Join us for a ride on Ama along the Danube

Melk is stunning. We had a guide provided by the Abbey a young former pupil of the Abbey School. Excellent insights- no photos allowed inside, our young guide did well enforcing the rule with some of our group who thought it did not apply to them!

Some outdoor shots

We now pick up the ship at Ybbs for a 2.5 hour cruise up to Grein supposedly the best part of the river cruise.

It’s cold- pack layers - but pleasant

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Love following along. I’ve been on three river cruises and never saw the problem of those not going with the correct color. Wow

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They must have changed their policy about indoor pictures. The only place we could take pictures 2 years ago was in the library. I agree, though, it is stunning.

It's also a shame people can't follow the rules. Uniworld used to have a similar system. More recently, they allow people to simply get on the bus, then divide the bus up. Seems to work fairly well.

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Love following along. I’ve been on three river cruises and never saw the problem of those not going with the correct color. Wow

 

 

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I think we had the consequences of people switching buses just now during the tour. Two people got left behind at Melk so a bus had to turn back. It sounds like two people joined the bus they were on, the guides headcount tallied so off she went!

I hope the Cruise Manager says something in her briefing she is very effective and pleasant she’s already made a plea to be quieter in the corridor at night. Mrs Loud still doesn’t get it. Regrettably she lives further on from us but heyhoe

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acwmom - We were allowed to take photos of the library and I believe the spiral staircase a little over a year ago. ;)

This morning the common statement heard is “this is what I expected from river cruising”. We disembark at a tiny village beside the road and head off to Dürnstein and Melk.

 

It’s simple but some folks can’t (won’t) follow instructions. You go to reception, you get a coloured card for the tour you want (there may be several trips going so if you’re wanting to go with others one goes gets enough cards the same colour) head ashore, find your guide zap your quiet box onto the code device she is carrying and you’re set. There is no checking by the guide that you should be in their group and you hand back the coloured ticket for reuse to reception later in the day.

 

It all goes wrong when people join trips without cards so there’s not enough seats or change colours/bus half way though.

 

This tickles me. :D We had the same problem. We had two women on a tour that held up our bus for almost 45 minutes. They didn't hear about the time we were to be back on. :mad: Because of this, we missed seeing a tour site.

Enjoying this review so much! Your "wake-up" view is much better than the views that we typically saw. Ours were usually of the ship tied up next to us. :( Which side are you on...port or starboard?

Noise is always an issue for us when we cruise. Therefore, we travel with a white noise machine. Works pretty good in drowning out those in the halls, and engine noise. Not sure it would have help with furniture blowing around over head. Although we did not have that issue because we were between stateroom decks, we were practically knocked out of bed early one morning as the ship hit a lock. :eek:

If you don't want to carry around a white noise machine, there are apps that can be loaded onto your iPad or phone. Sometimes we have to use both the machine and the app on my iPad.

Last night in Grien we had a pleasant pre dinner outing- think Azamazing Evening those of you who know Azamara however quite strenuous. Unless you register for a slow walker transfer it’s a hike up to the palace then once in there a lot of stairs to climb to see it all so I’d say to others thinking of this itinerary with knee issues this is the night to be a slow walker and allocated to the minibus!

Once my aching knees got there, it was a lovely private visit with wine and entertainment

See how high you are from the ship

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Today we opted for two tours. First a walking tour in Linz and then an afternoon tour to the Czech Republic to Crezky Kumlov.

Ama ran a continuous brunch from 8-1130 so for us our tour timings were walking tour in Linz (excellent) 0900-1030 tour to Czech 1130-1800. It all worked very well

Linz centre is a 5 minute walk from the ship

I would say unless Salzburg is a must take the Czech trip especially if you are not doing Prague. It’s a delightful trip though once there it’s an energetic walk uphill on cobblestones.

But the best experience of all was the sunset in Linz

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Our final day saw us on a walking tour of Passau (first bad guide of the trip) but lovely town Church with massive organ.

We then cruised to Vilshofen and enjoyed AMAs Oktoberfest which was fun. They have a marquee literally at the foot of the gangway so it’s a pre dinner event.

We had previously been disappointed we could not do Chefs Table sooner in the cruise due to the groups onboard but the outstanding meal tonight made up for it and the fact the groups booked out the two bridge tours offered before others had a chance.

The standard exceeded Azamara’s Chefs Table as a benchmark

Sadly it’s case packing night but I love this river cruising the case does not need to go out until 9 am

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We had previously been disappointed we could not do Chefs Table sooner in the cruise due to the groups onboard but the outstanding meal tonight made up for it and the fact the groups booked out the two bridge tours offered before others had a chance.

 

 

 

 

The standard exceeded Azamara’s Chefs Table as a benchmark

Confirms my opinion (and the Berlitz rating) that AMA has the best food of any river cruise line. Glad you had such a good time!

Sadly it’s case packing night but I love this river cruising the case does not need to go out until 9 am

Yes, another nice difference of river cruises vs. ocean. Should also prevent the embarrassing scene of someone in pajamas going through the bags on the quai because they forgot to keep out their traveling clothes!

