MS AMADAGIO-Amadeus Waterways

[wishfulcruiser]

I've searched for reviews of the new rivership MS Amadagio with minimal results. Anyone out there with information? Anyone find photos? Interested in 'talking' especially to those cruisers onboard the 6/25/06 cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest - Magnificent Europe :)

 

Thanks in advance for any info from Amadeus Waterways past cruisers !

[Jswen]

Hi Wishful,

We will be onboard the Amadagio on May 28 from Budapest - Prague. I will write when we get back home from the trip. It is the Blue Danube Discovery trip.

I too have wished for a trip report on this boat. But then again it will be fun to discover it for ourselves too.

JS

[wishfulcruiser]

I'm so glad you responded! Thanks...I'll look forward to your report in June. Let me explain my ID...I plan the trips for family members and like to give them as many details as possible. Last year, they took a GCT 'Romance of the Rhine and Mosel' river cruise which prompted their desire for more. Everything went better than expected....I've read posts this year about problems with GTC...but they had a positive experience. The weather, the tours, the MS Ravel and the staff delivered an A+ performance. Well-traveled in ocean cruising, the river cruise offered them a wonderful up close experience...the scenery, the docks proximity to towns and the ethnic flavor of each country. Working with Amadeus has been easy...the only concern was the airline tickets. The staff tried twice to schedule flights to Amsterdam but were unacceptable for either time or number of stops. I had already researched the best fares and times so they suggested I book directly with Continental...which I did. The consequence was transfers needed to be booked and paid for since they were not included by Amadeus. NEXT time, I will ask the Cruise Line to book the exact flights....and then the transfer fees would be included. I would be happy to help you in anyway I can. Thanks again, it's exciting to be part of this forum....always so helpful !!!

[Jswen]

Our travel agent booked our air separate because the air fare offered by Brendan was much higher for business class. It worked out good because we are able to arrive a day early in Budapest.

We are flying Lufthansa all the way except for a small connection with United which is their code share.

Our agent arranged one way transfers the other is covered by Brendan.

JS

[wishfulcruiser]

Dear Jswen,

 

In an email today from our wonderful contact at Amadeus Waterways she wrote:

 

 

We do not have pictures of the Amadagio yet for our passengers….

Our marketing department wants to be very careful with putting the pictures in the website, they want to choose the best, and they are working on it and asked us kindly not to send anything out yet. Makes sense.

 

 

She also conveyed early Amadagio guests comments....all luxurious, envy of the waterways. Just thought this might add to your excitement!

[Jswen]

Hi Wish,

Thanks for the update, I was wondering why we had not seen any pics of the Amadagio.

We have worn out the pages of the Brendan travel catalogue, which by the way has quite a nice map of the Danube and the countrys that it travels through on the inside second page, If you go to the travel agent to pick one up it is the blue cover "Brendan Cruising the Waterways of Europe and Russia.

 

Well, it is getting down to the nitty grittys of what we are actually going to pack after having discussed it to death these past few months.

Thanks

JS

[tban]

has anybody been on the Russian Waterways cruise aboard the Tolstoy ? This is the other new ship of Amadeus waterways. We are booked on this cruise in September and I am cusrious to find out any feedback about this cruise. We have been on the Symphony twice and had a great time, however I could not find any pictures or detailed information about the Tolstoy cruise. If somebody knows more about this cruise please let us know. Thanks !

[wishfulcruiser]

Just wanted to drop you a "have a wonderful trip bon voyage!" May 28th is almost here...and I imagine you can hardly wait. I hope your cruise is great in every single way! Looking forward to your report upon your return....:cool:

[Jswen]

Hi Wish,

Thanks for the good wishes, actually...we are leaving in the morning on the 24. Our travel agent found a great airfare if we could leave a day earlier and since we like to do that anyway we grabbed it. (that was months ago) Needless to say this will be a busy day around here. I plan on taking notes so I can report back.

Judy

[M&T]

Judy, I wish I had sent this before you left. I am interested in knowing what times you arrive and depart each port. I have the information on what is projected, but I know that the actual may vary. Hope you have a great trip. Look forward to hearing from you when you get back. Marlyne

[Jswen]

We are back from our Blue Danube Discovery trip on the MS Amadagio, plus a few extra days in Prague.

A good trip, beautiful riverboat but very cold and rainy weather which resulted in high water on the Danube.

