rcclfanbp

Thank you for your post Maggie4nc.

There's no early-payment discount that I know of. I think that you can only book the Limited Edition tours after you are fully paid, but I'm not aware that they tend to fill up that early anyway. BTW you have made a good choice for a first river cruise -- not everybody enjoys river cruising, but most do and between the itinerary and the cruise line you have maximized your chances!

Thank you for the feedback Jazzbeau. We are really looking forward to the experience. Since it "may" be our only river cruise (due to cost), we opted to go with a cruiseline that consistently received good reviews across all major categories.

Hi All,

For those who have sailed on Amawaterways, are there any cruiseline/ship advantages to paying the cruise balance in full early? We are booked on the Ama Stella for an August 2018 Rhine river cruise, our 1st river cruise.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Brian

Good morning, Brian...

 

I didn't see your post until last night and will gladly share my AMA booking experiences with you; given how I tend to do things, they were fairly innocuous... In addition, I'll provide you with a lengthy excerpt from a note [perhaps way too much information for you; by all means, skip it if you wish] that I sent to a number of ocean cruise friends last month who were eager to hear about my trip and who are also considering a first river cruise; it provides my observations about/impressions of river cruising [largely on a comparative basis to ocean cruising] in general and AMA [very favorable] in particular...

 

Unfortunately, I'm headed out within the hour for a weekend get-away and won't have opportunity to send you an e-mail before leaving... Just know that I'll do my best to get it out to you by Monday or Tuesday...

 

Best regards,

--Mike

Sounds good Mike. Thank you.

Hi Brian, I took my first River Cruise with AMA last year and it was fabulous:D........I wrote a lengthy review which is

located in the "Member Reviews" section if you want to read it. After many ocean cruises I really LOVED this one.:D

Hi Lois,

I am very familiar with your review. I followed along as you were posting it and continue to use it as a reference point. It was very well done and inspired me to give river cruising a try.

Thanks!

Brian

Hi Brian, I booked directly w/ AMA. I considered going thru a travel agent and even spoke with one, who was very nice and I may use her for other aspects of the trip; however, I found out that if you book thru a travel agent then the TA has to be the one to talk to AMA every time. They told me I wouldn't be able to call in and make any changes if needed. It's safe to say I'm a planner and I like to be involved in every step of the process, so I didn't like the idea that I wouldn't be able to communicate and make changes directly with AMA. Enjoy your cruise! :D

I understand your sentiment about wanting to be in control -- I am a very detailed planner myself. But I have found that my TA, who books lots of cruises with the vendor year after year, can get to 'yes' when I (especially on my first cruise with a new line) am told 'sorry, that's the rule.' Sometimes it's worth giving up a little control to have a powerful champion in your corner. Food for thought.

Thank you very much Claypot77 and Jazzbeau. I understand both of your perspectives. I usually book directly with the cruise line for my ocean cruises and handle all of the logistics for any land-based portion of the trip. Just wanted to clarify that the option exists to book directly with the river cruise line and that using a TA is not mandatory.

Cheers!

I'll jump in to answer this based on my experience: we always book through a travel agent.

Thank you Jazzbeau. I am enjoying your blog post (Rhine River Cruise 2013). Wonderful write-ups and pictures.

I recently completed my first two river cruises--both with AMA--and was very impressed... I expect that you will be too...

Hi Xport,

My wife and I are considering our 1st river cruise. We are leaning toward AMA. Did you book your two AMA cruises directly with them, and if so, would you please share any tips? If you prefer, my email address is bmprevost(at)comcast(dot)net.

Thank you.

Brian

Welcome to Cruisecritic! I'm relatively new as well and tomorrow I will be putting my deposit on my first river cruise for December 2018. I'm doing a Danube Christmas market cruise on AMAwaterways and when I called last week to put a hold on a French balcony room, there were only a few left on the floor I wanted. I'm glad I decided to book sooner than later. :D

Hello Claypot77,

May I please ask, did you book directly with AMA or through a travel agent?

Thank you!

Brian

Anyway, two more ships for the rivers and not the last christenings we will read about this year.

 

Here is an article about the christening and Riviera Travel, highlighting the growth of and interest in river cruises on the British market (as we know the US still has the biggest growth, but Europeans are still also showing an increased interest):

 

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/news/more-ships-on-the-horizon-for-riviera-9260

 

notamermaid

Thanks for keeping us informed Notamermaid. I also found the article on the swimming pigs in the Bahamas interesting. I was not aware it was a tourist attraction.

It must be wonderful having views of the river from your home.

