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All Ama cruisers!!! Share expierences and ideas


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On 1/12/2020 at 11:56 AM, Cellagirl said:

To be sure ALL markets are open choose the first week in December.  Last year we Left on our Thanksgiving (US) and a few markets were not open.  It was still a wonderful cruise !!!!!!

 

Cellagirl, thank you for your response!  Which cruise did you do? Am I understanding correctly that your cruise had some markets, but wasn't just focused on markets? If so, that would be a good one for us! 

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We are booked on the AMA Christmas Market Cruise on the Rhine during Thanksgiving week and it looks like there are at least one or two daytime activities to choose other than visiting a Christmas market. I’m afraid that one or more Christmas markets a day for 7 days would be way too much for anyone to bear.

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5 hours ago, cazbg said:

 

Cellagirl, thank you for your response!  Which cruise did you do? Am I understanding correctly that your cruise had some markets, but wasn't just focused on markets? If so, that would be a good one for us! 

 

5 hours ago, cazbg said:

 

Cellagirl, thank you for your response!  Which cruise did you do? Am I understanding correctly that your cruise had some markets, but wasn't just focused on markets? If so, that would be a good one for us! 

We were on the Rhine ,Basel to Amsterdam.  We wanted to do and see all the Christmas markets so I did not look into anything else .  If you sail during this time, late Nov. to the middle of Dec.,most ppl are into the market scene.  If you are not perhaps another time would meet your needs.  Every stop had Christmas markets. 🎄🎄🎄

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1 hour ago, grmmybtty said:

We are booked on the AMA Christmas Market Cruise on the Rhine during Thanksgiving week and it looks like there are at least one or two daytime activities to choose other than visiting a Christmas market. I’m afraid that one or more Christmas markets a day for 7 days would be way too much for anyone to bear.

Christmas markets are THE THING TO DO when you go on a Christmas market cruise!!  Perhaps this timing is not the right fit for you😉😉😉

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26 minutes ago, Cellagirl said:

Christmas markets are THE THING TO DO when you go on a Christmas market cruise!!  Perhaps this timing is not the right fit for you😉😉😉

We want to see the Christmas markets but also want to see and experience something else too. I’m glad that our cruise offers both.

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7 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Jazzbeau,   you mentioned the cruise director stays with you for post cruise excursions;  is this same for pre-cruise add on packages?  

 

I don't know from experience because we have never booked a pre-cruise extension from AMA, but I believe I have read that they do.  The nice thing about doing the pre-cruise is that when you get to the ship you already have met some of your fellow passengers.

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35 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

I don't know from experience because we have never booked a pre-cruise extension from AMA, but I believe I have read that they do.  The nice thing about doing the pre-cruise is that when you get to the ship you already have met some of your fellow passengers.

Again, it wasn't in Europe, but when I cruised the Mekong with Ama the cruise director was with us from the first meeting in Hanoi (I can't remember whether I met him when I collected my packet the afternoon before) until the final morning in Ho Chi Minh City.

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When we cruised the Mekong 2 years ago the Cruise Director was there from day one to getting you to the airport to head home  There is different tour guides from Viet Nam to Cambodia, if I recall correctly it was because of the language difference between countries.  They were all so knowledgeable and proud of their countries and cultures it was great to get to spend so much time with them.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

I don't know from experience because we have never booked a pre-cruise extension from AMA, but I believe I have read that they do.  The nice thing about doing the pre-cruise is that when you get to the ship you already have met some of your fellow passengers.

 

Jazzbeau - your information is correct.  We did two European river cruises with AMA and booked their pre-cruise extensions (Danube and Rhine/Moselle) and the cruise director was with the group from the start.

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On 1/13/2020 at 6:01 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

"half APT" – good thing the auto-filter didn't take this the wrong way!!!

 

We were recently on a Ponant ocean cruise in the half that was Backroads – we got included tours and other amenities – most other passengers were French, but there may have been some English-speakers.  We are soon to do Ponant directly, but that cruise will be half Tauck and they will get included excursions and I don't know what else.  It definitely changes the vibe of the cruise.

