AmaWaterways 2017 Sailings

Thanks Sandy for your report. I leave next week for Prague and then board the AmaSerena on the 15th. I'm getting very excited for my first river cruise. Was Kunta Hora a full day or half day tour?

 

Judy

If was about 6 hours.

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doktor

We are leaving DFW May 6 for a Prague to Budapest Christmas Market Tour. We will be in Prague a total of 4 full days before leaving for the ship. I desperately want to do Terezin. Is that part of the Prague pre-cruise or did you do it on your own.

This was very interesting. Thank you.

doktor

We are leaving DFW May 6 for a Prague to Budapest Christmas Market Tour. We will be in Prague a total of 4 full days before leaving for the ship. I desperately want to do Terezin. Is that part of the Prague pre-cruise or did you do it on your own.

 

This was very interesting. Thank you.

It is an optional tour with an extra charge. I found all the optional tours to be reasonably priced. It was $50 per person.

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So excited!! The cruise documents for our upcoming Europe's Rivers and Castles cruise arrived today. We board the AMADante on June 15 after some days in Prague (extra days added independently to the pre-cruise).

I had read that the AMA cruise document package was very nice, and indeed it is!

We are boarding AMA Prima Jun 1 in Budapest. So far we have received nothing. Because we are leaving May 20, 4 days from now, we are supposed to get Edocs and the other docs with the cute luggage tags are supposed to be in our room when we board. I don't know why they leave this so late. Getting the docs in the mail is a big deal to us but I guess we will have to go without.

We are boarding AMA Prima Jun 1 in Budapest. So far we have received nothing. Because we are leaving May 20, 4 days from now, we are supposed to get Edocs and the other docs with the cute luggage tags are supposed to be in our room when we board. I don't know why they leave this so late. Getting the docs in the mail is a big deal to us but I guess we will have to go without.

Ours were sent via our TA. She let me know last Thursday she had received and was mailing . . . she's in Southern California and we're in Alabama so mail delivery took those 4 days. We got them 4 weeks from the day we'd be leaving for AMA's pre-cruise stay, but we're leaving earlier. Still over 3 weeks. There were a couple of small changes to our itinerary, but we like them.

I just finished a photo book on shutterfly from our sailing on the AmaDante, Legendary Danube April 2017. If your interested, here is the link, https://amadanterivercruiseapril2017.shutterfly.com/

Please keep in mind, we had two extra day in Prague, and three extra days in Budapest where we took private tours. Also, the Parliament tour in Prague is not an optional tour. We did it on our own.

Sandy

Did not realize until this AM that Sutterfly did not capture corrections. I canceled original book, and made corrections, and then reordered. The only thing that changed in the book was spelling and date on front cover. If you want correctives web site let me know.

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It is an optional tour with an extra charge. I found all the optional tours to be reasonably priced. It was $50 per person.

 

 

Thanks Sandy for all the info. This has really helped us in planning our trip. I originally said we were leaving May 6 -- it's December 6. We can't wait.

We are on the AMAViola right now and for those doing the Danube soon be advised it is getting pretty hot here (climbing into the mid to high 80s in the shade). Based on posts from a few weeks ago (sleet & snow) and The Weather Channel forecast we packed all wrong. It has been quite toasty on our afternoon tours.

It is a wonderful cruise and we are loving it so I will post more (and be happy to answer any questions) when we get home next week!

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Yes, it is unseasonably hot! Thank you for reporting from your cruise. Have fun.

notamermaid

Yes, it is unseasonably hot! Thank you for reporting from your cruise. Have fun.

 

notamermaid

I'm watching closely as we leave a week from Saturday. Starting with 4 nights in Prague, then the Rhine and Mosel on AMADante followed by 3 days in Paris . . . Getting very excited!

I'm watching closely as we leave a week from Saturday. Starting with 4 nights in Prague, then the Rhine and Mosel on AMADante followed by 3 days in Paris . . . Getting very excited!

When we left the forecast was for rain everyday and high low 70s and lows in the 40s to 50s...Oops!

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Hi Everyone,

Just got home from our cruise on Amacerto - Legendary Danube. I will post a review in the next couple of days. Because of the time change, my body thinks its 3 a.m. so when my brain starts functioning again, I'll write a review. If anyone has questions I will be happy to answer. In a nutshell, the food was great, the weather perfect, the staff, particularly our cruise manager, Martina, was outstanding.

Stay tuned. I have lots to say.

Susan

Hi Everyone,

 

 

 

Just got home from our cruise on Amacerto - Legendary Danube. I will post a review in the next couple of days. Because of the time change, my body thinks its 3 a.m. so when my brain starts functioning again, I'll write a review. If anyone has questions I will be happy to answer. In a nutshell, the food was great, the weather perfect, the staff, particularly our cruise manager, Martina, was outstanding.

 

 

 

Stay tuned. I have lots to say.

 

 

 

Susan

We just pulled into Budapest right next to AMACerto!

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We just pulled into Budapest right next to AMACerto!

