Emerald Sky - disembarking today 7/5 from Delightful Danube - any questions?

[BobMartha]

Disembarking this morning from a fabulous sailing on Emerald Sky - Regensburg to Budapest.

Our second river cruise (first on AMA in 2017)

Have to say the cruise exceeded all our expectations - staff in all aspects was amazing - tours and guides were great (except one paid tour we did to Szentendre in Budapest which on a scale of 1 to 10 was a 2 and that's being generous).

 

Ship in great shape - very little wear and tear for a ship that is 8 years old. We were very fortunate weather wise - only one 90+ degree in Regensburg - all other days high 70's to low 80's with only rain one evening during dinner.

 

Any questions ask away since there very few postings on Emerald.

[cobber1967]

I do have one question.  Can you please tell me how Emerald compares to AMA now that you have been on both.  Which one did you prefer?

Thanks

[LTC]

I have taken 7 cruises on AMA and 7 on Emerald. Just returned about 2 weeks ago from a AMA's Essence of Burgundy & Provence, then flew to Porto and did the Douro river cruise with Emerald. My first river cruises were with AMA and I thought they were super until I tried Emerald. I prefer them over AMA now as I like their boats better...much more spaces to put items in the cabin than AMA which I find crowded. I also like the interior of the boats better. AMA has great food but Emerald is just as good and sometimes better. They still have a lunch buffet which AMA doesn't and I really missed. Both have excellent service and cabin stewards and restaurant servers very friendly and obliging. The tours on AMA are a smaller size and you have more choices. Both are excellent but to me and my preferences, Emerald comes out slightly ahead.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Different strokes:  AMA's eliminating the lunch buffet raised them in my estimate.  I much prefer sitting down and being served, and being served food that was just prepared for me.

[BobMartha]

Cobber

 

It has been 7 years since we were on AMA so things may have changed but I would also give the nod to Emerald. One other thing I forgot to mention was that our sailing had 106 passengers - current sailing bumped up to 170 so I have to believe the lower passenger count also ? may? have contributed to the amazing service. From our room steward who greeted us by name each time we saw him to the wait staff who took such great care of my dietary restrictions but were also always there for all us (we were a party of 8 sailing together) - no request was to much and was NEVER answered with a no or cannot do that - in fact it was always responded with what can I get / do for you. Also have to mention the wine service - our glasses were NEVER empty to the point by the end of dinner our table (we were almost always closing the restaurant) was always topped off before we left for the evening...my wife would ask me each morning how many glasses of wine did you have and I would always have to answer I have no idea since our glasses were never empty (wine and water actually).

 

Ship itself as I mentioned was spotless - the hallway carpets could due with a replacement was the only thing I noticed in some areas but that is a nit-pick. Cabin at first did feel quite small but once unpacked (this first ship in the series has 6 huge draws across the wall across from the bed) there was plenty of space for the time you are in the cabin. The bathroom sink was small though - almost ridiculously small when you used it, to the point you could not help but splash water everywhere. And there ARE outlets on each side of the bed along the floor next to the nightstand (nightstand lights plug into one outlet but there is a second to use.

Ship is clean and modern (inside and outside) compared to the plethora of ships we saw during the week (some lines I had never even heard of!) and I do a lot of research and read the boards constantly! 

 

Again, happy to answer any specific questions from anyone.

Our weather was amazing and more importantly the water levels behaved!

 

Bob