Embarkation was easy. Cabin key obtained on boarding. Luggage arrived quickly in cabin. Cabin compact. Small window just above water level. Kept clean. Head of bed only 10 inches from en-suite door. En-suite very compact. Plenty of storage space. Had to ask for bottled water to be replenished on 2nd day. Otherwise tea and coffee available. Dining not 5 stars as expected. Beware don’t get drinks package as only offered cheap house wine. Food and wine not as advertised. Service was slow. Ship appeared very short of staff. Coffee was poor quality, Earl grey tea was available after speaking to cruise manager. Excursions were well planned. Visited various towns along the Rhine. Lots of castles viewed while cruising. Went through 12 locks which was fascinating but did cause delays reaching ports. Disembarkation straight forward, but left at station with luggage for several hours. Holiday was run by Great Rail Journeys. Would not recommend. Would do another river cruise, as only 152 passengers no long queues boarding or disembarking for excursions. Read Less

Chose this SAGA cruise for the right duration and destination. Ship crew , including the captain , very surly on the whole . Housekeeping had to be asked to supply things like toilet rolls and box of tissues . Sewage smell in the lower corridor most of the time , although it did not penetrate the cabin . Had the feeling that the serving staff were on piece rate , next courses left on the table whilst still finishing the previous one . Food was not up to much , often cold ( when it should have been hot ) . Trying too hard to be haute cuisine . The musical entertainment was the poorest we have ever experienced , boring and totally disinterested and certainly was not "entertaining ". Best nights were the quiz nights , varied and good fun by the 'saga' guy Jerome . Jerome managed very well in getting passengers up on deck with his deck games . On the whole - disappointing . Read Less

Cruise was part of a 19 day trip but was glad we only had 9 nights on this ship. My own fault for not reading the fine print - was on the Haydn Deck with only a VERY small window (expecting a panoramic window) with NO view and water lapping outside. The cabin was small and stuffy with only basic amenities. Rooms were clean but had to ask for the bed linen to be changed after 4 nights. The ship is small and at times felt crowded especially in the lounge where there was not enough room for everyone to sit but there was no other room to choose. The sun deck was good when it was warm enough to use it The dining and bar staff were the ship's saving grace. Could not fault the service we received from our dedicated staff members - Ved and Marjiana - these 2 people made our cruise a memorable experience. Always friendly, helpful and full of fun and the company should be proud of these great ambassadors. Entertainment was the same every night which got a bit monotonous. The main cruise director was rude to guests in the lounge and made many people feel uncomfortable. The second cruise director (Italian) was good and tried to assist all guests. I will be cruising again but will take greater care of which company I use - the reviews here are very helpful. Thank goodness for Ved and Marijana - they gave us great memories. Read Less

I thought it would be an easy, fun, luxurious way to travel, for the most part it was, but the food, except for breakfast, was not tastey,it was badly presented, and the portions were small. It felt like someone wanted to make a buck on our back, and it took hours to serve. Otherwise the serving team was nice and corgial. The rooms were small but very clean, and again, the cleaning team was great. There were some handicapped people who should have had mini buses for long walks, but they did not, and it slowed down the whole group. All the sites we visited were fantastic, and the sailing itself very pleasant. There was ver little entertainmen, which was just as well because the dinner took so long that everyone was too tired to enjoy it (may be that was the purpose of the slow service). I like this way of travelling, but I'd have to make sure first that the food is good and in abundance, and there is better entertainment. Read Less

