AMA Waterways - Black Sea Cruise April 17 Budapest

[mbusch]

Anyone out there taking this wonderful cruise starting in Budapest and ending in Istanbul?

 

Michael

[Dean]

Anyone out there taking this wonderful cruise starting in Budapest and ending in Istanbul?

 

Michael

 

 

My wife and I are taking the cruise only from Budapest to Russe. Glad to be able to compare notes.

 

Dean & Diane Lynn

dean@greatbeerco.com

[mbusch]

Hi Dean, my wife, Sharon and I are on this cruise. Just wanted to see if we could get anyone on a board. Where are you from? We live in Pinehust, NC. I see you are only taking the cruise part. What are you doing from Russe? We look forward to meeting you and Diane.

[Dean]

We will be leaving our home in Los Angeles on April 15th and arrive in Budapest on April 16. We will then pick up a car and drive to the Wachu Valley located in Austria. Our ship, the MS Amalyra will stop in this area before picking up the Budapest passengers. Refer to the brochure. Their stop is on page 37, Durnstein - Melk.

 

We will spend two nights in the area before leaving to visit Sopron, Hungary. One night there and then on to vist the Danube Bend towns of Szentendre, Visegrad and Esztergom before catching the ship in the evening of April 20th.

 

When we depart the cruise in Russe, we will spend a few days in Bulgaria befoe traveling and spending six days in Turkey. In some days we will probably be visiting some of the same sights as our fellow passengers. I know we want to see VilikpTurnav before traveling to Istanbul. I am in the process of scheduling this post cruise trip now, but probably will spend three nights in Istanbul and three or four more outside. This may change after researching our options. We will catch a plane our of Istanbul on May 6th for home.

 

Dean

[mbusch]

Dean, sounds like you have a real plan. We re leaving on April 17 from our home in Pinehurst, NC arriving in Budapest on the 18th. We board the ship in Budapest and follow the itinerary to Istanbul. From Instanbul we will fly to Paris and spend 3 days there before returning home.

[Dean]

We paid our final amount due so there is no turning back. I am beginning to research the towns we will be visiting on our cruise so should be prepared for each stop. I already leaned that there is a brewery in Pecs and have contacted the brewmaster there to arrange for a tour of his brewery. Hopefully there will be enough time after the guided tour by the ship personnel to visit the brewery.

 

I asked for a more detailed itinerary from AMA. I want to know how much time we will be on our own in each port. There are bicycles we can use so there must be time available to tour on our own. We will see.

 

I do believe that the research and planning of our trips is as much fun as actually going.

 

I will keep you informed after I learn more.

 

Enjoy Paris. When we were there last year we used the services of as local guide who showed us around. If you want to contact her, let me know. She walked us all around the city and we learned a lot.

[mbusch]

Thanks...probably do not need guide in Paris....have been there before.

Anxious to here about your research.

 

Michael

 

 

 

We paid our final amount due so there is no turning back. I am beginning to research the towns we will be visiting on our cruise so should be prepared for each stop. I already leaned that there is a brewery in Pecs and have contacted the brewmaster there to arrange for a tour of his brewery. Hopefully there will be enough time after the guided tour by the ship personnel to visit the brewery.

 

I asked for a more detailed itinerary from AMA. I want to know how much time we will be on our own in each port. There are bicycles we can use so there must be time available to tour on our own. We will see.

 

I do believe that the research and planning of our trips is as much fun as actually going.

 

I will keep you informed after I learn more.

 

Enjoy Paris. When we were there last year we used the services of as local guide who showed us around. If you want to contact her, let me know. She walked us all around the city and we learned a lot.

[Dean]

I have been searching other links in the Cruise Critic about our upcoming journey. Most of them have been positive. The only complaint has been about the long bus ride from the end of our cruise to Istanbul. I do, however, understand from talking to AMA that the transportation has been improved. This will not affect us as we will depart in Rousse and make our own arrangements.

 

My discussions with AMA has given me additional information about our free time in each port. There is not much, but there will be time to take one of the bikes and do some additional exploring on our own.

 

Several weeks ago I met the Council General of Turkey at the Austrian Council's home. We had a nice chat about his experiences in the diplomatic services and when he learned about our upcoming trip to his country, he set up meetings with several members of his staff in Los Angeles. He also sent a ton of brochures and comments about Turkey. After I peruse the information, I wiil set up another meeting and finalize the trip. All I have to do is send a case of my "Hollywood Blonde" beer to his office. Tit for Tat as they say. He also will arrange a visa for us. He did confirm that it is easy to obtain one at the border, but his persoanl attention may make the entry a bit easier for us. In your case, AMA will handle it for you and the other passengers.

