HORRIBLE AmaWaterways experience on AmaCerto

[Julieana]

We chose the cruise because the itinerary was a bit off the beaten path and our travel agent said it was a high-end brand.  For the most part, the cruise was good, but we had a very bad experience on the last night.  It was a Saturday night and the cruise ship docked next to a large restaurant/wedding venue in Romania.  There was a wedding reception that night and the venue played extremely loud music until 4 am.  I called the front desk around 11 pm and asked how long it was going to continue, and they basically laughed and said "Romanian weddings go on for a while."  By 1 am we were still miserable and tried to contact the cruise director.  Whether she hung up on us on there was genuinely a bad connection, we are not sure, but we did not actually get a response from her.  I tried to call the front desk again but no one answered (even though we had been told that someone would be available 24/7).  So we got dressed and walked down to the front desk.  Amazing, someone was there but just didn't bother to pick up the phone.  The cruise director was there and seemed to be rattled by the whole thing, but said she had called the police and there was nothing else she could do about it.  We had a total of four cabins among our group, and three of them were on the shore side of the boat.  None of us got any sleep.  Of course on the day of disembarkation everyone is up early and the PA announcements started at 7 am which didn't help.  We texted the cruise director the day we departed, but no answer. We followed up with our travel agent who reached out to Ama but they basically blew us off.  We will not consider another Ama cruise in the future

[Bo1953]

I Am so sorry about your experience, yet please let us know what you expected Ama to do in this situation over which they had no control?

 

I Am sure they did not plan on the wedding being held the night you were there.

 

Again, sorry for the challenges.

 

bon voyage

[Donray]

What did you expect AMA to do???????????????

[hiccups]

While I understand your unhappiness, I'm not sure what you expected the cruise line to do.  The person at the front desk should have answered the phone, of course, but there really wasn't anything they could do.  It could have happened on any cruise line.

[G.M.T.]

First off, you were a guest in a foreign country, why shopuld a wedding celebration be interrupted just because you wanted to sleep.

 

There are several saying I can recommend:

 

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

"If you can't beat them, join them"

German "anderen länder anderen sitten" - other countries, other customs and traditions.

 

You should have grabbed a bottle and gone to join the reception, you would have been m ost welcomed.

[TMLAalum]

@G.M.T.

Your reply was spot on! Especially your suggestion to grab a bottle and join in!

Years ago we were at a timeshare in Scotland where there was a joyously raucous wedding reception happening in a large tent by the main lodge. Our friends wandered over and were warmly welcomed to join in the festivities....unfortunately DH & I had already retired for the night and missed out on an unforgettable experience.

[philw1776]

Stuff happens.
Uniworld Douro River cruise.  Excellent.
Last evening we're docked back in Porto.  Entire city goes wild all night long for the festival.  Fireworks. LOUD rock music.  Dock and our room was right next to a restaurant.  Party time.  Dock berths are limited and dictated by harbor master. Nothing Uniworld or any other cruise line could do about it.  

Somehow we survived.

[Roz]

We all react differently to unexpected situations, but I would have viewed this as an opportunity to experience a cultural event.  I love it when an unplanned situation arises that allows me to experience something new.  We were on a tour in Bulgaria when there was a Gypsy baptism at the Bulgarian Orthodox church we were visiting.  The family was all smiles and happy, and the Grandma offered us cookies and pastries afterwards to celebrate.  Priceless memory.  The only thing to do in the situation you were in is to either join in or laugh about it.  Personally, I think your reaction is a bit extreme.

[4774Papa]

12 hours ago, Donray said:

What did you expect AMA to do???????????????

LIKE

[G.M.T.]

