A RIVER CRUISE ON THE RHINE
I love the water and enjoy the atmosphere on ocean cruises. However, I must tell you that I would enjoy cruising on a blow-up raft! That, is how much I love being in, on and around the water!!
While training to be a river cruise specialist, I knew that taking classes, tests, watching videos and talking to people could only go so far when trying to explain to others the reality of a river cruise. I needed to experience a river cruise. With much anticipation, I was able to get on my first river cruise with AmaWaterways in November 2012. I had high expectations and hoped that I didn’t jinx myself. I can, without a doubt, say that I had the most amazing experience, and I will continue to learn more about the ships, itineraries, and promotions to give others the chance to get onboard.
In addition to cruising down the Rhine from Amsterdam to Switzerland, I had the opportunity to sail on a themed cruise titled, “Culture and Wine Legacy of the Rhine”. This themed cruise offered opportunities to participate in wine tasting and lectures on board the ship, special visits, tours and tastings at wineries at many port stops and a paired dinner opportunity hosted by our wine cruise specialist, Stephen Stolsiak from Rodney Strong Vineyards. There were no extra fees to participate in any of these wine events. Pretty much everything is included on a river cruise. The only thing I could find to purchase on board was something from the gift shop, a service at the spa, or a specialty cocktail at the bar. Beer, wine and champagne were included for toasts and poured generously during dinner.
My other concern was that I would not be able to find enough to do on these small ships. Let’s just say that I enjoyed laying my head down on the pillow each night. There was more than enough to do on my trip.
The ship was classy, yet, comfortable. The staff made themselves available; they were charming, helpful, accommodating, and thorough. There is an intimate and genuine environment onboard that was intoxicating in itself. The lounge area was large with a bar, a specialty drink area for tea and coffees (self-serve day and night- loved this!), panoramic windows for amazing views, and a variety of seating areas ranging from lounge chairs, sofas, small tables and large tables. It was a large open space available any time. There were four decks on the ship accommodating the 148 passengers. The lowest deck (piano deck) has the fewest cabins at the lowest price. These cabins are below the water line with windows at the top of the room showing the water line and the sky. These rooms are tolerable but I chose to upgrade before we left because I really wanted to see the castles and vineyards from a French balcony while we cruised! The cello and the violin decks offer the French balconies.
The rooms were small. They were very nice but small at 170 sq. ft. Everything was updated and offered all the amenities you would need, even if you left everything at home. I needed an additional power adapter and they loaned one to me at the reception desk. The flat screen televisions offer regular channels, movies on demand for free, and the option to use the screen and keyboard on the desk as a computer. Wifi is included but very weak and only worked part of the time. It was unreliable and took long periods of time to do normal tasks. We were told that the service was weak in the countryside and in lock areas.
The ship’s sun deck had a life size chess set, various sitting areas, a hot tub, a track for exercise, and a canopy for shade. Breakfast was offered three times. Early risers could get a continental breakfast in the lounge, main breakfast was offered in the main dining room and was exceptional, and late risers could get the similar continental in the lounge. A lite lunch of soup, pasta, appetizers and desserts was offered in the lounge while a full meal was offered in the main dining. Dinner was always offered in the main dining. There were a couple musicians on board that played the baby grand piano and other instruments before and after dinner. We did have other musicians come on board at the different port stops and perform for us after dinner a couple evenings. Dinner was spectacular every night. You are able to sit anywhere for any meal. Some areas offer small tables and others offer larger tables. We found a group of people that we quickly bonded with and sat as a group every night. You get to know people quickly on these intimate cruises and we were joking and laughing by the second night. The food was delicious, the presentation was amazing and the quality was superb. 
Our itinerary took us from Amsterdam to Germany (Cologne, Koblenz, Rudesheim, Speyer & Heidelberg) to France (Strasbourg, Colmar, & Riquewhir) with disembarkation in Basel, Switzerland. Sometimes, we were able to visit two of these cute cobblestoned towns in the same day. For example, one morning we woke up near Cologne. We enjoyed a wonderful guided walking tour through the city with educated guides and we were able to participate in a beer and potato pancake tasting at a beautiful beer house on the center square. Our ship had reserved the whole cellar floor for our group. We had unlimited beer and potato cakes.
After our tour, we had time to walk around for about an hour and then we were onboard for lunch as we sailed to Koblenz. Once we were docked, it was time for dinner. Our cruise director, Nick, asked how many of us were interested in a guided tour of Koblenz. Many of us raised our hands and then he asked what type of tour we wanted. Some wanted to sample the beer houses, others wanted a historical tour, and some wanted a little bit of both. This is a perfect example of AMA’s accommodating nature and their ability to make everyone happy. I must add that I did see other cruise tours in the various cities and it appeared that they were put in large groups. For most of our tours, we put in small manageable groups. THIS was one of the best parts of experiencing the cities. There were always options on the type of tour you could sign up for. If we needed to ride a bus, it was always on time and it was clean and updated.
They also had bikes available for guided tours. I had to try one and it was perfect for me. We stopped at various sites while our guide provided the history of the different areas.
AMA pays attention to detail on and off the ship. They hand pick their port stops and tours for their guests. They listen to their guests and make modifications when needed. The entire trip was smooth and exhilarating. Every town was unique. Traveling in November was cool but there were no crowds and the landscape with the changing leaves provided breathtaking backdrops. The wineries were gorgeous and the castles on the hills overlooking the Rhine made for fantastic photography. Most of the towns were getting ready for their Christmas Markets. They had the whole community out setting up. The small quaint towns had wonderful energy, unique shops, quaint architecture, and as they set up for the Christmas markets, it took all I had to not book another cruise back for December!
Upon Disembarkation in Basel, we called for a taxi to take us to our hotel for the night. Many of the guests onboard took the post-cruise extension to Lucerne and Zurich for four nights but I had to get back home to family or I would have stayed longer! The hotel was St. Gottard and I highly recommend this hotel for location, the breakfast and the large beautiful and updated room (we had two bathrooms!). The resident dog was friendly and very well trained! We were across the street from the train station and before noon we were on a train to Lucerne. The ride was one hour. We spent the day in the Alps on the lake in this inspiring city. I definitely need more time in this town. This picture shows us in Lucerne on the lake. I will be back!
Basel is a small clean town full of art. It is home to more than 24 museums. The city offers a free transportation pass to use their trains throughout the city during your stay. This allowed us to use the train to get back to the airport in Basel for our flight home.
I hope you can tell from my review that I love river cruising. I can’t imagine getting back on a bus to travel from city to city in Europe. If you have never been to Europe or if you want a new way to experience Europe, you will love all that river cruising has to offer. I stand by AMAWaterways and plan to sail with them again.
The statistics may say that the average age of a river cruise guest is about 55 years old, but at 40 years old I am here to tell you that well-traveled teenagers and 80 year-olds would enjoy this experience. It isn’t a place for young children and people with mobility issues could have some trouble.
I have a group sailing in NOV 2013 on AMA’s brand new ship: AMAPrima. She is sailing on the Danube from Budapest to Prague. I still have rooms available!
Check out the AMAWaterways itineraries here under Destinations: http://www.amawaterways.com/
Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