Our boat could only go as far as Vilshofen. From there we bused into Regensburg for our tour, after the city tour we stopped in at a place right by the Stone Bridge and had sausages, sourkraut and beers at the Bratwurstkuchi. The best I had ever eaten!

Since we could not sail into Nuremberg the Amadas people offered a two and half hour bus ride into Nuremberg. I was ready to take a day off from sightseeing but friends said we did not want to miss it sooo off we went again. The Amadagio people did everything to make the best of it and packed us a lovely snack that was more like a lunch to take along on the bus. With the snack and a rest stop it was not a bad trip. Our friends were right..not to be missed. Plus we found two great Christmas Shops and a huge outdoor market. Sad to say we missed out on the gingerbread, someone on the bus shared with us and it was delicious.

I took two pair of walking shoes, one of the best things I did so that I could change off every day or so. It is not hard walking but the cobblestones are wearing on your feet. At least on mine.

The Amadagio is like a small cruise ship, excellent food, beautiful, comfortable rooms (175 sq feet) I loved the fact that the door opened to the outside even though it was too cold to leave it open for long. Very comfortable beds with a fluffy quilt covered with a white duvet. Nice size bathroom, great shower. Needless to say we were very pleased with the boat and the crew.

Questions?

JS

[steamboats]

JS,

 

You found the right place! The Bratwurstkuchl in Regensburg is the most famous restaurant (if you can really call it a restaurant as it´s a tiny buildung with mainly open air space to sit down) for sausages outside of Nuremberg. It´s a very old restaurant and usually when the Bratwurstkuchl is flooded you have a really high flood.

 

Hope you also saw the old sidewheel steamboat Ruthof / Ersekcsanad (http://www.dsmr.de/). On the picture of the website you can see the high light brown building on the right side. Left of that building you can imagine a tiny roof, that´s the Bratwurstkuchl.

 

Sorry, you had such a bad weather. Today for the start of the Soccer World Championship here in Munich we had sunny and warm weather. Summer is finally to come with temps in the 80ies for the weekend. By the way Germany did win the opening game versus Costa Rica 4:2. Currently it´s Poland versus Equador.

 

steamboats

[Livestotravel]

I wondered what arrangement Amadeus made for you - same with Avalon. We were in Port with you, as I'm sure you noticed. I thought about standing on the pier yelling, Judy, Judy, but figured that wouldn't work out!:D I've started a day by day thread on our Avalon Poetry trip, and if you read it you'll see that we chose to stay in Vilshofen, and were happy we did, but it's also probably the first time I ever skipped anything that was included!! Did you notice the Viking Riverboat that passed us on the way upriver on disembarkation day - someone said they weren't as long, and that it wasn't really the height of our boats, but the length. I'm not sure I understand that - what were you told? My friend didn't even go to Melk - you will recall, I'm sure, what a downpour we had that day. I did, though, and thought the Abbey well worth it. The sun came out briefly just when the tour went outside, so I hope I got some great pictures. I agree it was a great trip and itinerary, imagine if the weather had been good!!

[Livestotravel]

Today for the start of the Soccer World Championship here in Munich we had sunny and warm weather. Summer is finally to come with temps in the 80ies for the weekend. By the way Germany did win the opening game versus Costa Rica 4:2.

 

steamboats

 

The gift shops were full of FIFA Soccer souvenirs, and I bought our grandsons the caps and the trading cards. Got myself a cap, too. Glad to hear Germany won their opener!

[Jswen]

Yea! for Germany.

What a beautiful country, I was so impressed with the clean look of everything and just the beauty of the forests and country side. The forests are incredibly thick. Nice people too and I could somewhat understand the language. We are thinking of doing the Rhine next. Our very best day was the day we docked in Durnstein and walked into the little town without the tour guide and 20 other people. I had hoped that the Danube would be more little towns to walk into. Do you know if the Rhine would be more like that?

 

Lives, Funny you thought of doing that....I did too. At some point in the trip someone called out Judy and I whipped around but it was a call for someone else. I did ask someone if they looked online at Cruise Critic and they looked at me really oddly so I gave up on it. I am enjoying your trip report its like taking the trip over again, except it is much warmer. Regarding not going any further than Vilshoven they just kept saying that there was a bridge that was too low. I don't know what length would have to do with it either.

