Amadeus Food

[Collier]

The last postings on the tipping thread of Amadeus Tipping was quite negative about the food on Amadeus. The comment was that the food service was contracted out and most inferior. It was mentioned that food was specifically prepared according to under budget instead of great cruise experience. Can anyone comment who has recently cruised? My husband and I are scheduled on The Magnificent Europe on August 26. We have cruised extensively on larger cruises, Crystal, Regent, Oceana. Thanks for any comments.

Durmom

[Buckland]

My wife and I were on the Magnificent Europe cruise in September last year and we could not say enough about the food. We loved every meal. I only had to pass on one of the menu items (shrimp) as I have a Cholesterol problem, but the alternate was more fantastic. We were served gourmet meals every day and we can hardly wait to go on another cruise. I would do it again in a New York second. We also cruised on a larger ship - Star Princess. There is not the volume of food on the river cruises, like a 24 hr buffet, but the quality was second to none. I could say less about the larger cruise line, but that would not be accurate either. They were both good, but I rather preferred the river cruise, mostly because we could see the scenery go by as we cruised down the river. It was a wonderful experience.

 

Buck

[WIT]

My wife and I were on the Magnificent Europe cruise in September last year and we could not say enough about the food. We loved every meal. I only had to pass on one of the menu items (shrimp) as I have a Cholesterol problem, but the alternate was more fantastic. We were served gourmet meals every day and we can hardly wait to go on another cruise. I would do it again in a New York second. We also cruised on a larger ship - Star Princess. There is not the volume of food on the river cruises, like a 24 hr buffet, but the quality was second to none. I could say less about the larger cruise line, but that would not be accurate either. They were both good, but I rather preferred the river cruise, mostly because we could see the scenery go by as we cruised down the river. It was a wonderful experience.

 

Buck

I heartily second Buck's remarks. I was on the Amadagio Christmas Markets Cruise. I am usually the one who complains about the food. The menu was varied, preparation thoughtful, and service was beyond our expectations. The soups in particular were memorable. We were especially pleased to get recipes when we inquired. We have booked the Amalegro for its Black Sea Discovery cruise this October. I know I will eat well.

WIT

[steamboats]

Durmom,

 

I had a chance to visit the Amadagio last December and we were invited for dinner too. See my review

 

http://www.rivers-rails.com/boats-amadagio-review-1.shtml

 

I have included the menu of that night.

 

steamboats

[Sadiebill]

We are scheduled for Amadeus "Magnifent Europe" in several weeks.

I have never been on a river cruise, but several ocean cruises that were all wonderful. All the crew was from many different countries, but they all did a wonderful job to make us feel wanted. Twice in mid-cruise we were told by waiters "my rating comment sheet at the end of this cruise is really important. Tell me now what we can do to show you the best service possible".

Now I'm getting nervous about this river cruise. I have always been an "average" tipper, or a little more. I have been outside the US for 8 years, and alter this some when there is already a "10 % service charge added". I don't hesitate to leave NOTHING if the service is bad. To me, T I P S means "To Insure Prompt Service", not just to make up for bad workers who feel that they are underpaid. I won't tip much for poor service!!

I really hope that the one bad posting was an anomaly, but now I want to hear more.

[Mines]

I heartily second Buck's remarks. I was on the Amadagio Christmas Markets Cruise. I am usually the one who complains about the food. The menu was varied, preparation thoughtful, and service was beyond our expectations. The soups in particular were memorable. We were especially pleased to get recipes when we inquired. We have booked the Amalegro for its Black Sea Discovery cruise this October. I know I will eat well.

WIT

 

We were on the Amadaggio last May to the Danube. I agree with everything said by this poster - the food was first class, particularly the soup.

[Coral]

We were on the Amadaggio last May to the Danube. I agree with everything said by this poster - the food was first class, particularly the soup.

 

To anyone who has cruised Amadeus. I am sort of picky about salad dressing. Is there a choice or should I bring some trial packets from home? I eat Ranch or French but don't like Blue Cheese, Thousand Island or the oils and vinegars...

 

The menu steamboats posted sounded good but the salad dressing didn't. I assume there are going to be a lot of salads for lunch?

 

Thanks.

[steamboats]

Coral,

 

As far as I remember the salad came with the dressing (European style) and the dressing wasn´t offered seperately. As I love Blue Cheese dressing I didn´t ask for anything else.

 

steamboats

[WIT]

To anyone who has cruised Amadeus. I am sort of picky about salad dressing. Is there a choice or should I bring some trial packets from home? I eat Ranch or French but don't like Blue Cheese, Thousand Island or the oils and vinegars...