 

Must get back to work. Although semi-retired, it is tax season and can not fall too far behind in preparing the returns for those clients I did maintain. I may not have mentioned that I am a CPA as well as the owner of a microbrewery.

 

Dean

[mbusch]

Good information Dean...Thanks. Glad to know that we can get our visas

through AMA. I am curious....given the way you are traveling both pre-cruise and post-cruise, what are you doing about currencies?

 

Your meeting with the Council General of Turkey. Keep me posted. Also, would appreciate hearing about your research of the ports. Its sounds like you are pretty accomplished in this area.

 

Since I just injured my left hand, I am out of commission for some time with respect to golf, I am really getting excited about the trip. This is our first River Cruise and first time in these countries.

 

Also, semi-retired and now back to a client.

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been searching other links in the Cruise Critic about our upcoming journey. Most of them have been positive. The only complaint has been about the long bus ride from the end of our cruise to Istanbul. I do, however, understand from talking to AMA that the transportation has been improved. This will not affect us as we will depart in Rousse and make our own arrangements.

 

My discussions with AMA has given me additional information about our free time in each port. There is not much, but there will be time to take one of the bikes and do some additional exploring on our own.

 

Several weeks ago I met the Council General of Turkey at the Austrian Council's home. We had a nice chat about his experiences in the diplomatic services and when he learned about our upcoming trip to his country, he set up meetings with several members of his staff in Los Angeles. He also sent a ton of brochures and comments about Turkey. After I peruse the information, I wiil set up another meeting and finalize the trip. All I have to do is send a case of my "Hollywood Blonde" beer to his office. Tit for Tat as they say. He also will arrange a visa for us. He did confirm that it is easy to obtain one at the border, but his persoanl attention may make the entry a bit easier for us. In your case, AMA will handle it for you and the other passengers.

 

Must get back to work. Although semi-retired, it is tax season and can not fall too far behind in preparing the returns for those clients I did maintain. I may not have mentioned that I am a CPA as well as the owner of a microbrewery.

 

Dean

[Dean]

Michael, What job are you semi-retired from? My wife tells me that the difference betweem semi-retired and working is about 30 hours a week -down from 60 . Same for you?

 

Our pre-trip to Austria takes Euros. Our pre-trip to Hungary accepts the "Forint". The post trip to Turkey accepts the "Try" . The River trip we will be on will stop at ports in Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The stops on the River will be short and we will use our ATM card for the currency there. For Hungary ,Turkey and our River trips stops we will exchange as necessary by using either our TD Amertrade or Capital One debit cards (both are no fee cards).

 

I am beginning to peruse the ton of information that the Council General sent me and will, hopefully, have some questions to him before we finalize our trip there soon.

 

Diane and I went to a birthday party for a friend of ours Saturday night and met Rudy Schreiner, president and his wife Kristine, vice-president of AMA. They are co-founders and co-owners of AMA Waterways. They are neighbors and close friends of our friend. We had a nice long chat about how he started the company and what do expect on our cruise. I will be talking to him about our cruise within the next few weeks and pass on any good information. He was also helpful in giving me some tips for our pre-cruse time. In addition he offered to put us on the bus to Istanbul with the other passengers for a reasonable fee. I do not think we will take him up on his offer as we want to spend as much time as possible in Turkey and will probably fly from Bucharest to Istanbul. More research on that option.

 

Hope your left hand is better. Bye for now.

 

 

 

 

Good information Dean...Thanks. Glad to know that we can get our visas

through AMA. I am curious....given the way you are traveling both pre-cruise and post-cruise, what are you doing about currencies?

 

Your meeting with the Council General of Turkey. Keep me posted. Also, would appreciate hearing about your research of the ports. Its sounds like you are pretty accomplished in this area.

 

Since I just injured my left hand, I am out of commission for some time with respect to golf, I am really getting excited about the trip. This is our first River Cruise and first time in these countries.

 

Also, semi-retired and now back to a client.

 

Michael

[mbusch]

Dean, I come from the retail pharmacy industry, having founded a firm, Medicine Shoppe International. I now consult with independent pharmacies, assisting in the sale of stores and turnaround consulting. Give or take 30 hrs per week, 3 days of golf and 3 days of duplicate bridge. How about you?

 

Did you get good information from the cruise line owners? We will be leaving on the 17th for Budapest.

 

Sharon and I look forward to meeting you both. It should be a great trip.

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael, What job are you semi-retired from? My wife tells me that the difference betweem semi-retired and working is about 30 hours a week -down from 60 . Same for you?

