2014 Cruises Already Booked Up

[GiGiGi]

We are new to river cruising and erroneously thought that by booking now for Aug/Sept 2014 we would be in great shape. We were very wrong. We had two itineraries that would work for us and several dates. We were unable to find any availability except in fixed window lower level rooms. Clearly, we are now thinking about 2015 ( seems very far away) and will want to act very quickly when those dates are announced. When might we expect to see those schedules (AMAWaterways)? Are there any other strategies we might employ to avoid this disappointment again?

Thank you so much for any advice you may have.

[Coral]

AMA is the only line I am familiar with. They "charter their ships to APT - an Australian travel agency that owns part of AMA". One year, the day the itineraries were released, several popular dates were already sold out. Upon further investigation, their partner APT, had reserved the whole ship for Australian passengers.

 

I would look at expanding your horizon and look at other cruise lines. I am not sure if I would put off a much desired trip as one never knows what can happen.

[ewizabeff]

We just booked a September 2014 Uniworld cruise last weekend without a problem.

[Ozjohnno]

I'm not sure what your itinerary dates are but when we were looking for a cruise in Southern France for Late August/early September 2014 we found that because river cruise companies only have one or perhaps two boats in service on the Rhone river that the dates are limited but we were lucky enough to find our cruise date with cabin availability so we immediately put down a deposit. River cruising is expensive but boy has it become uber popular the last 5 or so years hence the need to book 14 months in advance like we did. Best of luck in your search and I hope you find something soon.

[bobandjo]

We were able to get an Avalon Magnificent Europe June '13 cruise in Feb '13. It was one of their French balcony type suites and might have been their last or a cancellation but we got it. Keep looking. You never know when a cancellation might come up.

[RachelG]

Cancellations happen all the time. Keep looking.

[Brisbanelionsfan]

AMA and Scenic are VERY popular with Australians and it is not uncommon to have to book 12 to 14 months in advance.

 

Cheers

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The 10% they give you is very forsing..

[sippican]

We are new to river cruising and erroneously thought that by booking now for Aug/Sept 2014 we would be in great shape. We were very wrong. We had two itineraries that would work for us and several dates. We were unable to find any availability except in fixed window lower level rooms. Clearly, we are now thinking about 2015 ( seems very far away) and will want to act very quickly when those dates are announced. When might we expect to see those schedules (AMAWaterways)? Are there any other strategies we might employ to avoid this disappointment again?

Thank you so much for any advice you may have.

 

We booked our AMA Romantic Danube trip for July of 2014 as soon as the schedules opened up (which was near the end of December, beginning of January of this year)) July is not the most popular cruising time, but we have friends who are limited to traveling during school breaks so that is why we chose that month. Have you tried calling AMA directly to determine if, in fact, the ships are actually chartered? I have found the phone reps to be very helpful. If that is the case, you may run into the same difficulty by waiting a year. (However, if you able to find a room on a sailing, most likely it is not chartered for that date.)

It sounds like you may have done some homework first. We chose the itinerary first, then did tons of research on the various lines. AMA seemed to be the best fit for us for a number of reasons and we felt is was worth waiting an extra year.

As others have suggested, you may want to look at other lines or itineraries, expand your possibilities for AMA for 2014, or begin doing research in anticipation of 2015. Only you can decide what is the most important priority for you and the planning is half the fun!:)