We just returned from our 3 weeks away land and cruise on AMA. I've received numerous requests to post some thoughts and impressions. Here is just a brief overview of our experiences. Quite tired and I may have missed some things, but here it is
AMA ASSESSMENT:
MS AMACELLO was launched in March of this year. Based upon the fact that the ship was a new-build and our fantastic experience on Peter Deilmann in 2006, we opted to try AMA Waterways out. The itinerary we chose, Budapest to Prague, was just the itinerary we were looking for when planning this trip. Unfortunately, Deilmann did not offer starting and/or ending in both cities; otherwise, we would have cruised with Deilmann again.
Choosing Budapest to Prague was not only about cruising the Danube. This itinerary was very personal, focusing on a pre-stay in Budapest in a quest to trace family roots/Jewish Budapest as well as a post-cruise Prague stay. Touring Vienna, sandwiched in between, was also high on our list of cities to visit. Perfect itinerary, cruising on a new vessel.
Budapest pre-visit was incredible and nurtured our spirits in ways that we had not thought could be realized.
Rather than give huge dissertation on all the events of our journey, I would like to give a brief assessment of our AMA experience.
Pre-stay at Kempinski Corvinus was first-rate. Stellar service and accommodations. Great, central location. Breakfast buffet was outstanding. Cruise Director's desk at the ready to help with any and all questions and services. Post stay at Hilton Old Town Prague - Centrally located hotel. Nice accommodations. Adequate breakfast buffet. Helpful Concierge.
AMA Amacello - New, clean vessel.
Cabins were spacious by riverboat standards. Lots of storage space. Luggage was stowed under our bed. Bed was quite comfortable. Free internet in the cabins. Connection weaved in and out during our cruise, dependent upon where you were cruising and docked. Bathroom space worked out well for us. Shower was very nice. Toiletries overflowed in a basket and never dwindled down. Room attendant kept our room clean and spotless.
Public space was comfortable. Main lounge was always busy. Coffee and tea bar were always available. The coffee machine made far better coffee than the restaurant's. Piano entertainment in the lounge, was pleasant.
Finding seating in the Main lounge for the evening's entertainment was on many nights, problematic. Not enough seating for late-comers. If you were sitting in the area closest to the bar in the lounge, those drinking and not interested in seeing a performance made it hard to enjoy the entertainment. There was one night we hadn't gotten into the lounge early enough, had to sit in the back and were disturbed by bar chatter.
Aft lounge was cozy and quiet. Many looking for some "alone time" were planted up there.
Lots of seating on sun deck. No real shade seating. It was more filtered shade.
Dining - Dining room was furnished nicely. Various seating arrangements to accommodate table for two and up. More about dining to follow.
Cuisine - Here is where AMA got very low marks. Meals ranged from not too bad to flat out bland, tasteless and lacking in creativity. Fish had bones. One fish we tried at lunch was horrid. It was promptly returned to the kitchen. Breakfast buffet was ample. Requests for egg preparation, waffles and french toast were prepared if so requested. Breakfast breads and cakes were all right; some fairly tasteless. Nothing special. Considering that Europe is known for it's great pastries and breads, we were quite surprised. Lunch buffet ranged from simple to a touch better. You could select from the buffet and/or menu. Dinner choices were limited. Once again, food started out pretty bland and then slowly inched it's way up just a couple of notches as the cruise progressed. We ranked the cuisine on this cruise to be simply OK. Nothing special for discerning taste buds. Throughout the cruise numerous people complained about the cuisine and preparation.
Crew - Our Cruise Director, Adrienn, was cheerful and quite helpful. She was with our cruise from check in at Kempinski in Budapest throughl the post stay at the hotel Hilton Old Town Prague.
At the beginning of our cruise, most crew members were courteous. We did encounter some less-than-pleasant servers in the dining room. We promptly made adjustments to steer away from their dining stations. One server, in particular, was a standout. We tried to ensure getting a table at his station. Wine stewards Viktor and Eva were wonderful. They never left our wine glasses empty for long. These three individuals made our dining experiences more palatable. The Chef was young and eager to try and please. Unfortunately, he and his staff missed the mark more times than not. Food is subjective and these are our impressions. We had others expressing the same thoughts throughout the cruise.
On-board entertainment was surprising. Using local performers on most nights was the way to go. Folklore dancing on the first night was fun. On two nights we were really impressed with musicians who played classical and popular songs. The crew show was dismal. Many in the audience left before the conclusion. Oompah duo was terrible. T
two guest lecturers were very good and informative.
Tours - Included in cruise costs. Optional touring available. Color-coded groups. You could switch groups if you wished at any time during the cruise. Headsets provided so you could wander off, yet still hear the guides. Tour busses were clean and comfortable. If you love tour bus touring, this will give you more than your fill. Guides provided through AMA were just basic. If you wanted your curiosity to really get some insight into what you were touring, making each tour a more fulfilling learning experience, you will be disappointed. I arranged private touring in Budapest, Vienna and Prague and we were so happy that we did. If you like just basic touring, AMA local guides will be adequate. If you detest bus touring, this is not for you.
Optional Vienna concert and Salzburg excersions were good. Optional touring of Szentendre was all right. Lots of shopping. We took a private tours of Terezin/Lidice, and Schoenbrunn Palace. Those who took these optional tours through AMA expressed disappointment. Again, private touring is the way to go to get the fullest experiences.
Deal-breakers - While AMA offers a pleasant experience, those who are looking for a more upscale experience may be let down. Dining was mediocre. The ritual of queueing up at dinner time, which offers open seating, first come, first serve, best table locations grew old really fast. It felt like you were a participant in a cattle-call. It was unpleasant. Groups on-board expressed real displeasure at not being able to sit together and staff very iffy about moving tables together in such a contained space. Alan had the task of lining up early to ensure a nice table in a more quiet location, seated at a more congenial server's table. Sitting towards the center of the dining room was loud and noisy.
The ship's elevator door was inoperable going from the first floor down to the dining area and back up again. Anyone with physical limitations would find this a hardship to contend with. Upon asking when the elevator would be fixed, they were told they needed a part from Holland! The elevator door was not repaired during our cruise.
Our visit to Budapest, Prague and Vienna, touring privately, was a wonderfully satisfying experience. The cruise was secondary, as it always has been when cruising on Regent or Deilmann.
Would we choose to cruise AMA again? In all likelihood, not. Not that it was all bad, just not up to the levels we've come to expect. All said, we would gladly choose to cruise once again on Deilmann and, of course, Regent. While the Deilmann vessels are older, the service, cuisine and assigned seating far surpassed AMA. And, of course, you all know about Regent levels.
We were eager to give AMA a try and are not sorry that we did so. Paring down what cruise lines work for us to make our future travel plans a more fulfilling experience. AMA, unfortunately, was not a perfect fit.
