All Ama cruisers!!! Share expierences and ideas

[beachbumsns]

2 hours ago, gasusansays said:

We were on the boat last summer, Basel to Amsterdam.  No issues at all.  Cabin was 205.   This boat is specially designed and can handle the low water levels.  Some other lines were busing people from place to place or even canceling.  They are a class organization.  We plan to travel with them next summer on the Danube which I hear has even better scenery.

We were on AMASerena and AMADante.  Both times had Cabin 330 and 332.  The first night I heard engine noise but it was probably because it was a new noise to us.  After that we didn't hear it at all. 

[CupcakeNH]

We were on AMA Dante October of 2018 from Luxembourg to Basel but didn’t get to sail on the Rhine due to low water our itinterary changed and we were informed this after our first day on ship.  Last day we were bused to the last two previously scheduled stops.  Work was done on the cruise line’s part to coordinate the busing, hotels, etc. While in Basel we met people from another line and they were bused 3 days.

[Amandal15]

stumbled  across this  post yesterday and just finished reading through.  Thank you to  all  who have  contributed.   We leave next April for the river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. Cannot wait! 

[CaroleLee]

Hi to all,

 

Just back from AMA Bordeaux and going through cruise withdrawal. Thinking about AMA Rhine/Moselle Delights-has anyone done this either w/wo the land extensions? Would appreciate your thoughts

 

Thx

Carole

[texasstar]

We are scheduled for this cruise in Sept., so I can give you a report after we return.  We are doing our pre and post extensions on our own.  Please report on your Bordeaux trip.

[Pompein]

I know there is selection of included wines at dinner. Do they also have other bottles to purchase if you would like something other than what is offered?

[SkygirlSue]

I’m not sure. But you will find the wines very nice and usually representative of the area you are cruising through. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

You are also welcome to bring wine on board – there is no security check like on ocean ships, and no corkage fee to drink in the dining room or in your cabin.  They will happily uncork the bottles and provide you with proper wine glasses for your cabin (or of course in the dining room).  And since many people bring a freshly filled wine glass from dinner to the lounge, you would be able to keep drinking your personal wine after dinner too.  [Before dinner is a free happy hour, so you might want a pre-dinner cocktail on the house.]

[whynesnob]

I have been looking over our Rhine River cruise excursions. We are avid bikers and hikers. It looks like all biking tours need to be booked once on board. If you select an alternative excursion, does that exclude you from changing to a bike tour once on board?

 

For those who have done the Rhine cruise with AMA, what tours were your favorites?

[AJs Grandpa]

No worries. We are on the Ama Prima now. No problem choosing bike tours once aboard. 

[ReaderGirl57]

6 hours ago, whynesnob said:

I have been looking over our Rhine River cruise excursions. We are avid bikers and hikers. It looks like all biking tours need to be booked once on board. If you select an alternative excursion, does that exclude you from changing to a bike tour once on board?

 

For those who have done the Rhine cruise with AMA, what tours were your favorites?

On our Danube cruise, one of the bike tours did fill up. Go to the cruise director’s desk when you board and ask to sign up.

[kjbacon]

I am thrilled to have found this thread! We are avid ocean cruisers and have been talking about trying a river cruise for years. I think we are ready to give it a go within the year. After much reading and research, I think that AmaWaterways is the best fit for us. Having a balcony is one of our top priorities (claustrophobic husband). Many other components make this line a good fit for us.

 

Ive already learned so much from reading this thread, thank you all. I do have questions about the cocktail hour and probably lots of other questions about all kinds of things! Are the inclusions limited to the wine, beer, and cocktail special of the day or could we order a vodka martini, Bloody Mary, etc? Do you know what kinds of vodka they stock? Can you guess that we enjoy a vodka cocktail Lol! Is there live music in the lounge for cocktail hour?

 

Special thanks to those of you who posted pictures, especially food pictures. Their plating is beautiful! If you wanted a second something, perhaps 2 appetizers, can you do that?

 

Looking forward to learning more and more from you all.