14 hours ago, Julieana said:

We chose the cruise because the itinerary was a bit off the beaten path and our travel agent said it was a high-end brand.  For the most part, the cruise was good, but we had a very bad experience on the last night.  It was a Saturday night and the cruise ship docked next to a large restaurant/wedding venue in Romania.  There was a wedding reception that night and the venue played extremely loud music until 4 am.  I called the front desk around 11 pm and asked how long it was going to continue, and they basically laughed and said "Romanian weddings go on for a while."  By 1 am we were still miserable and tried to contact the cruise director.  Whether she hung up on us on there was genuinely a bad connection, we are not sure, but we did not actually get a response from her.  I tried to call the front desk again but no one answered (even though we had been told that someone would be available 24/7).  So we got dressed and walked down to the front desk.  Amazing, someone was there but just didn't bother to pick up the phone.  The cruise director was there and seemed to be rattled by the whole thing, but said she had called the police and there was nothing else she could do about it.  We had a total of four cabins among our group, and three of them were on the shore side of the boat.  None of us got any sleep.  Of course on the day of disembarkation everyone is up early and the PA announcements started at 7 am which didn't help.  We texted the cruise director the day we departed, but no answer. We followed up with our travel agent who reached out to Ama but they basically blew us off.  We will not consider another Ama cruise in the future

PS. Welcome to CC

[dogs4fun]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Sorry that you could not sleep but one must be prepared to roll with the punches when travelling. There was really nothing that AMA could do about the situation and you could experience similar situations on any cruise line.

[jklc123]

Juliana, did you write a review of this cruise? We are interested in that itinerary and are looking at AMA. I’m particularly interested in your impression of the ports and excursions.

[TMLAalum]

On 9/29/2019 at 1:57 PM, jklc123 said:

Juliana, did you write a review of this cruise? We are interested in that itinerary and are looking at AMA. I’m particularly interested in your impression of the ports and excursions.

 

Not sure that Juliana's review would be unbiased toward AMA since she is very unhappy with the Romanian wedding celebration that interfered with her sleep.....I know when I am sleep deprived I can be a pretty witchy woman (at least until my afternoon nap!).

[jklc123]

40 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

 

Not sure that Juliana's review would be unbiased toward AMA since she is very unhappy with the Romanian wedding celebration that interfered with her sleep.....I know when I am sleep deprived I can be a pretty witchy woman (at least until my afternoon nap!).

Very well could be, although it seemed that noisy night was the only negative.

[purduemom1]

As all the other posters have said, there was nothing that AMAn could do about the party. It wasn’t on board the ship and under AMA’s control. I doubt that this post will keep anyone from booking a cruise with AMA. We had a fantastic experience  on our AMA cruise and judging from the  experiences of other posters on this forum, we are not alone. 

[AF-1]

Juliana with one post and a bad experience.  Can you tell us what you did enjoy about AMA; don't talk about your last night.  I am going on a AMA cruise next year;  my first one,  so I would be interested in hearing about all the good things.  Second,  did you have ear plugs with you in which you possibly could have put those in to dampen the noise?  Waiting to hear back from you. 

[texasstar]

I will chime in.  We have just returned from an AMA cruise, our third, Basel to Amsterdam, Rhine and the Moselle.  You will not be disappointed.  The staff is top- notch.  They excursions  are all included and most of the guides were very good.  Our cruise director took very good care of us, especially those that had mobility issues, and he was very entertaining.The food is very good, the fellow passengers are delightful.  3 nights we had local talent that came on board to entertain us.  Enjoy your trip.

[CaroleLee]

16 hours ago, texasstar said:

I will chime in.  We have just returned from an AMA cruise, our third, Basel to Amsterdam, Rhine and the Moselle.  You will not be disappointed.  The staff is top- notch.  They excursions  are all included and most of the guides were very good.  Our cruise director took very good care of us, especially those that had mobility issues, and he was very entertaining.The food is very good, the fellow passengers are delightful.  3 nights we had local talent that came on board to entertain us.  Enjoy your trip.

Hi & happy almost week-end,

DH & I are looking at the Basel to Amsterdam cruise-would appreciate any review/info you could share. Also as Riquewihr &Strasbourg are special for us if you could share the excursions/time on tour etc would be most appreciated

Carole

[Host Jazzbeau]

@texasstar please start a new thread to post your review.  I am closing this one as @Julieana seems to be one and done and the follow-on posts have covered the issue very well.