 

Our pre-trip to Austria takes Euros. Our pre-trip to Hungary accepts the "Forint". The post trip to Turkey accepts the "Try" . The River trip we will be on will stop at ports in Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The stops on the River will be short and we will use our ATM card for the currency there. For Hungary ,Turkey and our River trips stops we will exchange as necessary by using either our TD Amertrade or Capital One debit cards (both are no fee cards).

 

I am beginning to peruse the ton of information that the Council General sent me and will, hopefully, have some questions to him before we finalize our trip there soon.

 

Diane and I went to a birthday party for a friend of ours Saturday night and met Rudy Schreiner, president and his wife Kristine, vice-president of AMA. They are co-founders and co-owners of AMA Waterways. They are neighbors and close friends of our friend. We had a nice long chat about how he started the company and what do expect on our cruise. I will be talking to him about our cruise within the next few weeks and pass on any good information. He was also helpful in giving me some tips for our pre-cruse time. In addition he offered to put us on the bus to Istanbul with the other passengers for a reasonable fee. I do not think we will take him up on his offer as we want to spend as much time as possible in Turkey and will probably fly from Bucharest to Istanbul. More research on that option.

 

Hope your left hand is better. Bye for now.

[Dean]

A small change to our itinerary. We were unable to rent a car from either Bulgaria or Romania to drive to Istanbul. The trains or busses were not convenient so decided to accept the kind offer of the president of AMA and will, therefore, join you folks on the bus ride through Bulgaria. Our trip will stop when they arrive at the Ritz Carlton in Istanbul. You to stay there while we stay at the local motel 6.

 

I have not done any more planning as we have spent the last ten days at our vacation home outside of Phoenix. It is a great place to practice my new torture sport called golf. They have eight golf courses within two miles of our home. Michael, if you play three times a week you must have a low handicap. Mine is too high to calculate at this time.

 

Any free time I have is spent on my other hobbies such as gardening , brewing homemade beer, cider and other different fermentable beverages as well as trying to work on my "honey do" lists.

 

I have not spent any time on our Turkey trip yet. Better begin soon as we only have around six weeks to go.

 

Dean, I come from the retail pharmacy industry, having founded a firm, Medicine Shoppe International. I now consult with independent pharmacies, assisting in the sale of stores and turnaround consulting. Give or take 30 hrs per week, 3 days of golf and 3 days of duplicate bridge. How about you?

 

Did you get good information from the cruise line owners? We will be leaving on the 17th for Budapest.

 

Sharon and I look forward to meeting you both. It should be a great trip.

 

Michael

[mbusch]

Sorry but my handicap is not low. Glad to hear that we are at the Ritz Carleton in Istanbul. Do you know how long the bus trip is to Istanbul?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A small change to our itinerary. We were unable to rent a car from either Bulgaria or Romania to drive to Istanbul. The trains or busses were not convenient so decided to accept the kind offer of the president of AMA and will, therefore, join you folks on the bus ride through Bulgaria. Our trip will stop when they arrive at the Ritz Carlton in Istanbul. You to stay there while we stay at the local motel 6.

 

I have not done any more planning as we have spent the last ten days at our vacation home outside of Phoenix. It is a great place to practice my new torture sport called golf. They have eight golf courses within two miles of our home. Michael, if you play three times a week you must have a low handicap. Mine is too high to calculate at this time.

 

Any free time I have is spent on my other hobbies such as gardening , brewing homemade beer, cider and other different fermentable beverages as well as trying to work on my "honey do" lists.

 

I have not spent any time on our Turkey trip yet. Better begin soon as we only have around six weeks to go.

[Dean]

I happened to be woking on my computer when your reply came in so a quick response is easy.

 

The ride will take two full days. We will start our bus ride on April 27th around 10:00. We will spend a few hours touring Veliko Tarnova and then spend the night in Plovid. The next morning we will ride to Istanbul and arrive around 6:00 in the evening. The ride will be long so bring reading material and your ipod.

 

Dean

[mbusch]

Wow! I did not realize how long it was. I will definite have reading materials. I will research Plovid.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 

 

I happened to be woking on my computer when your reply came in so a quick response is easy.

 

The ride will take two full days. We will start our bus ride on April 27th around 10:00. We will spend a few hours touring Veliko Tarnova and then spend the night in Plovid. The next morning we will ride to Istanbul and arrive around 6:00 in the evening. The ride will be long so bring reading material and your ipod.

 

Dean

[Dean]

It looks as if the other passengers on this cruise do not read the message boards on Cruise Critic.

