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Finally decided this cruise (Spirit Southampton to Southampton 6/11/23) was going to be our best option and deposit was made last Monday. Now time to plan excursions and start thinking about restaurant reservations. The question for my experts: Edinburgh is giving me some thought for excursions. The only included is a panoramic drive. Doesn’t sound very interesting. I am thinking of paying for the City of Edinburgh and It’s Castle tour. I would love to hear your thoughts. We have been to Ireland and England but never Scotland so we want to take it all in. Any other information on this cruise will be helpful.

@PaulMCO Excellent information thank you. We are traveling in June. @Waltershipman We have only been on Voyager, twice. We enjoyed the ship. Shadow is the one we are looking at. I had it on a 7 day hold and let it go to make sure this is the itinerary we want. We usually go to Europe and was thinking South American route this year but we may need to be closer to home by flight.

@wristbandI have only been on the Voyager (twice) and it was lovely. I hate to hear that about Regent but you aren’t the first one to convey all of their recent issues. Regent was our first all-inclusive ocean line. We swore off ocean cruises when they became jungle gyms for kids. Our TA steered us to Regent Mediterranean. We enjoyed it and booked another cruise before we got off the ship. Because we want to be closer to home the Canada/New England itinerary ticked all the boxes. And SilverSea has good reviews. I have gained a lot of information about Silversea from the above mentioned topic post. I found Cruise critic and its posters to be a good source of help with the decision making. Thank you for taking time to post.

@ronrick1943 I totally agree about the crew. One terrible experience can total change one’s feeling about a line. My “versus” was not stated correctly. I thank all on Cruisecritic that reply. I am more of a reader than poster so I appreciate all that take the time to reply. We decided to try Silversea and I am sure it will be fantastic. I was just talking to my travel agent that we started with Eastern Star Cruise Line in 87, interior cabin to the dilemma of which luxury line we should choose. Crazy perspective.

I agree but I am not so brand loyal as to not think there are other great brands available. I did not except anyone to tell me which is better but if they had been on both lines what for someone to expect. The “Comparing…” tread was very informative. Isn’t that why everyone is on Cruise Critic, to get or give opinions and information? What the reader takes from that is up to them.

@mchell810 Thank you

I am not the best at searching on CC, but I am trying to decide between the two lines. We have been on Regent twice and loved it but Silversea has a price and itinerary we like (Canada and New England). We don’t care about the dress code as we go with whatever is expected. Anything else I should be aware of with Silversea versus a Regent cruise or will it be about the same. As many suggest on CC, just trying to do my research before booking.

The service was the talk last night with many passengers. And the first day it was mentioned this was the first full ship this year. We do believe they are under staffed and over worked. We sat with passengers that were on many Ama cruises and hated that this was many of our first impression. This is the paris-paris. And maybe other lines are feeling the same staffing problems. I just do not feel like this is a premium line at this point. I do not regret trying Ama, just not impressed. As for the last comment, it has nothing to do with tipping.. I just hate signing for a drink every time. Last night listening to the singers, we had a table full of small pieces of paper (drink tickets), all over the table. We were sitting with a group, not all our tickets lol. We started a few years ago going on all inclusive ocean and river cruises. It is usually not much more or even cheaper in the end. Just a preference. Tauck was tendered with us and we walked through. We will have to try them sometime. I think next year we will try Scenic. The weather has been lovely.

This is our first Ama but many river cruises. We usually sail with Uniworld so I will compare the two. This is same itinerary that I sailed 2 years ago so that makes it easier to compare. Pros: The cruise director is the best we have ever had. The tours have been nice and the tour guides have been great. Cons: (I can only give my opinion so I am sorry to those that love Ama) This will probably be our last Ama. The staff have been slow and at times rude. Especially the bar servers. Many times I went all lunch without anything but water. I have seen passengers have to go up to the server stating they have been waiting 30mins for a drink. Today for Normandy we had to make our box lunch. I thought that was a nice idea, no condiments so the sandwich was very dry. Had to eat in the bus because no lunch time was built in. We came back at 6p and social hour was cut by 30mins. Which is funny since no one was here to drink with lunch so it saved them money. I know these are little things but I was afraid of not having all-inclusive was going to make a difference and it does. I hate signing a little piece of paper and having to make sure they get it. For some this makes no difference which is why there are choices.

Another option that cruise lines give if the port is not walking distance to the town, are bus pick drop off and pick ups with a variety of times. The biggest reason river cruising is my favorite vacation is that most ports have been in towns were we can hop off and on to shop, grab a beer at a local pub, run into a grocery store to pick up a needed item or just enjoy walking around and seeing the town in the evening. Agree with everyone else, check itinerary and research the towns you are porting with times. Rhine Castle and Southern France cruises had a lot of middle of town ports for us.

This was one reason I was wondering about the gratuities since it doesn’t seem like a lot to pay at the end. At least the tips will take half the amount and we do drink and we will use laundry. I guess I will be shopping on board. Very kind of them for the gift but lesson learned about watch what I say.