[Cellagirl]

Happy hour is great!!  Any cocktail can be ordered!!  Several kinds of Vodka are on hand !!  Cosmo girl here!!  Beer and wine with lunch and dinner. No need IMO for a drink package or to buy any drinks. AMAWATERWAYS is the best!! Enjoy‼️🍷

[Thecheesecakelady]

I can confirm that they are flexible regarding meals. If you want 2 starters and no mains that's fine. We've done both the Rhine (Amsterdam to Budapest) and the Meekong with AMA. 

[kjbacon]

We are looking forward to it! We are red wine drinkers (when we aren’t having a martini) so might they give us a bottle of red at the cocktail hour so we can enjoy it on the balcony of our room without running back and forth to the lounge?

 

We are considering a AA+ room on the AmaPrima. Can anyone verify that there is more space between the bed and the wall/balcony than a AA room? The room layout diagram looks like it could be an extra foot or two, which would make a huge difference for my claustrophobic husband.

[AJs Grandpa]

3 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

We are looking forward to it! We are red wine drinkers (when we aren’t having a martini) so might they give us a bottle of red at the cocktail hour so we can enjoy it on the balcony of our room without running back and forth to the lounge?

Just got off the Prima a few days ago. I doubt they would give you a bottle.  But, you can probably ask for two glasses each and take them back to your cabin. That should last you until dinner when the wine will flow freely. 

[KruznKimmie]

On 7/10/2019 at 1:12 AM, whynesnob said:

I have been looking over our Rhine River cruise excursions. We are avid bikers and hikers. It looks like all biking tours need to be booked once on board. If you select an alternative excursion, does that exclude you from changing to a bike tour once on board?

 

For those who have done the Rhine cruise with AMA, what tours were your favorites?

We also love biking and did the Rhine with AMA.  On our cruise there was never a shortage of bikes.  In Strasbourg we did the city bike tour and it was very easy and a great way to see such a beautiful city that is very bike friendly.  The bike tour in Breisach was a much different experience as you ride through a small village then up the hills through the vineyards.  It was a beautiful ride but not easy but also not difficult.

[SuzCruise]

We just booked our first Ama cruise from Nuremberg to Luxembourg in October.  We've only done 1 other river cruise on Crystal, so we've got some newbie type questions.  Our itinerary says we disembark in Luxembourg, but we'll actually be docked a ways outside of town, evidently.  Will Ama shuttle us in to Luxembourg as we disembark?  Is there a list or catalog of excursions that we see closer to our cruise or when we board?  We've seen the brief description of excursions in the itinerary, of course.  But if I recall correctly on Crystal there was a more detailed list of available excursions.  I've looked for something similar on the Ama website but didn't find anything.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[notamermaid]

You are correct in that you disembark quite a distance from Luxembourg city. The port will likely be Remich - check the details of the itinerary - which is on the Moselle part of Luxembourg country, very close to Germany. Have a look at Google maps to see what I mean.

 

Have a great trip.

 

notamermaid

 

[beachbumsns]

Have you set up your account on the AMA Website for your cruise yet?  That will give you all the information about excursions.  When your tickets come, there is also a very nice Itinerary guide that is customized for you and your cruise.  If you haven't done so, go to this link and set up your account so you can view the information you are looking for.  Hope this helps.  https://www.amawaterways.com/my-trip/cruise-check-in

 

[SuzCruise]

I have checked in for my cruise online.  But there is no information about excursions, though it does say we will be getting an email saying registration for excursions is available approximately 60-90 days before the cruise.  It's 70 days before our cruise, so I guess I need to be patient.  Or is there some other place to find this info online that I am missing?  I'm guessing we won't get our tickets until a couple of weeks before we embark?  

 

Not a Mermaid, as I said in my original post, our itinerary says we disembark in Luxembourg.   My question is, will Ama provide a shuttle to get us in to town?  I'm very familiar with Google maps, but that doesn't address my question.  I'm hoping someone who has actually disembarked an Ama cruise in Luxembourg can help.

[notamermaid]

Slightly misunderstood you then, I suppose. Hope the info you need is online soon and you get the shuttle info. In general I find 60 to 90 days is a bit short notice. Many people prefer earlier planning, as expressed here on the board.

