Castles on the Rhine: Uniworld vs AMA

[sjoantwe]

We are looking at this trip next April . We have been on AMA before and enjoyed it very much and we love the luxury lines. Uniworld has a ship named the Antoinette which seems fabulous. Does AMA have a comparable ship and can anyone comment on the difference of the two lines for this itinerary? We want to do the Basel to Amsterdam route and stay in AMerstay for tulip time in the middle of April. How long do we need in Amsterdam and how long in Basel? We always go in early and stay after the cruise.

[alexandra cruiser]

I love AMA,but since you ve been on it before.Think its fun to TRY another line.Just to compare.I ve tried all the major ones and do prefer AMA and now Scenic,but glad I gave them all a shot.

I stayed 2 days pre cruise in Amsterdam and still felt I d only scratched the surface,same post.But only like (due to vacation time)and homesickness to be gone 2wks.ea.time.

Lots of choices,good luck.PS.we went in May a few yrs.ago and was a little cool,with some rain.Not hot.

[jpalbny]

We did this itinerary on SS Antoinette 3 months ago (link to our complete review is in our signature below) and can concur that the ship is fabulous. :) We have no basis to compare to AMA though.

 

Amsterdam did not excite us nearly as much as Switzerland and the area surrounding Basel. I'd go back there for many days before spending any more time in Amsterdam. The Antoinette sails Sunday-Sunday, so spending more than a day on either end involves getting time off in 3 separate work weeks.

 

Basel itself is small and 1-2 days should suffice unless you want to go to the surrounding area (Lucerne, etc) which we'd highly recommend. Then you'd need more time. Also Basel has a bunch of interesting sounding museums that we didn't get to visit, which could probably chew up another day.

 

Amsterdam seems bigger and I think you'd probably need longer - but someone who's actually spent time there would be better suited to answer that question.

[hoosier74]

I can't comment on any comparison as I've not been on either, but we are going on AMA next spring on this itinerary. AMA offers a land extension in Switzerland beginning in Zurich and going through Lucerne before boarding the ship in Basel (or the reverse if you are beginning in Amsterdam), making the trip 13 days.

We love Amsterdam and are going two days early to have some time there. I would allow at least two days (it seems most ships have an overnight and do a city tour/Canal cruise, but I think there may be another option for tours as well), so you could include that in your planning.

We are going on this cruise because of our wine club so we really didn't consider another line, but I think AMA is comparable to Uniworld, and it seems the rooms are just a shade larger, and the dual balcony thing is neat. But Uniworld is all inclusive though and that does make a difference so you have to figure that in too. jpalbny's travelogue on their trip was really good and there is also one on this board from host Jazzbeau.

We're really looking forward to this. Hope you have a good time as well.

[seabreezer]

2 or 3 days in Amsterdam is probably enough. Nothing worth shopping for and the cuisine is nothing special but there are 2 exceptional museums, The Van Gogh which is a must and The Rijksmuseum which has undergone a spectacular renovation. The Anne Frank Huis is interesting but crowded. Perhaps it would be possible to prebook reservations. There is also an excellent Jewish museum and a satellite of The Hermitage. A canal cruise is also fun.

 

You might be able to take a train to some interesting Belgian cities or tag on a day or 2 to see Ghent and Bruges by train or car.

 

I don't know much about Basel but we are planning to rent a car and tour Switzerland for 5 days at the end of our cruise.

[DaKa2002]

We took "Castles on The Rhine" trip on Uniworld's River Countess a few years ago. Fantastic ship, crew, food, and experiences! We would travel Uniworld again. Have not traveled AMA yet.

[Hoyaheel]

Without knowing what YOU like to do, how can we say whether or not a place is "worth" visiting or how long you should spend there? We spent a long weekend/short week in Amsterdam a few years ago, rented an apartment in a canal house, and had an AMAZING time - enjoying the food, the beer, the markets - and even the weather (it was snowing or sleeting most of the time) We only went to a couple of museums and neither were art museums as that's not our thing.

 

It's pretty easy to look at a couple visitor/tourist websites for a place and get an idea of what the locale itself is promoting to see what might interest you, and THEN you can ask more specific questions about what you might want to do.

 

(that said, I don't have a ton of time to spend pre or post cruise - I use a cruise as an overview for where I want to spend more time on a land trip, preferably in a rental if I can swing it, because that's my travel preference. We'll go in one day early to hopefully avoid travel problems, and we might stay a day later if the flight schedule requires it, but since we're still working full-time, I'm not able to take 4 weeks or more to extend a trip...Some day:D)

[caviargal]

Amsterdam is not one of our favorite cities but we enjoyed our most recent (April for AMA Tulips and Windmills) visit the most of the three visits to this city. Previously we spent a couple of nights on our own and found the city expensive and not particularly appealing but of course, that is personal preference.

 

We now know our way around the city and prefer to spend our time away from the very touristy center.

 

We have not cruised with Uniworld as the decor is a big turn off for us.

 

We have cruised with AMA 3 times with 3 more booked and find that it suits us very well.

 

We really enjoy their Limited Edition walking tour of the Jordaan neighborhood in April and have always been very pleased with the quality and consistency of food, wine, cabins and service aboard AMA. Their attention to detail is evident in every aspect of the experience.

Edited July 8, 2014 by caviargal

[sueswny]

I'm going on this itinerary next year, April 23-30. I will be with a group on Lueftner Cruises. It's my first time on Lueftner, but I understand that it is very nice and comparable to AMA, etc. Brand new ship, too. Price very good, lower than the others for a comparable trip. I usually go on AMA, which I love. But my TA has a group on the Lueftner cruise and I am giving it a try.

[Got2Cruise]

Compare the day to day itinerary very closely. They might be similar but not exactly the same. The itinerary is the most important on river cruises

 

 

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