Thanks to AmaWaterways

[ananaguide]

I'm a solo. Just returned from the AMAviola. It was amazing! I did a 7 day with a 3 day add on to Prague. My cabin was upgraded - wow! I was also invited to the Captain's Dinner the 1st night. I'm sure it was because I was a "solo". Everyone is very friendly - I knew everyone on the ship by the end of the cruise because they keep the numbers on their sailings small. I was asked to join several couples for dinner so I wouldn't have been alone but I did find my own "tribe" - making each dinner special. I loved their new bikes - hope they get rid of the old bikes as I loved the biking tours. AMA is the BEST - why? Their crew - we had excellent servers, cabin stewards, front desk, and an outstanding cruise director. I've never seen anyone work as hard as David Rosell. He was the glue that held us all together and made our river cruise so special and fun. The man never slept. He  was at every outing, he carried luggage, he was outgoing and upbeat. Thanks to Ama Waterways and their crew from a first timer - solo and river cruiser!  

[richardbohn]

Doing our first AMA river cruise next year. Are all excursions booked when on board or are they available to book prior to cruising? Thanks.

[RobInMN]

On the app or the website, you can pre-select excursions. You don't log in with or create an account. Everything's done by booking number and name.

 

Anyway, as far as I can tell (only done 2 AMAs), these selections are primarily to gauge interest so that they can line up the appropriate number of local guides and transportation (where applicable). Once on board, while I believe that they have the counts and lists of who signed up for what, there is no checking or validation that you go with the excursion you signed up with. You can change you mind at any time, and I think there was a reasonable amount of that on our last cruise.

Either in the morning or after lunch, you simply walk up to the hotel desk and tell them which excursion (and or color group) that you'd like to do and they will give you a color card.

 

When ready for your color group, you'll go to the appropriate bus or tour guide which will have placards or "lollipop"s matching your color.

 

This is Europe river cruises anyway. Not sure about other locations.

[richardbohn]

Thanks. I will check out the excursions and pre-select them.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, richardbohn said:

Doing our first AMA river cruise next year. Are all excursions booked when on board or are they available to book prior to cruising? Thanks.

Most AMA excursions will accommodate everyone who wants to go, and when the numbers are large enough they will be split into slow-, medium- and fast-walker groups.

 

There is also a category called 'Special Interest Tours' that are small-group experiences and therefore may fill up.  We have done a couple of these, and highly recommend them.  Plus, on AMA even these tours are included in the fare!

 

In Viviers on the Boulangerie Baker's Experience we helped the local Boulanger finish a batch of baguettes, and each brought home a warm one with our initials on it [well, mine didn't make it back to the ship – but it was good!!!]

 

Here is a shot from the webpage:

https://www.amawaterways.com/explore/included-tours#sec2

[CastleCritic]

As said for 90% of the excursions you can just show up, the receptionist who gives you the color cards never checks against the pre-selection list.  There are some that they are a little more strict on, but the only one Ive ever had checked that I had pre-booked it was a bike trip on the most recent cruise and that has as much to do with making sure you signed the waiver as anything (they have plenty of bikes...though the day before so many had signed up that they had to bring a second guide so it could happen for that one that if too many show up that there is an issue (I'd doubt "just an extra couple").

 

You will get a link about 2 months out to select on the web site, you can do it on the app as well and they will leave a sheet in your stateroom to select as well (even if you already did).

 

Ive definitely changed excursions the morning of based on weather or something else.

Edited May 19, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Host Jazzbeau]

54 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

Ive definitely changed excursions the morning of based on weather or something else.

And they are definitely open about allowing changes after the nightly port talk – when you have all the info and a better sense of what they mean in the descriptions.

[NMTraveller]

So how do you know which excursions will have the slow walkers groups?  We have a couple in our group.  Do you sign up for excursions before hand and then change to the excursions with the slow walkers groups?

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

So how do you know which excursions will have the slow walkers groups?  We have a couple in our group.  Do you sign up for excursions before hand and then change to the excursions with the slow walkers groups?

This is usually just the "main" excursion for the day (unlike on say Viking this isn't labeled in any way).  While there is now a box on the web at least site when you select your excursions to say active/normal/gentle in general you dont really select that ahead of time.  When you go to reception to get your "color" (a little laminated piece of cardboard you turn in at the end of the day)  the sign will say what the groups are, Ive always seen gentle as pink and active as red, with yellow, green, blue and brown being the usual other groups..

 

Thats not to say that all of the other excursions will be gentle unfriendly there just wont be a separate group for them.

