2023 Danube River Cruise

[abdgeek]

I just returned from the July 2nd ABD Danube River Cruise (Budapest to Vilhofsen) and had a great time. This was my first River Cruise, but it won’t be my last. I’m not doing a trip report, but will answer any questions people have. Jillian, George, Joshua and Jana were our ABD guides and AmaWaterways did a great job with everything. Below are some of my observations about our cruise:

• Based on what the guides said, this was one of the few trips where the pre and post hotels were changed to the Kozmo & the Charles. I’m not sure why they were changed, but I much preferred the location of the pre/post hotels I chose (Marriott Budapest & Platzl Hotel).
• So that guests could maximize their time in Budapest on embarkation day, they were allowed to take the provided transfers (11am, 1 pm, 2:30pm) or get to the boat by 4pm.
• Dinner each night was held a lot later than I expected and normally took 1.5 to 2 hours. Other than our night in Vienna when we had an evening activity, dinner normally started sometime between 7 and 8 pm. Any evening entertainment was after that.
• Most of the sites we visited had free bathrooms, but not all. Where the bus parked for the Durenstein tour had pay bathrooms which cost 1 euro. Bathrooms in town also cost. However, I found it interesting that you could also use credit cards at the pay bathrooms at the Durenstein bus parking—this was the only place where I saw this option. I’m not sure if you could in town.
• AmaWaterways did an awesome job with dietary restrictions. I’m lactose intolerant and was able to have everything on the menu—just in a lactose free version when necessary. On the excursions, some places were better able to provide alternatives than others, but I was always able to find enough to eat and never went hungry.
• Two glass bottles of water were provided in the stateroom and replaced as you consumed them. Bottles of water were provided for guests to take on excursions, as well as some fruit. Some people used their ABD water bottles, but most did not. There was a small refrigerator in the room, but not a lot of drawer storage. I used the small nightstand drawers to store some items just so I could unpack more.
  

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Curious, did you find that you were able to choose whichever experience in each port you wanted? I've heard that on some ABD experiences people were not able to go on their preferred excursion because it was full. How did this work for you on an ABD river cruise?

 

[chuff88]

I'll be at The Platzl hotel for our pre-night for the Germany ABD and the first few nights with the group - what did you think? Did you try any of the restaurants there?

 

[Eastridge]

How many guests were on your cruise? I see you had 4 Adventure Guides. Our Rhine cruise had 6.

 

[abdgeek]

Curious, did you find that you were able to choose whichever experience in each port you wanted? I've heard that on some ABD experiences people were not able to go on their preferred excursion because it was full. How did this work for you on an ABD river cruise?

Yes. I was able to choose every excursion I wanted, but wound up changing some later once I consulted with the guides.

During embarkation check in with the adventure guides at the pre-hotel, guests were asked to complete a Google form picking their excursions. The form listed each day and the excursion options. Unfortunately, the first couple of days, the guides had to remind guests that they couldn’t just show up for an excursion because numbers had already been sent to vendors based on the google forms. They gave guests an option to amend their forms if needed.

The guides were really good, when asked, about honestly sharing the physical level of the excursions. Unfortunately, I don’t think some of the excursion summaries adequately explained the level of fitness required. I originally picked the Durenstein hike and Tree Path tours. I even watched a video on the hike and it looked doable. However, once we got to Durenstein and started hiking to the town from the bus park, I knew I wouldn’t make it to the castle ruin. Thankfully, one of the local guides gave myself and another guest a tour of the town while everyone else hiked. By the end of our tour, there were several other people who had decided not to complete the hike. Those that did said that it was very strenuous and up a very steep slope. I also did the brewery instead of the Tree Path Kopfing once the guides confirmed that there were a lot of steps and steep inclines. After routinely walking about 15,000 steps a day, there was no way I was going to go up and down steps if I didn’t have to!

 

[abdgeek]

I'll be at The Platzl hotel for our pre-night for the Germany ABD and the first few nights with the group - what did you think? Did you try any of the restaurants there?

I loved the Platzl. The only issue I had was that there was no drawer storage in the room, just a couple of hangers. I had to live out of my suitcase instead of being able to unpack some things for my multi day stay.

