RobInMN

AmaMagna - Vishofen to Giurgiu, first time review In the Danube water levels thread, some people indicated interest in a review of AmaMagna, and excursions. I've never done a review for any ship or trip before, but I'll give it a shot. Background This trip could be booked as either the 14-night Grand Danube, or as a B2B with Magna on the Danube and Gems of Southeast Europe. There's a discount for B2B, but the 14-night is priced the same as a B2B, so it doesn't matter from that perspective. We also added the 3-nights Prague pre-cruise and the 2-night Brasov, 2-night Bucharest post-cruise. So, while the actual cruise was 26-Mar to 09-Apr, 2023, our trip was 23-Mar to 13-Apr. AmaWaterway's loyalty program works like this. On your second cruise, you're Blue, on your third, you're Silver, and on your fourth, you're Gold. As we had done 1 Ama cruise before, there was an advantage to booking as a B2B. The first week we were Blue, and then that made the second week our third Ama cruise, which made us silver and added some benefits. Some comments here. Ama really should make the 2 week Grand Danube count double or something, or revamp the program to be by nights, as many cruises are not just 7 nights. Also, You're in the top category beginning with your forth cruise. Not sure how other river cruise companies do it, but being more familiar with Ocean cruises (Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor), four seems very low to me to be top tier. It will be years (if ever) before we are Pinnacle on Royal (Currently Dimond+). In 2005, my parents took my sister and me, and our spouses, on a Danube cruise from Budapest to Bucharest. At that time, I think our whole family, including my parents, were the youngest on the ship. Or would have been, had the owner's daughter and her friend not been on board, but they just hung out with the crew. Anyway, us "kids" were a good 30 years younger than the rest of the passengers. The daily itinerary would even list the number of steps (vertical rising steps) that there would be on that day's excursion. Lots of bus tours. It was far more interesting than "fun". As we were young and didn't have a lot of vacation funds and time off at that point, we did not do anything other than the cruise. We always regretted not doing Transylvania and "Dracula's Castle". In 2019, my parents again took us on a River Cruise, but this time with the 3 grand kids (10, 13, & 19). We booked Ama's Rivers and Castles on AmaDante. We really liked that trip and were impressed by Ama. There were a number of families (a couple larger than our group), and even kids younger than our niece. We really liked Ama, and having done several ocean cruises, when we heard about AmaMagna, we really wanted to go on her. So, we booked this like 2-2.5 years prior. Even though we had done a similar second week back in 2005, some of the ports were different. And posed with the idea of trying to make all the post-cruise travel arrangements to do Brasov after, we decided to just do the second week and the Ama post-cruise extension. Much easier. I mention this because Spring of 22, my dad calls up and says he wanted to take the grandkids (now 13, 16, & 22) on a Christmas market cruise and booked one for Dec 2022. Our vacation schedule was already booked up, but we made it work. However, our daughter had recently graduated and started her first career job in June. We had another short vacation planned in fall, and she decided that she didn’t want to try to take that much time off work so soon. Turns out, this cruise went from Nuremburg to Vienna, duplicating 4 stops we would be doing on this cruise. BTW, I'm all about "Cathedrals, Castles, Forts, and Ruins" 😉 Pre-cruise Extension Day 1 - Prague - Arrival We did the 3-Night Prague (Czech Republic) Extension. In general, Prague was wonderful. We loved it and would happily return. We would definitely recommend visiting Prague to anyone that has not been there before. Upon arrival, there was an AmaWaterway's kiosk right outside baggage claim where there were several us that came in about the same time, some possibly the same flight. The person that met us was the local guide, who was with us all the way to the ship. She loaded us onto a tour bus, and we were off to the hotel. Ama put us in the Marriott near City Center. The hotel was very nice, and it was very easy to walk to primary sights. At the hotel, we met our Cruise Manager, Radostina (Radi) Markovic. Radi is awesome. She gave us a packet of info for the pre-cruise, including itineraries, excursions, and some dining recommendations. After settling in, we needed food. We decided to go to Kolkovna Celnice, which was about a block from the hotel, for a late lunch (early dinner). The food was very good. Later, Radi had a welcome meeting, and then led us on a short evening walking tour. There were 38 people on the Prague extension, but a few people were on delayed flights, and we wouldn't meet them until the next day. Day 2 - Prague A - Golden City of a Hundred Spires B - Prague Castel Hike After breakfast we did the city tour. The Castle hike didn't add any more castle, just added a hike which meant less city time. A bus took us up to the Castle District. From here, we toured down, across the Charles Bridge, and eventually back to the Old Town Square, and the Astronomical Clock. We really enjoyed the tour, and learning about the buildings and history. This was the only included tour, the other 2 were optional/extra. For lunch we just got a sandwich from some fast food type place we don't have in the US. It was pretty good, but then we got a "Chimney" with Caramel and Ice Cream (Yum!). Dinner and Folklore Show - Optional ($) We almost passed on this, as the description made it sound like we'd be expected to dance and stuff, but we are so glad we did it. We were bussed to a restaurant with several long family style tables. I equate this to going to a Bavarian/German Restaurant where it's Oktoberfest every night. The food was excellent, the entertainment was very good, and between the pre-dinner shot, the beer, and the never-ending wine, I think everyone had a great time, and I'm glad I wasn't driving! BTW, the Potatoes Gratin (not to be confused with Au Gratin? – don’t know if there is a technical difference, but they seemed different to us) were the best variation of that we've ever had. Day 3 - Prague Terezin Concentration Camp Memorial Tour - Optional ($) The total tour is 5 hours, and of that, it's a good 1 hour each way. Terezin is pretty powerful. Not as powerful as Dachau, but we think it’s still worth going even if you’ve been to others. Being what it is, I don't feel like trying to review it. Knowing it would be the middle of the afternoon before we were back, we had made sure to eat well at breakfast. Once back, us and 2 other couples (from Texas) went out for a beer (or 2), and we had a great time getting to know them. Later for dinner, we ate at the Municipal House Cellar. There are 3 or 4 restaurants in this place, but we did the "Cellar". It reminded us of a Munich Beer hall, and again we really enjoyed the food. In the packet of information Radi gave us, there was a voucher for a free beer for each of us. We were pretty early (as we skipped a proper lunch), and not many people there until a pretty large group of Japanese(?) tourists was led in by their guide and seated at the far end. There was a guy playing the accordion, and he spent all his time with the group, which was fine, but I had to laugh when I suddenly realized that he was playing John Denver's Country Road to them. Day 4 (Pre-Cruise)/Day 1 (Week 1), we left Prague. It's about a 4-hour bus ride from Prague to Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg is a neat city to wander. This was the first of our repeats, so we were a little familiar with it. We cannot recommend the Historische Wurstküche enough. Had it before, and it was the only place I intended to go for lunch when we were there. Unfortunately, it was a bit cold and rainy, and the (covered) outside sandwich area was full, so we went inside the restaurant. My mistake. I completely forgot that you can't get it as a sandwich inside, only as a platter, and if you make sandwiches with the rolls on the table (the same as what they use for the sandwiches outside), they charge you 1.25€ each. Ended up being much more expensive than planned, and while our guide said they took cards inside, our server said no, cash only, which almost screwed us. They are still very good, and I will go there every time we are in Regensburg, but only outside. From there, it was about another 1h45m to Vilshofen, where we boarded the AmaMagna.