To answer my own question, I spoke with a lovely agent and she stated yes gratuity can be paid with the OBC and we would get a refund of any money left. Warning to me to watch what I say to my children as I stated when I first booked Ama, my only concern is it not being all-inclusive for convenience reasons only. (The accountant in me was showing)

I read past posts on this subject but it didn’t specifically answer my question. My children called Ama directly and using a credit card put money on a ship board credit so not through our travel agent. Because it was a gift for our anniversary I didn’t want to let it be known that there isn’t a lot we will need to pay on board. Can we pay crew and manager gratuity out of the ship board credit? On the invoice they gave us, Ama listed it under other charges, ship board credit $250.00 each.

Or a good place to need a doctor 😂

We were on Uniworld in Germany when a guest thought he was having a heart attack. Staff had him comfortable until an ambulance could come to the boat. We were near a town and they did dock quickly. A guest that had medical training, not sure if Dr or nurse, they were also with him. It did take a while for the ambulance and they did take him to the closest hospital. It was towards the end of the cruise. We heard he was in the hospital but going to be released soon.

I will add to this statement as I also want as many docks in town versus being in a bus to town. I know some stops do not have a choice but being able to hop on and off the boat like a hotel to grab a pint at the local pub or some after lunch shopping is part of the relaxation to me. The southern France itinerary was my favorite for that type of cruise. The Normandy cruise was not. Not saying I didn’t greatly enjoy it. To bring it back to the OP, rafted or not, nothing like river cruising. A brand and itinerary for everyone. You have to do you.

We started river sailing in 2012 with Viking being our first trip. Fell in love with river cruises from that first trip. I am now 58 (you can do the math) and I have never been the youngest on the boat. I use to fall on the younger side but plenty of “young at heart” passengers to enjoy and get to know. Last years river cruise on Uniworld which I have heard has an older crowd, I was right in the middle. Because of the smaller passenger numbers, you really get to enjoy many, and learn very fast the ones to avoid.

We have rafted a few times and sometimes it’s the other passengers that come through your boat and times you go through theirs. It really isn’t a big deal. In southern France, we rafted next to a boat that had a great band on the sun deck. (wish I could remember the brand because we wanted to try them after being next to them). I like seeing the other brands.

Agree. I like the all exclusive feel of Uniworld and have never had a bad experience with them. If I was buying the boat the decor would turn be away, but just borrowing it for a week or more, I can live with it. That said I am not brand loyal. This summer I will be on my first Ama and I am excited to try something new. I will be giving my 2cents review as I have taken the same itinerary with Uniworld two years ago. It will be interesting to compare. I have never had an issue with Viking, or Uniworld. (knock on wood)

@ak1004 That looks about where we were on the deck and I don’t remember it being any noisier. We have stay on the bottom deck twice and I never regretted staying there. In fact the first cruise, we laugh saying a swan could look in our window and the next morning we woke up with a swan looking in our window. I also like the laundry on my deck. I took half the clothes the second trip.

I usually sail on Uniworld and have been in the “swan view” and french balcony cabins. The amount of time you spend in your cabin is so minimal, I would just see what you want to do with the money. I much prefer drinks in the lounge or on top deck. I just use the cabin to change and sleep. We usually book so late we get what is left, which is fine with me. If you are one that would sit in your cabin and look out the window, then you want to upgrade. Otherwise, service is all the same, cabins are close to the same, and all decks have easy access to everything. (I am a shopper, so I can find something to do with the $$$)

@anthonyy7 I would love to hear a report on this trip. Only France river cruise we haven’t taken and I think I would love it. I already love Uniworld.

You can’t go wrong with your decision. After your first one, it will be easier to know what you want when it’s time to book the next one. And there will be another one 🥰 I love Basel and a great place to start a cruise. We spent 2 days pre-cruise and went back a few other times as it’s such a cute small city. I also agree Lucerne is not to be missed and in the fall won’t be as touristy. Personally, I will say my favorite cruise at this point is the Avignon Lyon cruise during Lavender season. But I have a large list of upcoming river itineraries I want to do. So many choices, so little time.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Everyone here is so helpful and can answer any questions you may have. As @Host Jazzbeau mentioned, we started with the Rhein Castle cruise on Viking. Perfect start to river cruising and it has been addictive. We then have taken 4 more on Uniworld. We are trying our first Ama this summer from reading CC reviews and @Canal archive has convinced me to plan one with Scenic next time. I also agree that prices do not vary greatly between the different lines. I would also say, per my experience that cabins don’t have a great difference like ocean cruises. My biggest advice is having a travel agent that has been on river cruises. For us, it was a great help with planning.

@CastleCriticThank you for the info. How I read the first reply I wasn’t sure if they put it on your credit card. The last number of cruises have been on Uniworld so haven’t had to thinking about tipping except when we wanted to give extra. And yes, we always have euros for tour guides and bus drivers especially as many in the summer are teachers or college students. Last spring we took a Celebrity cruise with family and they allowed you to pre-pay on their website. Hence, why I stated pre-pay. Wasn’t sure if river cruise lines had moved to that ability.