 

Here is a few examples from this months cruise from the "daily cruiser" that is published the night before

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by CastleCritic

[2012_Alaska_bound]

On the Bordeaux cruise on Ama in March, there was a gentle group offered for all the main tours. It was great. Guides knew how to avoid a lot of stairs, where to have us sit for long descriptions, etc. Since we were consistently a group of only 6-10 people, we often felt we got the best tours. Our guides always seemed to be the best too. Also affords plenty of time to take pictures. Sometimes the "regular" walkers would switch to our group if they preferred our guide. With the use of the QuietVox you had quite a wide range to wander or find a bench.

[Canal archive]

After reading all of your AMA notes I’m going to have to look at them for the future having only used Scenic so far they have three speeds (ha ha ) of walking groups and don’t stop an excursion for low numbers, I must admit to using the slow oops sorry gentle group as a photographer also the ability to change when you realise you just might not be able to cope with your excursion choice at the port talk. Very informative thank you.

[CastleCritic]

44 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

After reading all of your AMA notes I’m going to have to look at them for the future having only used Scenic so far they have three speeds (ha ha ) of walking groups and don’t stop an excursion for low numbers, I must admit to using the slow oops sorry gentle group as a photographer also the ability to change when you realise you just might not be able to cope with your excursion choice at the port talk. Very informative thank you.

Absolutely not, I think out of a ship of 150 people this month I was in a group of 3? 5? a couple of times.

 

Usually the gentle group is fairly small, the active group it depends a lot, its never a large group, dozen maybe?

 

My active group in Prague in 2021 was...um..me and the guide...and the entire extension group was 5 people.. (they did blow off the gentle group but...only because no one wanted to do it).  And yes on the ground extension in Romania we did have some consideration for the "gentle walk" passengers, it was less than the ship portion (cabs or shuttles where cars were allowed while the rest of us walked up or down that hill rather than dedicated groups, for most of the extension it was 26 per group or what bus you were assigned back on the ship).

 

And yes believe me I understand the art of not getting this shot

 

 

if you can arrange the timing to get this (Peles Palace Sinaia Romania)

 

[Canal archive]

Wonderful that ceiling is something else.

[texasstar]

Canal Archive, definitely look at AmaWaterways.  I have been on Scenic and 3 AmaWaterways cruises. Ama  Waterways guides were much better at accommodating the gentle walkers.  Granted the Scenic Cruise was last year, when they were struggling to get tour guides, but we were left behind  several times.  The tour guide was going so fast, we did not even know where she was.

[CastleCritic]

To be fair an AMA guide one day may be a viking or scenic guide 3 hours later, they don't work for the cruise line.  Heck the guide we had for 3 days in Romania who was said to be an AMA cruise director also  did guiding for Viking and others if he was home at the time.

 

Thats not to say that some guides dont have preferences for a  cruise lines who pay better (or have passengers who tip better) or that relationships between cruise directors and guides don't exist (the lower Danube cruise this month we had a Serbian cruise director who spoke Romanian and had her "best friend" as a guide for us one day, and knew the name of every groups guide days later.).

Edited May 25, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Host Jazzbeau]

I don't know for sure, but I have gotten the impression that the Cruise Directors have a great deal of discretion in choosing (or at least vetoing) the tour guides – provided that there are enough guides available to have a choice.  That's why it's important to give feedback (positive and negative) to the Cruise Director about the guides you have.

[Canal archive]

Yes I’ve seen those little brown envelopes changing hands.

[Gthenewsgirl73]

OP, were you the only solo traveler on the cruise?  I'm thinking of signing up for their NYE Enchanted Rhine (also celebrating by 50th birthday!)

[CastleCritic]

1 hour ago, Gthenewsgirl73 said:

OP, were you the only solo traveler on the cruise?  I'm thinking of signing up for their NYE Enchanted Rhine (also celebrating by 50th birthday!)

It definitely depends on the cruise but of the 3 cruises Ive done solo with AMA, I know for a fact that I wasnt the only one.  Usually because as the OP said, I was invited to dinner with the cruise director, the captain or both the first night and so were all the other solos.  If youre worried about not having people to eat and talk with..definitely don't worry about it, you'll have friends by the end of day2(first full day) if you try.

Edited August 2, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Host Jazzbeau]

AMA also offers a choice of excursions most days, so at least a few couples may split up based on personal interest.

[Gthenewsgirl73]

Settled!  I'm booking myself on the AmaPrima for their 12/26 sailing, and flying in to Zurich a few days prior to take in the sites.  Excited!

[Canal archive]

Here is a nice big ✔️ and well done nice decision making, now all you need to do is look forward to and enjoy.