JS

[steamboats]

Yes,

 

Duernstein is a really nice little town. I´ve enjoyed our stop there too (and to be true this was our only real stop on the cruise as we ended up in Vienna). We walked up to the ruins and had a short tour through the town when coming down again.

 

There are still some nice little towns along the Rhine river but I fear that the cruise companies just pass by. Main stops are Cologne, Koblenz and Ruedesheim. The first ones are big cities. Ruedesheim is a smaller town but very touristy. Don´t know anything about the stops on the upper Rhine river to Basel. I think main stops there are Heidelberg and Strassbourg. Both are more medium to large sized towns.

 

steamboats

[wishfulcruiser]

So glad to read your posts! Would love to hear more...do have some questions, if you would pease...

 

1. AMA say portage for one pc of luggage...did passengers wheel their own 2nd one (the carry-on luggage) or definitely not allowed a 2nd bag?

 

2. How were the passengers dressed for dinner?

 

3. On the bus tours, were there restrooms on the bus?

 

4. How where the tour guides?

 

5. How was the tipping handled?

 

6. Did passengers use Euros at all or just credit cards?

 

7. Did the AMA folks say the rainy weather was predicted for awhile or was it just unfortunately while you were cruising?

 

8. What were some of the meals?

 

9. Any problem scheduling optional tours...Vienna Concert, Saltzburg?

 

Our trip begins 6/24 so the packing has BEGUN in earnest! Getting VERY excited!!!!

 

Thanks for any info you have time to post.

[Jswen]

Hi Wish,

You are in for such a good time, it was a new adventure for us and it was so interesting and beautiful.

I took a large suitcase 28" and also had a good size wheeled carryon. I think the Amadagio is worried about storage more than anything. It should all fit under your bed on the boat. They never said a word about luggage once we got there. It was printed on our documents that the weight allowance was 50 lbs. The weight allowance for our airline was 70 lbs so I figured somewhere in the middle would be ok and it was. Hubby worries much more about those things than I do.

Dressing for dinner seemed to be a very personal thing, There was a large group of 40+ people and younger (high school +) that were very casual. Some evenings we just squeeked in from a tour and we would just freshen up and go to dinner. most nights we changed into nice but casual clothes.(Black slacks and a top of some sort and a bit of jewelery.) The guys would wear dockers (kaki) and a polo or sweater. I know I worried about it but is is not a big deal.

Most of the buses had a restroom. On the longer drives we stopped at a rest stop, which by the were were very nice and clean. Have some coins for the toilets!(about 50 cents. which is refunded in a coupon and you can go inside the resturant and use it to buy something) We need that in the US.

Tour Guide: We had Peter Whitehead an Aussie fellow. I can't say enough for him, he went out of his way to make sure everyone had a wonderful trip. I hope you have him too. I could write volumes on all of the little things he took care of what a guy! I got the feeling that whomever was the tour guide would be excellent, it is a well run operation and they really are there for the passengers.

Continued.....

[Jswen]

Correction on the 40+ thing, meant to say that was the age range of the people.

Tipping: Near the end of the trip there are two envelopes left in the room. One is for the Cruise director and the other is for the crew. You can pay by credit card or with euros. The crew envelope is divided up between the whole crew.

Weather: Everyone kept saying that "this is very unusual weather" I had looked on the internet and charted it for several weeks and did not see a cold/rain pattern for that week. I almost think I would call Amadeus Waterways and ask them what the weather was like. I know Peter talked with them almost every day. They are located in Chatsworth Ca. If I had it to do over that is what I would do.

Meals: Breakfast, fruit, cereals, sweetrolls, eggs, bacon and sausage.

Dinner: Appetizer, (2) soup, one cold, one hot, salad bar or ceasar. Choice of a fish, beef or pork and a pasta. All of the wines were good one white one red usually of the reigon we were cruising in. Choice of two desserts and coffee.

We thought the food was very good and we eat out a lot.

They also offered a early riser coffee and rolls in the main lounge 6-7 AM.

Tours: The tours did not overlap so you could do them all, and several days we did, EEK!!

Such as: City walking tour in the AM, Schonbrunn Palace in the afternoon (in the rain) and Vienna Concert that evening. Actually it was a wonderful day, slept really well that night!

Looks like that is all for now. Be sure and take good walking shoes.

