Should I be expecting more than four limited edition tours

[stipmom]

on my legendary danube cruise? Right now all that is listed is ghoulash making in budapest and three in Vienna. Nothing for our other stops.

[sippican]

on my legendary danube cruise? Right now all that is listed is ghoulash making in budapest and three in Vienna. Nothing for our other stops.

 

We have six Limited Edition tours listed for the Romantic Danube.

[id est]

Just curious: what cruise is that? 4 tours is Ok for 4-5 days cruise. On a river cruise every day you should have an included tour, sometimes even 2 tours per day

Edited May 20, 2014 by id est

[nana541]

What cruise line and length of cruise?

 

 

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[Familygoboston]

If it's an AMA cruise the LE tours are smaller, capacity controlled specialty tours; the standard tours should be offered in all the ports, at no additional charge. My understanding is if they have demand, they will offer a more active tour and gentle walkers tour and possibly a bike tour in any given port.

[stipmom]

It is an AMA waterways cruise. I just thought there was an optional tour in every port and that does not seem to be the case.. They have three in Vienna and one in Budapest

[caviargal]

They do not advertise or claim to have a Limited Edition Tour in every port. We have cruised with them three times so far and LE tours were new this past cruise. We went to 6 ports and they had 4.

 

In every port, there was a choice of included tours. The "Detailed Itinerary" on their website lists those and you do not book in advance.

Edited May 20, 2014 by caviargal

[sippican]

If it's an AMA cruise the LE tours are smaller, capacity controlled specialty tours; the standard tours should be offered in all the ports, at no additional charge. My understanding is if they have demand, they will offer a more active tour and gentle walkers tour and possibly a bike tour in any given port.

 

It is an AMA waterways cruise. I just thought there was an optional tour in every port and that does not seem to be the case.. They have three in Vienna and one in Budapest

 

AMA offers a number of choices. In every port there IS at least one standard tour, their standard tours can be offered in varying configurations: active, gentle and late risers. In many ports they offer optional tours at no cost, in addition to the standard . The optional tours may be a bike trip, bus tour to another location, etc. There may also be the Limited Edition Tours (thread topic). These are also free and more of an "enrichment" experience like a cooking class or hidden gem walk. You must sign up for these, either online prior to cruising or onboard if space allows. Then there are the tours that are not complimentary, like the evening concert in Vienna.

This variety was one if the reasons we chose AMA.

[cbb]

from AMA website: Legendendary Danube "Included Features"

 

 

• "Life enriching tours and excursions daily with personal headset included"
  

I haven't seen any cruise lines that doesn't offer an included city tour, usually in the morning and then free time.

[ptiprof]

We just finished Istanbul to Budapest on AMA. There were only two limited edition tours, I believe--cooking and something about brandy. There was a tour offered daily and often two choices plus bike tours in some ports. We saw no sign of "Active Walkers, Slow Walkers, or Late Risers" until the last port when the cruise director made an effort to move some likely candidates into a slightly faster-moving group. As I posted in another thread, most tours were bus-based, some followed by group walking tours. Most people seemed happy and the guides were very good. We are DIY travelers who walk cities on our own or hire private guides. We were, therefore, disappointed in the lack of promised "free time" (sometimes as little as half an hour; sometimes none. We managed to break away in many places, but it wasn't always logistically possible. We were pleased with AMA in every other way, but in the future, before we would consider another river cruise, we will look more carefully at the amount of time in each port and ask a lot more specific questions about the ability to tour independently.

 

 

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[sippican]

I wanted to post an update. I contacted AMA requesting information on port arrivals and departures, as well as more details on optional tours,

I received both immediately and I am finding the information very helpful in planning.

[purduemom1]

I wanted to post an update. I contacted AMA requesting information on port arrivals and departures, as well as more details on optional tours,

I received both immediately and I am finding the information very helpful in planning.

 

Good suggestion. Was all of this handled by email? I would really like to get this info for our Nov. cruise.

[jojocmcla]

We just returned from the Legendary Danube cruise aboard the AMA Lyra. I want to write a more detailed review later. But, to answer your questions first.

We did the 3 day pre-cruise in Prague. There were two optional tours and a Folklore Dinner. The optional tours were to Terezin concentration camp (9:30 to 2:30/ 39 euro). The other was a tour and concert of the Lobkowicz Palace (10 a.m. to 2:45/ 59 euro). We opted for the palace tour. It was very good; but, some of the things we saw were some of the same things we'd seen the previous morning on the Prague City Tour...but, still, we thought it was worthwhile. Those that went to Terezin said that while it was interesting, it was rather thought provoking and upsetting.

The Folklore dinner was fun....yes, a little 'hokey;' but we thoroughly enjoyed it, as did most of the people in attendance. (7pm-10:30pm/59 euro)

 

Once onboard, there were two possible tours in Nuremberg...the Medieval (Palace Tour) and the World War II Tour. I did the Palace and my husband did the WW II tour. We both enjoyed the ones we took.

