CastleCritic

yes

KSC is a good thing to do and there is enough to do to eat a day but (at least as I recall) the price isnt crazy enough that if you cant spend the whole day that its not worth admission. Looked at the "excursions" that were offered to Disney...thats just crazy for about 3 hours and doesn't include the ticket.

Probably, I dont get salty about it, but it is the one thing that gets me to trudge down to the reception desk in my socks(usually) last night of the cruise to finally put a credit card on file. Again I knew what you meant, but I just cant get the Royal Carribean version of "not inclusive" out of my head (versus Virgin Voyages where all that stuff is already paid and I have $600 to drink myself into oblivion if I so chose). Plus on Viking not inclusive also means having to pay for the optional excursions every day.

Not sure that I would really call AMA "not all. inclusive" though I think I know what you mean. Considering Im booking ocean cruises and BOY do those show what "not inclusive" can mean. On AMA youre going to pay for, Drinks outside of happy hour and meals tips laundry, except in suites on some ships at least any massages/hair appointments you make thats it, all the food is included, all the excursions are included, unlimited wifi/internet is included, your room will be cleaned in the morning and turndown in the evening.

I remember finding this thread days after they said they needed an answer, Im betting it was moved here later. But I dont know what "bad reviews" they have found, the feedback here has always been universally positive and I've done 5 cruises with them have a 6th booked for 2025(!) and can completely recommend them without caveat.

It definitely depends on the cruise but of the 3 cruises Ive done solo with AMA, I know for a fact that I wasnt the only one. Usually because as the OP said, I was invited to dinner with the cruise director, the captain or both the first night and so were all the other solos. If youre worried about not having people to eat and talk with..definitely don't worry about it, you'll have friends by the end of day2(first full day) if you try.

Not really it will be cold, it will get dark early, but other than that...uhh no..not really Ive done about half of my cruises in November and I dont regret it. I know that AMA will have a NYE event because I looked into one of those cruises once, you may even meet up another ships passengers to do it. And Im usually solo but Im a guy but if you are looking for temporary friends on the ship, you'll find them easily.

havent done that one, but Im guessing it probably goes this way Madrid, stop after an hour at a gas station or somewhere with a bathroom arrive at Salamanca, eat lunch, maybe see something stop after an hour at a gas station or somewhere with a bathroom get to Vega Terron (that assumes that its actually 5 and a half hours on the bus and not just 5 and an half hours from Madrid to Vega Terron including stops, thats probably one stop more than Ive seen but they likely wont do 2 hours straight on the bus) this from having done about 4 hours in Romania (twice) and 3 and 6 in France, and one from Nuremberg to Prague with them on extended transfer days.

does it differ from their site, seems pretty simple and straightforward from that page https://www.amawaterways.com/welcome-aboard-asia OBTAINING YOUR CAMBODIA VISA For your convenience, Cambodian visas will be available upon arrival to enter Siem Reap and Phnom Penh airports as well as on board AmaDara cruises sailing from Vietnam to Cambodia direction. Please be prepared with an extra passport photo and adequate cash in US Dollars.* For information on how to obtain your Cambodia visa, please visit the Government of Cambodia's eVisa site.

why is the first reaction for some people to think anyone who doesn't join outrage is a shill?. (I've never been on Virgin, I don't make any money for people sailing virgin..but I do have a cruise booked for October to see if its a thing I want to keep doing...and I have an RCI booking for May). This just sounds like either VV or some other TA assigned a shore thing to that account in error or maybe the computer just derped a transaction...nothing more. It was fixed.

Always pick the cruise with the better excursions. I did Prague in November and it was fine (I am a little more tolerant of cold though) if I’m finding the right cruise you leave the river at vilshofen which is before the low point that is being talked about. You should be fine

As long as you have a way to load the map yes. I have AT&T and other than say...Serbia I haven't had much issue with data working off the ship. But you have to pay for that data somehow or preload the maps (Ive never done that). (AT&Ts plan is $10 a day up to like a $100 per month cap or something similar, there are other ways to do it like prepaid SIMs)

Yep yep, but know that some times this could be harder than others. If you get off the bus and ask the guide where to meet it may be "right here" but it also might be something more generic like "in the city center" . Ive more seen the branch offs after the group reaches (or sees) the meeting point as the guide will usually either just say "we will be meeting here later" or ever branch the tour themselves by saying "if anyone wants to go with me to see X otherwise see us back here at 1pm or just let me know that youre going back to the ship on your own (obviously in cases where walking back is possible)". Know that in some cities the buses arent allowed near the excursion target and in some cases the pickup and drop-offs wont be the same place. Hell in May even the guide didnt know where the bus intended to go and we ended up waiting awhile before she called to find out where he was. But the guides wouldn't be getting repeat hirings if they were losing passengers so they tend to be very verbose with making sure people know about the meeting arrangements.

It means that European streets can be windy and end in a dead end which can be an issue if you are trying to walk back on your own. And even though you know you generally need to get to the river it’s possible to get pretty lost real quick. Happened to me in Prague. I ended up on the riverbank about a half mile from where I intended to. (Not that Prague is a city you get to by ship). helps to have a smartphone for sure though.