 

The menu steamboats posted sounded good but the salad dressing didn't. I assume there are going to be a lot of salads for lunch?

 

Thanks.

Coral - I recall seeing vinegar and oil on the buffet table at dinner. The lunch buffet table functions at dinner as a holding table for cheese desert trays, wine, fruit, etc. I never saw any reasonable request at dinner not quickly delivered, just ask for a salad with vinegar and oil.

 

The lunch buffet has green salads (dressing available), cold salads, cold meat and vegetarian sandwiches, a couple hot buffet items, plus a menu of 3-4 entres. Even with small portions it was impossible to try everything.

WIT

[kptbylorraine]

I got the feeling that the person who wrote that negative review about the Amadeus food was a complainer. I'm glad to see from the response to your post that I was probably right. We leave for Paris next Wed. for the Heartland cruise and I know it will be great! I will certainly write a review when I return.

[letsgo39]

It would be interesting to get another opinion from somebody who was on exactly the same cruise. Of course winegirl is entitled to her opinions as are all of us.I don't like to discourage anyone from expressing their own ideas.

[Coral]

Hi,

 

I will let you know in 4 weeks. I leave in 2 weeks.

 

I admit - I am a picky eater but I have never had problems with ships making small accomodations for me such as providing a salad with no dressing. I did email a local company who makes a dressing (asking for samples) and they said I can go 2 weeks with out refrigerating their dressing because it is very acidic (sp?).

 

The menu steamboats listed above sounds very nice. And it sounds like there are plenty of buffets for breakfasts and choices for lunch - I doubt I will have any problems. Heck, if I don't like the entree - I am perfectly happy with a baked potatoe and fruit for dinner. I am not going with high expectations and will try to go with the flow.

 

If anyone knows me from the other boards - I am not shy in expressing my opinion and you guys will get the straight answer when I return. The 2 people from this board I have emailed concerning food on Amadeus Tolstoy both said very complimentary things about the food and neither listed a complaint.

 

Thanks to everyone from this board who has answered my questions as I feel like quite the newbie when it comes to river cruising.

 

Theresa

[Buckland]

I think if someone liked the big ocean cruises because of the food would be somewhat disappointed with river cruising. I went on a Mediterranean cruise where there was food available 24 hrs per day, buffet style. I saw guys take HUGE plate-fulls of food 2 and 3 times per meal and have more than one entre at dinner time. That type of eater would not have a good time on a river cruise as far as food goes. What you get is extremely good, prepared immaculately and just the right amount - certainly for everyone in our party. Don't worry - your slightest wish will be gladly and speedily taken care of. If your Maitre'd is William you will be pleasantly surprized at the service you will enjoy.

 

Buck

[Buckland]

If you want to read a very long string you can go to page 5 and look for "On the Amadagio" It is my post while I was on the ship. There were a lot of questions that got answered there.

 

Buck

[mcintyre9454]

Kptbylorraine....I DO hope you write a review of the Heartland Cruise upon your return. We leave the end of June for the same cruise...so I will by eagerly anticipating your thoughts!

[TataTom]

My wife and I were on the Magnificent Europe cruise on the Amadagio in October of last year. We found the food to be just as Buckland described. We thought it was wonderful! The selections were varied and interesting, the presentations were wonderful, the wines were good, the service was great. After two weeks of eating like this it was a real let-down to come back home to the usual American fare and service.

 

I cannot imagine anyone who was on our cruise who would not agree with Buckland wholeheartedly. Many of us commented on the excellent food and service during our cruise.

[River Decker]

we have been on two Amadeus cruises, The Europe Heartland cruise and the Russian Waterways and both times we had just absolutely great food. It was inovative (to a lesser degree on the Tolstoy), always well presented, delicious and of superior quality. The restaurant staff was well trained, friendly and tried to accommodate any out of the ordinary requests. The Tolstoy crew was just the best I ever experienced. I cannot understand these complains.

[winegirl]

I posted that my spouse and I were disappointed in the food and service on this cruise. I don't know what hotel service was used on the cruises others took last fall. We received a billing on our credit card for Sea Chefs for the ships charges we made. That's when I found out that the hotel management on our cruise was contracted to Sea Chefs, which is a firm that manages cruise services. Perhaps others had a different service firm or different staff.

 

FYI-breakfast and lunch were buffets, but you could order off a menu if you could catch a waiter that was available. We tended to order off the menu because: (1) I cook everyday and to have someone wait on me is my idea of a vacation, and (2) I hate standing in long, slow moving buffet lines.