Brian, we priced our 2 AMA river cruises with AMA and 2 separate travel agents we use regularly for our ocean cruises and 1 of the agents provided discounts for both cruises of about $200/person so it could be worth your time to do some shopping with different agents. Also, we leave in about 1 month on our 2nd AMA cruise and received a surprise $150/person ship board credit coupon in our paperwork for every member in our party of 7. We were somewhat reluctant to take our 1st river cruise due to the lack of active options but found AMA meets our interests perfectly.

Thank you for your input Aly7859. Yes, your suggested strategy sounds good. I am sure your upcoming cruise will be great....especially with the nice ship board credit surprise for your entire party :).

Best Wishes & Safe Travels!

As for booking- these are my rules - 1. Find the rack rate (booklet) of thetrip you want. Add in port charges and upgrades. 2. If you have a club membership (Sam BJ etc) Airline, AMEX call them and ask for their rates. Also call AMA directly and get their rates. Then do the math and decide. A good TA will get you value for your $- plus sometimes throw in bonus OBC etc.

Enjoy your trip

carole

Thank you very much Carole. I have been watching various videos of river cruises and get more and more excited about this type of travel. It also appears as though the industry is experiencing "growing pains". So choosing the right cruise line (for our personal needs/desires) is important. I am sure your tips will help us to make an informed decision.

Cheers!

Great itinerary on a great cruise line. I always book my cruises with a TA because (a) the cabin price is the same, (b) the cabin selection is the same, © the TA can give me advice based on his/her own experience plus feedback from customers, (d) the TA gives me a little OBC that helps cover tips and other minor expenses, and (e) if anything goes wrong the TA has leverage based on lots of business with the cruise line and is sitting at work with internet and phone connections that I may not have while traveling. For more information, see my sticky:

River Cruise TRAVEL AGENTS – Why You Need One and How to Find a Good One

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2429094

 

But – Cruise Critic has a very strict rule against giving any specific information about TAs, including asking you to email for more info. Some cruise line websites have links to recommended TAs – with those you at least know they do a lot of business with that cruise line. Some TAs advertise here in Cruise Critic – which shows their good taste and judgment ;) But the best way to find a good TA is by word of mouth, and that may require booking this first river cruise direct and then asking around on board ship.

Thanks Host Jazzbeau. Yes, I was aware of the sticky and have read it. I also checked out the two river cruising TA links provided in the sticky. When I read the backgrounds of the TA listed for metro-Atlanta, I was surprised by how few actually seemed to have real river cruising experience. (lol) I am going on a South America cruise next week and a group of us plan to meet during the cruise to discuss river cruising. I hope to get some TA recommendations then from the experienced river cruisers. Wish me luck! :)

We were on the Catherine and found the decor over the top. Seating in the lounge was not comfortable. Definitely not my taste but we adapted. Beds were the best we have had on any river cruise.

 

I have been on three Viking ships (not sailed as the line does not appeal to me for more reasons than decor) and found the interiors cold, generic and uninviting.

 

Scenic was very modern and spare. Seating at bar was particularly uncomfortable. Not my taste either but prefer the clean lines of their style to Uniworld. Beds were very good.

 

Avalon was reminiscent of an airport hotel on the three ships we were on; generic and nothing special but clean and functional.

 

AMA's decor suits us best and they are also our favorite line. Lounges have comfy furnishings and are warm and welcoming. We love the library with fireplace on the new ships and the great views from the Chef's Table restaurant.

 

All that said, we would not discount a line based on decor and will happily cruise with Uniworld, Scenic and AMA again.

I know ship decor is subjective and a personal preference, but as a river cruise newbie, I really appreciate your posted decor comparison. I am in my river cruise research stage and plan to look into a number of the cruise lines. But based on your comments, I believe AMA best fits our personal taste.

Cheers!

Brian

I am also doing my first river cruise with AMA in may as well on the Danube may1 -15th and am super excited im traveling solo and picked it because of the reviews

Wow, what a super itinerary! I truly got excited for you as I read the details of the tours/activities in each city visited. I believe this may be the right itinerary for my wife and I in 2018 or 2019. I had better start putting money aside now. (lol)

I hope you have a wonderful cruise experience!