 

Nothing to report on our end. I am beginning to work on the Turkey trip. As you know, we will leave you and the other pasengers when we arrive at the Ritz in Istanbul on April 28th. I am still looking into hotels and what sights to see when we are in Turkey. Hopefully the planning will be finalized this week.

 

My wife, Diane, is practicing bide riding so we will be able to use the bikes on the cruise. We have already decided to pass on the wine tasting excursion to Vilany on the 21st.

Diane does not drink and I am not a wine lover so the bike riding is a better option for us.

 

We will be checking in at either the Hilton or Intercontinental on April 19th around 21:00.

 

You should have finished the tour with AMA in the morning of the 18th and had been on your own in the afternoon. The next day (April 20) you will be visitng the Puszata region with the AMA passengers. It should be an interesting tour. We will visit Budapest on the 20th and meet you good folks around 18:00 for cocktails and dinner.

 

This week I will be spending most of my time working on taxes for my clients and then we plan on taking a week off to go to our Phoenix home. I will again try to improve my golf game.

 

We will return around April 1st. By that ime our documents from AMA should have arrived.

 

Hope to hear from you before we fly out on April 15th!

[mbusch]

Hi Dean, I hope your golf game is better than mine. We have had some bad weather and I have had a wrist injury, so I have not played in approx. 6 weeks. I have been playing duplicate bridge.

 

It looks like this will be a good trip. We have never been on a River Cruise and I was in Yugoslavia in 1979 on business, but other than that trip, have never been in that part of the world.

 

I doubt if we will be biking. I have not been on a bike for 10 years.

I am going to call AMA today concerning the Turkish visa and to find out our hotels along the way.

 

Where is your home in Phoenix?

 

Will be in touch before we leave.

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks as if the other passengers on this cruise do not read the message boards on Cruise Critic.

 

Nothing to report on our end. I am beginning to work on the Turkey trip. As you know, we will leave you and the other pasengers when we arrive at the Ritz in Istanbul on April 28th. I am still looking into hotels and what sights to see when we are in Turkey. Hopefully the planning will be finalized this week.

 

My wife, Diane, is practicing bide riding so we will be able to use the bikes on the cruise. We have already decided to pass on the wine tasting excursion to Vilany on the 21st.

Diane does not drink and I am not a wine lover so the bike riding is a better option for us.

 

We will be checking in at either the Hilton or Intercontinental on April 19th around 21:00.

 

You should have finished the tour with AMA in the morning of the 18th and had been on your own in the afternoon. The next day (April 20) you will be visitng the Puszata region with the AMA passengers. It should be an interesting tour. We will visit Budapest on the 20th and meet you good folks around 18:00 for cocktails and dinner.

 

This week I will be spending most of my time working on taxes for my clients and then we plan on taking a week off to go to our Phoenix home. I will again try to improve my golf game.

 

We will return around April 1st. By that ime our documents from AMA should have arrived.

 

Hope to hear from you before we fly out on April 15th!

[Dean]

You should have received your documents by now. We received ours a few days ago.

 

Diane and I will be practicing our bike skills to be ready to use them. First in Austria when we plan on cycling betrween Melk and Krems. It is a 35 mile fourney and Diane is a bit apprehensive as she has not been a bike for over 15 years. We will use the bikes again when we use the ones provided by AMA.

 

Our vacation home is located in a retirement community called Sun City West. It is a Del Webb development and is more like a resort which has all types of activiities.

 

I has a nice chat with the Counsalor General of Turkey yesterday. He informed me that it would cheaper to buy the visa at the border. It will cost $20.00 at the border, but $40.00 if we bought one here in Los Angeles. We will get ours on the border.

 

We have been to parts of Hungary before, but not to the old Yugoslavia or Turkey. This will also be our first River cruise

 

I could not find the time to go to our home in Arizona - too busy with tax returns. I am not as fast as I was so it is taking longer.

 

Look forward to meeting you on the ship.

 

Dean

[mbusch]

Hi Dean: Good to hear from you. Just e-filed our personal tax return and did three small company returns two weeks ago. First time I filed everything on time without extensions. Great feeling. I give you credit. I do not think we will try bikes, but maybe. Also, living in a small town, we decided to obtain our visas from a service in DC. Also, Sharon's passport was expiring in August and needed renewal. Obviously, we were ripped off on price and service charges.

 

I think this will be a great trip. Have you ever done a river cruise? We have not but have heard great things. We tired of the big ships. Also, did you know that our ship for this cruise had it first voyage on March 13?

 

See you soon.

 

Michael

 

P.S. have not received documents as of yesterday.

