AMA vs. Scenic for Tulips?

I've seen the threads comparing the lines, but I'm interested in this specific itinerary. Scenic only has 2 sailings for 2106, while AMA has many. Other than ship specifics, like the twin balcony set-up vs. the sun loungers, what should I be looking for in terms of decision-making criteria. Scenic seems more all-inclusive, but the question is whether it's worth it. It will be my first cruise and I'm taking my mom on a bucket-list trip. She has traveled extensively and before my dad died, cruised often. Their last trip was a South American cruise through the Beagle Straits, so she's a knowledgable traveler. The lack of dates on Scenic makes me wonder whether this is not a popular itinerary for them (perhaps it being popular with Aussies and it only be an 8-day cruise - long way to go for a short time.) What do you experienced river cruisers think?

We did Tulips with AMA last year. Loved the ports and had very nice weather, with the gardens at 85% of full bloom. We have a total of 9 river cruises under our belts and another two booked.

We had a twin balcony and used it quite a bit.

We have never tried Scenic and find that AMA includes everything that is important to us. We prepay tips, and our bill at the end of the cruise for drinks, laundry and a couple of massages is usually under $300. We don't need a butler as the service is always superb and we are in our cabin enough to need any special services that a butler would provide.

We have been very please with the overall quality and attention to detail on our AMA cruises and they are our line of choice.

I think that the more difficult decision is choosing dates. The tulip fields are in bloom for a short time and it depends on weather. The best in 2015 was the last 2 weeks in April. We visited Amsterdam (not on a river cruise) at the end of April and saw beautiful blooming fields (amazing site) and in a few cases, we saw that the early tulips were already being "headed". I followed posts on Trip Advisor Amsterdam forum and found the posts by locals (check out thread by Nring) as well as tourists to be very helpful figuring out the blooming status for 2015. I do not know if the cruise lines arrange tours of Keukenhof, outside of Amsterdam. It is open from mid- late March to mid May. We did not visit but those who did and posted on T A were very happy with the flower displays. If it's the actual tulip fields you want to see, weather is the key to peak blooming.

I think that I would lean toward AMA on the basis of available dates. The two Scenic sailings are April 27 and May 4 with Keukenhof coming at the end of both itineraries. If it's a warm spring you might miss hitting the gardens when the gardens are near their peak.

FuelScience

I would plan to stay a day in Amsterdam before and after the cruise. That way, if spring comes early you can go to Keukenhof right away and if it comes late you can go at the end or if it's Goldilocks weather, the AMA excursion will be just right!

We're 90% leaning to the 4/14/16 sailing on the AmaStella. I'm going with my mom and she'd like to be home for Passover, so we switched our focus from the 4/17 sailing to the 4/14. We will definitely arrive in Amsterdam at least a day early, but will have to depart as soon as the ship docks to make it home for the holiday. Thanks for the advice. Neither of us has done a river cruise before, but i've been on Windstar and LOVE the small ships. Any further advice is very welcome.

We're 90% leaning to the 4/14/16 sailing on the AmaStella. I'm going with my mom and she'd like to be home for Passover, so we switched our focus from the 4/17 sailing to the 4/14. We will definitely arrive in Amsterdam at least a day early, but will have to depart as soon as the ship docks to make it home for the holiday. Thanks for the advice. Neither of us has done a river cruise before, but i've been on Windstar and LOVE the small ships. Any further advice is very welcome.

I haven't sailed Windstar, but friends we met on our AMA cruise have and they love it -- so I assume you will find AMA a good fit.