Danube river cruise

[NMTraveller]

OK.  We are getting ready to book a 14 day Danube river cruise.  Which direction on the river is best?  Any preference for Ama Bella or Ama Verde?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Welcome to River Cruising!

 

I assume you are planning on the itinerary from Amsterdam to Budapest (or vice versa).  There are several considerations as to direction:

•  air travel – check the flights from your nearest airport to each destination for non-stops, number of flights a day, and length of travel – then decide whether you prefer the easier flight at the beginning or end

•  days before and after the cruise – always plan for air travel delays/cancellations/lost baggage and jet lag: which city would you prefer to spend a day or two before the cruise? do you have time to add after the cruise ends? – in my experience this would be the biggest factor in choosing direction, and I would go from Amsterdam [easy to fly to, less chance of lost luggage before trip, interesting city but doesn't need more than a day or two] to Budapest [lots to do and opportunity to add more days in Vienna and Prague]

•  river current – from Amsterdam you will be on the Rhine, which flows west but the current shouldn't really affect your trip much; in Germany etc. you will be on the Danube, which flows east – the current on the Danube might give you a little more time in ports if you are sailing east with the current

•  side of ship – river ships dock facing upstream [so the current can split over the bow] – this will affect which cabins are on the river side, BUT you don't know which side of the river the docks are on AND even on the river side of the ship there may be another ship (or ships) 'rafted' onto you destroying the view

•  AmaBella and AmaVerde are of the same generation of AmaWaterways ships and should be basically identical in design and condition (Bella is technically one year older, but this shouldn't make a difference) and both are good choices.  

•  If you haven't done a river cruise before, you also need to thing about which category of cabin you want.  On those ships I would choose AB for size, location, and the twin balconies.  Other on this forum find that the 'aquarium class' cabins [E and D] are just fine and save them lots of money.  I wouldn't recommend C because they are closer to the engines and might have some annoying noise, or any cabin on the Violin Deck because they might have noise from the Sun Deck above.

 

There's lots more information for new river cruisers in the stickies at the top of this forum.

 

Bon Voyage!

[NMTraveller]

We are doing the Grand Danube -> Vilshofen -> Giurgiu or the other way.  Perhaps we chose one or the other according to which city we want to stay in pre cruise.  We won't have much time post cruise.  Thanks for the comments.  Any ideas on which city would be better to stay in pre cruise?

Edited November 27, 2019 by NMTraveller

[G.M.T.]

If your embarcation port is Vilshofen, then either Prague which is a 3 hour drive away or Munich and all its palaces about 2 hours away. Or on a smaller sacale Passau which is 15 minutes away.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I would travel Vilshofen to Giurgiu because flights to Germany should be easier and more frequent, and as @G.M.T. noted you have a choice of interesting cities to explore pre-cruise.  Going home from Romania you will surely have to change planes, but I would rather arrive home exhausted [and possibly without luggage] than start a trip that way!  However others have expressed the idea that the cruise itself is more interesting in the other direction, as you move from still-underdeveloped eastern Europe to more and more developed areas.

[NMTraveller]

Thanks all.  I think that we will do Giurgiu to Vilshofen.  Thanks for outlining the pros and cons of each.  We will try to add more time post cruise.