Ama Waterways AmaVida – Port Wine & Flamenco – July 5-18, 2014
The Cruise
This would be our third riverboat cruise in Europe, contrasting with 31 ocean cruises. We had enjoyed the itinerary on the Elbe from Prague to Berlin 4 years ago, although we did not enjoy the boat. Viking’s Clara Schumann was small and outdated, largely because the Elbe River requires shallow draft boats. Our trip from Basel to Vienna on Avalon’s Affinity in 2013 was on a much nicer boat, although the actual trip had problems due to a lockmasters’ strike affecting the Main-Danube canal transit.
The cabins are the best we have seen on a river boat. This is due to smart space arrangement as well as generally fine wall and floor surface materials and lighting. Two-thirds of the cabins were like ours, so I am describing a “standard” stateroom. The “river” side has a small outside balcony with two chairs and a small table. It takes up about half the length of the cabin. I did enjoy sitting outside at times as long as the boat was moving so no insects would enter. The rest of the “river” side is a desk surface, with a window above the desk. There is a desk chair. Next to this is the bed, with two bedside tables, two lamps and two reading lights above each side of the bed. Next to the bed there is an open shelving area above and two closed shelves below. Next to that, leading directly into the stateroom is the bathroom. This was unique among standard ships’ bathrooms by having a separate toilet room with its own frosted glass door. The shower also had a glass door, and a fair amount of room. There was a vessel sink. The only flaw was the failure to utilize some space below on either side of the sink for drawers or shelves, since there clearly was room for such additional features. Next to the bathroom door was a closet for hanging clothes, the safe and several other drawers. Opposite the bed were two side chairs and a small table, with a large TV screen hung from the wall above. The doorway out to the corridor had further shelving above and six drawers below. All in all, with attractive wallpaper, wood trim and more than abundant space for clothing, it was a very nice cabin indeed!