We got off AmaMagna April 9th (and did a 4 day post). It's taken a couple weeks to get caught up on work and everything else so only recently sat down to write up our first review ever. Look for it to be posted hopefully tonight. Have a great time!!

Come on people, it's a ship!

Beat me to it. However, missed opportunity for: "father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate"

We loved having access to a guest laundry on AmaMagna! We did the 2 week Grand Danube with pre & post, so we did a number of small loads to keep our packing lighter. It was very convenient. Thank you for adding that in the plans!

If there's something you really want to watch, I recommend getting a streaming based "cable" service. You'll likely need a VPN as well. Most services have phone apps, but you can also use a Firestick or Roku or something and plug that into your room TV. We've been using Youtube TV and Firesticks for a couple years now and take one with us on all trips. As long as we don't forget to via a Venable the VPN, we can watch anything just as if we were at home. As @topnole indicated, a Playmakers is not a guarantee that your game will be on. We were on Freedom in the Fall of '21, and the only college football games they would show were those on the ESPN channels, which also included the SEC channel (operated by ESPN). I watched the Iowa @ Iowa State game (Go Hawks!) on my phone sitting in a quiet corner (yes, with earbuds 🙂).

And it doesn't need to be the near future. We just got off a cruise and purchased for 4 people. We were told that you only have to book a cruise in the next 2 years. That in 2 years minus 1 day, you can book any cruise they are currently accepting reservations on. Our 2023 & 2024 trips are planned (or at least deposits on), so in 2024 we will look at 2025 for our next Ama cruise, which will be greater than 2 years from when they FCCs were purchased.

I completely understand how Southampton is obviously much cheaper and easier for you, but if you can get to Amsterdam easily, they run the Radiance class from Amsterdam (Jewel the last few years and next), on itineraries they call "Arctic Circle", it's basically a Norwegian Fjord cruise, but does a couple ports above the Arctic Circle, including the northern most port Honningsvag. From there, the main tour (ship or 3rd party) will take you to Nordkapp (North Cape), the northern most point in continental Europe. We loved doing that, and feel that only doing the lower Fords and more populous cities in the south, you kind of miss part of the beauty of Norway. Not to mention ticking off the Arctic Circle box, and experiencing 24 hours of daylight (actual day light, not twilight).

