mdroho34

We were to cruise in September on Magna and rebooked for August 2021 at a fairly good discount to what we were paying this year. If we booked for September 2021 it would have been slightly higher. 2021 is booking up quickly so I was surprised to find even August on sale. 

3 hours ago, knitter said:

Gratuities question- can you charge them on board or do you need cash? I'm guessing cash for the cruise director, but not sure about the stewards, wait staff, etc. Thanks.

BTW: We got a very good air fare thru AMA for a our Normandy cruise next month. Still awaiting documents, however.

Sandy

There is a suggested amount per day per passenger. That covers all the staff on board. You can pay in advance or on board  with cash or credit card. We chose to some small bills on hand throughout the cruise to tip our fav bartender as well as some cash to tip the guides. Clearly that is not what everyone does though as many did not tip them at all. 

16 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

How under construction?  we are looking at the August 2 10 day

We were on AmaKristina and it was incredible.  Sailing on AmaMagna in September this year.  Youtube is a wonderful source for videos made by passengers.  Just go to their site and search names of any of the sister ships and you will always find full ship tours or cabin tours.

On 2/4/2020 at 5:57 PM, Pompein said:

Needing info about SA suites on Magna. Read a trip report and writer said that the music and revelry from the lounge at night could be noisy in tyhe front cabins. Has anyone stayed in the first SA cabins and was noise a problem? I’m looking at 304. Thx!

We are going on Magna in September so I can't speak to that but we were on AmaKristina and the distance from the lounge to the first cabins was separated by the elevator area so once you left the lounge the sound didn't seem to travel.  Perhaps it is the same.  Sadly for us the ship was mostly sold out when we booked Magna for September 20th and we had to take cabin 243, I believe it may be next to captains quarters but not sure so I am also worried about potential sound.  Has anyone been around cabin 243 on Magna?

We sailed in July so breakfast and lunch most were in shorts or sun dresses.  The evenings I would describe it as country club casual. Ladies were in casual dresses or summer dress pants. Men were in docker style pants and some had sports coats on. I did not see any jeans in the dining room during the evening. In fact our teenage boys were with us and recall the cruise director saying no jeans for them. It is very casual but most tend to get cleaned up as another out it for dinner. 

On 1/13/2020 at 6:01 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

"half APT" – good thing the auto-filter didn't take this the wrong way!!!

 

We were recently on a Ponant ocean cruise in the half that was Backroads – we got included tours and other amenities – most other passengers were French, but there may have been some English-speakers.  We are soon to do Ponant directly, but that cruise will be half Tauck and they will get included excursions and I don't know what else.  It definitely changes the vibe of the cruise.

We were on a Ponant Cruise through Croatia this summer.  I would say about 50% of the ship was Backroads.  We are a family of four and picked this knowing there would be a better chance of some younger people on board since the Backroads group were bikers.  Well they were young but sadly for us they really kept to themselves.  We had previously been on AmaKristina and our teenage boys lucked out during our July sailing and had LOTS of teenagers on board.  It was a wonderful very social sailing. We loved the Croatia itinerary but really missed the friendly social aspect on Ponant.  Perhaps it might have been different if Backroads mixed with the rest of us.  Backroads were mainly english speaking as we are but the other guests were all French and were also not interested in mixing too much.  So the ship was lovely and Croatia was but we are back to Ama in September this year for Magna on the Danube in September.  We had nothing but positive things to say about Amsterdam to Basel on AmaKristina so decided we would give them a try.  Backroads had all excursions included and ours were in fact extra.  They seemed to be very busy though.  They left the ship before we were even up and were always the last on board.  Not a lot of resting other than when we were at sea.  Looking forward to AmaMagna in September.

We did AmaKristina Amsterdam to Basel and it hooked us on the company and river cruising.  Amazing experience you will love it.  We heard a bit of noise the first night when he was pushing hard up river to get us in the right spot to see castle gorge during the right time of day but other than that it was crazy smooth and quiet the entire trip.

Oh thanks very much.  I had trouble finding any boards or groups for this sailing so thrilled I found someone that has been on the ship.  One last question, we will be with an 18 year and 20 year old.  They say it is country club casual, do you think they will be fine in nice dress shorts and a colored shirt in the dining room?  They say they have switched to gratuities included in our booking price but wonder if tipping is still common over and above that?  Any other advice would be much appreciated.  Thanks so much.

Hi there, family of four on Ponant Le Lyrial to Croatia out of Venice July 29th wondering if anyone on the ship on this site?  Also, has anyone been on Le Lyrial on a Croatian cruise, wondering if the waters are rough in August.  Ly Lyrial is not a big ship only about 250 passengers but does say it heads into a lot of bays along the Croatian coast so hoping it isn't too rough.  Anyone have an experience with Adriatic at that time of year so advise if it is typically calm or not?  Thanks everyone.

Re: adapters. There are USB ports by the bed and European plugs. They do have a few adapters available at reception to borrow if you don’t have one. With the USB plugs I haven’t needed to pull out my own adapters.

Thanks for checking on binoculars and the power outlets. Much appreciated. Leave this month so very excited. Hoping river levels are good while we are there.