 

Wines were locally available red or white. Some were good, some were ok, not great. There was no wine list in the dining room, but there was a wine list in the lounge. Cappucino, expresso and regular coffee were available from a single shot coffeemaker in the lounge. There was always a long line waiting to use that machine. Bottled water was available in the rooms. Anything other than water, wine at dinner, coffee or tea was a charge to the room.

 

We were not disappointed with the "quantity" of food, but the quality. I'm not familiar with the big ship buffets that some cruise lines offer, since I don't care for buffets. However, to give you an example, "shrimp cocktail" was comprised of about a tablespoon of tiny (100 count +) frozen salad shrimp mixed with some mayo. That's not the common undertanding of "shrimp cocktail" as an appetizer, but hey, what do we know? My notion of basic food service is that the server serves from one side and removes from the other, doesn't reach across the diner's face to grab a plate from the person sitting next to you, removed used plates before bringing the next course. Especially when there's room to move around the table. But hey, what do I know? We dine out about twice a week, travelled all over the world, and cruised in Burgundy on an Abercrombie & Kent hotel barge, on the Windstar all over the Mediterranean, on Cruise West in California wine country, and on Holland America in Alaska, and we both personally felt the dining quality and service were superior on all those other cruise lines.

 

Perhaps the other cruises put forth by Amadeus Waterways contracted with a different hotel operations service in the past, or will do so on future cruises. Nothing to say they will use the same service for future cruises. It may be a matter of what service is available at the time the cruise is being offered, the location of the cruise, the price Amadeus is willing to pay for the hotel services. The hotel services staff and cruise directors are not Amadeus employees.

[Buckland]

Frankly, I'm surprised at your post. It does not sound like the same cruise we went on at all. We booked our cruise through Brennan and all our charges were either them or Amadeus. We had wine lists at diner, in fact a copy was on display as you went into the dining room along with sample bottles of the wine that was available. Maybe you are thinking of being able to order what ever wine you want like in a restaurant on land. Keep in mind that the storage on those ships is very limited and that they only have available space for just so many bottle - enough for only two or three sittings. They take on wine at almost every stop to take advantage of the local fare. Once those bottles are consumed, they are not available until they pass through that region again. Speaking of wine - I know that the usual cost of the average bottle is around 5 to 7 Euros. On the trip we were on we spoke with the Maitre'd and he told us that his budget for wine was 13 to 15 Euros per bottle. The wine we had was truly outstanding especially when you consider that it is free with the meal - and they don't stop pouring until you say "no more, thanks". Keep in mind too, that often they will have new people on board that they are training. They will often make mistakes, and that is normal. We had one such young fellow on our cruise, but I certainly didn't apply his inexperience with to the rest of the ship's company. I hope you don't think that they are all like you have posted, and that you will try it again and have a much better time of it.

 

Buck

[winegirl]

I will not be posting or looking at these boards again. Confirmation bias is taking place and that doesn't really help those who want a critique, not reassurance or affirmation of decisions already made.

 

For the final word on everything, look for "Buckland's" posts.

[ADVANCEDJK]

I believe Winegirl is correct in saying it could be who they have contracted with. This could make a huge difference in Service.

Hopefully future cruises will not have the same hotel management team.

I would be interested in to hear from other recent Amadeus cruisers at to what they experienced.

[letsgo39]

This is really not the place to attack anyone personally.

 

To call "winegirl" a complainer was really not necessary. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and it is true that some people just expect more then others. I am very interested in hearing everyones opinion on their cruise.

I don't know but maybe Amadeus is trying out a new company for their food services. I will also be interested in hearing from the people who cruise next on the same ship.

[Coral]

I cruise in 10 days but am cruising on the Tolstoy. It should be interesting :)

 

Of my 20 some cruises (not river cruises), I have only been disappointed on one cruise as far as food is concerned. I will post an honest opinion when I get back.

[Fleuve51]

We just got home yesterday from a 14 night Amadeus.

The comments winegirl made are absolutely correct.

There must have been a BIG problem with the food on out cruise as the chef was FIRED 3/4's of the way through.

We were disappointed.

[pacmom]

We had the chef problem on a Uniworld cruise in 2004. I guess he was not a good staff and kitchen mamager. When we arrived in Budapest, after sailing for a week from Bucharest, he and the maitra d', both left the ship. There was an imporvement in food that had been quite good. The dining room also ran much more smoothly. Also 2 of the wait staff left and not on vacation. Interesting!!! We tend to notice these things on a smaller boat. Pat