This has come up in a number of threads, and I really don't think you'll get a consensus. We were under the back corner of WJ on Jewel for 24 nights and barely heard anything, and what we did hear never bothered us, nor kept us from sleeping. On the other end of the spectrum, I recall one person saying their experience was so bad that they were given a second room that was empty, to use for sleeping only. We have a 12 night on Radiance booked for spring 24 and that is under the pool deck, so we'll see. The very aft cabins will be under the outdoor dining and may have less traffic/noise, especially very early and late. Same for under the pool deck (forward of the atrium). I think the majority of the complaints have been for those rooms directly under WJ.

Oh man, Memory jolt. Back in college (early 90's), Maui brand Tropical Schnapps was pretty big in my circle. I swear it tasted just like Hawaiian Punch. Not as a mix either, just on ice.

I find that most iPhone users, or just Apple disciples in general, assume everyone has an iPhone, iPad, etc. With no recognition or implication that there could even be another alternative. Especially annoying with news people that almost always say iPhone/iPad when they mean smart phone or tablet. I will generally preface my advice by indicating that it is for Android, unless it's an app or feature that I know or believe to be platform agnostic

MN here. A/C is set to 69 24x7. Furnace is set to 72 when we are awake and 64 at night. Between about 55 & 85, we will open the house up if the dew point is less than 50. Lower end, crack the windows, higher end, wide open.

I want to say that I read on here that it was a special tie-in on Allure when they had Chicago. And it went away when Chicago was replaced with Mama Mia. If I am wrong, I'm 100% sure someone will correct me. 🤣

If using Android, try clearing cache and then data, and then delete and reinstall. See if that makes a difference.

OK, so here is my report from the Captain's Dinner. I'd guess 80% dressed nicer than usual. 10% of men had sports coats 1 person (me) had a tie.🤣 We're on again next week with a lot more people (still not full). Next week, no tie for me. We'll see if that crowd is any different.😁

Chef's table. yes, that's true. I've seen people dress a little nicer. In late June, early July in 2019, when it was unusually hot for Europe, we also freshened up. So sweaty. Keeping a fresh set of clothes or 2 for dinner just helped make you feel better. But that's not an issue at the moment. It's pretty cool. Can't say I've seen anyone change for dinner yet. Tonight is the Captain's dinner. We'll change for that, and I assume I'll see most people do that as well. We'll see.

Might have to call the C&A number? 800-526-9723. Mon-Fri 9am-9pm EST / Sat-Sun 9am-6pm EST

All very true. and I assumed so. But it all comes down to how much. Might be worth it, might not. Getting 1 person to Diamond "artificially" faster can have some real monetary value. Just something they may want to look in to since they are looking at booking 2 rooms anyway, if only out of curiosity. I've never actually needed to compare that option myself, so I have no idea what sort of price difference there will be.

This is actually a good plan. Doesn't matter where people sleep, only where they are booked. A solo passenger in a double occupancy room gets an extra point per night. So the 1 adult and 2 kids will all get 7 points for the cruise, and the solo adult in the other room will get 14 points. On future cruises, make the same adult the solo. As that person reaches higher status levels faster, the spouse will get matching status (but not matching points). And the minor children will also get the same status. Also, if this is their first cruise, make sure the kids all have C&A accounts before they sail. If you want to level up even faster, put the solo parent in a Junior Suite. That will give another extra point per night for a 3 points per night or 21 points for a 7 night cruise.😉

We are on AmaMagna, and were surprised with an upgrade from an AB to an SA. Here is the Robe and slippers. Robe seems very nice. Very thick and plush. I just don't do robes, and my wife travels with a thin robe that she prefers. And to answer the original question, no reason to bring anything special for dinner, with the possible exception of the Captain's dinner, which is tomorrow night. So we'll see. I brought a sports coat. BTW, this ship is amazing. And this room is incredible.

Because hiding them is fun. We never keep them, just re-hide them.

As noted by @Biker19, the World Cruise will! I want to say that they have in the past, but have nothing to back that up. I've not seen anything in recent years, nor anything posted, but hope they will. I'd love to do something like an Athens or Rome to Dubai someday. Maybe Celebrity?

What @Blur said. I'm not going to look it up, but there was a thread a couple summers ago with a discussion about how the status matching was infinitely recursive. Parents to children to spouses to grandchildren, their spouses, step kids, then in divorce, everyone keeping the unearned status, then their new kids would get it, etc. It is absolutely ridiculous. That said, having matching status within a family group as they are traveling together in a single group makes sense to me. If even say, regardless of age. Maybe get rid of permanent matching status, and just say all family members get the status of the highest status family member traveling?

Um.... If you are fishing for more input, why didn't you just bump your thread from last week?

On the Danube, we boarded AmaMagna on Sunday at Vilshofen. We were going to go overnight to Passau, but due to the announced strike, we left last night early so that we could make it through the locks last night. I think we arrived in Passau before midnight.