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doktor

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Posts posted by doktor

    Cuba travel warning

    in Oceania Cruises

    Posted

    If Trump says not to go to Cuba then even more reason to go! I don't believe a word that man says! I am booked on an Azamara cruise to Cuba and trust that reason will prevail over all the nonsense coming out of this administration. Trump wants the US to have nothing to do with Cuba. Don't be fooled my fellow cruisers!

     

     

     

    My comments above have nothing to do with politics. Nor do I think any comments on these boards should be political.

     

     

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    Cuba travel warning

    in Oceania Cruises

    Posted

    US residences have long been touring Cuba before it was allowed by US. All anyone needed to do was go through Canada or Mexico first and then on to Cuba. We were offered a trip in 2014 via a tour operator. The US government also allowed certain educational trips.

     

    We are not scheduled until Jan 2019, and we still plan on going. I would be more concerned about Hurricane damage, and ports in the Middle And Far East. Unfortunately, we never know where terror will strike.

     

    I can't believe any reputable cruise line will put any of its passengers in harms way.

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Yes,there were additional tours on our sailing at additional cost. Hopefully I can explain this without confusing you. When I booked Feb 1, 2016, AMA's website listed all included tours, plus the optional tours with fees. Our sailing was not until April 2017. A couple months after, their web site changed, all the optional tours disappeared. I was very concerned because I wanted many of the optional tours. My TA called to make sure they were still being offered. Via a 3 way call, I was assured they were still being offered. I still had no written confirmations. Prior to making final payment my TA got me a complete written itinerary emailed from AMA. The written itinerary included all tours offered including the optional tour.

     

    I am sure you can get "all" of the proposed tour from AMA. If you are using a TA, I would have them call.

     

    I can tell you what was offed on our sailing if it will help you, but your's could be different. I think you are going on a Christmas Market sailing.

     

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    You are all so helpful! Remember what life was like before Cruise Critic? We only took 1 cruise before I landed on CC and now it's hard to imagine sailing anywhere without the resources we have among each other.

     

     

     

    Based on this discussion, I had DH call AMA this morning, and sure enough, we cannot book any excursions until we board. He asked them to email us a list, but we were directed to the link on their site to view the excursions -- https://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2017/christmas-markets-on-the-danube

     

     

     

    Doktor (or anyone else who's sailed AMA), is this an exhaustive list, or will there be additional excursion choices we should expect? I'm a planner. ;)

     

     

     

    AND, how does the excursion booking take place once on board? How do we ensure we can get on the excursions we'd like before they get booked up?

     

     

     

    There were no additions. There was a time change on one excursion so we could do two excursions in one day. We signed up for the limited edition tour in Vienna, but once onboard were advised by cruise director not to take it, if this was a first trip to Vienna. We booked all of our options, as soon as we had first contact with cruise director. I was unaware of anyone who was not able to do a tour they wanted. They were very few who signed up signed up for the Schonbrunn Palace tour. Due to small participation, and a minimum, once you signed up for this tour, you could not cancel. We never signed up for this excursion.

     

    Hopefully this will help you. I think it is good to decide in advance what you want to do. There was a presentation each evening as to your choices for the next day.

     

     

     

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    We received our Check-In link from AMA for our Christmas Markets cruise in December! All checked in! Looking forward to choosing our excursions at some point.

     

     

     

    If your cruise is like our's in April, you will not be able to register for excursions until you meet your Cruise Director. In our case, we could sign up in Prague on our precruise.

     

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Did not realize until this AM that Sutterfly did not capture corrections. I canceled original book, and made corrections, and then reordered. The only thing that changed in the book was spelling and date on front cover. If you want correctives web site let me know.

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    doktor

    We are leaving DFW May 6 for a Prague to Budapest Christmas Market Tour. We will be in Prague a total of 4 full days before leaving for the ship. I desperately want to do Terezin. Is that part of the Prague pre-cruise or did you do it on your own.

     

    This was very interesting. Thank you.

     

     

    It is an optional tour with an extra charge. I found all the optional tours to be reasonably priced. It was $50 per person.

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Thanks Sandy for your report. I leave next week for Prague and then board the AmaSerena on the 15th. I'm getting very excited for my first river cruise. Was Kunta Hora a full day or half day tour?

     

    Judy

     

     

    If was about 6 hours.

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Thanks for the running commentary and your final review. We are taking this cruise, but in reverse, in September, including additional days in Budapest and Prague, and your insights have been very helpful I am curious about what the AMA tour in Budapest includes since I would like to do tours on our own but would rather not waste time by repeating what the AMA tour will cover. For instance, does it include a tour of Parliament, or is it essentially just a drive through the city? Thanks.

     

     

    Parliament is not included. In as much as Budapest was a morning tour with afternoon free, I booked 1:00 time. The tour was to last until 1:30. We were leaving in castle district, but traffic was heavy so we left at heroes square. It was a walk through the market, bus, stop at hero square. I understand they also had a stop in the castle district where some paid admission and went into Church. No time to buy anything in market. The private tour we took allowed us to tell guide what we wanted to see. Avoid if possible the market on Saturday. It was a zoo!

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Sandy,

     

     

     

    Thanks for your review. We leave in 2 weeks. Happy to hear all your positive comments. Since this is our first river cruise we're trying to learn as much as possible. Happy to hear the food was good as well as the tours. On a personal note, I'm curious about your screen name. There was a prominent family with that name in the town where I grew up. Is Doktor your last name? Thanks again for taking the time to post your review.

