Ama or Viking Christmas Market Cruise

[lakegirl16]

First off, let me say I searched for this on here and didn't see this discussed.  I am looking at a Christmas Market on the Danube for '26. 

We are in our mid 60's and have cruised frequently but never a river cruise. Looking for a pro's/con's of these two lines.  I'm leaning towards Ama based on my initial research but there is a significant price difference.

Appreciate the assistance.

 

 

[Coral]

Ama is a higher ranked line. Not sure if you are looking at AmaMagna but it is a unique ship and larger than most river cruise ships.

 

One negative about Viking is that they want payment a year in advance. I refuse to use a company that wants that type of payment a year in advance.

I have done the Christmas Markets in the Danube and it was amazing. Loved that trip.

Edited June 1 by Coral

[AtlantaCruiser72]

You may pay more for AMA up front, but there are fewer back end expenses.

 

AMA ships typically carry 30-40 less guests than Viking with similar sized public spaces and similar crew numbers. More space, better service. 

 

Viking include one pre defined tour per stop. Use it or lose it. They offer multiple alternative tour options, for a fee per stop - often with a hefty price tag. AMA will have multiple included tour options, and when they offer alternatives they are usually more reasonably priced than Viking. 
 

AMA have a sip & sail happy hour every evening prior to or during the daily briefing. Viking does not. AMA also has a wider selection of included wines with meals, usually of a higher quality than Viking. 
 

AMA have more varied and creative menus than Viking with a broader range of choices. AMA also have the chefs table dining experience, which all guests may dine at once per cruise at no additional cost. While Viking do have the Aquavit terrace as alternative dining it is essential a trimmed down version of the dining room offering. AMA have a daily tapas offering in the main lounge with unique offerings separate rom the dining venues.  AMA will pack you a picnic lunch to take ashore. Viking does not offer this. 
 

AMA has more health/wellness programming and carry their own fleet of bikes & e-bikes. They offer included hiking & biking tours and you can check out the bikes / e-bikes at no extra cost. Viking sells hiking & bike tours and does not carry their own bikes onboard. 
 

So,in the end it depends on what is important to you. For the consumer looking for lower upfront pricing, good food, decent service, is not overly fussy about wine selection and whom would be happy with Vikings included tours then there is nothing wrong with the Viking product. For the consumer who wants more choice of included tours, wants more active pursuits like biking, more gourmet dining and better wine selection included, then the buy up to AMA has value. 

[RobInMN]

Even though I am a fan of Ama and agree with everything @AtlantaCruiser72 said, I am not sure if the excursion options is as important on a Christmas Markets cruise. I've only done 1 Christmas Markets, it was on the Danube, but it was with Grand Circle (not my choice, my parents booked & paid for it). I can tell you all kinds of differences between GC and Ama. I've never done Viking. Anyway, while there were some normal type excursions, the excursion at almost every port was the Christmas Markets. I assume that they would be the main excursion on an Ama one. Biking tours are probably not that popular on a Christmas Market cruise either, unless you are hard-core 🙂 

 

I'll second the vote for AmaMagna. That is an amazing ship, unlike any other. It is a choice for Christmas Markets but has it's own listing. I will caution you though. I almost hate to recommend it as a first river cruise ship, as no other ship is likely to measure up if you do more in the future. 🤣

[Coral]

2 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Even though I am a fan of Ama and agree with everything @AtlantaCruiser72 said, I am not sure if the excursion options is as important on a Christmas Markets cruise. I've only done 1 Christmas Markets, it was on the Danube, but it was with Grand Circle (not my choice, my parents booked & paid for it). I can tell you all kinds of differences between GC and Ama. I've never done Viking. Anyway, while there were some normal type excursions, the excursion at almost every port was the Christmas Markets. I assume that they would be the main excursion on an Ama one. Biking tours are probably not that popular on a Christmas Market cruise either, unless you are hard-core 🙂 

 

I'll second the vote for AmaMagna. That is an amazing ship, unlike any other. It is a choice for Christmas Markets but has it's own listing. I will caution you though. I almost hate to recommend it as a first river cruise ship, as no other ship is likely to measure up if you do more in the future. 🤣

On my Christmas Markets cruise - we had normal excursions and then free time to visit the markets. It was a good mix. I definitely felt like I saw the ports that we stopped at. I had full day excursions in Vienna, Munich, Regensburg, Bratislava and Salzburg that involved seeing the port sites. Our Christmas markets trip wasn't just Christmas markets.

Edited June 1 by Coral

[RobInMN]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

On my Christmas Markets cruise - we had normal excursions and then free time to visit the markets. It was a good mix. I definitely felt like I saw the ports that we stopped at. I had full day excursions in Vienna, Munich, Regensburg, Bratislava and Salzburg that involved seeing the port sites. Our Christmas markets trip wasn't just Christmas markets.

Thanks! That's good information. Like I said, my only Christmas Markets experience was on GC, and they only do 1 excursion, with no options. So I am guessing that some of their normal excursions were replaced with the Christmas Markets.