Did you ever find other couples not traveling with a group to dine with? We found on our cruise in late August/early September that there were very few groups!

Thanks for posting these pictures - it was fun to relive our cruise!

Our final assessment as we wait to leave .....

First our departure has a less positive taste. Our flight arranged by Ama is at 1800. Our cruise documents said 1200 away from the ship. A little early for check in that does not open until 1600 but accepted. Yesterday we are told Ama will not authorise a transfer for two so we have to go at 1100. Oh joy Munich airport for hours with our luggage. A little disappointed because we’ve read others had transfers for two. Despite asking for our original time we were told the office did not authorise the change.

Also due to misinformation in their daily the presents we wanted now can’t be bought. Ok should have gone sooner but an open shop goods on display cash offered absolute No, no work around. It’s not a tax issue so makes no sense.

Anyway our overall final view on river with Ama versus ocean and particularly Azamara

River cruising is ahead in terms of the quality of food, wine and included excursions (delivery and quality of guides)

River cruising is marginally ahead in terms of cabin layout especially the bathroom though storage for clothes is less. The cabin was behind in terms of sleep quality especially noise from above (pool area) and pierside if docked overnight. It’s also behind by the nature of river cruising and rafting- in port about 50% of the time there is another vessel attached to one or both sides so views don’t exist. There is also a ship policy to close the dining room curtains when that happens which makes lunch in darkness weird.

Drinks are not included apart from the excellent wine with meals and the one hour sip and sail. To be honest we did not miss access to more regular free alcohol. Bottled water was regularly available and wine pours at dinner were very generous.

Entertainment acts on the river cruise is far better, but the bar entertainer is not quite as good as piano bar performers on Azamara. The bar lounge is a lovely area, much better than on Azamara (although Pursuits Den May be a nearer match).

We think our experience of the two products (and we accept our experience is based on one specific river cruise) is that whilst the service is very good the staff are less bothered about what will make a difference for you.

Interestingly, there was no attempt to learn guests named and no effort to remember preferences- very much service delivered in a set way. Minor feedback given on an issue was not seen from the guests perspective (it takes about 9 minutes to get a decent slice of toast as it has to go through three times) no alternative is offered just a no the machine had to be set to 2 that was policy. It’s a minor issue but if you give feedback on Azamara they look for a way to act.

Ships officers apart from the hotel and cruise manager are invisible- at the social Oktoberfest to end the cruise the Captain came in, took his beer and then went back outside and stood talking to an engineer- as it was the last night we felt he should have circulated wishing guests a safe trip home. I much prefer the level of officer interaction on Azamara they feel far more connected with their guests and value them.

Our cruise was impacted by the large groups onboard, those big groups plus the various family and friends groups seemed to account for 85% of guests. It was really hard as a twosome to join in. We think ocean ships just does not have this risk - yes we met one other couple in the second half of the trip and that was nice but it’s a big negative for us re river cruising.

Will we river cruise again, probably will we go with Ama, possibly the positive does outweigh the negative, love the concept, love the river experience it’s just for five star pricing there are rough edges guests need to be aware of.

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Thank you for an entertaining travel log.

Glad you enjoyed my home town Passau, sorry about the bad guide, in the good old days we could have had hime shot.:D

Oh I think Ama were appropriately feeding back about her but I loved Passau I would love to come back and hear an organ concert.

An update on our transfer, three couple all expecting noon transfers were taken at 11. The receptionist onboard tried to tell us. at 1030 to go but we said no. We have the longest wait four hours until checking opens to take our luggage in an airport with virtually no seats. Currently in a cafe spinning it out.....it’s going to be a long day. Bottom line as the other guests are there two hours before their check in opens it seems the real reason was to time with the arrival of embarking guests. So very much that “your cruise is over you’re last weeks guests goodbye”

You can only do your feedback survey onboard online or paper don’t like that prefer to have the whole experience before I react. May still email them about what we are enduring today I will see

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Lovely photographs as usual and very interesting trip report. Thank you.

Lynn

I'm sorry and surprised you didn't experience better service levels on AMA. As I mentioned, the best service we've ever had was on our Uniworld River cruise. But again, we haven't experience the service on Azamara people rave about, either. It's good service, but not what we anticipated after reading the Azamara boards.

As an example of the service we received on our Uniworld cruise, I requested grilled chicken and vegetables at lunch every day (I was dieting and wanted to be able to indulge at dinner time). Not only did the chef come speak to me on the third day, concerned I was eating the same thing, but later that day the hotel manager also came to me and asked what else they could prepare for me. At other times, if I tried the drink of the day and didn't finish it, the server would ask if she could bring me my "usual" in its place. With fewer passengers, it's probably a bit easier to recall a preferred drink.

Ocean and river cruising are certainly different animals, and while I prefer river cruising for the activity level and the generally easier access to town, we'll continue to enjoy both. Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Maybe we should try Uniworld next time.

Your final paragraph sums it up perfectly thank you!

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Maybe we should try Uniworld next time.

 

Your final paragraph sums it up perfectly thank you!

