Roll Call: May 11th AMA Blue Danube Discovery

[KCcruisin07]

Thanks for all your info. We are leaving Sat. night. Have a wonderful cruise:)

Good timing-hope your flight was smooth.

I just read on CC that they may close London airports again. We are on BA, and their new planned strike dates include our return flight date. Maybe things will work out by the time we are scheduled to fly.

[doreen22]

We arrived home Monday night, but I was back to work Tuesday, so this is the first chance I have had to post a "mini-review". As Wendy mentioned on another post, the weather, except for the last few days in Prague was not good. In Vienna it rained most of the day and in Regensburg it was 6 C (about 44F) and I, stupidly, did not dress warmly enough:(. However, we all made the best of it and, other than the weather, the trip was wonderful. AMA does an excellent job in organizing the tours etc,... the food, (especially the soup) was really good and the entertainment on board was better than I expected. Two of the nights a bunch of us (mostly women of course!)danced the chicken dance, YMCA, etc...that was fun:D.

I am still debating on whether, in future, I would book the land portion. Apparently, it is possible to book the Nuremburg>Prague transfer with AMA even if you have not booked the land package. I also noticed that there were a few people staying at another hotel that were on our optional tour and were dropped off at their hotel. We arrived one day early in Budapest and booked a room on Priceline for $75.00 + taxes....it naturally was a very basic room with a double bed and no view. The next night we transferred to our AMA booked room at the Sofitel (which is right next door). We had a wonderful view of the river etc. and a much nicer room. The included breakfasts were excellent (at the Hilton Old Town in Prague I believe they would have been 30 Euros each). Also the included tours were good, but still, is it worth the extra $, I am still undecided:rolleyes:.

But we would definitely book another AMA tour and, in fact, are going to book Vietnam/Cambodia for 2011:).

Susan

[MVPinBoynton]

Susan,

I'm so sorry that the weather sucked for you. That would also mean that you didn't get to ride on top enjoying the views. That is such a nice part of the river cruise experience to me.

 

The land portion of the trip is expensive; but it is nice to have a tour director with you all the time and be able to spend more time with other folks on the cruise. We are doing the AMA European Heartland cruise next year and are taking their land portion again.

 

We were just in Vietnam earlier this year on an Azamara cruise. Quite an interesting place. It should be even more so on a river cruise.

[doreen22]

Hi Mike,

 

We did miss sitting up on top basking in the sun and the scenery. We were up top for sailaway and a few other times to take in the locks etc. but always standing and trying not to shiver:rolleyes:. We had a few very nice Brazilians on our cruise and they were in shock over the weather, in fact, they had booked the optional tour to the palace in Vienna but they ended up skipping it because they were so chilled from the morning tour.

 

Yes, you have mentioned 2 more reasons why it is nice to participate in AMA's land package, and we probably would do it again too.

 

One minor question, we never were given our pins at the Captain's Farewell dinner, which was no big deal. But now that I think of it we don't have an AMA membership number either, which I assume should have been given out at the same time. I believe when booking a second cruise with AMA you get a small discount...is this correct?

thanks

Susan

[MVPinBoynton]

I don't remember getting a pin either. I think that has just started recently. I thought I read that it was part of a new loyalty program that allowed you to get upgraded cabins. But since I can't find anything about it on the website. There was a discount for being a previous AMA customer. I believe it was $100 per person.

[eldercruser]

We arrived one day early in Budapest and booked a room on Priceline for $75.00 + taxes....it naturally was a very basic room with a double bed and no view. The next night we transferred to our AMA booked room at the Sofitel (which is right next door). We had a wonderful view of the river etcAlso the included tours were good, but still, is it worth the extra $, I am still undecided:rolleyes:.

But we would definitely book another AMA tour and, in fact, are going to book Vietnam/Cambodia . and a much nicer room. The included breakfasts were excellent (at the Hilton Old Town in Prague I believe they would have been 30 Euros each). for 2011:).

Susan

 

Susan,

I hear your thoughts. We have gone both ways in the past. Over time, we have come to the conclusion that if we are going to invest the time and money for the trip, then let's do it right. It does cost a little more, but then again we think we have derived extra enjoyment from what we have purchased. Mike has also mentioned two very intangible benefits which greatly add to the all-round atmosphere.

 

Anyway, we hope for better weather in about ten days. The 10 day forecast shows warmer weather is on the way.

 

Jerry

[SBDriver]

Hey Susan.

 

Good to see you back on the boards!!

 

We too wondered about the cost of the pre and post days, and I think (in my humble opinion) it would have to depend on the destination. Budapest and Prague was fairly easy to get around in, language-wise. Cambodia and Vietnam could be a whole other story. If you do your research on how English-friendly the destination is, and have confidence that you can handle it, it might be worth a try.

 

I did enjoy having the same group together from the beginning to the end, which is one advantage to booking the whole thing from your tour company. It would have felt so anti-climatic leaving everyone at the ship and venturing off to a different hotel.

 

Wendy

[doreen22]

Hi Wendy, good to see you too!

