Amadeus Amalegro

[AliceS]

OK Who has sailed on this ship? I've been reading that the food is not the best. I said before that there's a beer and brat in most ports, so that's not an issue. That isn't the biggest problem in the world to me. I have advised my husband not to take a sport coat. Will that be a mistake? He doesn't care about dressing up that much. He doesn't mind, but I read here that most men don't dress up that much for the meals. Right? My biggest question is, how have you enjoyed the tours, the scenery, the ship itself? Any other issues worth mention?

[kptbylorraine]

We are back from the Amalegro Paris - Prague cruise. I promised I'd write a review so here goes:

 

I have to eat my words [ no pun intended ] for criticizing the person who had some complaints about the dining room service and food. I was disappointed because I thought the Amadeus food would be a little better than some of the other river cruise lines. We sailed on Peter Deilmann a few years ago and the quality and variety were much better. I am not comparing the food to large cruise lines - everything is on a very small scale and certainly can't compete with Regent or Crystal. But I thought there should have been more imagination. I got tired of seeing the same pastries on the breakfast buffet every morning and the same salads for lunch.This did not keep me from gaining five pounds on the trip. The waiters were not very professional but we chose one we liked and tried to sit at one of his tables.

The ship itself was very nice. Of course it's only a couple of months old so everything was bright and shiny. We had a cabin with a French "balcony" which was roomy and comfortable. Passengers were mostly American with a few from Australia and NZ.

Dress was very casual. No sportjackets necessary. My husband brought a tie but didn't wear it.

The best part of our trip was the fantastic cruise director. His name is John Riley and everyone aboard agreed that we were very fortunate to have him. He coordinated every tour, bus, guide, special event, etc. perfectly. This made our trip run sooo smoothly. Everything went like clockwork. The guides were informative, spoke perfect English, and one kept us laughing with funny stories about the local folklore and history.

All in all, we had a great time and would not hesitate to sail Amadeus again. We are already looking at next year's brochure. If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer them.

[mattie00]

Thank you for your comments on the Amalegro. We sail the Budapest to Paris tour commencing in Budapest on June 24th. Was it just the lack of variety in the food offered that was a concern or was quality also a concern? My husband will be quite happy to hear that no jacket/tie will be required! Do you have any idea if John Riley is the cruise director for every cruise on the Amalegro for the near future? Do they provide bottled water for you as you exit the ship for every tour or is that your individual responsibility? Did you stay any extra days in Paris? What was the name of the tour hotel there? Thanks for any pointers that you may be able to give us.

[mcintyre9454]

Can you tell me how long the bus ride is from Prague to Nuremberg where you got the Amalegro? Was it a comfortable ride?

 

Also, did you stay at the Renaissance Prague Hotel? Any tips you can offer for the time you spent in Prague? Also...the same for Paris....did you go off on your own to venture, or did you stick with the cruise tours?

 

Can't wait for our upcoming Prague-Paris tour!

[mcintyre9454]

OOPS...another question! Did you use the bicycles on board? Did you notice if alot of people used them, or if they were easy to nab?

[AliceS]

Is there any refrigeration available? We have insulin to chill.

 

Did you enjoy the wine at dinner? Did they offer beer for non wine drinkers? You didn't seem to enjoy the food, did you eat anywhere off of the ship? Personally, I'm not too worried about the food. I eat anything. I do hope to have some decent meals though.

[steamboats]

kptbylorraine,

 

Regarding the food you can´t compare Amadeus to Deilmann, two different leagues (and prices). To compare these companies won´t be fair to either of them.

 

mcintyre9454,

 

The bus ride from Prague to Nuremberg is about 5 hours depending on traffic.

 

AliceS,

 

Make a search on this board for "insulin". I think the answer for Amadeus was that they can keep it refrigerated in the kitchen and the reception desk staff will be available to get it for you 24/7. Others suggested to keep it refrigerated by using the ice buckets.

 

steamboats

[kptbylorraine]

I will try to answer all your questions as best I can.

I know that John was remaining on the cruise for two more weeks to Istanbul. I have no idea what his schedule was after that.

There are bottles of water in the cabinet in the cabin. The room stewardess will replenish if you ask. There is an ice machine in the hallway.

