Choose another company or at least, itinerary This river cruise line was recommended by our TA and we were very disappointed all around with our first river cruise. The food was marginal at best, service could have been better (except for 3 outstanding employees) and the woman working the front 'welcoming desk' was not happy to be there; we heard others voice feedback about why is she working there! As for the excursions, they were pretty packed and many required hour long bus rides to cities. Then we had to deal with 'slow walkers' who didn't pay attention to the 'active tour' detail versus taking the 'gentle walkers' tour. The the average age of passengers on this particular cruise was over 70 - we weren't expecting a 'floating senior citizen home' !! And last item, for any of you readers thinking of choosing AMA and this particular route, the only night we (and quite a few other passengers) got a good night's sleep was when the ship was stationary; the captain increased the speed at night (obviously when he thought many would be asleep) but the walls of the cabin and the bed were rattling and vibrating all night making it impossible to get to sleep; and we were on deck two near mid ship! If we ever decide to try another river cruise, it will be with Tauck or Uniworld and a different itinerary. p.s. and the entertainment was pretty much 'non-existent - one night they brought on board a singing duo - they were fun but the rest of the nights consisted of 'elevator music' by a man playing an electric piano - disappointing there also!

TRY OTHER RIVER CRUISE LINES...LIKE UNIWORLD. I have traveled on AmaWaterways last year on the Danube and this year on the Rhine. I enjoyed both ships. However and this is a big however, the food is mediocre at best. Breakfast the same every day and definitely lacks in variety. Special of the day such as Pancakes came in a pair the size of silver dollar and they were cold. Fresh fruit now sliced. No cereals. It was atrocious. They try to be a gourmet priority which comes up short because they fail miserably. Ordered Chicken Schnitzel and it was a piece of chicken breaded thinly and served hard. Steaks were also thin, tougher to chew and a disappointment as well. They include wine and beer and champagne with lunch and dinner. If you want a diet coke in mid-afternoon they charge for it. This is hardly a 5-star recommendation. I will never travel AMA again and I had 2 other cruises booked for my 3rd and 4th. If their food service was even halfway between Celebrity and Regent they would have something to brag about. Dismal.

Never Book with AMAWaterways! We booked a Nile Cruise with AmaWaterways and we’re told that the deposit would be refunded if we had insurance. We took out insurance. Before making the final payment Covid was still a concern so we thought it better to cancel. The insurance company, AIG, refused to issue a refund! We always enjoyed AnaWaterways and had four great cruises but based on our recent experience we will never book a cruise with them again! Our advice to anyone considering booking with AMA, DON’T BOOK! David Olsen

Regrettable Experience "Cruise" dates: Apr 5, 2124 - Apr 13, 2024 Normandy to Paris, "Impressions of the Seine" Ships: AmaLyra and AmaDante Be aware that climate change is causing unusual extremes in the water levels of the Seine. Thus, we never got the "Scenic River Cruise" experience, instead being tied at anchor first in Le Havre then at Paris. All we got were bus rides ("Ama Busways"?). And we will not get any money back from Ama, whose motto seems to be "We got your money - see ya". But what all went wrong? Well: 1) This is sold as a high-end gourmet experience. It definitively is not. The food was unexceptional (except for the very excellent "Chef's Table", the ONLY dinner I got that was good). 2) The wait staff (on a "cruise" full of American Tourists) did not speak adequate English, so that what you ordered was rarely what you actually got. Several of my fellow passengers mentioned the same thing, so not just me. One such was "Florian" on the AmaLyra. After one dinner where he brought me two items I had said "No" to, (and having him then question why I wasn't eating them!), he screwed up my dessert order. I am 74 years old, and have never faced off with a waiter over service issues until I met him. Also, the wait staff was arrogant, often questioning my menu choices and giving "eye rolls" and other expressions of Gallic disapproval. Entirely inappropriate. It cannot be their job to critique my food choices to my face on a "cruise" I was paying for. On the AmaDante, I had run-ins with Yanko Stoychev (sp?) who took it as a personal affront when I asked for the meat to be cooked a little more. It is apparent that on Ama, beef and pork come only as "Blood Rare" or "Shoe Leather". In one meal, I asked for the pork (blood rare) to be cooked a bit more, and Yanko came out with what looked like a burnt offering and literally stood over me - not taking "no" for an answer - until I took a small byte. Made me very uncomfortable. One lunch, I tried to get a cheeseburger with "No mayonnaise". It was delivered thoroughly slathered top and bottom with a sauce - not listed on the menu - consisting of ketchup and...mayonnaise. I had to walk away from that one. At another dinner, I ordered my steak medium well (since "medium" was also way too rare), and the waitress gave me an amazed look as if I were an idiot, and asked if I was sure? She then proceeded to serve mine to another passenger and gave me the usual (bloody) one he had ordered (so we were both annoyed). When I asked for a re-do, Yanko got involved again (again taking it personally) and proceeded (without any request on my part) to bring me another order which was shoe leather (par for the course with him), and insisted I try it. I did, and sent it back again. Third time was no charm, as he brought me yet another one overdone, at which point I gave up and told him it was fine - the only way to make him go away. Again, in all my years of dining out, I have returned a meal only twice; I beat that total in one meal here. 3) Ama advertises ship-board Internet but delivers only very low speed spotty service which was frequently unvailable. So if the Internet *might* be important to you, be advised that you will be stepping back in time at least 12 years to when such service was more normal. Also, one morning after breakfast (with only 20 minutes to go until the bus tours were to leave), all the toilets on board stopped working. Was not fun, I assure you. I was later told that this was rectified fairly quickly. 4) The Cruise Director ("Dragan") was a great guy and a very good director; however, the immense number of changes in venues caused by the situation made him frequently unavailable. I feel genuinely sorry for that guy in such a no-win situation. And the situation caused some of the excursion options to become unavailable, so again, what I got was not what was advertised and paid for. So, this experience was very much not as advertised. I will never book anything with Ama based on this experience, and suggest that if you are seeking a good cruise vacation, look elsewhere. This was, to be polite, stressful; our once-in-a-lifetime splurge vacation pretty much ruined. Update 4-17-2024: "Ama cannot find me in their database". So how was I given an ID card on board the two ships to access my room and to check on and off board?

My Wife Wasn’t the Only One Sharing the Bed With Me! Even though we were impressed with the ambiance and itinerary, I never thought I would be dealing with bed bugs on our cruise boat. Mentioned my concerns to staff and even though apologetic, my cruise experience was a disaster. I will never cruise with this company again. Also food was served cold.