Danube river cruise

[NMTraveller]

We are looking at Danube river cruises on Ama Waterways.  What are your favorite ports of call on the Danube.  What portion of the Danube is best.  When is the best time to cruise the Danube?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

We are looking at Ama Waterways because they have the slow walker excursions.

[dogs4fun]

12 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

We are looking at Danube river cruises on Ama Waterways.  What are your favorite ports of call on the Danube.  What portion of the Danube is best.  When is the best time to cruise the Danube?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

We are looking at Ama Waterways because they have the slow walker excursions.

You've asked some really subjective questions. We have twice cruised the Danube and our favorite ports were Budapest (spent an additional week post cruise) and Vienna. "Favorite" really depends on your particular interests - for example, we love Salzburg (we are Mozart fans) whereas others prefer to spend the day in Passau or Cesky Krumlov.

We prefer shoulder seasons due to crowding during the summer months.

[Roz]

What section of the Danube are you looking at?  I've done Budapest to Passau and Bucharest to Budapest.  Two very different cruises.  

[NMTraveller]

10 minutes ago, Roz said:

What section of the Danube are you looking at?  I've done Budapest to Passau and Bucharest to Budapest.  Two very different cruises.  

 

We are trying to figure out which section of the Danube.  Which section would you recommend?  What are the differences?

We are new to river cruising.

[Roz]

Eastern and Western Europe are 2 different animals.  Some people I talked with can't understand why I wanted to go to Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc.  The tourist industry in the old Soviet bloc countries isn't nearly as developed in as Western Europe, and things are more rustic.  I found it interesting, having grown up during the Cold War when these countries were off limits.  They show the effects of 50 yrs. of Soviet domination and being cut off from the rest of the world.  Still working to crawl out from under it.  If things like that don't interest you, I would recommend the section that takes in Vienna and ports in Germany.  More developed and more tourist infrastructure.  I liked both cruises, but for different reasons.

[suesilton]

Roz, you are spot on with your response.  We returned last month from a back to back Danube cruise.  First, from Bucharest to Budapest; second Budapest to Prague.  The demographics on the first week was very different from the second.  The first cruisers were older and quieter.  Thirty of us stayed on.  The second cruisers were quite a bit younger and loved to stay up and dance. We enjoyed both,  but did find the old Soviet bloc countries more interesting.  My husband’s grandparents came from Romania, so that was most important for him.  Ports were much less crowded and guides were wonderful and honest. We made all ports except Nuremberg, as a barge was stuck in the Danube and we spent an extra night in Passau.  Still processing a wonderful trip.

[NMTraveller]

I think that I have a little preference for West vs. East.  

[NMTraveller]

OK.  I may have narrowed it down to 3 areas.

 

Grand Danube Vilshofen to Giurgiu

Magnificent Europe. Amsterdam to Budapest

Europe's Rivers and Castles Luxemborg to Nuremborg with Paris and Prague before and after to round out the two weeks.

 

What to do you say?

 

Which is the most scenic?  What would you do if this was your first river cruise?  I do realize that it is subjective.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I would choose something other than Amsterdam to Budapest for 2 reasons:  (1)  that itinerary goes through the notorious low-water stretch and so maximizes the chances of disruptions, and (2) some people discover that river cruising just isn’t for them so a 2-week cruise leaves a lot of unhappy days ahead.

 

If your frame of reference is ocean cruises, take a look at AmaMagna. It’s twice as wide as any other river cruise ship, so there’s more room for everything and more ‘things.’  It also stays in the deep water part of the Danube. 

[dogs4fun]

If it was my first river cruise and my first visit to the area, I would choose Amsterdam to Budapest. You can still add Prague at the end of your cruise to Budapest - Prague is absolutely amazing!

Would you arrive AMS prior to your cruise - lots to see in AMS. Wondering why Paris? We love Paris but it seems that you may be adding too much - sometimes a little less is more. I would save Paris for another visit where I could spend 4 days to a week - so much to see and do in Paris - large city. So, if it were me, I would arrive AMS early, spend a few days in AMS, cruise to Budapest and spend an extra few days in Budapest & then several days in Prague.