Hello All,

My wife and I are considering our 1st river cruise for sometime in 2018. For those of you who booked a cruise with AMA Waterways, did you use a travel agent or did you book directly with the cruise line? I usually book our ocean cruises directly with the cruise line but may consider using a travel agent for our first river cruise since it will all be new.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Brian

Hi rcclfanbp, I read your post with interest and would like to add my two cents worth. We sailed from Budapest to Amsterdam in 2015 with Scenic. There were under 200 passengers on board and yes, it is a fairly intimate experience onboard compared with ocean ships. However, please don't think river cruising is a 'slower pace'. As there is a new port each day, we chose to take a tour every day rather than remaining in the ship. The itineraries are exceptionally well organised and the places we visited were stunning, and we were kept very busy. We walked approx 5-8 km most days, took copious photos, had exceptional food, slept the sleep of the exhausted each night and absolutely felt the need to pinch ourselves every day. We could have stayed on the ship if we wished, but we took the cruise to see these countries (5 in all) and loved being kept so busy. My husband and I even lost a couple of kilos! To be honest, I would far prefer disembarking and visiting a new city each day, than being at sea on a massive ship, but that's a personal choice. We loved our trip so much we are booked on the Douro with Scenic in April this year. We also love Scenic because everything is included; all food, drinks, gratuities, excursions, toiletries, etc. We only open our wallets to purchase gifts etc. I hope one day you try river cruising and enjoy it as much as we have.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thank you very much for your input OhJoyOhBliss. I had to go back and read what I originally posted since it has been a while. (lol)

My wife and I are still considering a river cruise although we have not yet made a booking. In our cruise travels, we invariably meet folks who have taken at least one river cruise. Everyone that we have talked to seems to have really enjoyed their experience. I mentioned my interest in river cruising on a current CC Roll Call (Celebrity Infinity March 5th South America cruise) and that prompted a lot of comments from others with the same interest. As result, a group of us (newbies and experienced river cruisers) plan to meet during our cruise to discuss. Talk about "The ever increasing popularity of river cruising". (lol)

I am glad you enjoyed your experience with Scenic. Our next "exotic" cruise after South America is Japan in April 2018. I think we will be ready for our 1st river cruise after that and will research Scenic as well as others. Thanks again!

Cheers!

Brian

I have enjoyed the stories and historical information in this year's thread and will anxiously await next year's thread, for the stories as well as critical information about river levels.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New year, Notamermaid. I hope the new year brings you improved health.

Ditto for me. Warm regards Notamermaid.

Brian

Hello rcclfanbp,

 

The bombs are usually found during construction like knocking down outbuildings, digging up (deeply) large gardens, or building on plots that had or had not been covered by a building of sorts in the 1940's.

 

Nearby where I live there is some restructuring work going on at the river embankment. One of the first things they did in preparation was check to out the site for left over stuff from WWII. Standard procedure, sadly.

 

More rarely bombs turn up at low water levels, usually only at very low levels. People are then reminded in the media not to touch or go near unusually looking objects, even if they do not appear to be of metal at first. One always informs the police or local authority.

 

It has been raining today, so the water level is likely to stay the same or rise a little. No problems of note for river cruise ships expected at this level.

 

notamermaid

Very interesting. I think about WWII whenever I visit certain parts of Europe. But I seldom think about the present day threat of old WWII bombs.

Thank you Notamermaid!

The bomb was safely defused. Hopefully things will stay quiet for a while, we know though that the next bomb find is just a matter of time, sometimes there is little time between one find and the next.

notamermaid

Hi Notamermaid,

How are these bombs generally discovered? Do they simply become visible when the water level drops to a certain point? Or are they detected due to construction work in the area or ongoing bomb detection activities? I am glad no one was hurt.

Thanks!

Brian

When we sailed the Anthem out of Southampton, we rode the Bumper Cars twice. Initially, folks were reluctant to bump each other (not proper I guess by UK standards - lol). Well, being from the US, I was not as reluctant. I started bumping others and then everyone joined in. It was a blast! It really took me back to my childhood. Raina, I am sure you were not a bashful "bumper". :)

I too enjoyed meeting you on the Harmony and following along. I hope you enjoy the rest of your journey.

Brian

...you should have replied: "The Mississippi, man, the Mississippi", LOL!!!!

I am late to this thread, but that's a good one!! :)

Hi Raina,

Love your travel review. We are on the Harmony with you now and met you one night at the Attic for cocktail hour(s). Will read this thread more fully when we return home. Your pictures and commentary are great!

Cheers!

Brian & Cassandra

Hi Bill,

We did the same southbound itinerary on the Radiance on June 10th and had a wonderful time. Like you, we deferred cruising Alaska for a number of years but are so glad we finally did. Your excursions look great and I know you all will have a wonderful experience.

Happy travels & Cheers!

Brian

Hi Radio,

As others have mentioned, your review is great--Thank you!

Your photos truly make me feel as though I am right there on board with you. I have sailed Divina once before and enjoyed that experience. She is a beautiful ship for sure. Tonight I booked a 1.6.18 sailing on the Seaside, but after reading your review I'll be looking to book the Divina again sometime soon. (lol)

Enjoy and be safe!