Well...usually if its a 20minute walk to the ship its too convoluted to really walk. I think Ive had a few exceptions though. But thats DEFINITELY not to say even in places where the excursions are (unless you are in the gentle walking group where they will generally make some kind of arrangement) a fairly short walk back to the ship either on your own or in the group, you can definitely get your steps in. Again if youre docked somewhere and you want to go look around on your own, no one is going to stop you (they'll probably offer you a water on the way out the door in fact), just pay attention to the "all aboard" time...thats all they really care about. Last cruise, in Vidin we had a PRETTY long walk around, and I decided I didn't get enough pictures of the castle/fortress so I walked all the way back over there from the ship and then back...I should have borrowed a bike...something I realized when I saw other passengers riding them on the way back..My legs hated me that day. but I got my pictures.

if you arent going to use the data plan then it makes no sense at all.

interesting to see how the different lines handle it looks like when I did (with AMA) Roen we arrived about 10pm the night before and then left about 1:45 (ship mostly went without us we were bused to a Chateau as soon as it left and then met it at Caudebec). I read that scenic schedule as being a full day in Roen and probably some time the next day.

That sounds like a decent combination. Yes one thing I have found is the cruise lines seem to care less about what airline each segment is on. glad to hear about the connection times, I was booking airfare to Amsterdam for next year (same price as the cruise line in question) and AA was offering a...40minute connection...in Philadelphia with no inbound flight option for about 5 hours.

If you think you need a nap doing that, I should have posted the one from the day before the Main really started where a decent group size biked from Rudesheim to Mainz to meet the ship there when it (mostly) changed rivers...we were late leaving because they were late getting there 🙂 I took the bus to Mainz instead......

Ok let’s go for the virtual cruise on that route (this was 3 different cruises to cover that distance) First we get to Cologne, a "youre in port all day and can walk there (though they had a bus if you really wanted it) port. Next we get to the Main, and things get a bit more relaxed, we. were dropped off, did one excursion, were bused to the next city and then did ANOTHER and then got back on the ship. Here's a strange one, we were dropped off, the ship left, we went on a bus BACK up the river where the ship already had gone through (there was another AMA ship docked there), did an excursion then met the ship (the low bridge shot I posted yesterday) for a short evening excursion and the ship stayed there until late All day/half day excursions from LINZ a full day in Vienna, 3 possible excursions and a shuttle bus running to and from the ship (and the metro wasnt far)

Yes a number of ships have a lower deck forward of the main sun deck While I dont think it the main sun deck was closed here(this is a lock), you can see the difference in height between the forward deck on this AMA ship and the main sun deck. (think this was 2019 which would make that the AMAViola, but they all pretty similar in that regard)

Definitely a thing

Wheelhouse tour really depends on the captain. Its not something that you book or is organized (that Ive ever seen). I would just either ask your cruise directory or the captain himself (small ship, you'll run across him) ask if and how he likes to do it. Funniest thing I had was on my Seine cruise last year on a day where the afternoon was cruising, finding out that what I thought were the stuck up French captain and 1st captain spent most of their time just being silly and blasting things like Credence Clearwater revival(or breaking out an umbrella to catch the water dripping off a raised lock gate...like I said...French). Toilets...depends where you are. Ive seen it be half a euro, a full euro or even 2 euro. Ive also been places where they were offended you would even think you had to ask (or pay). As I recall its most common in Germany. if its pay there is usually an attendant of some kind and if its a half euro they will break your 1 or 2 euro coin (Ive also just seen them wave if you break out a 20). There are a few that are automated though (I've never used one). If someone didnt already say, if the ship is docked, you can leave and do whatever you want and be back by the "all aboard time", no one is even going to question it (though they likely will want you to scan your room key on the way out the door so they know you arent on, at least thats the AMAwaterways practice). Yes some days are going to have a full day tour, some days will be morning, lunch, excursion (possibly third excursion in rare circumstances.....). Some will be morning lunch then cruise (and then possibly something late...but not always. Really depends on the river and what part you are on. Anything going down the Main is going to have much more on ship time than the Danube or Rhine or Seine for example. Sometimes its even a choice, I was talking to my mother about a France cruise where it was for some of the days get up(eat) morning excursion (lunch) ship leaves, you can -stay on it -go to a wine tasting -ride a bike to where its going (dinner). I think I pulled up some examples for you before, but if there is a specific river you want to see I can pull up some of my old day schedule sheets for the rhine/Main/Danube (upper and lower), or seine. (this would be for Amawaterways not scenic)

There isnt a single answer as its not "the entire river" its basically the choke points, the most shallow place. Some sections are free flowing, others more controlled by Dams. The docking points in a given port may be in different depths. The "bad" reading for the Danube, just north of Vilshofen that caused ship swaps recently is 290. but on the Rhine, ,...I dont know what the actual low number is (and was last year)...but it was under 90 last week and cruise ships were going through no problem. Ship size(some ships like viking have a deeper draft), fleet composition(can they do a swap, what would a ship getting stuck on one side or the other mean for future sailing), in the end the captain has the final word if he thinks its safe to do it. Some will do it up to the point that they are scraping the bottom, others are more cautious. Some will just go slower. You shouldn't have any issues with that cruise though. AmaSonata is a fairly shallow draft ship and the river is at a good enough level that it shouldn't drop significantly before then. Just monitor this board, there will be good indications if cruise lines have started implementing any contingencies, but know that the point that NotaMermaid keeps talking about is NOT on your route, its between Vilshofen and Regensburg towards Nuremberg.

exactly, I booked my flights last week and I was looking at 11 and 12 flights going....ooof....I know I just need to walk to the train station and then take a train to Schipol, but I have to get off the ship first...