[Coral]

Vienna and Salzburg are my favorites! I have not been to Budapest.

[Bake apple]

24 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

If it was my first river cruise and my first visit to the area, I would choose Amsterdam to Budapest. You can still add Prague at the end of your cruise to Budapest - Prague is absolutely amazing!

Would you arrive AMS prior to your cruise - lots to see in AMS. Wondering why Paris? We love Paris but it seems that you may be adding too much - sometimes a little less is more. I would save Paris for another visit where I could spend 4 days to a week - so much to see and do in Paris - large city. So, if it were me, I would arrive AMS early, spend a few days in AMS, cruise to Budapest and spend an extra few days in Budapest & then several days in Prague.

Totally agree. Loved Amsterdam and had a great and interesting five days there.  Our cruise towards  Budapest, at least for us, was full of the history, castles, lovely small towns, wonderful scenery, food and wine that we like. Thankfully we had no river water issues. Fell in love with both Budapest and Prague and tacked on four days in each. We came home very tired but very happy with our choices.

 

 Paris however  is a whole other animal. My favourite city but gosh it takes a lot of time to see the sites, visit the galleries, enjoy the food etc etc etc.  I've been three times and still have not really scratched the surface. So much to see dear travellers,  so much to see.  🙂

[NMTraveller]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I would choose something other than Amsterdam to Budapest for 2 reasons:  (1)  that itinerary goes through the notorious low-water stretch and so maximizes the chances of disruptions, and (2) some people discover that river cruising just isn’t for them so a 2-week cruise leaves a lot of unhappy days ahead.

 

If your frame of reference is ocean cruises, take a look at AmaMagna. It’s twice as wide as any other river cruise ship, so there’s more room for everything and more ‘things.’  It also stays in the deep water part of the Danube. 

Thanks for the low water warning.  We will take that into account.

 

So what would we not like about river cruising since we are new to it?  We like the ocean cruises.  My idea is that a river cruise will give us a smaller more intimate experience and more laid back and relaxing experience.

 

I have done some ocean cruises,  however I have a preference for the smaller ocean ships.  

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

53 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Thanks for the low water warning.  We will take that into account.

 

So what would we not like about river cruising since we are new to it?  We like the ocean cruises.  My idea is that a river cruise will give us a smaller more intimate experience and more laid back and relaxing experience.

 

I have done some ocean cruises,  however I have a preference for the smaller ocean ships.  

 

Good – you are closer to a 'natural river cruiser' than some of those who find they hate it because there are no casinos, no roller coasters, no theater shows or multiple venues with music and games.  A river cruise is very intimate and laid back.  Not necessarily relaxing though: every day there are 1-3 included shore excursions which almost always include walking on cobblestones and start right after an early breakfast – then back to the ship for lunch, then the second excursion – then back to the ship for a quick freshen up, cocktail hour and/or meeting about the next day's program – then everybody troops down to the dining room for the single sitting [and many river cruise ships have few tables for two].  After dinner, there will be a piano player in the lounge – and a few times per cruise a local group will come onboard to entertain for a night [e.g. a French chanteuse with accordion accompaniment or a classical trio].  Then everybody's tired, so it's back to the cabins for an early night to prepare for tomorrow's early morning. 

 

If you are sociable, it's wonderful – we have always met compatible folks early on and created our regular dinner table group.  We've never felt like we were 'in someone's pocket' for the entire cruise, because you can easily get yourself into different excursion groups.  

 

Two other groups of folks who don't like river cruising are those like Garbo who 'want to be alone," and those who plan to skip all the organized activities and hire private tour guides at every port [this is logistically difficult because the schedules are at the mercy of the lock masters and the docking locations at the mercy of the harbor masters – sometimes the ship even moves from one town to another while everyone is off on an excursion].  Some compare the cost of a river cruise to an ocean cruise and complain that you have to pay more, for a smaller cabin – and if you don't take advantage of the included excursions the value proposition really falls apart.

