Blue Danube Cruise – October 27, 2016

I just returned from a Blue Danube River cruise with AMAWaterways on the AMADolce – October 27th – November 3rd.

This is my perspective:
We started our journey by staying overnight at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow Airport. The hotel is conveniently located and transportation to the hotel from the airport is by shuttle bus which runs every 15 minutes. The hotel is just finishing a renovation so the corridors and well lit, new carpets and wallpaper and the rooms very clean and modern. The room overlooked the runway but there was no airport noise. We enjoyed a drink at the bar in the lobby and breakfast the next morning at their buffet, which offered a much larger selection than I expected. The service was very friendly and efficient and the food was very well presented and tasty. The breakfast buffet costs 10 pounds. We also checked out the concierge lounge which offers a complimentary continental breakfast for guests entitles to use the lounge. It was well presented and a nice selection was available.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lhrbr-renaissance-london-heathrow-hotel

I was craving local pub food and the bellman steered us in the right direction to “The Pheasant Inn” which is around 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel. The pub was packed on a Monday night. We sat in the pub area but there is also a sit down restaurant where reservations are required. I had steak and Kidney pie and my mother had salmon. Both were delicious….and the beer was not bad as well! I would definitely recommend a visit to this British gastro-pub should you be staying around the Heathrow area overnight.

http://www.pheasant-restaurant.co.uk/

The next morning we headed to the airport. As we were traveling in British Airways Club Class, we took advantage of the lounge that was available for us at terminal 3. The lounge was very nice and offered complimentary continental breakfast buffet which then moved to a lunch buffet with several hot entrée choices as well as a salad bar, cold beverages and a full selection of alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wines and champagne. We enjoyed Club World service on the plane to Budapest. The service and food (afternoon tea) was exceptional.

Day 1 – Budapest – ship sailed at 9pm

We arrived at Budapest Airport around 5:30pm and took a taxi to the ship. The unfortunate part was the location of the ship was not listed in any of the paperwork we had. The taxi driver eventually found the ship but it would have been nice to have the dock number listed for the taxi driver’s information. We arrived at the ship and were greeted by the hotel manager who arranged for our luggage to be immediately taken to our cabin. We checked in at the front desk, found the cabin, showered, changed and headed to dinner. We enjoyed our first dinner on board in the main dining room. There is an a la carte menu for dinner paired with local wines and/or a beer choice (which are included with lunch and dinner). After dinner we went up on deck to experience the sail away from Budapest, which was amazing. Sailing past the illuminated buildings as we listened to Strauss was magical.

Day 2 – Bratislava, Slovakia – 2pm – 11:30pm

We enjoyed a leisurely morning on board after breakfast in the dining room. Breakfast is available only in the main dining room each morning. There is no room service available on AMAWaterways. There is a 24 hour coffee machine and tea area in the main lounge which I ended up visiting each morning and bringing back to the room as we got ready for the day. Early riser pastries are located in this area each morning also as well as a late riser light breakfast, after the dining room is closed. Breakfast in the dining room consists of a breakfast buffet with a chef (Mike) preparing eggs to order each morning as well as a small a la carte menu which is placed on the table each morning. There is also a bottle of sparkling wine if you like to indulge in the morning or make yourself a mimosa (which I did a couple of times!) Karen, the cruise manager, conducted an interesting presentation in the lounge, during which she gave an overview of the upcoming ports of call and tours. We had lunch in the dining room before we arrived in Bratislava. Lunch in the main dining room consists of a buffet lunch with an action station. There is also an a la carte menu available with a few entrée selections and an “always available” section. In Bratislava we opted to do the Walking Tour, which was very educational conducted by a professional and knowledgeable tour guide. On every tour, a personal audio device makes it easy to hear the guide’s commentary. Each passenger is allocated a headset for the duration of the cruise. Some of the sights included the Old Town Hall, stunning Rococo-style Mirbach Palace and St.Martin’s Cathedral. We ended the tour in the main square where we stopped in a coffee shop and enjoyed some local apple strudel and a coffee….and a beer for me! Dinner on board this evening was at the Chef’s Table, the specialty restaurant on board. The Chef’s table consists of 6 tables of 4 with floor to ceiling glass windows offering a panoramic view from the back of the ship. There is a pre-set menu (choice of fish or filet of beef) paired with white and red wine (one choice of each), a welcome cocktail was also offered to us when we entered the restaurant. We enjoyed this dinner very much and we also got to meet new friends who remained table mates for the rest of the cruise.

Day 3 – Vienna – 7:30am

Midnight After breakfast we went on the Vienna City Tour, which consisted of 1 ½ hours by bus and a 1 hour walking tour of Vienna. What a beautiful city! We saw the Opera House, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the city’s historic center. In the afternoon we visited “Demel” and enjoyed the famous Sacher Torte, which was so good I purchased some to bring home! In the evening we chose to pay for the optional tour (61 Euros per person) to the Palais Auersperg to enjoy a Mozart and Strauss concert. The setting was spectacular and the musicians did an incredible job. What an enjoyable concert. Champagne was served at the intermission….how appropriate!

