Just Back From Our Absolutely AMAzing Romantic Danube Cruise on the AmaWaterways AmaVerde 9/26-10/3/21

[Sleep7]

Also found an unexpected and thoughtful gift from AMA waiting in the cabin for us.

[Sleep7]

Also must mention that the bed and bedding was the most comfortable I have ever experienced on a cruise.  Mattress just right.. bedding felt like about 1,000,000 thread count!

[Sleep7]

We chose the "City of Three Rivers" walking tour and it was leisurely and interesting.

We smiled at the name as our youngest daughter goes to school in Pittsburgh which is also a city of three rivers.

Passau has been flooded many times.. here are some of the highest water levels.

 

[Sleep7]

On the ship and off the ship COVID precautions were everywhere.

 

[Sleep7]

Passau was a charming city.. even more charming in the warm September sunshine.

 

Looking up at the ceiling of the staircase of the main church.

 

 

[Sleep7]

Back on the ship after the tour and a little walking around on our own in Passau.

MUST give a shout out to one of the most pleasant daily activities of the cruise.. the late afternoon hour-long "Sip and Sail."

Beverages are complimentary and it gives everyone plenty of time to chat with their cruise mates about what you did that day and what your plans are for the next.  Also loved to hear the daily briefing from Cruise Manager Pau about the upcoming schedule.  A truly delightful way to spend an hour between touring and dinner.🍷🥤🥃

 

And now onto dinner..

Always artfully presented of course!

Edited October 4, 2021 by Sleep7

[Sleep7]

[Sleep7]

This was a view of our balcony from last night while we were going through a lock that was only inches from the side of the ship.  Way to go Captain Ivan!

 

Also a view in the morning between the AMA Verde and another ship parked right next to us.

 

 

[Sleep7]

We docked in Linz and embarked on what turned out to be my favorite tour of the trip - the full day excursion to Salzburg. 

Two hours on the bus with a short restroom break and then onto our first stop at the Basilika St Michael in Mondsee, Austria where the wedding in the "Sound of Music" was filmed.

Here is the video.. it never gets old!

 

[Sleep7]

Also in Mondsee.. the trees where the Captain was driving by as his children were hanging off the branches.. called them "local urchins" before he realized they were his own! 😆

[Sleep7]

Then onto Salzburg!  Home of Mozart and the famous Mozart candies!

[Ritabob]

Thank you for your in depth report.  There are so many of us itching to cruise again and this is giving us the 'fix' we crave. 😉

RB

[Sleep7]

Hohensalzburg Castle sits atop the city.

 

Mozart was born here.

 

 

Thank goodness for H & M and their 19.99 Euro sweaters.. much colder in Salzburg than I expected.

 

 

 

[Sleep7]

Oh you're so welcome Ritabob! I'm reliving the trip so it's so fun for me too!

[Sleep7]

We ate lunch at a great order at the counter fish restaurant.

Very clean and nice restrooms upstairs too.

HOWEVER..  I should have looked more carefully at the picture on the door.  I saw a ponytail on the person and assumed it was a the lady's room.  Whoops!

 

Actually turned out to be the men's room!😯

 

 

[Sleep7]

More from Salzburg besides silly mixed up toilet stories! 😁

Soon to be relics.. public pay phones..

 

Interesting about these "Guild shields."

The guide told us that in "olden times" most people couldn't read.  The store keepers needed a way to show the the public what they were selling so they hung up signs with a picture of what type of shop it was.  This shop sold pants.  Pants that probably went into a men's room if they took time to read the writing on the door! 🤣

[Sleep7]

Back from Salzburg.. enjoyed the sip and sail and now onto dinner!

 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by Sleep7

[ljandgb]

Wow, very in depth descriptions.  Thanks so much.  We just cruised with Avalon and this is a nice way to compare the two lines.

[Sleep7]

Thanks ljandgb!  Yes.. it is fun to compare the lines.😊

[Sleep7]

And now I must take a break from bathroom door mixups, H & M sweaters and crepe suzettes.. to give a BIG shout out to Pau our Cruise Manager for totally taking care of a problem for us.

Two nights before we left the USA for our cruise we received an email alert from AMA Waterways saying that the lock between Bratislava and Budapest was going to be closed unexpectedly due to repairs.  Because of that, our ship would not be able to sail to Budapest as planned on Saturday October 2nd, which was the day before our flight home on Sunday October 3rd.

It was a tricky situation for us because we had a 6:30 am flight from Budapest on Sunday morning and with the ship still docked 3 hours away in Bratislava there is no way that we could get to the airport in Budapest in time for our very early morning flight.

We spoke to Pau about it on embarkation day and right away he said "don't worry at all.. I will take care of it for you. Your job is is to relax and enjoy your vacation and my job is to worry and solve this for you."  And take care of it he did. 👌

He spoke with the powers that be and said that AMA will put us up in the Marriott in Budapest for the last night of the cruise and as we had purchased transfers with AMA, they will provide us with a 4am car to the airport.  Pau arranged it all.. from the hotel booking.. to the airport car.. to where to put our luggage.. to the drop off at the Marriott after the tours.. to even dinner at the hotel that evening.

There were a thousand moving parts to this and he took care of everything with a smile.

He is the best! We are Pau fans!!!👏

Our problem solver Pau!

 

[Sleep7]

Oh no.. Wednesday already.. half way done with our cruise.. dirty laundry bag getting bigger than the clean clothes hanging in the closet.😕

[Sleep7]

Wednesday dawned and it was an overcast and leisurely morning on the Danube.  Most of the guests, including us, were on the top deck gazing at the sheer beauty of the Wachau Valley.  We sipped on Kaiserspritzers (sparkling wine, soda and a dash of elderflower syrup) and nibbled small homemade onion tarts while sailing by picturesque vineyards and imposing castles.

We also went through one of the many locks of the cruise.. this one at Melk.

Here is what it looked like in stages..

 

 

[Sleep7]

[Daisi]

Sounds as if you had a great trip, and so glad the weather was good.  Nice to hear that your CD did all that arranging, and that AMA looked after all the expenses, that is something I wouldn't have expected.

 

Looking forward to more reports... 🙂 

[Sleep7]

Hi Daisi!

Yes.. we did have a wonderful trip and were super lucky about the weather too.

Our Cruise Manager was fantastic and AMA was extremely generous about solving an issue that really wasn't their doing. Thumbs up to AMA.  First rate operation!!!