 

Those are all the negatives.  There are obviously many more positives, or river cruising wouldn't be expanding at such a rapid rate.  DW and I love ocean cruising, especially on small ships – and we also love river cruising.  None of the 'negatives' I mention above bother us.  But we also try to maximize our experience:  we sail on AMA because the cabins are larger and the ships more spacious than some other lines, and the food and service are at the top of the game.  AMA does split the shore excursions into fast-, regular- and slow-walker groups – and they strive to let the slow walkers see everything by minimizing down time [e.g. shopping].  AMA isn't all-inclusive, which helps keep the price down a bit [since the included wine and beer is all we need – and they now have a free 'happy hour' before dinner].  The other river cruise line we would consider is Crystal, which really strives to bring their ocean cruise experience to their river ships [e.g. food choices and onboard entertainment] – but with only four ships their itinerary choices are very limited. 

[notamermaid]

6 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Thanks for the low water warning.  We will take that into account.

 

So what would we not like about river cruising since we are new to it?  We like the ocean cruises.  My idea is that a river cruise will give us a smaller more intimate experience and more laid back and relaxing experience.

 

I have done some ocean cruises,  however I have a preference for the smaller ocean ships.  

 

I agree with jazzbeau that you are likely to enjoy even a longer river cruise, judging from your comments above. And he is right about it not necessarily being so relaxing!

 

As regards water levels. It is the big difference to ocean cruising in that you are relying on rainfall (or the lack of it) and locks to provide enough water in the rivers to sail. Flooding can happen with more or less every river, and the effect and severity will wary. That is normally in Springtime in Europe. Drought is mostly in Autumn and effects only some rivers. Unfortunately the Danube in Germany.

 

Which brings me to your itineraries. Paris to Moselle river, etc. to Nuremberg is not on the Danube at all. It is a nice itinerary for sure but it would not be my choice and I would start such a cruise right at embarkation port in Luxembourg.

For a first-time river cruiser I would choose Amsterdam to Budapest, but the Danube one to Giurgiu sounds also interesting.

 

For lots of info on river cruising I recommend the stickies at the top of the page compiled by our host jazzbeau. A great read!

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

[jo-b]

Also worth a read of the Danube water levels etc thread started by the ever helpful Notamermaid which will give a flavour of the issues and Pleasures happening this year on the Danube. 

[NMTraveller]

Is it possible to do a 7 day Rhine and then 7 day Danube on AMA back to back?

[Roz]

I've never cruised on AMA, but a quick check shows the shortest cruises they offer are 8 days.  You would need to have transportation between your debarkation and new embarkation port pre-arranged.  Are you working with a travel agent?  They could assist with details like this, including overnight hotels if the 2 cruises they end/start on the same day.

[Host Jazzbeau]

AMA has enough ships on the Rhine itineraries now that you aren't locked into every trip starting/ending on the same weekday, so it should be possible to find suitable interlocking dates for at least some of their Rhine and Danube itineraries.  A quick check on rome2rio shows that there are cheap flights from Amsterdam to Budapest, and from Basel to Budapest.  So you could take the Rhine cruise in either direction; the Danube cruise should be taken starting in Budapest [if it's the second cruise] or ending there [if it's the first cruise].  I would suggest that you study the AMA website to figure out which itineraries you want and then, with your timeframe in mind, call AMA and let one of their reps figure out how this would work for you.

[Got2Cruise]

5 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Is it possible to do a 7 day Rhine and then 7 day Danube on AMA back to back?

I think it would be better if there is a day in between and then certainly you can either fly or take the train to the next embarkation port. You can fly from the Rhine Cruise ending in Amsterdam or Basel to the Danube cruise beginning in Budapest for example. 

 

 

[Coral]

21 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 The other river cruise line we would consider is Crystal, which really strives to bring their ocean cruise experience to their river ships [e.g. food choices and onboard entertainment] – but with only four ships their itinerary choices are very limited. 

Not sure if I would say entertainment from Crystal Ocean is similar to Crystal River. River has a lounge singer and piano player (similar) but not much else (and they did apparently come from Crystal Ocean). They do fun things like trivia and we did a Sound of Music sing-a-long. 

 

Food was pretty similar. I almost want to say some of it was better on river.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Not sure if I would say entertainment from Crystal Ocean is similar to Crystal River. River has a lounge singer and piano player (similar) but not much else (and they did apparently come from Crystal Ocean). They do fun things like trivia and we did a Sound of Music sing-a-long. 

