AmaStella Review

4.5 / 5.0
39 reviews

Absolutely fantastic cruise!!! Much better than Viking!!!

Review for Europe River Cruise on AmaStella
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miyasmom
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2016
Traveled with children
The captain of the AMA Stella and my daughter
My daughter on the balcony while sailing on the Danube.
The main bed turned down for the night with chocolates on the pillows
In port in Linz, Austria
Desk and door of our cabin
Sitting area in suite. Couch made into a bed. Sliding door to to balcony.
Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, one of 3 choices for an excursion that

We decided we wanted to go away to celebrate Christmas. My teenage daughter and I had done a Viking River cruise over the summer as part of our European trip. Viking was geared much more to the over 60 crowd and never, even if you book a suite, allows 3 people in a room. We are a family of 3 and Viking wanted us to book 2 rooms so 1 person would be alone. Not my idea of a family vacation. It would be different if we had 4 people but it was just another reason I'll never sail Viking again.

So we looked elsewhere and chose to go on AMA Waterways aboard the AMA Stella. We booked a suite which had a sitting room with balcony, an adjoining room that was separated by a wall with a large TV that could be turned to face either room. The bedroom had a French balcony and one wall was all storage and closet space. The living room area has a couch that makes into a bed, which was quite comfortable according to my daughter. It also had 2 chairs, a coffee table and a built in desk where they had a computer for our use. The mini fridge was stocked with champagne, beer, and soda and juice which was replenished daily. The balcony had 2 chairs and a small table and one afternoon of sailing was warm enough to sit out there and enjoy it! The bathroom had a toilet that closed off with a pocket door so someone else could be using 1 of the 2 sinks, the shower or bathtub. Toiletry items were replenished daily as was the fruit bowl in the sitting room.

We embarked in Budapest and after dinner cruised between Buda and Pest to see the beautiful lights of the buildings. We did a tour of Buda and Pest with a local guide and went to the Christmas market which had some very nice Hungarian made items for sale as well as different food stalls. The next day, the Stella usually stops in Bratslavia, Slovakia but since it was Christmas Day, everything was closed so that stop was skipped and we went on to Vienna. We went to another Christmas market in the afternoon. The ship stopped at all the other scheduled stops and at each one we went on the activity we had chosen for that day. AMA Waterways does not only cater to the over 60 crowd. They offer many options for activity. For the very active they have bike tours which ranged from 6 miles to over 20 miles depending on the port. They also offered hikes, usually to the castle or abbey that most people took the bus to. For the "regular" active person, walking tours were at a normal pace. For the less active, or those with mobility issues, they had a gentle group. On tours, the people in this group were brought closer to the attraction by tram or minivans. Much of Austria is now handicapped accessible due to a law requiring it. There were only a few stops that some people could not do because of many stairs or walks inaccessible by vehicles.

Cabin Review

Cabin Suite

Spacious for 3 of us. Room had filled mini fridge, replenished daily. Safe in room. Tons of storage space. Desk with a laptop for our use. Large TV with many channels and on demand movies. Large bathroom with toilet in a space with pocket door. 2 sinks, a raining shower or change option to regular. Large deep bathtub separate from shower. All toiletries replenished daily. Blow dryer and a magnified mirror. Wall above vanity and sinks is a large mirror. Full length mirror outside the bathroom.

Port Reviews

Budapest

Bus tour of the city both Buda and Pest. Went to the Christmas market

Vienna

Bus tour showing the highIights of the city

Vienna

Beautiful Palace with Christmas market still open on grounds.

Linz (Salzburg)

Great local tour guide showed us the highlights of this cute place with lots of history.

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