Regensburg City walking tour. Optional Weltenberg Abbey & Danube Gorge tour (49 euro). We did both morning city tour and Weltenberg Abbey/Gorge trip. It was beautiful. At the Abbey, we received a tour of the church, a mug of beer and fresh made pretzels. Then, boarded the boat for the gorge cruise...really beautiful scenery. After the cruise, we toured the Hall of Liberation in Kelheim.

In Passau, I took the city walking tour, while my husband did the bike ride. The optional tour was to Salzburg. I don't remember how much that one cost. But, it was an all day affair. As much as I love The Sound of Music, I stayed in Passau to see the world's largest pipe organ, since I'm an organist, myself. The ship left Passau and those going to Salzburg met the ship that afternoon in Linz. The next day, we were in Melk, where I took a wonderful tour of the Abbey, while my husband, again, did the bike ride. We arrived in Vienna that afternoon. Many went to the Mozart/Strauss Concert. Several of us stayed in town for dinner...Figlmuller's...weiner schnitzel bigger than your plate!! My suggestion is to share it! The next day, we had a Vienna City Tour. There were two limited edition tours, featuring (1) Sacher Torte and sparkling wine tasting or (2) Hidden Vienna walking tour. An optional tour that I took that afternoon was to Schonbrunn Palace (39 euro). Again, my husband did the bike tour. He got rained on. It began raining shortly before the tour group was to meet the bus @ the palace for the bus ride back to the ship.

In Budapest, there was the City Tour. There was supposed to be a limited edition Goulash making tour at the Sofitel hotel; but something had happened in their kitchen that morning, so they cancelled the tour.

 

Loved our cruise. My husband wants to do it again, so we can go on the tours we didn't take this time.

[sippican]

Good suggestion. Was all of this handled by email? I would really like to get this info for our Nov. cruise.

 

Our cruise was arranged through the group department at AMA through a TA. I contacted our group coordinator via e-mail, did you book directly or through a TA?

I was very pleased with the reply. I really feel like I have a handle on what I would like to do now.

 

Jojocmcla, thanks for your great mini-review. We are on the Romantic Danube itinerary, so many similar stops. What do you consider "not to be missed" and what was your DH's impression of the bike tours? Did they offer the "active walkers" groups.

[jojocmcla]

They had both active walker and slow walker groups, in addition to the "regular" walkers. My husband enjoyed the bike rides, except for the fact that there were several non-experienced people biking who didn't seem to know the rules of the road. He thought the guides should have gone over those and some common biking courtesy points for those people. But, he did 3biking tours and said he would do them again.

Thoroughly enjoyed Melk Abbey and Weltenburg Abbey and Danube gorge trip. So glad we opted to take the gorge cruise. It was absolutely beautiful.

The one other tour that I took was not a scheduled one. A couple on the ship asked our cruise manager if she could coordinate a tour of the Doheny Street Synagogue in Budapest. It is the second largest synagogue in the world. There ended up being 13 on this tour...I was one of the few who are not practicing Jews. I'm Catholic by faith; but Jewish by heritage...my mother was Jewish, but converted to Catholicism after marrying my Dad. We had a wonderful guide, Peter. We could tell how passionate he was and how he was truly moved by the story, not only of the history of the Synagogue, but of the history of the persecution of the Jews in Hungary. I could have listened to him for another hour, at least. We then toured the Jewish museum there at the temple and the Holocaust Memorial garden. It was my favorite tour...it was very moving.

[stipmom]

Thank you so much for posting your Legendary Danube experience. I will certainly do some research on the Abbey and Gorge trip.

 

When did you sign up for the tours? On board?

 

Do you recall what time you arrived in Vienna?

[jojocmcla]

We didn't sign up for any optional tours until we boarded. AMA provided a list of them the first day and we signed up the next morning.

We arrived in Vienna between 5-6 pm on day 6 of the cruise. That night was the Mozart concert.

[sippican]

We didn't sign up for any optional tours until we boarded. AMA provided a list of them the first day and we signed up the next morning.

We arrived in Vienna between 5-6 pm on day 6 of the cruise. That night was the Mozart concert.

 

Thanks for your tips on "must dos".

Just for the sake of clarity, the Limited Edition Tours, mentioned by the OP, can be reserved online prior to cruising. These are different than the optional tours.

[purduemom1]

Our cruise was arranged through the group department at AMA through a TA. I contacted our group coordinator via e-mail, did you book directly or through a TA?

I was very pleased with the reply. I really feel like I have a handle on what I would like to do now.

 

Jojocmcla, thanks for your great mini-review. We are on the Romantic Danube itinerary, so many similar stops. What do you consider "not to be missed" and what was your DH's impression of the bike tours? Did they offer the "active walkers" groups.

 

Yes we booked thru' a TA. So will see if she can request the info for us. Just wish it was easily available without having to request it.