 

Food was pretty similar. I almost want to say some of it was better on river.

 

I had heard [but maybe this was only for the first season] that they were using the Cruise Directors from the ocean ships on the rivers, which implied a higher level of onboard entertainment than most river lines.  My cruises on AMA did not involve trivia or sing-a-longs [not sure this would be a big plus, but it does seem to reflect an oceans-to-rivers importation].

[Coral]

22 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

I had heard [but maybe this was only for the first season] that they were using the Cruise Directors from the ocean ships on the rivers, which implied a higher level of onboard entertainment than most river lines.  My cruises on AMA did not involve trivia or sing-a-longs [not sure this would be a big plus, but it does seem to reflect an oceans-to-rivers importation].

I probably need to find my Crystal stuff and look. I meant to say it was the day we were in Salzburg that we did the "Sound of Music Trivia and Sound of Music Sing-A-Long" which was actually hilarious. I do remember one night they brought in local musicians which was pretty good. It was a night we had an overnight in port. I would say it was more active in the evenings than my AMA cruise. I was thinking more of "there was no production shows" when I made my comment. Though on my Crystal ocean cruises, the production shows were my least favorite. I hope the Crystal people will forgive me for saying that :). 

 

We did not do the nightly meetings that other cruise lines do.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Coral

[Andee]

We took an Avalon Danube cruise Deggedorf to Bucharest, which started with 2 days in Prague. Enjoyed it very much.

They included "gentle walker" tours.

[NMTraveller]

On 10/13/2019 at 7:44 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Good – you are closer to a 'natural river cruiser' than some of those who find they hate it because there are no casinos, no roller coasters, no theater shows or multiple venues with music and games.  A river cruise is very intimate and laid back.  Not necessarily relaxing though: every day there are 1-3 included shore excursions which almost always include walking on cobblestones and start right after an early breakfast – then back to the ship for lunch, then the second excursion – then back to the ship for a quick freshen up, cocktail hour and/or meeting about the next day's program – then everybody troops down to the dining room for the single sitting [and many river cruise ships have few tables for two].  After dinner, there will be a piano player in the lounge – and a few times per cruise a local group will come onboard to entertain for a night [e.g. a French chanteuse with accordion accompaniment or a classical trio].  Then everybody's tired, so it's back to the cabins for an early night to prepare for tomorrow's early morning. 

 

If you are sociable, it's wonderful – we have always met compatible folks early on and created our regular dinner table group.  We've never felt like we were 'in someone's pocket' for the entire cruise, because you can easily get yourself into different excursion groups.  

 

Two other groups of folks who don't like river cruising are those like Garbo who 'want to be alone," and those who plan to skip all the organized activities and hire private tour guides at every port [this is logistically difficult because the schedules are at the mercy of the lock masters and the docking locations at the mercy of the harbor masters – sometimes the ship even moves from one town to another while everyone is off on an excursion].  Some compare the cost of a river cruise to an ocean cruise and complain that you have to pay more, for a smaller cabin – and if you don't take advantage of the included excursions the value proposition really falls apart.

 

Those are all the negatives.  There are obviously many more positives, or river cruising wouldn't be expanding at such a rapid rate.  DW and I love ocean cruising, especially on small ships – and we also love river cruising.  None of the 'negatives' I mention above bother us.  But we also try to maximize our experience:  we sail on AMA because the cabins are larger and the ships more spacious than some other lines, and the food and service are at the top of the game.  AMA does split the shore excursions into fast-, regular- and slow-walker groups – and they strive to let the slow walkers see everything by minimizing down time [e.g. shopping].  AMA isn't all-inclusive, which helps keep the price down a bit [since the included wine and beer is all we need – and they now have a free 'happy hour' before dinner].  The other river cruise line we would consider is Crystal, which really strives to bring their ocean cruise experience to their river ships [e.g. food choices and onboard entertainment] – but with only four ships their itinerary choices are very limited. 

What other extra expenses are there with AMA.  We do just drink wine.  Are some of the excursions extra?