 

 

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Some people don't like Uniworld because of their decor, but it didn't bother me--I just took it as part of the boutique experience.

We are considering an AMA wine cruise next year so I was very interested in your impressions of AMA. Waiting for the new LCV discounts next week in case any of Azamara's Perry Golf itineraries are on it :)

The minuses in service you received from AMA don't match our experience – hopefully this was a one-off and not a sign of cut-backs. As an example, on the first night of our Rhône cruise my wife's cousin was very disappointed in the quality of the olive oil they gave him with the bread. The maître d' went out the next morning and bought a bottle of very good EVOO which was brought to our table every evening for the rest of the cruise.

We received decent transfer service on our first AMA cruise: the AMA reps weren't where they were supposed to be in the AMS airport, but once we found them everything was very smooth – and on the other end [folllowing the Lucerne-Zurich extension] everybody went to the airport together and the guides stayed with us right through check-in. On our other two AMA cruises we had independent plans pre- and post- so didn't use AMA's transfers at all. In general we have decided that arranging our own transfer service provides a much nicer beginning and end to any cruise.

Uktog - Thank you so much for posting this review. It was a very timely review for us as we have three Azamara cruises under our belt and have fallen in love with them but we are presently weighing our options for an AMA river cruise. It was great to see your observations as they relate to Azamara.

I have one question for you as a first time river cruiser. Do you feel that the 7 day cruise is an appropriate way to test the river cruising experience or did you feel that you could have enjoyed a longer cruise? We have looked at both 7 day and 14 day and now are even considering a 10 day with extensions on either end as a compromise between the 7 and 14 day cruise. Thanks again for your input.

Uktog, thank you for taking us (vicariously) along on your river cruise and for the generous use of your excellent photos!

Norris

Uktog - Thank you so much for posting this review. It was a very timely review for us as we have three Azamara cruises under our belt and have fallen in love with them but we are presently weighing our options for an AMA river cruise. It was great to see your observations as they relate to Azamara.

 

I have one question for you as a first time river cruiser. Do you feel that the 7 day cruise is an appropriate way to test the river cruising experience or did you feel that you could have enjoyed a longer cruise? We have looked at both 7 day and 14 day and now are even considering a 10 day with extensions on either end as a compromise between the 7 and 14 day cruise. Thanks again for your input.

We see this question a lot. The consensus answer is to try a 7 day cruise first – if you have more time available, add pre- and post-cruise stays either with the cruise line [expensive but they handle everything] or DIY. The reason for this advice is that while many people love river cruising, there is a segment that discovers it just isn't their cup of tea. It is terrible when someone describes feeling trapped on a river ship for another 12 days.

Also the 14 day cruises tend to be on the Danube, which has the most problems with low water – the Amsterdam to Budapest route this year has been particularly disrupted, with lots of ship swaps, bus tours, and/or major itinerary modifications.

My recommendation for a first river cruise would be a Moselle and Rhine itinerary where you fly to Paris, take the TGV to Luxembourg, cruise down the scenic Moselle and then up the scenic Rhine to Basel, and add a post-cruise extension to Lucerne and Zurich. Or if you really want to avoid low-water worries, the Rhône from Lyon to Arles is another lovely area with lovely wineries [and Valrhona choclolate] and spectacular Roman ruins. Again you start in Paris, TGV to Lyon, and at the end you have several options along the Med from Barcelona to Monte Carlo.

UKtog, thank you for a lovely review.:)

Thanks for all the nice comments.

2pbears, I think it all depends on your stamina and how much of a bucket list you want to tick at once.

Jazzbeau is right, we were testing so stuck to seven days. We were discussing the wisdom of this last night. It is intensive if you do everything but very stimulating. It does mean that the nights when it’s only the resident pianist and not special entertainment you may not stay long after dinner, sleep calls. Tours typically leave at 0900, a few had later truncated offerings as well.

As you probably picked up, we had two big niggles, integrating into groups already set and the post cruise transfer timing. Both we could have reduced or removed by also using the ships pre and post packages. Pre cruise, we would have met people most of the other independent travellers did do the precruise package so smaller groups were formed before boarding in addition to the three big groups. I think it would have been easier for us if we’d been joining into groups when everyone was new, if you understand what we are saying.

Likewise post cruise transfer to a second city of tours would be easier and from there you are dictated by hotel check out times which are much more flexible than the undignified rush to push you off and not have you mixing with the new arrivals we experienced yesterday.

Next time may well involve pre and post packages to see if that makes a difference

I would not do 14 nights as a first experiment and on the Danube this year several of them further up into Germany and between Vienna and Budapest became extended bus tours. The river levels this year were exceptionally low but I’m more aware of that risk now

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I also enjoyed your reading your river cruise review and beautiful pictures.

we have done several European river cruises including that route and on 1 occasion with AMA. Another 1 booked with them for travel later this year.

we enjoyed the service, ship and food. its marvellous that there are so many choices in cruising, because we all have different requirements and expectations.

Likewise with ocean cruising we have travelled with Azamara and Oceania, and preferred Oceania.

In particular the food especially the beautifully presented afternoon tea and exceptional service on board.