newgolfr

We were on the Splendor in the Baltic in June and had one of our excursions cancelled and had to wait in the theatre for waitlisting on another excursion.  The method of issuing tickets and getting all the seats filled is very organized and most likely any time you want to change your mind, it's possible to get on another excursion.

Yes eye masks work for some people.  I hate the elastic around my head.  Plus the LIGHT sweater gives me that "privacy cave" I like. Breathing is easier than wearing a mask!

My tried and true solution to red-eye flights to Europe from North America:  skip the airplane food and drink service.  Have a good meal (salad and some protein, low fat and lots of WATER) before getting on the flight.  Take a light sweater/blanket/scarf/jacket and cover your head.  I also use Bose noise cancelling earbuds.  I'm usually asleep before take off!  This will give you about 30 minutes before the flight attendants start their service.  If you wake up hungry before the pre-landing breakfast service, they always have snacks and drinks at the service bays.  Good luck!  I'll be in Athens in November.

I've been on the Ama Rhine trip that you are contemplating.  I have never seen a tandem bike on any of the 4 AMA ships we've been on.  My experience with the bike tours is that they require a high level of fitness and biking experience.  There are always a few hills and high traffic areas to maneuver.  The walking/bus excursions always offer options for levels of exertion but often it is quite a distance just to get from the ship to the bus for the "easy" walking tours.  You should be OK if you can walk a mile. 

2 hours ago, Cortesefam said:

We face our 30 day cancellation decision in 48 hours for our February 13 sailing on the Ovation.  We booked in early November, when all the trends were positive, and are comfortable with the Vax/Mask/Testing requirements.  Our major concern now is the risk of testing positive or “inconclusive”, and facing onboard quarantine, or worse, being put off the ship and subject to the local port health authorities.

We will talk with our TA today—who is outstanding—and figure out our best option.  I’m sympathetic to the challenges all the cruise lines face, and want to resume cruising as quickly as is safe and responsible.

We are also booked on the Feb. 13th Ovation.  I'm not comfortable with the graphs showing increased cases, especially in the Miami area 

and news of desparate calls for airline workers to take triple pay to work!  The deciding factor for us cancelling was our dog sitter who just yesterday got her power back on in Central Virginia.  I would never be able to enjoy myself thinking of my poor shivering dog!  If conditions improve markedly in a month, I'll make a last minute booking and use the FCC.  It's not an easy choice to make.  I hope the people who are able to board have a wonderful time and let us know about their experiences.

We took the train from Munich to Neuremburg.  Was looking for the bus to go to the port when the kind person in the tourist office said just cross the street and take a taxi from the taxi stand.  It wasn't expensive.  I can't remember the exact cost.  It was a complicated route and I was glad I wasn't trying to find it.

We had a connecting room on the Ovation and noise wasn’t a problem. However the strong door springs causing a loud slamming noise was!  

Please don't try yoga on a cruise ship if you're not experienced in yoga.  I have watched a class on luxury ships with horror to see what the instructor has had the class doing.  I'm a physical therapist and should know better, but even I have injured myself in classes that were above my skill level. It's pretty easy to watch an instructor, who is most likely younger than 30, and try to imitate the move.  It's not worth losing out on days of cruising with pulled muscles or worse.  Get on an exercise bike and do some gentle stretches on your own.

I have been on Princess, HAL, NCL, Carnival, Regent and Oceania.  After years of experiencing the differences in ship size, entertainment, rooms, food and staffing, I can conclude ,for myself, that I prefer the smaller ships with less entertainment.  I think the food is about the same everywhere.  I also think people will rank one line above another based on their personal experience and money spent.  For example, I've never read a bad review of someone who bought a penthouse or higher cabin.  

On 11/10/2018 at 9:14 AM, hbr777 said:

newgolfr, are you saying they comped your cruise?

that what they said!  We have 3 years to use the credit.  (Only what we paid for the cruise.)

23 hours ago, gadugger said:

Did AMA get you to your original destination? I can't find out if our Nov. 17-24 AMAPRIMA A to B cruise, which surely will have a changed itinerary, will still get us to Basel where we have train tickets to go Paris or whether AMA will get us to Paris in some other fashion. 

Yes we started in Basel and ended in Amsterdam.  We did our pre-cruise travel on our own and flew out of Amsterdam the day of disembarkation.  You will probably start on one ship and end up on another---hence light packing!  I packed a gym bag duffel to have on the bus with my iPad, charger, toothbrush, etc. to have in case our bags weren't unloaded right away.  But AMA was really good about getting the luggage out quickly.

On 11/8/2018 at 4:53 PM, notamermaid said:

hbr777,

 

I think you are right about Holland and Belgium and the Christmas markets. I cannot imagine a cruise not taking in at least Cologne. Brussels Christmas market is great and I am not saying Dutch ones are not good but it is not what one wanted to see. After all, the Alsace region claims to be the home of the Christmas tree tradition. To be precise the first known written record of a Christmas tree is in the library of Selestat, near Colmar: https://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en/222004799-The-oldest-written-mention-of-the-Christmas-tree.html

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for keeping an upbeat tone for river cruising in this incredible year of high temperatures and low rain fall.  Our experience with Amawaterways was great.  I was initially disappointed that we wouldn't be spending the entire week on the AmaKristina, but after being on the AmaStella before our ship swap, I missed the crew on the AmaStella!  Honestly that was the hardest part of ship swapping.  Our motto when packing for these trips is, "wear what you wear at home and is comfortable."  No one cares if you wear the same pants and sweater with a different clean shirt all week.  And it makes packing for the swap and train travel so much easier.  Even though we missed Cologne and Rudesheim, I was so pleasantly surprised with Antwerp and Luxembourg City.  I'll go back to the Rhine on Amawaterway"s dime when the waters rise!  

We just got off Amakristina in Amsterdam. We started on the Amastella in Basel and started the ship swap after Strasbourg. We had excursions in Riquewhr and Baden Baden and Antwerp. All the tours were excellent and the bus trip was broken up with a stop in Luxembourg city for a cathedral tour. We opted to have a nice long lunch at a local restaurant recommended by the tourist office on the square. We were able to cruise from Antwerp to Amsterdam. Ama was wonderful and we look forward to another cruise in the future with our full credit. 

We have done two Amawaterways cruises: one in the Bordeaux region and one on the Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers. We are cruising the Rhine in October. My husband bikes every day and I usually take an active city walking tour. The food is excellent and now that they have happy hour drinks, we spend almost nothing on board except tips. We have met so many fun people on Amawaterways cruises and enjoy dining with our new friends throughout the week. It's like being in college without the tests! Another aspect of Amawaterways is the informality of the dress code. I usually pack for an 8 day trip in a 20 inch carryon and a tote bag. My preference for rooms is on the middle deck in the middle. The lower deck was OK, but I felt a little claustrophobic. The upper deck sometimes is noisy when joggers use the track. We always book our own pre cruise hotel rooms by ourselves and use trains/Uber to get to the ports. We find going 2-3 days before the cruise gets you over the jet lag.

Here's how I research the trips: 1. Departure and arrival ports---are they easy to fly into. 2. Ship age: newer ones have more choices for room sizes and layouts as well as improved sailing features for the captain. 3. Excursions---read the fine print to see choices in each port. 4. Pick a date that correlates to your weather preference. I don't like hot weather, so I pick early spring or late fall.

I don't see any difference in direction whether up or down stream. The Rhine is a gorgeous river no matter what part you sail.