Amadeus River Cruises

Europe - All

Europe - River Cruise

Very Good

Amadeus Silver II

Amadeus Royal

Amadeus Queen

Amadeus Silver

Amadeus Elegant

Amadeus Silver III

Amadeus Symphony

Amadeus Brilliant

Amadeus Diamond

Amadeus Provence

Amadeus Cara

Amadeus Riva

We chose this cruise based on the timing since this was at the end of a 4 week Europe vacation. There were only 2 cabins available at the time and both were on the lower deck.

While we found the food and the entertainment provided was great (talented duo, Kapka and Dimcho, and on one night the Gypsy Band) there were a few things that meant our experience was not so enjoyable as it might have been.

Cruisers need to be aware that this boat seems to cater for group tours (and those on this cruise were of an average age of about 80 - much older than us).  This meant there was not much mixing and we were confined to a set table for meals so did not get to meet many people (our table companion rarely had meals in the restaurant).  This is disappointing if you enjoy meeting people on your travels.

The excursions are all extra - even the walking tours that other cruise companies usually include. And these rivers are not particuarly interesting in themselves (lots of industry along the river bank) so you need to go out to experience Burgundy and Provence because you can't do this from the boat. However, because Amadeus use local guides, it also means that the quality of the experience can vary.

But the worst aspect for us was the cabin which was extremely noisy on the lower deck. The ship uses a vacuum system for the toilets and every time anyone used the toilet on the decks above us, it sounded like a train going through a tunnel. (We did get used to it and it is not a problem on the upper decks.) When we went through a lock, there was loud banging and it sounded as if water was rushing into the cabin - quite scary the first time I heard it - and I never got used to that.  It always woke me up since we went through many locks at night. (Again, this is not the same for the upper decks.)

The other thing that you need to be aware of (no matter what cabin you choose) is that the beds are pushed together to  make a double but there is a substantial crack between them and they are made up as singles.  One morning I woke up in the crack with a very stiff neck. Our table companion said she could not sleep at all because the bed was too hard and had 2 quilts laid under the sheet to make it softer - though this did not bother us so much.

With these issues. it was fortunate that the crew were so delightful and so well organised. Our cabin was cleaned and tidied twice a day and we could not fault the service we received. The public areas on the ship are comfortable (though the coffee station is way down the back of the secon deck which is odd) and the system of getting on and off the ship worked well even with a slow and elderly group. The fitness room looked well fitted out though I did not use it - too busy sight-seeing on most days.

Good food and great entertainment - but don't choose a lower deck

I think this is the first review of Amadeus provence.

This was a river cruise from Lyon to Lyon in 7 days.

Embarcation starts at 4pm,but i arrived at about 12pm,but they took my suitcase and was welcomed with a coffee and sweets.Thanks to Casper the best CD i ever had.

At 4pm i went to the reception and it took 1min,all they ask for was my passport.

This was given back the next day.

One of the crewmembers showed me my cabin,but no explanation was given.

To  set your code in the safe is not so easy.

"push the red button on the inside of the safe" but it was so well hidden that i could not find it.Later i found out i was not the only one,but they solved it immediately.

They have a very strange,at least to me,key system.No card but an old fashioned heavy thing with little ropes and a sort of magnet attached.It works perfect.

Leaving the ship you to exchange your cabin key for the boarding pass at reception.

When you are going on a excursion you recive an excursion ticket as well.

Very cheap and effective way to know who's on the ship and who's not,no computer needed.

The ship.

Brought into service spring 2017,so as good as new.Maximum pass.140 and 40 crewmembers.

Nice bleu-grey colors,sober decoration.Elevator.

There is a small shop  near the reception.

Small, and when i say small i mean really small,let's say a one man or women shop.

Very nice Panorama Lounge where they serve the afternoon tea with pastries and opensandwiches.

Afternoon tea  is served from 4pm until 4.30pm.

And when they say 4pm they mean 4pm and not 1min earlier,and they remove everythingat 4.30pm on te minute.Deutsche grundlichkeit.

Back to the ship.

24 hour self serve coffee corner is located in the aft of Strauss deck.

In my opinion whaste of space (its pretty large) because i never saw no one there.

Small gym.

Small "infinity" pool.

The restaurant can serve all the guests in one seating.

The cabin.

My cabin was 116 on the Haydn deck.Aquarium class.

Note that the cabin plan who can be found on their webside,and discribed as "classis staterooms"are not the same as the one's on Haydn deck ( a big difference ) i'm talking about cabin nrs.116 117 118 119 .I am not sure about the others on the Haydn deck.