My wife and I decided to start our vacation with the Luftner option to visit Prague before our cruise. We arrived at the Luftner selected Prague Hotel and was immediately disappointed that there was no Luftner representative. Instead, the hotel staff told us to read the message taped to the desk in the hall way. The message told us that we would have dinner catered by the hotel later in the day. The next day we would be met by a tour guide to see the sights of Prague. The note also told us to be ready for pickup the following day. Obviously, we (about 19 option takers) were very disappointed that there was no Luftner representative to answer questions about the cruise and excursions. Some of the people were supposed to be pick up at the airport but they had to get there own taxi so they could not resolved this issue. After Prague, we traveled to our ship. Our room was okay and the climate control work efficiently to our satisfaction. The dining area was offen warm and uncomfortable at times. Meals: Came with beverage of your choice including house red or white wine for lunch and dinner Breakfast - buffet with the option to order omelettes or eggs prepared to your liking. No real complaint except it became rather boring. Lunch - salad and soup was buffet style but the entree came separately. Entrees were either a small portion of fish or meat with very little seasoning. Salad and soup were very good but the entree was a hit or miss depending on flavor, dryness, or likeability. Dinner - all came with appetitizer, soup, entree, and dessert. The appetitizer was very small and not typically what Americans find palatable. The entrees were very disappointing. You were lucky if you got 2 - 4 ounces of fish or meat. In addition, the entree side item were usually a meager selection of vegetables. In short, you were finished with the entree in 3 to 5 mountful. Most of the entrees were a miss because of the lack of flavor, dryness or being cold. An example was our last night dinner which was surf and turf. The entree consisted of 1 medium shrimp on 2 ounce piece of fillet mignon. Dessert for the most part were good. Entertainment was provided by a electronic piano player/singer and a female singer. They were average for entertainment and not very memorable. The Hungarian folk dancers on the last day were really good but most of us were downstairs packing. Service - our waiter was simply terrible. Our waiter had a vague knowledge of food we were being served. At times he would have to look at the menu to see what the options were. One example, the menu called a type of fish by a unknown name. When we asked the waiter what type of fish is being serve, he told us at the table it was salmon. When it arrive, we all knew it wasn't salmon. We had to call the Matre de to straighten our entree selections. Another time, the dessert was not appetizing for a few on at the table. I noticed at another table, they has the same problem with dessert and asked for and received ice cream. When we asked our waiter, he told us it was not on the menu. When we pointed to the other table, he got indignant and went to see about getting us ice cream. He never returned so I asked the Matre de and he gave us some ice cream. Our assistant server on the other hand was exceptional! I have to say all the rest of the waiters seemed to be very good with smiles on their face at all times and very helpful so I would say our table was just unlucky. Ports and Shore Excurions - we selected Luftner because of their flexibility in selecting excursions. Most of the excursions were very good like the concert program but a few were mediocre in that we were alway rushed and did not have sufficient time to see or do the thing we would have like to do. We did have one very bad excursion...Vienna at Night. The excursion consisted of a visit to a wine garden to sample a red and white wine. The group was given an hour and 45 minutes to enjoy ourselves. However, the wines were poor quality and the side bread came with unappetizing spreads and it was also a hot and buggy night. After an hour, our group told the tour guide we would like to leave. She tried to call the bus driver but he did not answer his phone so we all walked up and down the street looking at closed shops until the time to leave. The bus driver still did not arrive until 20 minutes after the designated time. The rest of the evening was spent on the bus as the guide pointed out some landmarks. Do not waste your money on this excursion. Do not be pulled in by the enticing write up. In short, my wife and I decided not to go on another river cruse. Hindsight, we should have selected a river cruise catered especially to American. Maybe the food and entertainment would have been better. This cruise line is cheaper but it can nickel and dime you as you pay for extras...wifi, beer, soda, bikes. Read Less

The tour guides in our first port called Amadeus Silver/lueftner cruises/Amadeus the McDonald's of river cruises. With an open mind i could not disagree with them..The meals were just adequate a lot of french fries, motel stile buffet breakfast right down to the paper napkins, Lunch was a treat. Entertainment the same duo every night, the were good. Little or no activities on board, the crew was great. Disembarkation was easy , you must be off the ship by 8:30am, no exceptions. The Ship is a couple of years old and is starting to show some ware , carpets etc. The cabins was nice and the drop down window was great except 50% of the time in port there was another ship beside you completely obstructing your view even in our top deck room. The Low water on the river will force lueftner cruises to cancel or force the passengers on to buses for 5 or 6 days , a real nightmare. lueftner cruises does not have the amount of ships on the river to switch ships as other larger operators will do.. Summary:The Cruise was a great value lowest rates on the river, under $100 per day. The crew and tour representatives were great they really try with what was available to them.. lueftner cruises had there hands tied, penny pinching to keep the overhead down and profit up. Hey McDonald's is not all that bad. Read Less

The Amadeus Royal is an old cruise boat that has been recently renovated. However it falls short of being described as luxurious. The cabins are small. It was good to be able to get fresh air, but the "French balcony" was only a small sliding window less than a metre wide. The main lounge had very uncomfortable seating. There were some armchairs but not enough for all guests. The restaurant was located at the stern of the boat and it was necessary to walk down a corridor past cabins. Every morning the housekeeping trolley and vacuum cleaner were cluttering this corridor before and during breakfast. Water, tea and coffee were only available at meal times and had to be paid for at other times. We were fortunate to be able to use the upper deck in good weather. If it had rained the lounge was crowded and uncomfortable. Read Less

First of all, the food was great at lunch and dinner. Breakfast was the same everyday. Dining room service was exceptional. Our room (Mozart Suite) was large enough with great windows. The air conditioning on the entire ship struggled when temps got above 80 outside. The two twin beds pushed together were not connected (constantly pushing apart) and were very short. Not comfortable at all for someone 6'+. Overall, the ship looked run down compared to others we saw on the rivers. The top deck is under utilized. The itinerary had two good stops (Chalon sur Saone, and Avignon). The rest were weak. The excursions were very weak and since the average age of guests was 70+, they moved very slowly. The front desk and cruise director were not knowledgeable about the cities along the way. It was our first river cruise, it was relaxing and very scenic. We had perfect weather which allowed us to stay on top a lot. If it had been rainy weather this would have been a miserable week, stuck inside the ship. Stay longer in Lyon up front or on the back end as it was the best city of all. Read Less