 days pre-cruise in Prague and 3 days post-cruise in Budapest. We received our cruise packets last weekend; so, I'm really getting excited! I'm already starting to "put things aside" to pack. Half the fun of the trip is in the planning and anticipation! :)

 

jafslg1, I'd love to read a review of your trip.

[purduemom1]

We're cruising the Danube on AmaLyra in May, Prague (Nuremberg) to Budapest, with 2 days pre-cruise in Prague and 3 days post-cruise in Budapest. We received our cruise packets last weekend; so, I'm really getting excited! I'm already starting to "put things aside" to pack. Half the fun of the trip is in the planning and anticipation! :)

 

 

Looking forward to your review. We are doing Prague to Budapest on AMA in the fall. What hotel are you staying at in Prague and is it thru' AMA?

 

Thanks and have a great cruise.

[Sylve1]

Oh no!

 

We could not decide between the two but have chosen Avalon as the dates worked out better for us.

 

Seems like AMA is better.

This will be our first (in May). We have nothing to compare it to since it is our first river cruise but I'm sure we will have a great time!

 

Don't worry at all. We went on a Avalon Prague to Budapest. It was absolutely wonderful. Couldn't complain about a thing! The beds were like clouds, the meals great, the staff attentive and the itinerary fantastic. One of our most memorable holidays. :)

[Cobbie48]

Don't worry at all. We went on a Avalon Prague to Budapest. It was absolutely wonderful. Couldn't complain about a thing! The beds were like clouds, the meals great, the staff attentive and the itinerary fantastic. One of our most memorable holidays. :)

 

We too did Avalon Prague to Budapest last year. The cruise was amazing. Staff were wonderful, good food, wine and beer. Booking another Avalon cruise for summer 2015

[KathyK13]

We did the Avalon Prague(Nuremberg) to Budapest in late August 2013. We chose that particular cruise over AMA based on dates when we could take time off work, price (Avalon had a $1000 off special price), and offered tours. We loved Avalon. Our tour director was Nynke and she was amazing. Very professional, knowledgeable, helpful and had a great sense of humor! All the staff were great and eager to help in every way.

 

The food was excellent. Our chef was Stefan, an excellent cook and quite a character! You won't be disappointed if he's your chef. There were a meat, seafood, and vegetarian options at dinner and you could always order steak or chicken if you the evening's menu didn't appeal. The included wine was excellent and flowed freely! I didn't care for the beer served at dinner because I prefer dark beer, but others seemed happy with it. There is a happy hour with 2 for 1 prices before dinner.

 

Breakfast and lunch were buffets, with a wide assortment of hot and cold choices. Some people have complained on this site that they don't like having a lunch buffet but would prefer a served meal. I prefer the buffet as you can choose what you want and can have a quick lunch. Except for the day spent cruising the Wachau valley, the ship is docked during the day and I'd rather spend the time touring.

 

I liked that Avalon included a daily tour which was usually in the morning and then either another tour in the afternoon for a fee or you could be on your own. There were a few all day tours that had a fee as well. This was our first tour we have been on as we usually travel on our own, and I wanted the flexibility to have time to ourselves. We went on a few of the additional tours and went off on our own on other days. The tours were all very good and the guides were excellent. Avalon did offer a slower paced option for the tours. We took the regular paced tours, and thought the pace was just right.

 

My husband and I are both early 60s. The age range was 50s to 80s, with the average being probably late 60s. The passengers were mostly from the US and Canada with several couples from Australia and New Zealand. We met a variety of people that we enjoyed spending time with.

 

There were events in the lounge a few evenings (a beer tasting, chocolate tasting, crew show, etc). Other evenings there was music in the lounge. A lot of people just went back to their rooms after dinner because everyone is tired after a long day of touring, but there were others who did go to the lounge for dancing after dinner.

 

We just did the cruise portion of the trip, so I can't speak about the Prague or Budapest parts of the trip. We spent a few days in Munich on our own before the cruise started, then took the train to Nuremberg to meet the ship. We spent 3 days in Budapest on our own at the end of the cruise.

 

Overall, we had an amazing time. This was our first(and probably not last!) cruise, so I can't compare to AMA. But I think you'll be very happy with Avalon.

[Buddysmom10]

We are also flying into Munich for a few days, then taking a train to Nuremberg and then the cruise to Budapest.

[bocaraton]

We too did Avalon Prague to Budapest last year. The cruise was amazing. Staff were wonderful, good food, wine and beer. Booking another Avalon cruise for summer 2015

 

We ended up doing Ama this coming June. They had dates we wanted. Anyway does anyone know about cell phone use in those countries? can u use same sim card in Austria, Hungary and Czech.

[KathyK13]

Our cell phone provider is AT&T. We had to pay for a month of international calling, data, and texting. I think it was around $90. It was worth it just to be able to use the map on my phone! I don't know what options other providers have.

[KathyK13]

We are also flying into Munich for a few days, then taking a train to Nuremberg and then the cruise to Budapest.

 

It was easy to get to Nuremberg from Munich. There's a high speed train that leaves from the main train station, and it's a short cab ride to the dock. We bought our tickets ahead of time to make sure we had a seat on the train we wanted to take.

[jojocmcla]

What date do you start your cruise in Nuremberg? I think we start May 2 on AMALyra.

 

We are also flying into Munich for a few days, then taking a train to Nuremberg and then the cruise to Budapest.

[bocaraton]

What date do you start your cruise in Nuremberg? I think we start May 2 on AMALyra.

 

Decided on Ama leaving Vilshofen on June 25 to Prague. Guess we will not meet. Have a great time!!