The differences: no chair !!!! A sofa where you can hardly sit on.The" walk-in closet " is so small that you can't walk in.The bathroom is not the same as on the plan and its not on the same place.Very misleading.The great mirror is misplaced ( imo) Small safe.

Very large tv ( 35 stations ) in front of the bed,so you had to sit on the bed to watch tv.

Large shower with A GLASS DOOR.The shower is almost as large as the rest of the bathroom.It is imo a one person bathroom.Good bathroom products ( Rituals ) and supplemented daily. ( small flacons ) No robes,no slippers,no fresch fruit,no turn down choc.Very good but small bed,good lights.Very noisy toilet system,note that i am still talking about this 4 numbers.

Was i pleased with my cabin?

Concerning the price i paid YES,i am hardly in the cabin and you can not drive a Mercedes Benz for the price of a Citroén.

The food.

Breakfast Buffet from 7 to 9am in the restaurant ,there is also a early riser breakfast in thePanorama Lounge, but you better skip that.Go and see for yourself.TheRetaurant:Lot of diff.breads ( german ) but also croissants and a few Dannish pastries,cake's muffin's and donuts,and a toaster.

Juices:grape,apple pinapple and orange,not fresch ( tetra or brickpack )

Cheeses and cold cuts like ham,smoked salmon, salami and others that changed daily.

Also smoked ham of whitch they it's Parma Ham, but it's certainly not.

( Don't wrestle with a pig,you get dirty,and besides the pig likes it )

THere is a hot section with beans,bacon,scrambled eggs etc....

NO EGGS STATION !!! 

Fellow guests.

There were different groupes.One from Holland ( 40 pers ) one from Germany ( 30pers ) both with theire own tour guide and bus who followed te ship.One from Israel ( 20pers )  and abot 20pers; from Japan.Four from GB and a few from Austalia and NZ. One from belgium,and that was me.So all the groups stayed together,that's why i was assigned
to the G;Britain table.Language was nos a great problem because my Englich is better than their Flemich.And we had the same drink package,witch is not the same for every group.I was very pleased with my table mates,and they with me.( they said)

Not one French guest on a French cruise !!! Perhaps it is a German ship.

Lunch buffet.

12pm 2.00pm

A light lunch is available in the Panorama Lounge,but i can't comment on that because i always went to the Restaurant.More choise and table service.

Salad bar( self serve ) with cold and warm section.

The problem was, when something delicious was " sold out "it was sold out forever.

No refill, even with tomato's,and it happened every day.

But you will not die of hunger because you still have the 5 course table served meal.

I had the complimentary drink package, witch means free bier ( Tap Bitburger ) wine,red or and white and soft drinks.Free flowing and a decent quality.I guess in the range between5 and 10€ retail price.All daily changed French wines.Every time coffee or tea was offered.

Dinner.7pm one seating with fixed table.

Starter,two choises

Soup,two choises

Main course, meat,fish or vegetarian.

Dessert and coffee or tea.

Free flowing drinks.

Most meat is pork.Once we had lam, and once "tender sirloin steak"Forget the tender because was as tough as a shoe sole.And notwithstanding i asked for "medium" he was far overcooked.Steak is not their specialty.All the soups were outstanding.Portions were not big and well seasoned. They clearly work with the not so expensive ingredients,so no sole,no lobster no foie gras and dispites whe were cruising the Burgundy region no escargots,no boeuf Bourguignon,no coq au vin,no civet de lievre,no Brillat Savarin or Andouille the Chablis.We did have poulet de Bresse.They sometimes offered local products but always the not so expensive one's.The gala dinner was a misunderstanding dinner,i think because of the language (all the waiters come from the east block ) so Fhilippe ( our waiter ) made his first and only mistake by telling us we only had to orderthe starter and the main course ( 7 courses ) all the other courses comes automaticly he said.We were waiting for the lobster soup,but he presented us the next course.

When we asked for our lobster soup,the answer was we didn't order lobster soup.

So can we still have the soup.No impossible.And they were serving lobster soup at the other tables !!!! Strange.The baked Alaska was so so.

In general,the food was good,sometimes excellent.

Presentation could be better,so it's not Michelin star-inspired,but almost always honnestfresh food.

Entertainment.

Live music with the Duo Vision band ( Boryana and Ventzi ) Piano/keybord and guitar.