Day 4 – Durnstein – 7:30am – 1pm Melk – 4pm – 9:30pm

In Durnstein, we chose to take a walk around town as soon as we docked as we were very close to the town. What a beautiful and picturesque place. After our walk, we joined our tour which was an “Apricots and Sweets” tour. Who knew there were so many things that you could do with Apricots? After the phylloxera outbreak around 1900, Apricot trees were planted to make up for the loss of grapes and various products were made from them. We tasted Apricot jam, Apricot Schnapps, Apricot Brandy and Apricot seeds that had been roasted and coated with salt and chili and also chocolate! Delicious! I purchased a few items and have them at home with me. Of course, I had to taste a selection of Gruner Veltliners’s famous from the Wachau Valley region. I wanted to bring some back with me but alas, there was no way to transport these bottles back to the states. I really enjoyed this town and would like to come back and stay in Richard the Lionheart Hotel (located right on the river). Richard the Lionheart was once held captive in Kuenringer Castle here. There is an option for guests to take bicycles and ride along the Danube to Melk, which quite a few guests did. We caught glimpses of them as we sailed along the Danube and watched them peddling! In the afternoon we arrived in Melk and visited the famous Melk Abbey. What a magnificent building. Melk Abbey is one of Europe’s largest and most revered Baroque monastery founded in the 11th century. This magnificent Benedictine Abbey now hosts a museum and a historic library. We were lucky enough to see the senior librarian in action when we were there, locking books away. It reminded me of a scene from Harry Potter!

Day 5 – Linz

We stopped here in the morning to let the guests off who chose to do the full day excursion to Salzburg. Passau, Germany – 4:30pm – 9pm. We did the walking tour in Passau. Another incredibly interesting and beautiful town. Passau is known as the “City of Three Rivers” because the Danube, the Inn and the IIz rivers all converge here. The old town area is beautiful. We saw St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which houses one of the largest church pipe organs in the world (with 17,774 pipes and 233 registers!) Another interesting fact about Passau is that a large part of the city was flooded in 2013 by the Danube. You can see the water lines on the buildings. The inhabitable houses in the cobblestone alleys are now artists studios, where artists can work, rent free. Hopefully they can escape in time if there is another flood!

Day 6 – Regensburg, Germany – 2pm – 6pm

We enjoyed the day sailing down the Danube. The weather was amazing for the time of year. Blue Skies and no rain in sight for the whole 7 days. Beautiful vistas could be seen during the whole journey. Blankets were provided and hot drinks were passed around from time to time. In Regensburg we did the walking tour. The city is beautiful with medieval construction and also is the former home to our current Pope! We enjoyed walking over the old stone bridge and through old town as well as sampling sausages at one of the oldest restaurants in the world, the Regebsburg Sausage Kitchen, notable for it’s role in catering for the workers who built the bridge. We also tried German Dark beer and a pretzel. Very enjoyable indeed!

Day 7 – Nuremberg

This is where the cruise got interesting. Because of the low level of water in the Danube, the ship could not make it to Nuremberg but I was VERY impressed with AMAWaterways. They decided to send us on our tour, we packed our luggage and it was transported to the Grand Hotel Le Meridian where we stayed the night compliments of AMAWaterways. They also provided us with money for lunch and dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed our day (and night) in Nuremberg, visiting Hitler’s Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg Castle, and the market square as well as tasting Bratwurst, Lebkuchen (a local gingerbread delicacy) and drinking Rotbier. We had a nice evening at the hotel and enjoyed dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was a quality experience.

I was somewhat apprehensive of a river cruise at the beginning and though it may be boring., however, after this cruise I would thoroughly recommend a river cruise on the Danube with AmaWaterways. It is a very enjoyable way to experience the Danube and a great way to see lots of sights and cities along the way. You can do as little or as much as you like. There ship only holds 149 guests so it has a very intimate atmosphere where you can get to know your fellow guests on board. The crew did a great job and nothing was too much trouble for them. Having Free WIFI was a huge bonus for me. The WIFI signal was good for the most part of the cruise and enabled me to work when needed and catch up on e-mails. There was entertainment for most evenings and a pianist for the evenings that no local entertainment came on board.
Once you pay for your cruise, you have little to pay for on-board. If you have a few drinks in the evening you have to pay for them and the optional excursions as well as the gratuities at the end of the cruise.

Tours are separated by levels of difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Intermediate, Challenging & Difficult.

There are also four excursion levels: Gentle walkers, Regular Walkers, Active Walkers & Late Starters.

There is also a limited number of bicycles are available on board which should be reserved early.

Image source: On the Danube, in Passau, Germany PHOTO: AMA WATERWAYS