Amadeus River Cruise Recap - April 30 - May 7
Amadeus Cruise Recap
My husband and I traveled on the Amsterdam – Basel cruise on Amadeus Cara from April 30 – May 7. Since this cruise line is not as frequently booked/traveled as Viking or AMA by US guests I thought it might be useful to write up a recap of the experience for other agents and clients. You can see photos of the ship here.
COMMON AREAS:
Overall the “hard product” i.e. the ship itself is a 5 star product. The layout is pretty traditional for a river cruise ship with a large common area/bar on the 2nd floor forward (Panorama Bar) with a small outdoor seating area and a second small indoor lounge aft (Amadeus Club) that was much less used. The restaurant is located one deck down and has tables that can be arranged to seat 2, 4, 6 people and larger groups. The groups on our cruise tended to have several tables of 6. The top outside deck had outdoor chairs, small groupings with tables and sun shades. There were also 4 bicycles that could be used by guests. Furniture throughout the ship was comfortable and in good condition. The ship has a small fitness room (surprisingly well used), a hair salon and a room with one massage/treatment bed. An elevator is available between the lowest deck and Deck 3 but does not go up to the sun deck. This is important to know as sometimes guests had to leave the ship from the uppermost deck and this presented challenges to guests who required wheelchairs. Language spoken onboard is German and English for announcements. Crew language facility is English although levels vary.
CABINS
The cabins (3 categories) are well appointed and comfortably spacious. C cabins are on the bottom deck with a small window, a work area and a chair. All B and A level cabins are the same size and have the same layout with a sliding glass window and 2 chairs. The difference in price has to do with the location on the ship. Avoid cabins towards the back. I think cabins on the 2nd floor deck are quieter than on the 3rd deck but views are a bit less expansive. The standard stateroom has the double/2 twin set up with two chairs and pull down windows. No balconies. Bathrooms are roomy with showers (handheld and “standard’) with great water pressure. Refillable “Rituals” shampoo and bath gel in the shower with small bottles of conditioner and soap for those who want. In the bathroom there is good storage space, marble counters. A small hair dryer is available in the cabin. Bedside there are European outlets and USB outlets. There are reading lights and bedside lights. The overall lighting for the cabin is halogen with some technology issues – i.e. lights don’t always go on when pressed, or turn off at the first attempt. The cabins also have a small mini-fridge that comes pre-stocked with beverages (for a charge). There is a good sized walk in closet with good storage, a safe and plenty of hangars. Overall there was plenty of room for what we brought with us and our luggage stored easily under the bed. Suite level cabins offer more space which I think is worth the extra money and would probably appeal most to US clients. The additional space included a small couch, a chair, a writing desk and a small balcony where there was a small chair (only 1 person can sit comfortably). At the end of the bed there was a bench. Besides the additional space the cabin included a small mini refrigerator and in-room coffee machine.
Housekeeping came 2x daily in the morning and in the evening for turn-down service and did a nice job of cleaning the cabin. Towels are replaced if left on the floor or bed. They DID have washcloths. In the evening the next day’s cruise program was laid out on the bed. I think a turndown treat such as a small chocolate should have been left on/beside the bed – for a “luxury” product that was a miss. Occasionally there was a small treat left in the room (every 2nd or 3rd day) like fruit, small cake etc… but I think a smaller treat daily would have been better.
FOOD/BEVERAGE
Breakfast was served buffet style with a wide variety of options including breads, cheeses, meats, cereals, yoghurts, juices and varying warm egg dishes along with bacon etc… Guests can also order special items including omelets, pancakes and other dishes off of an a la carte menu. Breakfast was served daily from 7-9 and they wanted you out of the dining room at 9 offering a continental breakfast option in the lounge from 9-10 for those who slept in. At lunch you could opt for a multi-course plated lunch in the dining room or a simpler lunch of salads and small sandwiches and one hot dish up in the Panorama lounge area. Dinner was always a multi course plated affair that included an appetizer/salad, soup, main course and dessert. Beer, wine, water and soft drinks were included at no additional charge at lunch and dinner. Overall the food quality was very good and nicely presented. Portions were small but with multiple courses it was enough food. You could also order a Ceasar salad or pasta in lieu of the offered menu at lunch or dinner.