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, SuzCruise said:

I have checked in for my cruise online.  But there is no information about excursions, though it does say we will be getting an email saying registration for excursions is available approximately 60-90 days before the cruise.  It's 70 days before our cruise, so I guess I need to be patient.  Or is there some other place to find this info online that I am missing?  I'm guessing we won't get our tickets until a couple of weeks before we embark?  

 

Not a Mermaid, as I said in my original post, our itinerary says we disembark in Luxembourg.   My question is, will Ama provide a shuttle to get us in to town?  I'm very familiar with Google maps, but that doesn't address my question.  I'm hoping someone who has actually disembarked an Ama cruise in Luxembourg can help.

I'm going to assume that without an extension, they won't take you anywhere. Whatever town they dock in is where you will end up. I am currently looking at a Moselle bike and barge, and there is transportation in the small port towns, so I'm not sure that getting to Luxembourg city will actually benefit you that much. I would try to confirm exactly where they are docking, and then figure out what your transportation options might be.

[SCHappilyRetired]

Hello! We are looking at Medieval Treasures with AMA for 2020 Fall.  Anyone recently cruised this itinerary? Besides the cruise, we would also be doing the land portion. Any tidbit of info would be greatfully appreciated.  Thank you!

[beachbumsns]

We did Medieval Treasures which was a brand new itinerary on the AMA Dante May 2018.  It was a great.  One of the excursions was in Strasbourg, France which we loved.  It was our first stop and we booked the Strasbourg City Tour (Tour A).  If I was doing this trip again, I would take my own transportation into the town and go directly to Petite-France.  We did a lot of walking to get to this area, which was a highlight for us.  The ship's excursion spent a lot of time walking through the business district and Parliament buildings.  The park, Orangerie which is the town's oldest park, was nice but we really would have liked to have more time in Petite-France.  We found our time here very limited after doing the long walk to get here.  The Strasbourg Cathedral is worth seeing with the famous astronomical clock.  If you were doing this tour on your own, you would have much more time in these areas that what is allowed on the ships tour. On our ship, they brought a great entertainer on board to sing and play.  Enrico Novi, a one man band who sang/played all songs that many of us knew.  A great highlight of our trip.

 

 Rudesheim is a wonderful stop.  The wine tasting at night is great and interesting.  We stayed on the ship in this port overnight so the next day we took the Rudesheim Gondola Ride.  Very scenic.  We happened to have a local guide who was passionate and knowledgeable but also talked way too long on each subject.  We left the tour to go back down on the Gondola and spend some time in town enjoying a Rudesheim coffee.  I'm sure if you didn't want a guided tour, you could take the Gondola yourself and allow yourself much more time to enjoy the attractions in the town area.

 

When we got to Miltenburg, we had a short stop to let off the people on the tours.  3 of us in our group decided to stay on the boat and cruise with it.  We ended up having the most wonderful relaxing afternoon up on deck enjoying the scenery and going through all the locks.  It was one of the most scenic parts of our cruise.  This is a great itinerary and it was AMADante's first time on the Main River. 

 

We flew into Zurich overnight and took the train to Lucerne.  We spent 3 days here touring around and it was great.  Our hotel was two blocks from the train station.  It was called Hotel Central Lucerne.  Nice hot breakfast and comfortable rooms for a reasonable price.  You could walk all over Lucerne and your hotel gives you a pass for the bus system.  We also took the tour up to Mount Pilatus which included the boat trip on Lake Lucerne back to town.  Well worth our time here.  We then took the train to Basel.  We picked up a taxi at the train station and went across the river to our hotel which was called Hotel Restaurant Resslirytti.  It was very close to the bus system and the hotel again gives you free passes for this transportation which is so easy to use.  Hotel has a wonderful Italian Restaurant on site.  No breakfast included but you can purchase with your stay.  Very convenient location for walking along the river.  We actually could walk across the bridge to get to restaurants.   Taxi to ship on morning of embarkation.  Our Medieval Treasures cruise and our stay in Switzerland was one of the best trips we have ever had.  If I can be of any assistance on what we did to help you with your planning, please let me know.  I hope you enjoy this river cruise as much as we did.