Name of Advisor
Lisa Devaney
Destination
Danube River Cruise
Accommodations and/or DMC/On Site
Ritz Carlton Budapest
AmaWaterways-AmaViola-Melodies of the Danube
How to get to
I flew Lufthansa from Boston to Budapest via Munich and non stop Munich to Boston
Recommended For (families, couples, corporate, celebrations, etc)
Perfect for couples, corporate, celebrations they do take children but there are no childrens programs and I would recommend if traveling with children they be older.
Not-to-be-Missed Experience or Activity
AmaWaterways offers biking tours, hiking tours and walking tours.
On the walking tours they offer "gentle walker" or "regular/active walker".
Which ever you choose you are sure to see the highlights of each port and each experience is different based on the chosen activity.
This itinerary started in Budapest and ports included, Bratsilva, Slovakia, Vienna, Weissenkirchen, Grien, linz/Salzburg, Pssau Germany and Vilshofen.
Favorite culinary aspect of the hotel or region
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are included as well as afternoon tea each day at 4:00pm and light fare in the lounge at 10:30pm each evening.
There is no room service. I would suggest while out during the day to puchase snacks to keep in your stateroom if you like to have something bewteen meals.
There is ample time each day to have lunch or a coffee and pastry at the cozy cafes in each port.
They offer a chefs table which is a 7 course meal with wine paring for each course.
Wine and beer is included at meals and a sip and sail with complimentary cocktails are service for 1 hour each day usually around 6pm.
Favorite Wellness aspect of the hotel or region
The ship has a small spa and fitness room, but for the active traveler you cant beat the biking or hiking excursions.
There are many thermal spas in Hungry and I did a tay trip to Szechenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest. It is is one of the best and largest spa baths in Europe with its 15 indoor baths and 3 grand outdoor pools.
The warm water comes from natural hot springs. These hot springs come from deep in the ground, heated geothermal activity, which is natural heat emanating from the earth.
They are open year round and the wam waters are believed to be good to help pain relief and, and the antioxidant effects that may be helpful for people with inflammatory conditions like arthritis.
Favorite amenity
The best feature of river cruising is pulling right up to the dock and being steps away from the beautiful cities/villages in your itinerary.
The AmaViola also has a small top deck pool. The water is very warm is is perfect for an evening dip watching the incredible evening skyline of each city.
Kudos to: refers to a guide, chef, member of hotel team, etc. that went out of their way
Kristin Kurst attned the ASTA River Cruise Expo that I attend for the first 4 days. She is the co-owner of AmaWaterays and is accesable and engaging. I had many oppurtunites to speak with her about the AmaWaterways brand.
Onboard, the cruise director Dragon was wonderful and all the front desk agents were very accomodating. They assisted me with a replacement hairdryer and flat iron that I was able to keep for the entire journey.
Additional Remarks
I highly recommend AmaWaterways. They are comitted to travel advisors and their product is top notch. The experience of river cruising exceeded my expecations and I found it the perfect way to travel through various countries with smooth sailing and the feeling that they are always there to assist you should you need anything.
They are very flexible with changing excursions should you change your mind even up to the day before your chosen excursion. They always make room for you which is fantastic.
Please list the Virtuoso amenities and any other special touches they add for our clients
Exclusive Benefits -
$100 USD Shipboard Credit Per Person
AmaWaterways: Virtuoso Guests will enjoy $100 USD shipboard credit per person; limit $200 USD per stateroom on select sailings
To plan a trip, contact lisa@travellustre.com