     

     

     

    Susan

     

     

    It was a nickname of my husbands which I stole. He was a mechanic.

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Amawaterways in review of Legendary Danube

    Sailing April 20th to April 27, 2017

     

     

    The above date are the dates of the sailing. We, however we're on a pre cruise 3 day package, and in addition arrived in Prague 2 days prior to 3 day package. We also extend another 3 Nights in Budapest.

     

     

    We booked our on Flights. I try and book the least number of connections. We flew Orlando to Frankfurt non stop and then Frankfurt to Prague. On our return, we flew Budapest to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Orlando. We had to clear passport control on both going and coming. With a 90 minute connections and being unfamiliar with the Frankfurt airport, we did gate to gate service. It's not inexpensive, but they are fantastic, and make sure you get to your new gate quickly and with very little walking.

     

     

    Our hotel in Prague booked with AMA was the Cosmopolitan. It is a new hotel, however I would have preferred being at the Intercontinental or the Four Season, as I find them to be closer to Old Town. Our room also over looked an inside courtyard with no view. We found the resturant to e superb. The Sofitel Hotel in Budapest was in a great location. We upgrade our room to get immediate access as we had plans for the afternoon. We were in a suite with incredible view. We had lounge access with wine, champagne, soft drinks, coffee, and food from 7 AM to 9 PM. The restaurant at the Sofitel was jammed, but you have many choices in the area.

     

     

    Our Cruise Director Raul Dederichs. He was outstanding, and AMA's excursion levels were great. On the walking tour they offered fast past, regular, and gentle. We usually took the regular tour. The guides were fantastic, and we had individual headsets for each tour. The gentle tour had very little walking. Speaking of walking, be prepared to walk a good deal. There were days we walked anywhere from 4 to 7 miles. Walking is not easy. Most of the walks are on cobblestone streets. There were very few who took bikes.

     

     

    Our weather was cold. We had rain, sleet, snow, and sunny days, We had one day when it reached 70, but most of the days ranged between high 30's to high 50's. Booking a balcony at this time of year is a waste, in our opinion. Although our weather was not the greatest, I would go again at this time of year after seeing the crowds in most ports. I can not image what the crowds would be like during high season.

     

     

    We did all the optional tours except Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. I would suggest definitely not missing Salzburg, or Terezin. Our guide with the World War II tour was exceptional. The night sailing in Budapest was absolutely awesome. We had booked the special interest tour in Vienna, and was advised to take the regular tour as we would miss many sites.

     

     

    AMA provided fabulous meals and tremendous service. The Chef's table was outstanding. I could not believe that our cruise director dedication to service it was wonderful. On one occasion he hired a cab for someone who missed the tour bus. He was on the phone daily hunting for luggage that did not arrive. He did everything possible to make everyone have an outstanding trip. We found our fellow passengers to be a fun and a cohesive group. We traveled as a couple by ourselves, but generally had a fun table each evening of 6 or 8.

     

     

    In my opinion this is not a good trip for children. There is really nothing geared toward them. Also, it would be almost impossible for anyone in a wheel chair.

     

     

    Yes, we did have a few negatives but not onboard. We booked this cruise well over a year in advance. The website made me crazy. The commentary on the itinerary changed at least thee time. The diagram of the suites and mini suites were incorrect. The website showed only 2 full suites, when in reality there are 3. Unless I missed it, I saw nothing that stated what extras were included in the suites. I.e refrigerator with "free" sodas and juices plus beer. A coffee maker, and fresh fruit were also provided. I would book a suite or mini suite for the extra room. We had a mini suite, our shower was small, but nice. Watch, when you turn the shower on! It has many controls, and the first day I had water all over the floor!

     

     

    A few things we did that I would wound recommend:

    1. Doing extra days in Prague with private tours. We did the Jewish tour, and went into the country side to Kunta Hora. Excellent guide-Jeri with tours by locals.
    2. Go to see parliament in Budapest. You can book times and tickets with jegymester.hu.
    3. Take a extra time in Budapest and do some private tours. We did an additional 4 hour tour, and saw many more sites. Also did a trip out of Budapest to Danube Bend, (Esztergom-Visegrad,-Szentendre) with Gabriella privatetoursbudapest@gmail.com This was an all day tour and it was superb.
    4. Make sure you have local currency. Coffee hour in Salzburg only accepted cash.

    If you have any additional questions, email me at jim816@aol.com

    Sandy

    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    We'll be on the AmaCerto leaving Budapest 5/15 to Nuremberg with extra nights in both Budapest and Prague. I'm wondering if, at any of the stops along the Danube, it's possible to walk from the ship into the town without a guide?

     

    On a previous cruise we'd sometimes leave the ship and have dinner in the immediate area and would like to do so again.

     

    Appreciate any advice!

     

     

    There are a few but many. Most of the time the sip sails in the evening

     

     

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    AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

    in River Cruising

    Posted

    Regensburg

    Could spend a week here! Wonderful city! Walking tour this AM-Great hat shop near church.. Afternoon, went on optional tour of Melk Abbey and sailed through Waltenburg Gorge. Really a nice excursion, however Rained and was VERY Cold! Served a Bavarian Lunch which all seem to enjoy.

     

     

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