Danube Amadeus Queen Review

[Floridiana]

Passau - Budapest

 

We are in our early 70s, in good health, and travelled with our 2 adult kids. We flew to Munich, took the train to Passau where we boarded the Amadeus Queen. In Budapest, we took the train back to Vienna, then rented a car to return to Munich. It was our third river cruise, the others were on the Mekong and the Yangtze. We also did day cruises on the Rhine during another vacation. We travel often and have done ocean cruises on about 15 + different lines including Azamara, Oceania, HAL, Princess, Mein Schiff, Europa 2, Aranui, Ponant. 

 

The Amadeus Queen is a new and very lovely ship with elegant and comfortable décor. I regretted not having brought a bathing suit because the indoor pool looked wonderful with large windows, a corner with complimentary coffee, tea and cookies and ice water for drinking. The dining room and the bar area were comfortable and airy with large windows. There was an outside sitting area in the front and another smaller one in the back outside the swimming pool. This is in addition to the top deck with chairs and loungers. The ship has no elevator.

 

Cabin

Our cabin was on the Mozart deck. It had a walk-in closet, a large shower in a sparkling clean bathroom, a comfortable bed, large tv, a large window whose upper half could be opened completely. When you book a higher category, you also have a small balcony and a sofa. It turned out that the odd numbered staterooms were almost always on the side of another docked ship. Even numbered cabins had better luck. They were often on the landside which was good when the Queen was the first docked ship.

 

Food

The food was very good and varied with a strong local touch. However the onboard baker let us down. We are picky when it comes to the quality of European bread and pastries. Limp baguette is not acceptable, but we may have been the only passengers who thought so. 

 

Service

The house keeping crew was mostly Indonesian and lovely. The waiters and bar staff consisted of one outstanding Indonesian, one smiling Russian, and a variety of Eastern Europeans trying their best. They were friendlier than their compatriots on Mein Schiff. Chris and Vlad definitely had a sense of humor. The cruise director/excursion coordinator was just ok, no enthusiasm or getting out of her way. I don't know what her side kick did since she spoke none of the languages of the countries nor of the passengers. Maybe she spoke English. I never heard her. Since the staff changes, none of this matters much. The captain showed up in the beginning and at the end. He 'drives' the ship at night and therefore sleeps during the day when the ship is docked. Senior staff was introduced in the beginning and all hotel staff at the end.

 

Passengers

We had a large group from Hong Kong with their own guide and bus. A smaller group of Dutch who joined English and sometimes German language excursions. The English speakers came from the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia. There was only one German couple. Tables were assigned, but one English speaking group changed their seating and formed a large and boisterous table with lots of laughter. 

 

Itinerary and Excursions

 

Passau - Regensburg - Passau - Linz - Wachau Valley - Vienna - Budapest

 

We preselected tours online, but we were able to makes changes on the ship. The local guides were good to excellent. But one guide was sleep inducing while ours on the same tour was the best. 

 

Passau: The ship docked in easy walking distance to downtown and the train station. We arrived by train on our own and rolled our suitcases to the ship. The train ride from Munich airport was super easy. 

Regensburg: The ship docked in easy walking distance to the medieval downtown. We booked an afternoon excursion to the Altmuehl Valley with an abbey and beer tasting. We had an outstanding local guide for this trip which I highly recommend. 

Passau: The ship docked at the tip of the town where the Danube, Inn, and Ilz meet. It is a short stop for the people who take the Salzburg bus excursion. 

 

Passau-Linz: This is a lovely stretch of the river with a horse shoe bend and forested hills. You miss it if you take the Salzburg excursion.

Linz: The ship docked in walking distance to downtown. The Salzburg excursion by bus rejoined the ship.

Wachau Valley: The ship docked at an out of the way place for the bus excursion to Melk Abbey, Duernstein, and a wine tasting. This excursion is worth while for Melk.

Vienna: The ship docked in Nussdorf which is quite a distance from Vienna, but you can take public transportation. We opted for a tour to Schoenbrunn Palace.

 

Bratislava: The ship docked close to downtown. We took an afternoon tour to Schloss Hof, quite interesting and built at the same time as Schoenbrunn by Maria Theresia's popular general Prince Eugene. The castle is in Austria, but residents of Bratislava go there on foot through the fields.

Hungary: We took a tour to a large church, a castle ruin and a touristy village. Although interesting, I would rather stay on the ship and enjoy the scenery. It was scorching hot. 

Budapest: The ship docked downtown and did an evening tour of the river. We used a hop on hop off bus to get around.

 

We spent another night in a Budapest hotel, then took the train to Vienna where we spent 3 nights. Returned to Munich via Salzburg by rental car. We often combine cruises with land trips, sometimes guided sometimes on our own like on this trip. 

 

The river cruise was lovely and I would recommend it, but the rafting was annoying because we had no view when docked. Although the Danube has little traffic, all the hotel ships more or less dock at the same places at the same time.

 

If you have any questions, I am glad to answer them.