Amawaterways gems of southeast Europe 4/30 on AMAMagna with Romania extension

[CastleCritic]

Ground extension day 4/the last one May 10, 2023

 

Last post(?) for the extension part I think I may write another hotel review after tonight, this one will be more positive I think. I fly home tomorrow (boo).

 

 

We woke up to another semi-cloudy day in Bucharest

 

Todays schedule was for a choice of morning activity followed by a free afternoon.

 

walking tour of the old town

tour of parliament

 

Or at least that was the plan.....I chose the parliament tour and we piled into the bus for the short drive over there only 6 of us (out of the about 50 on the ground extension) plus the same guide/Ama cruise director that we had in Transylvania (and the same bus...not sure it was the same driver).

 

Few decent things to see on the way over there.

 

Soon to be largest Orthodox Church in Europe, taking over the one we say recently in Belgrade

old Communist party HQ

 

Brighter shot of Parliament itself which I showed yesterday

...and then we ran into protestors outside the parliament building (orthodox fundamentalist, "anti everything" says the guide). And as we are circling the building they finally tell us they've locked down the building until they disperse....so we head back to old town and do a different version of the same thing as everyone else.  Certainly by far the weakest excursion of the trip, and I dont think the spontaneous change had anything to do with it, despite being a wealth of knowledge the tour guide kind of had a hard time filling the time, before turning us loose to meet him in an hour...or walk back (its not that far).

 

 

 

here is something that Vlad the implaler/Vlad Dracula actually built, due to be restored in 2021 according to the sign

 

After having a decent lunch (meatballs in sauce on top of mashed potatoes), I headed into the nearby national museum where after failing twice to pay for the ticket (about $5) due to them not taking card and having broken my "to that point no one will break this" 200 lei note for a 20 euro...she didn't have change for that and just gave me a free ticket.

 

 

 

 

It was a decent exhibition, the markee exhibits are a replica of Trajans column, the story of the ancient Romanians (Dacians) being conquered by the Romans, which lead to the death of the ancient leader whose head was carved into the iron gorge we saw about a week ago.

 

 

As well as the actual Crown Jewels of the Romanian monarchy of recent times.

From there I walked out the door right into another protest, this one on the street leading back to the hotel.  Not sure who they were, it looked like a group of general union/worker grievances.  Some of them were walking on the sidewalk, bonus points to the ones on the sideway eating pizza  that they bought on the way.

Everything was peaceful(thought loud)...but the local authorities were prepared for otherwise (yes thats a fire truck and there was an ambulance beside it)

 

Few other shots on the walk back

"the potato" Fifth ugliest statue in town says the guide

 

 

King Carol I the German born first king of Romania in the late 1800s

a concert hall

 

As I said, at this point this is the end of the trip, I will probably head back out before too long for some last minute exploring and then dinner, but I already know my car for the airport leaves at 5:20 so it wont be a late night.

 

I hope everyone has enjoyed this and if any one has any questions they would like to ask I'll take my shot at them.

 

Also again I will probably do a review of the hotel tomorrow while Im waiting on planes and maybe an overall wrap-up.

Edited May 10, 2023 by CastleCritic

[CastleCritic]

Good morning from Heathrow airport. 
 

last postscript the transfer out of the hotel was smooth (albeit at 5:30). They had a bus for us and. A guide who stayed with the group until it checked in (I think everyone was on this British flight). The cruise manager Jasmina had food bags for everyone (water, apple, yogurt, cheese and veggie sandwich). 
 

so the hotel for Bucharest was the intercontinental Athenee palace named because it was beside the Roman looking building in yesterdays update. This was a Hilton sold to the ihg group (holiday inn) and then remodeled and reopened recently. Honestly it was a good hotel, it was quiet, it was comfortable, The controls made sense and it was close enough to walk to both museums and food. Would recommend. Even the Italian (the best Romanian food is Italian we were told) hotel restaurant. In general food in romania was cheap I don’t think I spent over $20 once. (Just paid about £25 for breakfast here). 
 

few picture I took of the room last night. 

 

 (Only bathroom I had all trip where the toilet wasn’t in its own closet). 
 