The hotel is in a great location and there are some great restaurants near it and the closest metro stop is in the Marienplatz. Some of the restaurants where I ate were: Hofbrauhaus (behind the hotel), Hard Rock Cafe (same location), and Jan restaurant. They also have a great breakfast buffet with both German and American cuisines.

Munich has Uber, so when I wasn’t walking or taking public transit to get around that was my transport of choice. You can also book a taxi through the uber app.

Apparently, tipping works differently in Germany. You don’t have to tip, but some waiters will ask you to. Most of the time I found this to be true if I paid with a credit card. Feel free to tell them no if you don’t think they earned one. They can be more brisk in their service, so don’t take it personally. If you do decide to tip, it’s usually only 1 or 2 euro and you will need to ask them for the bill (they won’t just bring it). Your ABD guides will give you more guidance. I was surprised that Apple Pay was generally accepted in places where credit cards were accepted—no need to pull out the actual card. However, there will be some places where only cash is accepted.

 

[abdgeek]

How many guests were on your cruise? I see you had 4 Adventure Guides. Our Rhine cruise had 6.

I want to say that we had about 120 guests. Some people reported having their rooms upgraded when they boarded since the boat wasn’t full.

 

[sayhello]

Curious, did you find that you were able to choose whichever experience in each port you wanted? I've heard that on some ABD experiences people were not able to go on their preferred excursion because it was full. How did this work for you on an ABD river cruise?

The Danube River cruise is not one of the ones that has an issue with excursions filling up. None of the Danube excursions have limits as to the number of people that can participate, and they'll just break the group up into smaller groups if necessary, depending on how many sign up for each activity.

Sayhello

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

The Danube River cruise is not one of the ones that has an issue with excursions filling up. None of the Danube excursions have limits as to the number of people that can participate, and they'll just break the group up into smaller groups if necessary, depending on how many sign up for each activity.

Sayhello

Good to know. I still don't really understand exactly what you are supposed to do if you book an ABD regarding excursions. I've always heard one of the selling points ABD is to show up on the first day and pick what you want to do - no planning needed. If those excursions are full before you even get a chance to sign up, how is this system working?

 

[sayhello]

Good to know. I still don't really understand exactly what you are supposed to do if you book an ABD regarding excursions. I've always heard one of the selling points ABD is to show up on the first day and pick what you want to do - no planning needed. If those excursions are full before you even get a chance to sign up, how is this system working?

The only ABDs that you need to pick excursions ahead of time for are the Rhine River Cruise and the Seine River Cruise. And that's just because a few of the excursions are limited as to the number of people they can accommodate. Assuming it still works the same way it has, ABD will contact you a few weeks ahead of your trip, and you will work with the Vacationista to select your excursions at that time. If any of the excursions have filled up before you get a chance to sign up for it, you will be able to sign up for one of the other excursions offered at the same time. If this has changed, I'm sure someone will speak up here.

For regular land ABDs, there is no selection of excursions necessary. You just show up and do whatever the group is doing. Occasionally they will have a choice of excursions if one is particularly strenuous or something like that, but you will discuss that with your Adventure Guides when you meet with them on the first day of your ABD.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

I'm happy you had a good time! A few questions if you don't mind answering:

1. How was the food on the ship? Did you ever eat in port with your ABD group, or were all included meals on the ship?

2. What drinks were included? Specifically wondering about soda and alcohol.

3. How long were the port stops, and were you on guided activities the whole time or was there built in on your own time?

 

[abdgeek]

I'm happy you had a good time! A few questions if you don't mind answering:

1. How was the food on the ship? Did you ever eat in port with your ABD group, or were all included meals on the ship?

2. What drinks were included? Specifically wondering about soda and alcohol.

3. How long were the port stops, and were you on guided activities the whole time or was there built in on your own time?

1. IMO, the food was great. There was a variety of food (with a menu) in the main dining room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. There was typically an entree of the day at breakfast, but you didn’t have to order it. If your morning excursion lasted during lunch, lunch was provided off the ship for you. If you decided to leave the ship once it docked on your own for any meal, you could eat in town at your own expense. There were early/late risers pastries and late night snack each day in the lounge. I didn’t partake of them.

