Tim and Anne’s AMA Danube River Cruise (August 2021)

by Tim Larison, CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor

with comments by Anne Larison, Family Travel Gurus Travel Consultant

Our best river cruise yet! That’s how we felt after sailing on the AMA Waterways AmaLea in August 2021. In this report we’ll give you a glimpse into our AMA experience and why this cruise was so special for us.

Life onboard the AmaLea

Our balcony stateroom

This was the first river cruise where we had a real balcony we could step out on and enjoy the sights as we sailed up the Danube.

While the balcony was smaller than what we have had on ocean cruises it was big enough for us to sit outside, and it was much closer to the water!

The stateroom also featured a French Balcony.

A comfortable bed, plenty of storage, and a large Apple iMac computer for movies/entertainment made the stateroom a good place to retire to after a day full of activities. I found the free wifi access included also beneficial as I communicated with family back home on my laptop.

Anne says:
The bathroom was small, but met all our needs. It even had an electronic window tint so that you could switch from tinted to clear glass with the push of a button! We were on the second floor of a 3 floor ship, so guests are never far from their desired location on the ship.

Dining

Another best for us – the best dining we have had on a river cruise! We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the ship’s main dining room. Because of covid19 there were no breakfast and lunch buffets, but we found the table service with an attentive staff of waiters just fine for these meals. The meal options at dinner were plentiful and delicious.

I especially enjoy the desserts each day served at lunch and dinner!

Anne says:
Also due to Covid we had an assigned table for every meal. Every table has a great view, as there are large windows on both sides of the dining room. Wine and beer are available with lunch and dinner; as are soft drinks and options. We were sitting near the carving station and got to view the amazing food that was prepared in the dining room. As with most cruises there is also an ‘always available’ section of the menu if you want an alternative to the chef’s recommendation and the other unique choices.

We also enjoyed the Sip and Sail that took place every evening prior to dinner. All the guests gather in the lounge for a happy hour and choose from the menu of delicious cocktails, beer and wine that are included (you only have to pay for alcohol and soft drinks outside of meals and happy hour).

Dinner at the Chef’s Table

Once during the cruise every guest has the opportunity to dine at AMA’s Chef’s Table, a separate dining space in the aft of the ship with a special 5 course menu. This at no additional cost.

In addition to a wonderful meal the wait staff surprised Anne with a special birthday treat!

Anne says:
Definitely go hungry to the Chef Table meal. The courses are not large in quantity but high in quality and more than sufficient. There are also 3 different types of wine with the 5 courses. Delicious. I was very grateful to have my special day celebrated with the cake and everyone in the room had a piece (along with the other dessert that came with the meal. Can you say – so full!

Wellness Program

With all the yummy food offered on an AMA cruise it would be easy to gain weight, right? AMA cruises also feature an onboard Wellness host with a variety of fitness programs. Pictured above is our wellness host Bianca telling us at the start of the cruise about the programs she offers, and Bianca with Anne on a fitness walk.

Anne says:
I took advantage of many of the wellness activities with Bianca (from Romania). We had zumba, line dancing, and a fitness walk off the ship in most ports. You can see the back of our ship behind Bianca and I. There were also Yoga classes, stretch classes and you can also schedule private sessions as well.

Other AmaLea Features

A pool on a river cruise ship? Yes! The AmaLea also had this complete with a swimup bar.

And a small gym onboard too!

Onboard Entertainment

In the ship’s lounge each night entertainment was featured, many times with local entertainers like the above musicians and dancers.

On the last night of the cruise we were treated to a special Oktoberfest celebration complete with a German band and local brews. Sehr gut!

Anne says:
The singers, dancers, lecturers and others who came aboard to entertain the guests were excellent.

Shore Excursions

Another unique feature on an AMA river cruise – bike tours! We did two of these. One in Vienna where our guide took us on bike paths throughout the city, stopping at various places to give us commentary on the landmarks we were seeing. And the next day we rode along the Wachau Valley to the Melk Abbey with quite different scenery (including vineyards like shown above)

Anne says:
Tim rides more frequently than I, but the staff was very understanding with us non-bikers. Very helpful and making sure we had frequent breaks. The scenery was awesome and both mornings we had overcast skies, no rain but it was cool and we enjoyed everything about the experience.

On other days we took walking tours at different stops along the Danube. Starting in the magnificent city of Budapest, we also did walking tours in Bratislava Slovakia, Linz, and Passau. On each tour we each had a personal transmitter with earphones so we could hear the narration of our guide even if we were 20 feet or more away from him/her.

My favorite tour was in the Czech city of Cesky Krumlov as pictured above. We chose this tour instead of an all day Salzburg Austria tour as we had visited Salzburg on a previous trip. Cesky Krumlov did not disappoint as we marveled at the centuries old architecture and river running through the town.

There were multiple excursion choices at each stop, all at no extra cost!

Anne says:
I enjoyed the fact that we were able to do a variety of excursions and because there are multiple options and different ability levels (gentle walkers, regular walkers and more energetic walkers) we were never in large crowds. This made the experiences even more special.

Conclusion

Our first ever AMA cruise was wonderful! We are sure to recommend an AMA to our clients for those looking for an extraordinary river cruise experience!

If you would like more information or for us to give you a no obligation price quote on an AMA River Cruise, please contact us by clicking here.