We were on a Ponant Cruise through Croatia this summer.  I would say about 50% of the ship was Backroads.  We are a family of four and picked this knowing there would be a better chance of some younger people on board since the Backroads group were bikers.  Well they were young but sadly for us they really kept to themselves.  We had previously been on AmaKristina and our teenage boys lucked out during our July sailing and had LOTS of teenagers on board.  It was a wonderful very social sailing. We loved the Croatia itinerary but really missed the friendly social aspect on Ponant.  Perhaps it might have been different if Backroads mixed with the rest of us.  Backroads were mainly english speaking as we are but the other guests were all French and were also not interested in mixing too much.  So the ship was lovely and Croatia was but we are back to Ama in September this year for Magna on the Danube in September.  We had nothing but positive things to say about Amsterdam to Basel on AmaKristina so decided we would give them a try.  Backroads had all excursions included and ours were in fact extra.  They seemed to be very busy though.  They left the ship before we were even up and were always the last on board.  Not a lot of resting other than when we were at sea.  Looking forward to AmaMagna in September.

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We are on AMA’s Legendary Danube cruise leaving from Nuremberg on 4/24/20, and are doing the three-day pre-cruise extension in Prague. Our paperwork says we’ll be staying at the Radisson Blu while in Prague. For anyone who has done pre-cruise extensions, what level hotel room does AMA typically book for their passengers - standard or something above that? Has anyone stayed at the Radisson Blu and, if so, how was your stay? Thanks!

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I had a similar question for our AmaDara cruise on the Mekong next month.  I was booking a extra night in advance and sent an email direct to AMA asking what level of room they booked.  They responded promptly. I wanted to match that level to reduce odds of needing to change rooms. On this trip they were booking "Luxury Level" which in the scope of options was the best without being a suite and without extra lounge access.  I was impressed with the ratings for the three different hotels will be in; booked total of 8 days pre and post extension. 

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When we did a Christmas market cruise with Prague pre-extension with AMA a few years ago, they had us in the Hotel President which was a definite "luxury" hotel (one of the finest we stayed at in Europe), so I would suspect that the Radisson would be the same level. Enjoy the stay.

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@odblnt – I was confused too, but the question isn't about the quality of the hotel – rather it is the level of room within the hotel.

 

My experience with this, on several cruise lines and land tours, is that the answer you get will often be confusing because the terminology doesn't line up with the hotel website room listings.  It may take an email to the hotel to get a 'magic decoder ring' translation...

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16 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

@odblnt – I was confused too, but the question isn't about the quality of the hotel – rather it is the level of room within the hotel.

 

My experience with this, on several cruise lines and land tours, is that the answer you get will often be confusing because the terminology doesn't line up with the hotel website room listings.  It may take an email to the hotel to get a 'magic decoder ring' translation...

Yes, I was asking about the type of hotel room AMA typically books guests in - standard, premier, etc. The Radisson has several different types of rooms listed.

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33 minutes ago, CruiseGal53 said:

Yes, I was asking about the type of hotel room AMA typically books guests in - standard, premier, etc. The Radisson has several different types of rooms listed.

Sorry - I misunderstood. We would consider the type of room at the President to be a Premier room (larger than normal/nice amenities). Definitely not a broom closet at the end of the hall.

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On 1/14/2020 at 8:00 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

I don't know from experience because we have never booked a pre-cruise extension from AMA, but I believe I have read that they do.  The nice thing about doing the pre-cruise is that when you get to the ship you already have met some of your fellow passengers.

Yes, the cruise director is there for you pre and post extensions. Note that CD is NOT an AMA employee so their tips are not covered by any perk or what you tip on board

Have a great trio right now planning our 4th AMA crtuise

Carole

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2 hours ago, SkygirlSue said:

NOTE:  on the final day, you will be given suggested gratuities to add to your bill.  They will recommend that you tip the cruise director separately; I believe it's 25 Euros/person.

 

This shouldn't come as a surprise at that late date:  it is specified in the cruise documents.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello fellow AMA cruises;  I was reading a forum on Viking and they stated there is no dress code on Viking.  You wear what you want for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  So what is the feedback from Ama cruisers regarding dress for all three meals?  Thanks and have fun out there

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