2. Unlimited non-alcoholic (yes bottled water counts, soda, etc.) and alcoholic beverages were included during lunch and dinner. Sip & Sail (happy hour) was held everyday at a specific time. Only the drink of the day was free at that time. Anything else was put on your stateroom account—they had a menu—; However, that didn’t keep guests from ordering what they wanted even if they had to pay for it. Self serve coffee (machine with different types) and hot tea were available all day in the lounge.

3. The length of the port stops varied. On the nights when entertainment came on the ship, the boat typically didn’t leave until they left. Some days, the boat let us off in one port in the morning for excursions and then moved to another port where we met up with the boat. You either had a morning and afternoon tour or just one tour that lasted all day. In Vienna, there’s also an evening tour.

I guess you could say you can have as much OYO time as you want. If you decide not to do an excursion, you are OYO until the next event. You can spend that time on the boat or on shore (depending on where the boat is docked). You will get a Daily Adventurer each evening and the guides do a quick brief before dinner to let you know the logistics for the next day. If you decide to stay on the boat, they let you know what time the boat will leave port so that you can decide if there’s time to sightsee on your own. If we were in the city center, we were probably given at most 1 hour of souvenir shopping time while we were on our walking tour (think magnets, postcards, etc). Most places had the same type of souvenirs, just with different names on them.

 

[georgiagirl2]

Abdgeek, we were on the June 18 Danube ABD. We had the same guides as you and thought they were excellent! Our trip had 96 adventurers, so a somewhat smaller group. I was concerned we wouldn't like a river cruise as much as the land ABDs we've taken, but I found that I loved having choices of excursions instead of everyone doing the same things.

I agree that the guides were honest and accurate in their descriptions of how strenuous certain excursions were. My MIL traveled with us and they helped guide her to activities that involved less walking. She also chose to remain on the ship some afternoons and enjoyed the personal attention from the Ama staff during her downtime.

We thought the meals on the ship were far better than the main dining rooms on the Disney cruises. And the chef's table experience was very special for my MIL's bday celebration.

Budapest was a beautiful city and I wish we'd had a couple more pre-nights there instead of just one. We added additional nights in Germany at the end.

It was such a good experience that I'm considering another ABD river cruise before I do another itinerary with them.

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

I'm wondering how does tipping work on an ABD river cruise vs a normal ABD trip since there are more guides?

 

[sayhello]

I'm wondering how does tipping work on an ABD river cruise vs a normal ABD trip since there are more guides?

Because it's more complex and confusing, etc, the Adventure Guides' tips are included for the River Cruises.

Sayhello

 

[Donalyn]

On my June Rhine ABD river cruise, during the Sip and Sail happy hour ALL alcoholic drinks were free, not just the drink of the day.

(We basically only paid for a little laundry and like 2 drinks during the whole week.)

 

[TikiThunderPirates]

Because it's more complex and confusing, etc, the Adventure Guides' tips are included for the River Cruises.

Sayhello

Do people not do "extra" tips or little gifts for the guides on River cruises then?

 

[abdgeek]

Do people not do "extra" tips or little gifts for the guides on River cruises then?

I’m not sure how many people did. As @sayhello said, the gratuities were already included for all the staff, including the adventure guides. When someone asked, we were told that we could give additional tips if we wanted.

 

[abdgeek]

On my June Rhine ABD river cruise, during the Sip and Sail happy hour ALL alcoholic drinks were free, not just the drink of the day.

(We basically only paid for a little laundry and like 2 drinks during the whole week.)

That’s awesome. I wonder why ours was different. Maybe it was what some people were ordering? I stuck with the drink of the day and whatever was available with the meals, so I never paid anything extra.

 

[sayhello]

Do people not do "extra" tips or little gifts for the guides on River cruises then?

You don't know ahead of time how many Adventure Guides you will have (it varies based on how many people are on the cruise, and may be based on other variables, too - maybe number and ages of kids, etc? Who knows?) so it would be hard to prepare for little gifts ahead of time or carry enough cash if you wanted to do tips that way. You absolutely *can* do those things (tips aren't forbidden, they're just not expected), but I don't know if anyone did or not.

Sayhello