I’m onboard right now and haven’t seen any but I’ll look tomorrow just to maje sure.

Thanks. Enjoy your trip.

Has anyone noticed binoculars available for use on AmaKristina? So many castles was thinking a small pair might be nice to have a long to get a closer look.

Found this under the FAQ section on the AMA website: Electricity on board all ships is 220v, with 2-pin power outlets. You will need an adapter, and/or converter depending on which electrical appliances you bring with you.

We have been on 3 AMA ships, but not the AMAKristina, and they were all 220V. And all ships had hair dryers, but I don't remember if they were fixed in the bathroom, or portable handheld types. I travel with a small hair dryer with dual voltage to be sure I can dry my hair seated in front of the mirror in the bedroom. In addition to a converter be sure to take adapter plugs to fit the outlets.

Just a thought...for future trips to Europe we are planning to purchase a converter which has an attached electrical cord and multiple outlets so we can plug in multiple devices at one time. Have found several priced under $40 that have good reviews.

I submitted a lengthy review on Sunday, June 3rd, 2018, but I've yet to see it posted. I did receive the email from Cruise Critic saying they received it, and it would be published when it had been checked for content, but that was six days ago and nothing yet. It did not take that long in the past to have a review posted. Has anyone had a similiar experience in not having the review posted in a timely manner? Thanks

Has it been published yet? Haven't see it yet but not exactly sure where it will be posted.

I was on two different AMA ships and they both had the hair dryers in the bathroom vanity. One thing to know, which I learned the hard way, is you have to hold the "cool" button while you are drying your hair to get heat. They plug into the outlet behind the mirror. Also, there is a power bar available to give you more outlets but you will need a converter for your IPhone charger. The converters were a little different in Switzerland than the one I had with me. I borrowed an extra one from the ship which was no problem to have for charging batteries, ipad, etc. I would think the AMAKristina would have the same systems as the Serena and the Dante.

Can anyone that has been on AmaKristina please confirm what power is on the ship? Do I need a convertor for iPhone wall chargers? Are you also able to confirm there actually was hair dryers. The site says there are and that everything is 220V so think I don't need to bring a hair dryer and think I must bring a convertor for our wall chargers but would love to confirm that with someone having been on the ship. Thanks everyone.

We do no find movement on a river cruise ship. The rivers are pretty calm and the ship is long. What you may get is a vibration from the bow thrusters and some engine noise and sometimes when you go in the locks, the ship will move sideways a little but its not the same as being on an ocean cruise ship for movement. We were in room 332 last week and we had no real movement.

Thanks.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=619617

Not sure if that link works but that is a great review of the AmaKristina posted in a different spot on this website.

We just came back from the Amsterdam to Basel on the AmaKristina. You will love it! You will have plenty of time sailing during daytime to view the scenery. Some days we sailed in the mornings (in addition to over night) and did excursions in the afternoon, one day we had excursion in the morning and then sailed right after lunch. You'll have the opportunity to go through locks during daylight as well -- that was very interesting!

Thanks for the reply. My son has sadly developed some inner ear issues and gets dizzy some days so what I am really wondering are there ever nights that you aren't sailing while you are sleeping? Did you find your room had a lot of movement? We are in rooms 320 and 322. Thanks for your help.

We are doing Amsterdam to Basel on July 23/18 on AmaKristina. Does anyone that has sailed the Rhine before know if you are typically sailing overnight or are you ever docked while you sleep? Unlike ocean cruising there is so much so see while cruising I just wondered if you always cruised while you were sleeping or that was sometimes just during the day so you can see the scenery.

Thanks everyone.

Hope you love the river cruise experience as much as we do. We are leaving in a week for our Rhine river cruise. I will be posting a review when I return and we are also staying in Lucern, so we will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Will you post a link to your review on this Thread or will we have to look elsewhere for it?

Does anyone know how we prepay our gratuities? I looked online on AMA under My Cruise and can't find an option nor can I find any reference to it in the FAQ. Perhaps everyone just pays onboard? Just kind of nice to get it out of the way especially if they prefer cash. We are on AmaKristina on July 23 Amsterdam to Basel. I did see though that all our shore excursions are now online and I can read about them and make my selections. My cruise is not yet loaded onto the AMA App but I can do it online on the computer now. Surprised to see it there 3 months out.

Maureen, we picked up our documents yesterday, exactly one month prior to sailing. In the Itinerary guide, there is a section about choosing your shore excursions. It states that after you complete your online check in you will be able to register for all shore excursions including the special interest tours. Registration is available 90 days prior to departure once the booking is paid in full. Registration closes 14 days prior to embarkation.

We are fully paid and approaching 90 days so that is great to hear. Anxious to read more about them. Thanks so much.

We leave in the morning for Zurich and will spend a couple of days in Lucerne before heading over to Basel to board the AmaSonata for our Rhine river cruise. I will try to pop in and let you all know how it's going.

 

 

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Have a fabulous cruise. Can't wait to read your updates, especially about the shore excursions. Have to pick wisely so I don't bore my 19 and 16 year old boys. I suspect we'll bike most days.

Maureen, what ship are you sailing on? I'm on AmaDante in July

AmaKristina, July 23rd Amsterdam to Basel. Too bad.