Despite not having my expectations over high about this venture, I was very pleasantly surprised. Ill try and break down the areas for review:

The ship.

I gather that only Russian owned ships are allowed on the water. This may or may not be true, but it would explain why AMA have leased and refurbished a vessel from a big Russian cruise company that was very much in evidence on the water on the one hand and why I didnt see another flag on any vessel other than the Federation tricolour on the other. AMA have brought the vessel up to the usual very high AMA standards. Well, almost. The cabins (aka staterooms) on the upper decks had nice new double glazing whilst the bottom deck cheaper cabins, er, didnt but I suspect (hope) that these will be done in the fullness of time. Read more