AMA or Avalon River Cruise on Danube

[Buddysmom10]

We're planning a river cruise that ends in Budapest May 2014 and the AMA and Avalon ones fit our timeframe. Viking doesn't work for us as we need to be at a wedding in Budapest on a certain date.

 

All things considered is one significantly "better" than the other? They seem to be pretty similar.

 

Thanks!

[MarkBearSF]

Read the many threads. In general, AMA will often be considered a bit more upscale than Avalon with better food. However, these kinds of things often come down to personal taste and are highly subjective. There can also be differences by individual ship or itinerary - and they are more alike than different (although count me in the group of AMA fans).

 

In GENERAL, the lineup of quality/luxury from low to high (actually from med-high to higher), based upon opinions expressed here and our personal experience and discussions would be:

Viking, Avalon, AMA, Uniworld, Vantage, Tauck. With Tauck holding down the pretty much indisputable high-end.

 

Viking has come in for a number of complaints this year when things went wrong (floods, lock strikes). Although all the lines were affected, they had an inordinate number of complaints. Likewise, I didn't include Scenic because although they had a good reputation, this year there have been a few highly vocal complaints (based upon a relatively small percentage of cruisers here). Also GCT is a more specialized line with more basic surroundings and commensurate pricing - but still gets great reviews from their committed fans.

[franski]

 

In GENERAL, the lineup of quality/luxury from low to high (actually from med-high to higher), based upon opinions expressed here and our personal experience and discussions would be:

Viking, Avalon, AMA, Uniworld, Vantage, Tauck. With Tauck holding down the pretty much indisputable high-end.

 

Viking has come in for a number of complaints this year when things went wrong (floods, lock strikes). Although all the lines were affected, they had an inordinate number of complaints. Likewise, I didn't include Scenic because although they had a good reputation, this year there have been a few highly vocal complaints (based upon a relatively small percentage of cruisers here). Also GCT is a more specialized line with more basic surroundings and commensurate pricing - but still gets great reviews from their committed fans.

 

 

HI -

 

Based on what I have seen of their boats - and what is included in the price - I think that Uniworld easily comes out above Vantage.

 

Re: Scenic. I think that they are about equal with Uniworld. I have travelled with both companies (as well as AMA and Viking) so do feel I can comment on them from a comparison perspective.

 

JMHO here.

 

Fran

[caviargal]

" (although count me in the group of AMA fans).

 

In GENERAL, the lineup of quality/luxury from low to high (actually from med-high to higher), based upon opinions expressed here and our personal experience and discussions would be:

 

Viking, Avalon, AMA, Uniworld, Vantage, Tauck. With Tauck holding down the pretty much indisputable high-end. "

 

I would start that list with GCT and then Vantage personally.

 

We have cruised multiple times with Avalon (our first river cruise experiences) and twice with AMA and we are solid fans of AmaWaterways based on those cruises.

 

Our next two river cruises are booked with AMA as for us, they provided an all around excellent experience.

[bobalink]

We're planning a river cruise that ends in Budapest May 2014 and the AMA and Avalon ones fit our timeframe. Viking doesn't work for us as we need to be at a wedding in Budapest on a certain date.

 

All things considered is one significantly "better" than the other? They seem to be pretty similar.

 

Thanks!

 

We've recently returned from our first river cruise on the Danube. We enjoyed AMAWaterways very much.

 

You may want to look at a website that many of us on CC have gleaned lots of good information from. Mike and Carol Preisman have provided photos as well as good information - here is the link:

http://www.thepreismans.com/

 

Have fun researching!

[MarkBearSF]

Specifically back to AMA vs Avalon - another consideration may be the air packages, if you choose to take advantage of them. We never do. However, I recall that last (2012) season there were quite a number of complaints about poorly scheduled connections for one of the lines (I think it was Uniworld or Avalon, but you'd have to search to find out). So, if you're compiling a spreadsheet or list to compare the two options, that may be an additional item. (Besides: included/extra cost tours, included tips, complimentary wine & beer for lunch/dinner - and of course room size, balcony and amenities)

 

Thanks for the opinions on Vantage. I based it upon the posts I've read here over the past couple of years from fans which have generally been a small and enthusiastic group - but I have no direct experience with them.

 

This reshuffling of the middle of the list proves that the similarities outweigh the differences, I think. Excluding GCT, which is a bit of a unique product, there's widespread agreement that Viking is at the bottom and Tauck is at the top.

 

I suspect that the tribulations of this season, from the floods through the strikes, have no doubt given all of the lines unprecedented challenges. So, the lines that had the most complaints have gotten the most attention here, to their detriment. There are two ways of looking at this - a small risk (there's a reason they're called unusual events) to be factored into the value equation, or an indication of the philosophy of the line and an expression of their attitude towards passenger satisfaction.

[jojocmcla]

We're cruising AmaLyra Prague to Budapest May 2014. I think it embarks in Nuremberg around May 2. I've read mostly good reviews about AmaWaterways. A friend of mine is a travel agent and has done 2-3 cruises with them and is very well pleased with the accomodations, food, excursions, crew. That's why we chose them for this cruise. We also cruised Tauck 2008....great trip; but as others have pointed out, they are on the high end of the spectrum.

 

We're planning a river cruise that ends in Budapest May 2014 and the AMA and Avalon ones fit our timeframe. Viking doesn't work for us as we need to be at a wedding in Budapest on a certain date.

 

All things considered is one significantly "better" than the other? They seem to be pretty similar.

 

Thanks!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Having just completed an AMA cruise from Amsterdam to Zurich, it's hard to imagine what extras Uniworld, Vantage and Tauck could offer. AMA was incredible.

 

See my review at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1916435

[bobandjo]

We did Avalon's Amsterdam - Budapest Vista run Jun 23 - Jul 7 and there were no delays or changing to bus/hotels like the sailings immediately before and after. It was a great experience for us, great rooms with huge French balcony and wide opening doors with rooms larger than many of the other lines. Food was excellent, wine/beer with dinner but would have been nice to have it with lunch as well. Service was over the top for us and I can't imagine a cruise director being better than the one we had. Tips were not included but if you booked your cruise from Australia or New Zealand they were. While they offered some "pay for" excursions there were included excursions at every stop. Most do start early though and meant getting up 6:30 6:45 in order to have breakfast before the excursion which was tough on us who don't like to be up before 8:00. :)

[EKML]

As many of the posters have indicated, there are more similarities than differences among the cruise lines, and which one is the best is really a matter of individual preference.

 

We did the AMA Blue Danube cruise last year, and thought it was one of our best cruises. The hotels at the start and end of the cruise were in excellent locations near the center of the town. We find that to be important since it makes it easy to walk around to the sights during your free time. Another plus were the choices for the included tours. If you like biking, they had included bike tours. Or you could choose a culinary tour in lieu of a city tour, or maybe an art tour rather than a city tour. We're not bikers, so did a culinary tour, which was great-got to do some food sampling, and had a beer tasting. Most of the other cruises had only one included tour, but had options of slow or fast walkers.

 

We have not been on an Avalon cruise, so can not say whether or not they have similar hotel locations or tour choices, but those would be items to compare if they are important to you.