PS. Amadagio has a wonderful laundry service, they do a great job and it comes back the same day.

[M&T]

I had read about that sausage place in Regensburg. Glad to hear it was good. I feel so bad about your weather. It sounds as if it is not too unusual for some of the days to require bussing instead of cruising. It is good to hear the choices you had for Nuremburg in case we have that happen. Since you and Livestotravel did different things, it gives ideas for the rest of us. It sounds as if it can be good either way. Thanks. Marlyne

[wishfulcruiser]

Hi Judy,

 

I can't thank you enough for all the answers to my questions. My Mom and her friend are leaving on June 24th and since they are seniors I hope to provide alot of details to make their trip the best. Every trip I plan for them...I put on my "wish" list for someday! I will probably think of more ???? as they get closer to leaving. Good tip on calling AMA! They have been very helpful but didn't know how much they knew about details. I can't believe no one has posted any photos anywhere on the internet yet. I've been searching for info and for the river levels....weather is still harder to find because the cruise begins in 2 wks.

 

Question: They have the required converter and 2 adapters....did you use one for any of your electrical gadgets?

 

Question: Did you phone home? How did that work? In the past, I have given them the country codes to use their calling card...but we found that not all phones worked...even though ATT stated they would.

 

Question: What was your favorite part of the entire river cruise...not including Prague...since they aren't going there.

 

I'm so happy that the rainy weather didn't dampen your spirits. You still are so positive, even though, I imagine you could have been very negative in your comments. Which kind of brings up...what one thing could have been changed or improved to make your trip even more enjoyable....except the weather!!:(

 

Laundry prices?????

 

I looked on a map to find the town you were able to travel to...around Passov. You did get to see the Benedictine Abbey in Melk? The pics I've seen makes it seem like a highlight of the cruise. True or False?

 

I want to read your comments to my Mom on the phone right now....

Later

[Jswen]

hi Wish,

We did take adaptors, a kit of various ones but did not have any luck with them working. I went to the reception desk and they loaned me a converter which worked for my curling iron and hubbys shaver. There are hair dryers in the room (closet) that are wired for the boats electricity.

 

I think to wash a pair of jeans was 2.50 euros, not really sure.

 

I did not phone home, just used the internet to E-mail, you can get a licence for 1 hour, 24 hours or the whole trip. I just used an hour every day or so to keep in touch with home. Our friends called home and they used the phone in their state room. I think they ask the reception desk how to do it correctly. I do not know how much it was.

 

The Abby in Melk was fantastic, the views from the outside verandas(I don't know what they are really called) were beautiful, it was one of the few times that the sun came out just as we came outside of the doors onto this breathtaking view. There are some steep steps down from the parking lot 64 to be exact, they offered a ride in a small coach down to the Abby entrance for those who could not manuver the steps. There were always a few takers and they truly seem concerned for those that were slower also, they offered a slow walkers group at most places.

We were offered a wine tasting at the Abby too, it was fun, wine, music and a song or two.

 

Favorite day, (morning) was at Durnstein, we walked into town without the tour group and just poked around in little shops we toured the monastic parish church on our own (must buy a ticket) and then ambled back to the boat.

But then I remember the delicious Bratwurst and sourkraut at Regensburg or the concert in Vienna. What can I say..Those were a few of my favorite things.

J

[Sandie]

Hi Judy,

 

We are seriously considering this trip for next summer. If I missed this question, please forgive me. Can you tell us about cabin locations and what you would suggest? Also, did William Collins indicate whether he would be on the boat next year? We would love to surprise him!

 

Thanks,

Sandie

[Jswen]

Hi Sandi.

If I were to do it over again I would get a room in the center of the boat or nearer the front, especially if you are on the 3 floor. There is a lovely room at the end of the 3 floor called the Veranda Room, the week we were on the boat there was a group of people that met back there almost every night and were very loud, this was after 10:30-11:00 pm. Our room was near the rear of the boat so it was very annoying. From everything I could tell the 2nd floor rooms were the same size and had the French Balcony's so that would be a consideration for us next time.

William Collins did not indicate how long he would be on the Amadagio. He does such a good job they should keep him forever.

J

[M&T]

J - Hope you can answer these questions. What time did the ship leave Budapest? Did you see the Danube Bend? Did you do the Danube Gorge and if so when did this occur? Thanks so much for all your help. Marlyne