 

 

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We were down on the pier yesterday and saw AMA Certo rafted by AMA Stella and another boat as well. AMA Stella was sailing at 1PM and we were very interested in watching them move around the boats so she could get out. People on the AMA Certo told us they were sailing at 7PM. Hope you are enjoying Budapest.

The weather is awesome here. We board Prima on Thursday.

We were down on the pier yesterday and saw AMA Certo rafted by AMA Stella and another boat as well. AMA Stella was sailing at 1PM and we were very interested in watching them move around the boats so she could get out. People on the AMA Certo told us they were sailing at 7PM. Hope you are enjoying Budapest.

 

The weather is awesome here. We board Prima on Thursday.

Wishing you a BIG BON VOYAGE:D.....I hope you have a fantastic cruise.

Thank you Lois. I can't believe it is just about here.

Hello TeaBag,

what is the weather like in Budapest, as hot as in Germany? We are sizzling here.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

Hello TeaBag,

 

what is the weather like in Budapest, as hot as in Germany? We are sizzling here.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

It is 86 degrees right now in Budapest...hot walking around in the sun!

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Hi Everyone,

 

Just got home from our cruise on Amacerto - Legendary Danube. I will post a review in the next couple of days.

Stay tuned. I have lots to say.

 

Susan

Susan

We are looking forward to your comments.

We are on AmaCerto in August: Bucharest - Budapest - Prague.

Mark

As has already been said, it is very hot now in Budapest. We are expecting rain this afternoon, so with the added humidity it will probably be an inside day! It is supposed to peak at 28 today. I hope it cools off somewhat by the time we reach Germany which we are really looking forward to. we plan to go down to the pier this evening to see if the Prima has docked. It will be handy to know exactly where it is for tomorrow.

Hello TeaBag,

hope you have a good day in Budapest. It is still hot here but not as bad as Monday. I am getting really excited for you, although you need the beautiful Budapest the sail out of the city is so amazing and makes up for it somewhat. :)

notamermaid

Thank you. We went down to the pier and Prima is there. Exciting. The rain has really not materialized, so we enjoyed another beautiful day in Budapest.

A funny thing happened today. I saw a shiny coin on the street. First of all, you do not see coins on the ground here, people are careful with their money. Picked it up and guess what? It was a CDN 5 cent coin! What are the chances of one CDN dropping the coin, and another picking it up....................in Budapest?

I just found this AMA 2017 River Cruise forum and love it...however I wish I had seen it sooner! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews, information and tips!

 

We are on the AMAViola Danube May 24, 2017 Vilshofen to Budapest. Anyone else by chance on this sailing?

 

We are avid ocean cruisers and this is only our 2nd River Cruise (but our 1st with AMA). We did the Rhine on Tauck last summer from Amsterdam to Basel and would give them 10 stars out of 10! Wonderful doesn't even begin to express the cruise line. However we didn't have anything to compare it to, thus our choice of AMA this time.

 

I look forward to reciprocating with info if I can and reviews when we return! Happy Cruising!

 

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We just ended our fabulous AMAViola Danube cruise and are spending a few days in Budapest before returning home. I wanted to post my thoughts while they are still fresh and please, if anyone has specific questions just let me know!

First AMAWaterways is top notch. They are up there with Tauck for sure. It is awonderful cruise and you won't be disappointed. There are many similarities and a few differences, but we find that a big part of our cruise enjoyment is the people we meet and the cruise staff. We loved the people we met on both Tauck Grace and AMAViola, but AMAViola had the best cruise staff. If you are sailing on AMAViola soon, the Cruise Manager Sebastian is fabulous and be sure to sit in Kolja's dining section with Ari serving you beverages (tell them Shelly sent you). Both Grace and Viola are beautiful new ships, clean and maintained exceptionally well.

If you are doing the Danube in Budapest (on any ship) the nighttime Illumination Tour is breathtaking and not to be miseed…our favorite part of the cruise.

There are several differences we noticed between Tauck and AMA not specific to itinerary or ports, and not necessarily better or worse depending on what your personal preferences are. So I will just highlight things I think others might be interested in:

1) Alcohol - Tauck is open bar all the time (you pay for it in your cruise price I'm sure). AMA gives you beer and wine with lunch and dinner (unlimited) and you pay for everything else (very reasonably priced).

2) Tour Guides - Tauck had 3 guides that traveled with us and usually accompanied us into towns to meet our local guides. AMA had only local guides that met us at the ship.

3) Evening entertainment - Tauck only had several evenings with any entertainment and AMA had something to do (always optional) every evening from local talent singing and dancing, a concert in Vienna to wine tasting in the village

4) Alternative dining for dinner - Tauck had a casual dining room at the stern that served hamburgers and hot dogs etc in the evening. AMA had a "Chef'sTable" dining room at the stern where you watched the chef prepare special meals (we did not eat there).

5) Top Deck – AMAViola has a swimming pool (with a swim up bar)

6) Balconies – AMAViola has balconies with tables and chair.

Again, please let me know if there is anything you may have questions about! We are already planning on where we can cruise next on AMAWaterways!

Shelly