One gast appearance: The Gipsy Band ( presented as The Gipsy Kings )

They played their version of " My way and New York New York" the well know Gipsy musik,the Japanees people loved it. I left.

A few quizes and that was it.Enough for me.By the way we won one quiz.( bottle sekt )

Excursions.

Maconnais & Beaujolais wine museum incl. wine tasting (63€) Good

Beaune & Burgundy.(63) a must.Excelent

City tour Lyon (35€) Good

Avignon city walk & pope palace (35€) a must.Excelent.

Arles City walk (26€) if you like Van Gogh,do it.Don't go to the roman teatre (world famous)there is nothing to see and the entrence cost you 9€ Imo a tourist trap.

Nature Park Camargue & Saintes Maries de la Mer (42€)

If you like to see a few "wild horses and wild bulls walking in an enclosed meadow"than this is your cup of tea,if not go to the zoo,and these"pink" flamengo's you hardly can see are not pink.Sainte Maries de la Mer is visited because nothing else to see.Even in SMdlM

there is just one church and a few souvenirshops.I almost forgot there a lot of intrusive and aggressive gipsy who constantly try to sel you crap or predict your future.A pest.

Save your money and stay away from this tour it"s nothing more than a 4.30h bus drive.

The Ardèche Gorge ( 42€).If you have seen the Grand Canyon in the USA don't go,if not you'll see the little grand canyon.Up to you.

Other items.

Wifi, it was free for me, but did not used it,so no comment.

Small gym.

Prices of drinks.

Open wines ( 0.2l )French house red white and rosé. 3.50€

Elsass edelzwicker ( white ) vin d'Alsace.4.70€

Beaujolais Pasquier des Vignes ( red ) 4.70€

Cotes de Provence rosé for 4.70€

House Sprankling  Wine ( sekt )0.10l à 4.80€

House Champagne by the glass,10.50€

Bottle house spranking (0.75l )24.00€

Furst Metternich brut?? 26.00€

Geldermann Brut?? 29.00€

Duval leroy Champagne. 46.00€

Moet & C handon.68€

Classical Cocktails.5.90€

Tequilla sunrise. 6.50€

Fancy cocktails. 6.50€

Champagne cocktails.

Mimosa. 4.30€

Kir Royal and others. 5.20€

Non alcoholi cocktails. 3.80€

Long Drinks. 5.40€

Gin Tonic Deluxe.6.50€

Beer.0.30L and 0.50l from 3.00 to 4.70€

Leffe.3.60€

Mineral water.0.25L or 8.50 oz 2.20€ 0.75 l or 25.40 oz à3.70€

Soft drinks 0.20L 6.8oz NO CANS!!!

Coca cola,coke zero,sprite,fanta,tonic tonic bitter lemon,ginger ale. 2.40€

Tnic fevertree. 3.70€

Juices0.20l 6.80oz NOT fresh,orange,apple,gapefruit,tomato and pineapple.3.00€

Aperitifs. Martini red white and extra dry.3.10€ for 5cl or 1.70oz

Pernod,sherry dry Tio Pepe, drysack Medium 3.70€ 1.70oz

Port wh/r 1.70oz 4.00€

Vodka Gin Tequila 4.00cl 1.40oz from .00to 4.80€

Rum 4cl 1.40oz 4 to 4.20€

Spirits 4cl 1.40oz 4.00 to 4.70€

Liqueurs.4,00CL 1.40oz 4.00€ to 4.90€ ( Grand Marnier )

Cognac,Brandy & Calvados 1.4oz 4.00 to 5.70€

All cognacs are V.S.O.P. 8.20€ and 9.20€ for Martell

American Whiskey,Cnadian Whisky,Scotch,Single Malt and Urish whiskey all 1.40oz

From 4.20€ to 9.70€ for the Single Malt Macallan Highland 12 years/

Hot Drinks. Espresso 2.30€ coffee 2.60€ cappuccino 2.80€ hot choc 2.60€ tea 2.20€

Tips.

They recomment 5 to 7€ ppd and they ensure you that the anonymous envelopes that you find in your cabin ( without a mark or number ) will be opened in the presence of the captain and divided into equal parts. No pyramid system.And they make it very clear your tip is an important part of their salaries.

In general,price quality is in balance and i can recomment this companie for the Europeans and NOT steaklovers from the USA.But please at least for the Strauss Deck?

I made my home work,and not with too many write errors.

Have a nice cruise.

Gilbert

FIRST AMADEUS PROVENCE REVIEW

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