Several people used the bikes. There were plenty to go around. In one town there was a long bike trail which went along the river. They were able to ride to the next stop where they met us. The terrain is very flat so I guess it was a fairly easy ride.

As steamboats said, I'm sure reception will be happy to assist with refrigerating insulin. The ride from Nuremberg to Prague [we were going in reverse] was about 5 hours. We were held up for about 45 min. at the Czech border because they wanted to see all passports. Be sure to bring you passport on the bus!!! Someone left it in her luggage and had to search for it. All the busses on the trip were modern, comfortable coaches. We made a pit stop on the way at McDonald's on the Czech side. It was interesting to see that all the condiments were kept behind the counter, not out front.

Are you staying at the Sofitel Bercy in Paris? If so, I'll give you more info. We only took the included tour of Paris which was excellent. Don't miss the Eiffel Tower lights at night. On the hour starting at 10PM it twinkles for ten minutes.

The Ren. Prague hotel is very nice. They have an excellent breakfast - much better than the one in Paris. Once again we had an excellent guided tour which lasted about 3 hours.

[kptbylorraine]

The wine was very good at dinner. Glasses were refilled constantly. Beer was not included. We had lunch off the ship a couple of times but otherwise we only ate onboard.

 

There is a self service coffee machine in the lounge. Don't get nervous when you see a line form the first day. It takes everyone awhile to learn how to use it. After that you can help yourself 24/7 which is very nice.

[steamboats]

kptbylorraine,

 

Hhm, according to this press release

 

http://www.modernagent.com/Resources/Editorial.aspx?n=25031

 

beer, wine and soda should be complimentary for dinner (cappccino and espresso with every meal).

 

steamboats

[kptbylorraine]

I may be mistaken, but I did not see anyone being served beer or soda. Iced tea was complimentary. When someone asked for cappucino they were told to order from the bar.

[mcintyre9454]

Lorraine....do you remember between which two stops it was where people rode the bikes instead of the boat? That sounds like alot of fun!

[kptbylorraine]

I believe the bikers rode from Miltenberg to Wertheim. I didn't pay much attention but my husband says the bikes were excellent and a crew member checked out each bike before they left.

[steamboats]

Lorraine,

 

I was just referring to the press release. At least the free bottled water is available.

 

mcintyre9454,

 

There is a bike path along the Danube river from Passau to Vienna. But I don´t know if you got enough time or two stops on a day there.

 

steamboats

[mattie00]

keptbylorraine,

 

We will be staying 5 nights at the Paris Sofitel Bercy. We extended our stay by 2 nights. Any and all information regarding the hotel would be great -- including any interesting cafes/bistros nearby for dinner. Thanks!

[kptbylorraine]

It's great that you're staying 2 extra nights. 3 nights were not enough.

 

The Sofitel is a lovely modern hotel but it is not centrally located. However, the Cour St Emilion metro stop is a 5 minute walk. From there you can be in central Paris in 10 minutes. I would suggest that you get a metro pass instead of individual tkts and ask for a map in the station.

 

The breakfast room is not very inviting and is shared with other tour groups. The buffet breakfast is OK.

 

The Bercy area has been spruced up with a nice pedestrian area where there are several shops and many nice restaurants where you can dine outdoors. We liked Chai 33 and ate there twice. There is also a Starbucks near the metro station.

 

The concierge was very helpful in answering all our touristy questions. He advised us to take the Bateaux Parisien boat trip which was very enjoyable.

[AliceS]

Our brochure lists Renaissance Prague as our pre-cruise hotel, but I read that it is closing for renovations. I don't know where we'll be located. I was looking forward to the Renaissance.

[mattie00]

kptbylorraine - thanks for the hotel information. Did you ever eat in the hotel's outdoor patio? We had already been told that we should buy the metro pass as well as buying a museum pass. Apparently, the museum pass allows you to go to a different and shorter line at the more popular museums. Do you know anything about that? I guess we can get a 5-day pass. We have been told that you need to check all bags and the pass also gets you to the front of that line as well. Our plan is to NOT have excess baggage with us when we are doing the museum tours so that we can avoid the bag check-in line altogether. With respect to boat cruises in Paris, we are not sure that we will want to do that having spent 2 weeks on the rivers.