Service – Dining Room and Bar
Unfortunately the dining room and bar service is where Amadeus really fell short, primarily due to the inconsistency of the service levels and vast gaps in experience of client-facing crew. The service team was primarily from Indonesia and were friendly and eager to please but were hampered by both the service “processes” and in some cases simple lack of experience. Both the bar and dining room were understaffed at peak times leading to long waits to get a drink from the bar or between courses at meals. There were often gaps of at least 20 minutes between the first table receiving one course and the last table to receive the same course. Between serving and clearing plates this led to long gaps between courses. The entire waitstaff would disappear at times into the kitchen (again due to serving or clearing) leaving no one on the floor to refill beverages or follow up with additional requests. I would have liked to have seen at least one, ideally 2 team members out in the dining room at all times to refill beverages and “gap fill” We had issues with spilled trays of beverages on almost a nightly basis. There were also language barriers so we saw a number of mistaken beverage orders during cocktail hour (no free cocktails on Amadeus – you pay for your beverages during this time unlike AMA’s Sip and Sail). On a mainstream ship it’s probably fine, but Amadeus positions itself as luxury and the service levels fell far below expectations. There were certainly standout crew members who had several seasons under their belt and the ship needs more of them.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
One nice thing on Amadeus is that you can choose whether or not you want to participate in shore excursions. The cost of shore excursions is not included. For the most part we opted to tour independently but a few times, due to the location of our ship’s docking ports in some cities, we needed the excursions in order to get to the areas we wanted to visit (i.e visit Heidelberg when the ship is docked in Mannheim). We experienced excellent and average guides. Groups were divided by language. There were no accommodations made as far as we could tell for physical ability.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Amadeus is a nice option for guests who want more of an international, independent/customized experience. Shore excursions, beverage packages etc… are not included. Crew gratuities WERE included in our fare and we opted to tip extra to exceptional crew members. Clients should be prepared for a more international clientele than you would normally find on other cruise lines such as VIKING or AMA. On our sailing there were several groups from Norway, Austria, Hong Kong and other individual guests from Israel, Canada, the US, South Africa and Greece. Of the total guests US guests represented about 15% of the total guests onboard. The clientele skews older (not surprising) with most guests in their late 60s and 70s. On our sailing there were a few guests in their 30’s but they were mostly sailing with extended families. We had about 6 passengers who required mobility chairs or scooters on our sailing. While the cruise line positions itself as a luxury product I would likely NOT put a luxury oriented guest on this ship due to the service levels I experienced onboard. The overall “hard product” is very nice – the towels and linens could do with an upgrade if trying to appeal to a 5-star guest. Comforters were standard issue and pillows varied in quality. Towels could also use an upgrade for 5-star guests as well as ensuring there are fresh robes and slippers in every cabin. Furniture, carpets, paint etc… were all in excellent condition.
Food is very good but more like a fancy hotel banquet style – all quite pretty, but most of it tasting quite similar. Portions are small so some people opted to order “double” portions. The lunch and dinner services were LONG and late. We usually didn’t start dinner until 7:30 or 7:45pm and it took nearly 2 hours. The quickest meals onboard are the breakfast buffet and “light lunch” option in the Panorama bar. There are NO options available for any form of room service. During the day there was a coffee machine (often out of order) and a water machine located in the Amadeus Club along with bar service for cocktails. The bar was often unstaffed (non-peak hours) or understaffed (peak hours). While we were “go with the flow” and most of this didn’t bother us, I think travelers who have cruised on other river cruise lines, or have more service-oriented expectations would be disappointed.
Overall we enjoyed our cruise and I would recommend the cruise line with the noted reservations.