AmaDolce Review
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My husband and I are veteran ocean cruisers, but this was our first time on a river. There were many differences, most of them wonderful--in fact, we enjoyed our Amadolce experience so much, we were reluctant to turn in our keys! The reception upon arrival was overwhelmingly friendly with a personal escort to our room. No time consuming stops to check in and pull out our credit cards for the drink packages and heavy sell spa services. Our luggage arrived in minutes instead of hours, and we were immediately free to explore the boat, which to our amusement, took about 15 minutes. After all of the 140 or so passengers came aboard, there was an entertaining safety talk and general orientation from the captain and cruise manager and soon we were sailing down the Danube with the beautiful lights of Budapest reflected in our wake.
We enjoyed our first dinner aboard that evening as well as all of the food offerings on the cruise but I do have one and only criticism that prevented me from giving the experience a full five stars. I have a blood sugar issue and I did mention it in advance during the online check in well before the sail date. I requested sugar free desserts, all available in variety and abundance on ocean ship lines. I was disappointed in that regard on this cruise, mostly contenting myself with one flavor of SF ice cream and a few small mousse treats. Adding some SF cookies to the afternoon tea or some SF puddings or pastries would be an easy thing to do, and not terribly expensive, especially since people in my situation also limit or refrain from wine and other alcohol.
The ports visited on this cruise were a good mix of large cities and smaller towns. After living in Europe for two years, my husband and I have developed an appreciation for the latter with their slower pace and quirky monuments. The excursions were all wonderful and handled well with an amazing ease of selection. We especially liked choosing between the active, regular and slow paced groups. The limited option tours were perfect and worth the cost, especially the Mozart/Strauss concert and Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, and the day trip to Salzburg. The guides all knew their stuff and were enthusiastic about their particular city. They did a great job of describing the history and culture in each area and their stories entertained us and inspired our imaginations.
Cabin Review
Stateroom with French Balcony
Pleasantly decorated with surprising amount of storage room for its size. Cleaned to perfection every day with turndown service in the evenings. Caught off guard a couple of times to open the curtains to find another boat rafted onto the side. We understand that this is the way of river boats. We looked forward to most evenings where we could lie in our bed and see the stars and the lit church steeples in small villages as we floated by.
Port Reviews
Budapest
We had two days on our own to explore Budapest before boarding the ship. A lovely city to wander, especially at night!
Bratislava
Slovakia, another checkmark for us and a great tour. Interesting iron curtain history and some fun, quirky statues and monuments.
Regensburg
I wanted to live here. Home of Oscar Schindler, a 900 year old bridge, a salt museum and a collection of old towers that earned the town the name of "Medieval Manhattan".
Nuremberg
A little like Epcot. Buildings destroyed in WWII and rebuilt with the same materials. You know you're not looking at the originals though and that is sad. War is sad.
Linz (Salzburg)
Forced to fill in field to submit the rest. Did not see Linz. But did day trip to Salzburg as described above.