Back from Amadeus Amadagio 21 Day/Nov 08

[MartiniWabbit]

Well, I must say this trip more than met our expectations. It was a wonderful trip. The Staff and Crew were great and our Cruise Director, Sue, made the trip that more pleasant. The food was outstanding, the best we have had on any trip to include ocean cruises. The ship was only 1/2 full the first week and about 3/4 full for the 2nd week. Our cabin was nice even though a little small, we made suggestions for better use of empty spaces, and really liked having the "French Balcony" and being able to open the door and stick our heads out, especially to feed the Swans/Ducks along the way. The towels could have been thicker so we asked for extra bath towels daily and did have a top sheet and blankets put on our beds instead of the duvet which ended up being hot. Each cabin had it's own A/C and heat, but we ended up running the A/C or just the fan with the door cracked, even when cold out, the cabin stayed comfortable and we like sleeping with it cool.

 

The Kempinski Hotel in Budapest was 5 star and the breakfast buffet was a feast and the rooms were very nice. We walked all over the city for the 3 days we were there. In Paris, the Hilton wasn't that great but the location was.

 

We had good weather the whole time, only one afternoon did we have some drizzle and have to open our umbrellas but as we headed north on the Danube it did get colder and we wore our heavier coats, gloves, scarfs and ear covers........brrrr. I think most of the places we were now have really cold weather and snow.

 

I don't think we would do this type of trip again any time soon, very intensive on a daily basis, some days starting with tours at 8 am, and some days 2 tours in 2 different cities. You really have to be in shape, we wore pedometer and walked between 4-7 miles a day. The guides were all excellent in the group we were in and having the ear buds and receivers was really nice so you could listen to the guide but not have to stick close and could wander and explore if you didn't get out of range of the transmitters.

 

So, all in all I would rate this EXCELLENT. We did see a lot of other river cruise ships along the way, some bigger and some smaller but were not able to go on and explore. We only tied up against others twice so got to walk through their lobbies, one was a newer Amadeus ship which had twin stairs in lobby with elevator on the side.

 

Most of the entertainment was really good, people came on nightly from the towns we were in, we especially liked the nights we had musical entertainers and of course, the wine tasting.

 

For all those who have trips to look forward to, know you will enjoy and have a good time.

 

Lynne

[jdblakeslee]

Glad to hear that you had a good time. We've been reading the reviews of AMA cruises and are finding mixed feelings, as usual.

 

With the economy the way it is, I'd be surprised if any of the river cruise ships are full in 2009.

 

Any other advice or thoughts would be appreciated. We're traveling in October, 2009, on the Amalegro and are starting to compile our list of "must dos and must sees..."

 

Thanks,

Jennifer