 

 

 

You should have received your documents by now. We received ours a few days ago.

 

Diane and I will be practicing our bike skills to be ready to use them. First in Austria when we plan on cycling betrween Melk and Krems. It is a 35 mile fourney and Diane is a bit apprehensive as she has not been a bike for over 15 years. We will use the bikes again when we use the ones provided by AMA.

 

Our vacation home is located in a retirement community called Sun City West. It is a Del Webb development and is more like a resort which has all types of activiities.

 

I has a nice chat with the Counsalor General of Turkey yesterday. He informed me that it would cheaper to buy the visa at the border. It will cost $20.00 at the border, but $40.00 if we bought one here in Los Angeles. We will get ours on the border.

 

We have been to parts of Hungary before, but not to the old Yugoslavia or Turkey. This will also be our first River cruise

 

I could not find the time to go to our home in Arizona - too busy with tax returns. I am not as fast as I was so it is taking longer.

 

Look forward to meeting you on the ship.

 

Dean

[Dean]

If you already got your Visa, you at least will not have to wait in line at the boarder as we will. As mentioned ealier, it will cost $20.00 or 15 Euro. We will probably pay the 15 Euros as that amounts to $19.25 in dollars. Big savings..

 

This will also be our first river cruise as well. I was aware that this will be our ship's inaugural cruise. That was one of the reasons we took it. I was told and read that it starts in Passau on April 5th. In any case, it will not have too many knots on it's engines and, hopefuly, will have some of the bugs out when we embark on April 20.

 

Congratulations on having your taxes done on time. I have not filed on time in over 25 years and will not again this year. I am still doing some taxes for my old clients and like to tell them that I will learn about any new changes and make mistakes on theirs so I can prepare ours correctly.

 

You should have received your documents by now. We are leaving home on April 15. That gives me ten days to finish up with a few more returns and get our sprinklers fixed and complete my very large "honey do " list. The sprinklers are crucial so our garden will not suffer during our absence.

[mbusch]

Hi Dean: Well a week from Thursday and we are on our way. I have been checking the weather and it should be near perfect. We have documents and will be ready to go. Look forward to seeing you in Budapest.

 

Michael

[Dean]

We will be leaving one week from Wednesday - one day before you do. It will a challenge to see how long it will take before we recognize each other. I do not have your last name nor am I asking for it now.

 

One hint ..Look for an old overweight man with a rugged complexion that has a cute redhead on his arm.

 

Dean

[mbusch]

I was wrong. We are leaving one week from Friday, the 17th. Also, my last name is easy.....Busch. Finally, also a bit overweight and a pretty wife with short hair (silver). By the way......do you play bridge? My wife does not, but I play a great deal at a duplicate bridge club.

 

Again, where are you going on the 15th? Austria? I think you are meeting the group for dinner on the 19th. Is this correct? At least AMA is booking first class hotels.

 

Finally, I cannot believe we are the only persons on Cruise critic.

 

Michael

[Dean]

Never could master the game of bridge. I play a mean game of hearts and poker, but bridge is too cerebral for me.

 

Our plane leaves Los Angeles in the evening of the 15th. We arrive in Budapest in the evening of the 16th. Our first night will be spent in Szentendre a village just outside the city and one that AMA offes as an add-on to their passengers. We will drive through what is called the bend towns the next day before arriving at Durnstein, Austria for two nights. AMA also happens to visit Durnstein on the same ship we will take, but be there four days before we board. From Durnstein, we will drive to Budapest on the 19th. On the way, we will visit Sopron and drop off to see the Heinekin brewery with a private tour by the brewmaster.

 

We have no plans to have dinner with "the group". It must be something AMA has scheduled for the people who are taking the pre-tour of Budapest.

 

We do have a freind who lives in Budapest and hope to have dinner with him on the 19th. We will stay at the Hilton on the 19th and tour around Budapest on the 20th befoe checking in aroung 18:00.

 

Where will you be staying in Budapest? If you are with the AMA group, you will be visiting the town of Goulash before boarding on the 20th. When you are visitng the horses on the Hungarian plain, Diane and I will be re-visiing Budapest. We were in Budapest around five years ago so have seen the major sights. Now there will time to see the minor sights.

[mbusch]

Dean, we leave on the 17th, arrive in Budapest on 18th. Staying at Kempenski Hotel (group hotel). Touring Budapest on 19th and 20th with AMA group. I guess we see you on the 20th.

 

Passports and Visas came yesterday. We are set to go.

 

Have a safe journey and great pre-cruise.

 

See you soon.

 

Michael