Life has been pretty hectic since our return, but we did manage to select just over 100 pictures to get printed. I wonder how Frank and Larry are doing with their 1000:D.

Our "group pictures" turned out pretty good, the only one I really didn't like was me with the glasses at the beer festival, which of course Doug insists on getting printed.

Susan

[SBDriver]

Frank took 1,308 photos!!!! I have narrowed it down to 501, but am going to give my weary eyes a break and then weed a few more out. I don't want to print more than 250.

 

I have a few good group ones as well. Good memories.

 

Wendy

[franski]

I am going to jump in on the pre/post extension issue. We did our own post-cruise extension in Paris after our cruise with Uniworld... But I had been to Paris before, so felt quite comfortable making those arrangements. We were going to do the pre-cruise in Prague when we planned to do the Enchanting Danube with Uniworld - and try Budapest on our own --> but when we changed to AMA, both Budapest & Prague were included. And, I felt it was well worth the money.

 

The advice re: English-friendly is good... Also, if you have been in the area before it gives you a bit of confidence that you can manage your own arrangements. When you have a sense of area, and transportation, then you can make decisions re: hotels etc much easier. I wouldn't worry about booking a hotel farther from the Danube if I (when!!) we go back to Budapest, as we now know how walkable the city is.

[KCcruisin07]

I am going to jump in on the pre/post extension issue. We did our own post-cruise extension in Paris after our cruise with Uniworld... But I had been to Paris before, so felt quite comfortable making those arrangements. We were going to do the pre-cruise in Prague when we planned to do the Enchanting Danube with Uniworld - and try Budapest on our own --> but when we changed to AMA, both Budapest & Prague were included. And, I felt it was well worth the money.

 

The advice re: English-friendly is good... Also, if you have been in the area before it gives you a bit of confidence that you can manage your own arrangements. When you have a sense of area, and transportation, then you can make decisions re: hotels etc much easier. I wouldn't worry about booking a hotel farther from the Danube if I (when!!) we go back to Budapest, as we now know how walkable the city is.

 

Hi,

We did the trip with three days each in Budapest and Prague on our own. Around 25 of us did the group transfer to Prague without the extension. We liked the group transfer and found the stop at Karlovy Vary to be especially beautiful.

As for the AMA extension or not, I guess it is also a question of goals. I had really wanted to go to London and Paris and the Danube Cruise this year. After the cost of the hotels and transfer to Prague,we had enough left over to cover accommodations in London and Paris and travel from London to Paris, then on to Budapest. Of course transfers, tickets, speedy boarding, and food were not included, and I spent many hours planning all the segments. We enjoyed everything.

It may be a little harder in Budapest and Prague because of the language difference depending on where you stay. Prague was a little more difficult for us because the Hilton where we stayed, while excellent, was not in a tourist district. However, once we learned our way to the subway, it was no problem.

[SBDriver]

Hi,

We did the trip with three days each in Budapest and Prague on our own. Around 25 of us did the group transfer to Prague without the extension. We liked the group transfer and found the stop at Karlovy Vary to be especially beautiful.

As for the AMA extension or not, I guess it is also a question of goals. I had really wanted to go to London and Paris and the Danube Cruise this year. After the cost of the hotels and transfer to Prague,we had enough left over to cover accommodations in London and Paris and travel from London to Paris, then on to Budapest. Of course transfers, tickets, speedy boarding, and food were not included, and I spent many hours planning all the segments. We enjoyed everything.

It may be a little harder in Budapest and Prague because of the language difference depending on where you stay. Prague was a little more difficult for us because the Hilton where we stayed, while excellent, was not in a tourist district. However, once we learned our way to the subway, it was no problem.

 

We had considered doing it on our own as well, as the difference in price for cruise alone as opposed to cruise with extension was about $1200 per person. I was worried about the Prague transfers, and didn't realize we could have booked them through AMA. This was our first river cruise, and a learning experience. When we try our next one we'll be a little older and a little wiser, and may just try it on our own. I'm fairly confident I could manage the details. It was nice to have everything arranged, though.

 

Glad it all worked out for you Kathy.

 

Wendy

[KCcruisin07]

We had considered doing it on our own as well, as the difference in price for cruise alone as opposed to cruise with extension was about $1200 per person. I was worried about the Prague transfers, and didn't realize we could have booked them through AMA. This was our first river cruise, and a learning experience. When we try our next one we'll be a little older and a little wiser, and may just try it on our own. I'm fairly confident I could manage the details. It was nice to have everything arranged, though.

 

Glad it all worked out for you Kathy.

 

Wendy

 

Thanks! If we were going to Asia, I think we would want to stay with the group though.

 

We also have lots of pictures. I think we have around 500. For future travelers I went with an average walking group, and sometimes I was taking so many pictures I had to rush to keep up with them. In Bratislava, Cliff went with the Active Walkers, but they took as long as we did. We had Miro; he was an enthusiastic guide and made that one of my favorite stops! However, I really lucked out and had some excellent guides.