OUR RECENT RIVER CRUISE TO EUROPE

Hello friends,

Well Lanette and I recently went to Europe to experience one of the newer river cruises. This was not my first river cruise in Europe so I was really interested in how they compared to all the others. Well, I can tell you that it was a hit.

We started our trip on AMA Waterways in Nuremberg, Germany and cruised down the Danube River into Passau, Regensberg, Melk, Vienna, and ended in Budapest. Everyday we had incredible scenery pass by the ship, and when we docked it was just a short stroll into town. Visiting these quaint and historic cobblestone paved villages was incredible. I lost track of how many castles and gorgeous cathedrals we saw, some of them were over 900 years old.

The ship we were on was built in 2006 and was in very good condition. We sailed with almost a full ship of just over 130 people. The nice thing about a ship of this size is that you get to know everybody. We got to know almost all of the passengers, the Purser, the Tour Director, all the bartenders (don’t read to much into that, haha), the dining room staff and even the Captain.  

The service was top notch, but then again they are taking care of just over 100 people instead of thousands of people.

The cabins were very nice, and included daily complimentary bottled water, free movies and even free internet. The free internet was a major benefit, since all the other cruise lines charge so much for their the internet usage.

One of the biggest benefits to this cruise is that there was a shore excursion included in every single port we visited. Since we were in foreign country there was obviously a potential of a language barrier. Well with AMA Waterways they broke everybody into small groups of about 15-20 people with an English speaking guide, and each person had their own headset to listen to the guide.

The food and the service in the dining room was very, very good. The Chef did a great job of having a traditional German meal, then we had an Austrian meal capped of with the world famous Vienna “Sacher Torte” for dessert. In Budapest we even had Hungarian Goulash with all the trimmings. Sodas, beer, and unlimited free flowing red and white regional wines were also poured each night. Each morning they had a great buffet with a featured breakfast item each morning, complete with wonderful freshly made breads, pastries, lox and bagels with all the trimmings, and complimentary champagne and mimosas. 

I would highly recommend taking a river cruise like this. It’s a totally different experience from the large mass market cruise lines.

Now before I left I mentioned that I was going to try to form a group to go to Europe in 2011. Those plans are still in the early infancy stage. But I was so happy with the cruise that I spoke to the VP of Marketing on my return and told him that I wanted to offer some special deals to my good clients. He came back and offered me $500 off per cabin, a $100 onboard credit and a FREE cabin upgrade. All these promotions are currently on my website under “This Weeks Promotions”.

I cannot stress enough how quickly these 100+ passenger ships sell out. If you are really interested in going and want to take advantage of one of the lower priced cabins (there are only 12 per ship) you cannot afford to delay making your reservations.

I will be running this offer in the San Antonio Express News Travel Section on December 5. I’m sure that I will have a run on bookings once the ad comes out, so if you want to take advantage of this offer before the space sells out I would recommend doing so. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my recent experience with AMA Waterways and hope that you will join us on one of these wonderful voyages.