Did the AmaWaterways AmaMagna - help with next choice

[castle701]

So 20 of us were lucky to sail on the AMA Magna and just loved it - it was a first rivercruise for all. We all want to do another but honestly don't see one that stack's up to the luxury we had on our previous trip. We are highly considering Uniworld's new SAO Gabriel to Portugal - while it seems lovely the cabins are very small and I'm wondering if the ship itself will be too small for us - new is nice so we are considering as of now. Looked at some of AMA's other new ships and the time frame we are looking at, there are no suites that remain so that crosses them off the list. Crystal is lovely but not too sure we want to cruise in Germany again since we did that previously. The only other is Scenic and their reviews lately do not seem too good and they have not had a new ship in awhile. Any suggestions on something I may have missed. Looking for September 2022.

many thanks

[Host Jazzbeau]

Not sure what the new ship comment means.  River ships don't age quickly, and most river cruise lines tend to build several ships in the same generation over a number of years.  Since all river cruising stops every winter there's plenty of time for cosmetic drydocks to keep all the ships fresh, so every ship built to the same spec should be pretty much as nice as the newest.  AMA has fairly large cabins if you are willing to upgrade [e.g. BA 235sf], the IMHO the double-balcony idea is not a good use of space.  We have had several really good cruises with AMA, but right now I am starting to look more at Scenic – which again has nice large cabins if you upgrade [e.g. the royal balcony suite at 360sf with a separate sitting area and very large bathroom].

[gnome12]

24 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

IMHO the double-balcony idea is not a good use of space. 

I found the same thing when I cruised with AMA. The outdoor balcony was really small, and the French balcony side just seemed to be a small alcove off of the bedroom. I would have been much happier with a full French balcony and more bedroom space, even though I don't share it with anyone else.

[Canal archive]

The ‘newest’ Scenic boat cruises the Douro but only in the last two or three years the fleet has had a complete makeover. Try Emerald which comes under the Scenic banner they have a swimming pool. CA