 

[NewCruiser2016]

Thank you for your excellent review. I particularly enjoyed your pictures. This is not an itinerary I had considered, but would now having read your write-up. I hope you do another trip (and review) soon! Safe travels home.

[CastleCritic]

Im happy to provide, for even more info look for a thread called "Review - Grand Danube on AmaMagna - 23-Mar to 13-Apr, 2023" by RobInMn that was posted about the same time. That one covers the full 14 day and full Danube Itinerary that AMA does of which this is the second half. (they offer both halves even on trips sold as a 14 day cruise as well) That review is on the same ship and to be honest it think that poster and I think a lot alike but that we've never met and it was from the trip down before mine.

 

Overall yes I think this was a very good cruise, its certainly not for everyone but if you wanted an insight into a SOMEWHAT less "touristy" side of Europe inside of the old iron curtain its a good way to do so.  Especially this time of year when even the major spots aren't crowded. And by using a good cruise line to get around you have most of the logistics and language issues handled for you really helps. (they even handled the passports all the way through, there are no VISAs required and other than Serbia this is all EU though Bulgaria and Romania are not Schengen countries, I keep debating doing a picture/diagram of all the stamps)

 

The region is still dealing with the results of the communist period (and wars), but most of the nations are really trying.  I was quite pleased that I had internet MOST of the time (100% in Romania, even in the mountains...they are pretty proud of their internet), Serbia (I think this had to do with who AT&T plays well with) and some stretches of the Iron Gorge were issues (though I used the ship internet while onboard which I think has satellite backup).  The cruise and the extension especially have a good bit of bus time.  I heard a few couples on...well the bus ride...to the airport (this one only about 15min) saying they wish they had known there was so much on the extension...but that "it wouldn't have changed anything".

 

There were two (three if you did Bucharest) times where the ship moved without us, and on the two times it happened when I was off the ship, the ship made the destination before we did(it helps when there are no locks on the river), I know this has been a sore spot for some people. (when we moved across the river from Bulgaria to Romania the last time the passengers who had already gone into Romania were waiting on the shore for us, but this was the result of  the time we spent re-docking due to the other ships present in Bulgaria)

 

 It may be my favorite of the 5 cruises Ive been on but you also have to remember I liked my first two pre-covid cruises a lot, so much so that I booked my first attempt at this one for 2020 5 days after I got off the last one.  The last two had the "you can't test positive for covid at the end of this and have to stick to masking and separation" hanging over them the whole time which dimmed things a little.

 

AMA as usual has everything figured out for this and has a very good product with a good staff, AMAMagna is an amazing ship, its amazing what another 10m/30 feet of width provides you with the ability to do (Im sure some companies would turn that into ocean style "inside cabins, I never did establish what was in the walled off voids in areas where the cabins weren't longer except on the first floor where they put the gift shop for part of the distance).  

 

One thing I did notice (as my mother has various food restrictions) is that the restaurant staff was vigilant this year about asking and proactively addressing food allergy, and sensitivity issues, if they didn't know you, they would always ask before taking your order.  We did have some issues with this last year on AmaDante, a new crew that was also rotated around a bit during the week so we had to remind them a few times despite noting it (and being asked about it the first night) ahead of time.

 

Favorite thing? Well as stated I like big walled things so its going to be Golubac fortress and Bran castle, but just the variety of them, even the fortresses we didn't get to go to (and Ive seen the Rhine Gorge).

 

I don't have any regrets, the only excursion I wish I had taken and didn't was the last one we tried, Parliament in Bucharest that was canceled on us by protestors.

 

Thank you all for reading/traveling along with me, until next time...happy cruising.

