AmaWaterwaysReviews of amawaterways.com

My husband and I have just done the Douro River cruise on Ama Waterways. Ama has a good reputation and we were perhaps expecting too much. When we arrived on the ship to check in, we were told to sit in the lounge for 1 1/2 hours. They charged us for drinks. We were sitting right next to a massage stool where the masseuse was massaging people's necks and backs. We felt that this was not appropriate and should have been done in private. The cabin was extremely cramped with very little storage. The doors of all the cabinets were very difficult to open (nail breakers) as they did not have knobs. The carpet and the windows were dirty. The TV channels were very limited. We were able to watch Wimbledon on a TV in the lounge in very cramped conditions as so many people wanted to watch. The food was okay. Breakfasts were very good, but we sent back the tuna as it was overcooked and tough and my husband could not even cut the duck. On the plus side, Ama does have great employees. The cruise director, Caterina, did an excellent job as did Christina, the sommelier, and the wait staff. The daily excursions off the ship were wonderful, interesting, well organized, and we really enjoyed them. Our conclusion is that we would probably choose another company for our next river cruise, or we would make sure that the ship was newer or recently refurbished.

My wife, Julie and I recently cruised the Netherlands and Belgium on AMA Lucia Tulipmania tour in mid- April 2024. We had another great experience on this our 5th AMA Waterways tour. We were provided with excellent service by Captain Henk and all of his crew throughout the week. But a special shoutout is reserved for one of the best Tour Directors:( John Riley) that we have ever had on our many river and ocean voyages. Mr. Riley went over and above his call of duties, and was always available for sage and sound advice to us on the optional tours. We are looking forward to our next AMA Waterways tour in 2025.

"Cruise" dates: Apr 5, 2124 - Apr 13, 2024 Normandy to Paris, "Impressions of the Seine" Ships: AmaLyra and AmaDante Be aware that climate change is causing unusual extremes in the water levels of the Seine. Thus, we never got the "Scenic River Cruise" experience, instead being tied at anchor first in Le Havre then at Paris. All we got were bus rides ("Ama Busways"?). And we will not get any money back from Ama, whose motto seems to be "We got your money - see ya". But what all went wrong? Well: 1) This is sold as a high-end gourmet experience. It definitively is not. The food was unexceptional (except for the very excellent "Chef's Table", the ONLY dinner I got that was good). 2) The wait staff (on a "cruise" full of American Tourists) did not speak adequate English, so that what you ordered was rarely what you actually got. Several of my fellow passengers mentioned the same thing, so not just me. One such was "Florian" on the AmaLyra. After one dinner where he brought me two items I had said "No" to, (and having him then question why I wasn't eating them!), he screwed up my dessert order. I am 74 years old, and have never faced off with a waiter over service issues until I met him. Also, the wait staff was arrogant, often questioning my menu choices and giving "eye rolls" and other expressions of Gallic disapproval. Entirely inappropriate. It cannot be their job to critique my food choices to my face on a "cruise" I was paying for. On the AmaDante, I had run-ins with Yanko Stoychev (sp?) who took it as a personal affront when I asked for the meat to be cooked a little more. It is apparent that on Ama, beef and pork come only as "Blood Rare" or "Shoe Leather". In one meal, I asked for the pork (blood rare) to be cooked a bit more, and Yanko came out with what looked like a burnt offering and literally stood over me - not taking "no" for an answer - until I took a small byte. Made me very uncomfortable. One lunch, I tried to get a cheeseburger with "No mayonnaise". It was delivered thoroughly slathered top and bottom with a sauce - not listed on the menu - consisting of ketchup and...mayonnaise. I had to walk away from that one. At another dinner, I ordered my steak medium well (since "medium" was also way too rare), and the waitress gave me an amazed look as if I were an idiot, and asked if I was sure? She then proceeded to serve mine to another passenger and gave me the usual (bloody) one he had ordered (so we were both annoyed). When I asked for a re-do, Yanko got involved again (again taking it personally) and proceeded (without any request on my part) to bring me another order which was shoe leather (par for the course with him), and insisted I try it. I did, and sent it back again. Third time was no charm, as he brought me yet another one overdone, at which point I gave up and told him it was fine - the only way to make him go away. Again, in all my years of dining out, I have returned a meal only twice; I beat that total in one meal here. 3) Ama advertises ship-board Internet but delivers only very low speed spotty service which was frequently unvailable. So if the Internet *might* be important to you, be advised that you will be stepping back in time at least 12 years to when such service was more normal. Also, one morning after breakfast (with only 20 minutes to go until the bus tours were to leave), all the toilets on board stopped working. Was not fun, I assure you. I was later told that this was rectified fairly quickly. 4) The Cruise Director ("Dragan") was a great guy and a very good director; however, the immense number of changes in venues caused by the situation made him frequently unavailable. I feel genuinely sorry for that guy in such a no-win situation. And the situation caused some of the excursion options to become unavailable, so again, what I got was not what was advertised and paid for. So, this experience was very much not as advertised. I will never book anything with Ama based on this experience, and suggest that if you are seeking a good cruise vacation, look elsewhere. This was, to be polite, stressful; our once-in-a-lifetime splurge vacation pretty much ruined. Update 4-17-2024: "Ama cannot find me in their database". So how was I given an ID card on board the two ships to access my room and to check on and off board?

