AMA Waterways Tulip Time, a couple of questions.

[AmyLou666]

My husband and I are considering the Ama Tulip cruise. My husband has a couple of questions/concerns. The first question may be the easier of the 2. Do they close the sundeck on this cruise. This was a huge disappointment on the Main River cruise.

My second question is does anyone know exactly which bodies of water this cruise follows, the brochure is a bit vague.

Finally, do people use the pool in March and April? I know it's chilly that time of year.

Thanks everyone

[gnome12]

I wasn't on Ama I was on Uniworld. However, I don't remember thrm closing the sundeck. I too was surprised how often it was closed on the Main.

We had no pool, but I would be amazed if it was filled. I went in the second half of April, and at the beginning of the trip I was wearing a heavy fleece, gloves, earmuffs and a warm scarf. At the end, particularly the day at Keukenhof, it was warm enough to be in shirtsleeves, but I would never have considered using a pool.

 

As regards the rivers, much of our trip was on canals. At some point we were on parts of the Rhine, but this trip isn't really about the sailing.

Edited March 18, 2017 by gnome12

[Lois R]

Good morning, I sailed Tulip Time on AMA last April and it was FABULOUS:D......that cruise was in my top 2 cruises ever.

The sundeck was open and as for the name of the Rivers........I honestly don't remember........they were noted as the

"Belgium Waterways"......(if I recall) I know they were not the famous ones we all think of......Rhine, Rhone, Danube, etc....

but don't let that deter you......it really was a wonderful trip. I posted a review and it is on the Member's review section if

you want to read it,

Oh, it was cool out every day but I did see a few folks using the deck over the week.

[aldukenew]

My husband and I are considering the Ama Tulip cruise. My husband has a couple of questions/concerns. The first question may be the easier of the 2. Do they close the sundeck on this cruise. This was a huge disappointment on the Main River cruise.

My second question is does anyone know exactly which bodies of water this cruise follows, the brochure is a bit vague.

Finally, do people use the pool in March and April? I know it's chilly that time of year.

Thanks everyone

 

We did this cruise on the AmaCerto in April 2013 and enjoyed it enough to be going on our 3rd Ama cruise this September! We were up on the sun deck several times - very windy and chilly, but not closed. We never saw anyone in the pool. As mentioned, the waterways names were not well known, but it doesn't matter. We had a fantastic trip!

 

Allyson

[notamermaid]

Hello AmyLou666,

 

the Main is "notorious" for sun deck closure. I think it is mostly the combination of low bridges and ships built to maximum height / allowance for sailing under those bridges, mainly in the Main Danube Canal. The sundeck is closed so much because putting the railings down and back up and allowing passengers on the deck only to tell them to leave half an hour later would be time consuming. The situation is indeed different on the Tulip itinerary. I have so far not read about anybody complaining of sun deck closure.

 

The rivers: you will mostly be on the Amsterdam Rhine canal (that was only opened in 1952) connecting the Nederrijn and Waal to the port of Amsterdam. The Rhine in this low lying region is sort of two rivers, i.e. the ones I have just mentioned. Then there is the Maas that the ship might use, perhaps also the Lek. I am not familiar with the itinerary. You can have a look at this map, there is a quite a good one concentrating on the water carried by the rivers on German wikipedia. I am just posting to the map that is the second one embedded in the page: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flusssystem_des_Rheins#/media/File:Map_of_the_annual_average_discharge_of_Rhine_and_Maas_2000-2011_(DE).png

 

Hope this helps.

 

notamermaid

[AmyLou666]

Thank you everyone for the information. It is all helpful. I think I want to go on this cruise because by March I am so sick of winter. I just want to see flowers.

[xmaser]

If you go to Antwerp, you will probably do some sailing on the Scheldt. The Scheldt dock is right in the old city.