[Mrs. Peel]

I enjoyed every minute of your review. We are going on same trip on AMA Verde in March. So this was exciting for us to read. 
if you could tell me about the food and meals on both boat and land I would appreciate it. I also look forward to hearing about all the hotels. Not sure yet if we are staying at same places but it’s a good chance.

thank you so much for the detailed review.,

[CastleCritic]

Sure, it might help to know if you have previous experience experience with ama’s food. 
 

in general breakfast is half standard menu, eggs to order, a selection of pasteries that will change a little waffles, some cereal and yogurt  that sort of thing and a daily special, can be pancakes, eggs Benedict or similar. 
 

lunch will be rotating, always a selection of appetizers they will drop on the table when you sit down plus a choice of a consommé soup and another soup, a sandwich, a main course and something from “the carving station” this is a bit of a misnomer since we had both risotto and curry. Some of this will be inspired by where you are. Might be schnitzel in Germany, we had a beef stew first lunch. There will always be a vegetarian option and there is always the “bailout” menu to get a beef or chicken burger or pizza. And there will be deserts, a pastry, ice cream and something else. 

 

dinner will be multiple course appetizer choice of two. Again choice of Two soups, sometimes a sorbet (always in some form of alchol) as a pallet cleanser and then a choice of a fish, meat, and veggie option. Again there is always a bailout menu for salmon, steak, chicken and probably something veggie then again 3 deserts

 

bread will be put on the table for all 3 meals 

 

in the lounge (or a separate restaurant on the amamagna, there will be pastries both before and after the normal breakfast and a lighter version of the lunch (usual the soup and one of the menu items. There will also be a late night snack. 
 

land depends where you are. It’s pretty common on their cruises if you have an entire day away from the ship that you are on your own. This was true of the entire extension. But they did have the one day in Bulgaria where lunch was part of the program. This is whatever you want. Usually the local restaurant but I have been known to get mcdonalds or a muffin from a grocery store.  We only had 1 full day away from the ship this cruise, and that’s about average normally you will eat lunch on the ship every day. They don’t schedule the excursions to arrive back at 2pm. It’s always back at 11-1 and then lunch will be served. However on some days (Belgrade this trip, Strasbourg on the Rhine ) you can choose to stay in town to eat if you wanted to. Or return to the ship (there will be hourly buses back and forth)
 

if this didn’t answer the question please clarify what you would like to know. 
 

lunch day 1

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Host Jazzbeau]

A couple of small additions to the above post:

•  there is bubbly at breakfast, next to the orange juice to make yourself a mimosa

•  you can always ask for the sorbet palate cleanser without alcohol [DW does this because she doesn't drink, and I do it because I like the stronger taste of the straight sorbet]

 

Red and while wine flows very freely at lunch and dinner [beer is also available, but you have to order each glass because they don't come around pouring it...]

 

On our past AMA cruises breakfast and lunch had a combination of buffet and menu, but I read that they were considering dropping the buffet and going to full-service at all meals.  They were forced to do this because of Covid, and discovered that passengers liked it.  If I'm wrong, this is not a big deal because they handled the buffet very well and the waiters were already there to take orders.

[CastleCritic]

Yeah I didn’t address the buffet/not because I don’t know what they are doing on the normal size ships now. On the amamagna it was 90% table service. The pastries and cereal were self service and some of the days the carving station were “select your ingredients to stew” but we didn’t eat off a buffet in the dining room once 

 

The late breakfast in the Al fresco did have scrambled eggs and bacon however in a buffet box. 
 

last year the breakfast and lunch on amadante were about 50% buffet. Dinner never has been. 
 

and yes they are really good about being flexible on food. For me it’s usally simple, bring me more meat and leave the fruit off the ice cream. This is down to dietary stuff also. I ate lunch with a gluten allergy passenger and they brought her pasta, bread and desert just for her.   The “kid” mentioned a few times  got chicken nuggets 

Edited May 13, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

and yes they are really good about being flexible on food. For me it’s usually simple, bring me more meat and leave the fruit off the ice cream.

I guess we should also mention that AMA is the only river cruise line that was invited to join the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs an International Association of Gastronomy.  One night each cruise is a special C-d-R dinner with excellent meat!

[CastleCritic]

12 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I guess we should also mention that AMA is the only river cruise line that was invited to join the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs an International Association of Gastronomy.  One night each cruise is a special C-d-R dinner with excellent meat!

Honestly I’ve always thought that was more marketing than substance.  But that’s always a really good meal

 

filet mignon night basically, but the food is always good anyway.