Basel Switzerland to Amsterdam Netherlands on Amaprima. With many many Ocean cruises behind me both high end and medium. Large to small of 125 ppl. I can honestly say this Rhine River cruise w AMA was a true adventure. The cabins, layout of the ship, dining, music and ALL inclusive excursions both active and gentle. This maybe our first but not our last. Crew is remarkable, as well as tour guides. Modern new buses from one location to another. Small charge for laundry well worth it. I can’t sing their praises enough. Planning our next for 2025

The pre and post cruise trips were excellent, the organisation, the cruise manager, local guides and hotels were all exceptional. I would rate these as 5 stars. The actual cruise on the Mekong River aboard the AmaDara was not up to a standard that we were expecting. The ship was tired and felt in need of a refurbishment. With the exception of the chefs table, one evening, the evening meals were very poor. Hot food should be hot and not tepid, menu choices were not great, my wife had to have Salmon 4 out of 7 nights from the always available menu. The fruit selection at breakfast was the same day after day and a poor selection. I ordered the avocado on toast with a poached egg, both times they were cold. Lunch was also a buffet with a reasonable salad choice, without doubt the best food on board. The staff on board the ship were all excellent, they were very friendly, polite and extremely helpful. Apart from one full day cruising when we crossed the border there seemed very little cruising between stops. The views of the land when cruising was dull and boring with nothing really to see. Without a doubt the highlight of the trip was Halong Bay, Angkor Wat and the Chu Chi tunnels in Hanoi, Seam Reap and Ho Chi Min City respectively. Meeting new friends on this trip was also a highlight. Personally we would prefer the trip to be a little more expensive and remove the need for tipping and paying extra for certain drinks.

We had a lovely cruise. We started on the Amamora but due to high water levels we had to leave our boat and transfer to the Amaserena. The latter was slightly older. We preferred the staterooms in the Amamora. The staff on both boats were exceptional, nothing was too much trouble. Everything is very well organised including the boat switching! The food presentation was superb tho some dishes tasted a little bland. Overall I would recommend Ama Waterways.

We booked a cruise and pre-trip to Egypt departing next year but had to cancel because my wife fell while in Japan in September and broke her femur. Even though we cancelled 9 months before the trip, AMA charged use the full insurance premium even though we had only made a 9.8% deposit on the trip. We were aware of the contractual penalty but not the forfeiture of the 91.2% of the insurance for which there was no risk. The difference was over $3000 so no small change. No one from the company ever discussed this issue during booking process other than to say insurance would be 13% of the trip cost. Seems fraudulent and have reported issue to State Insurance Commissioner.

Despite your reply to my complaint on here earlier, and an email to Customer services as you suggested....I still have had NOTHING from you. No I would never travel with you again.....your staff are downright rude and untrained. We paid alot of money for this which was our last holiday abroad as my husband has Parkinson's disease and Dementia. I thought this would be perfect as everything was included....your cruise Manager fell down in his duties.