Aboard AMA Waterway's AmaLegro

This post is a follow-up to my last one that described ports of call on the river cruise that I just returned from. Now I'll discuss the cruise itself...

The itinerary

It was a 7-night cruise from Nuremberg, Germany to Budapest, Hungary. There were optional pre and post stays in Prague, Czech Republic and Budapest. My Dad went with me and we used Hilton Honors points to stay one night in Prague and two nights in Budapest on our own. I wish we had done the pre-stay in Prague for a couple of reasons - first, so we would have gotten an extra night there and second, so we would have gotten teh tour inclusions to get the history and layout of the city.

The boat

We were onboard AMA Waterways' AmaLegro. It has three decks in the rear part of the boat and two decks in the front. All of the cabins are in the rear part. The cabins are all waterview and those on the second and third decks have french balconies which are large floor to ceiling windows that can be opened like a sliding glass door, but no area to sit outside. This wasn't a problem at all. If we wanted to go outside, there was plenty of room on the sundeck or on a small deck at the front of the boat off of the lounge. The rooms on the first deck have small windows that are fairly high up and are at water level. There were four suites which had sitting areas, extra floor to ceiling windows and great bathrooms with full tubs and separate showers. The showers were the same in all of the rooms and were wonderful! The water pressure was perfect and could be adjusted. There were three shower heads - heaven!


The lounge

The lounge was on the top deck in the front of the boat. There was plenty of room to sit around on sofas and chairs or at tables. There was a nice bar and the pianist (Krassi) was playing much of the time. A light lunch was offered daily in the lounge for those who didn't care for a heavier lunch in the restaurant. Each night, the Cruise Director (Kate) would give a short talk about the events for the following day, and there was nightly entertainment. The bartenders (Aneta and Claudia) were very attentive and fun.

The entertainment

The first night was a 60's party (they played more 50's music) that was really fun! My Dad enjoyed cutting the rug with the housekeepers (Thanks Julit!). Another night a singer named Valerie May came aboard with her husband (her sound guy) and sang songs from all over Europe. She sang in several different languages and her voice was incredible. A trio name LaStrada entertained us one evening. There were two violinists and a guitarist. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I definitely did! The night we stayed in (well, near) Budapest, some Hungarian dancers came aboard. I missed some of their show, but what I saw of it was great. They even got the crowd involved at the end.

The inclusions
Included in the price of the cruise was all of the tours with the exception of a couple of optional tours, free flowing wine with dinner, all meals (exceptional), nightly entertainment and an unbelievable overall experience. The price for these cruises is higher than an large ocean cruise, but the tours alone are worth the extra and all in all it probably evens out.

Advantages
There are a lot of advantages to river cruising...

My favorite thing was that I was able to see a lot of central Europe and only had to unpack/pack once.

Also, getting to know the crew and the other guests was a great experience. I heard other passengers saying that they'd never experienced being sad to say goodbye to people after a cruise. We made a lot of new friends.

Being able to dock right in a town and walk on and off the boat as we pleased allowed us to go at our own pace and see the parts of the cities that we wanted to see. The overall schedule is pretty packed - up early every morning and we stayed up pretty late several nights listening to Krassi play some tunes.

There are a lot of options for river cruising in Europe, Russia and Vietnam/Cambodia. If you're interested in learning more about them and booking a cruise, guided vacation or self-drive vacation, please contact us or visit www.dragonflytrips.com.