Danube River Cruising

Being a young company, Amawaterways is blessed with nearly new ships.  Their oldest vessel, the Amadagio, was launched in 2006, so at the time of writing it is barely two years old.

Their ships are all very similar, with only minor design tweaks between each one.

The cabins are all the same size (a roomy 170 sq ft) and with the same amenities, the only difference being the cabins on the middle and upper decks have floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors onto 'French balconies', whereas the bottom deck cabins have smaller regular windows.

The public areas on board - two lounges, the restaurant, the outside decks, a shop, fitness center, beauty salon, and other sundry areas - are all finished to a very high standard and the general ambience is relaxed while exuding an aura of quality.

It is not possible to show in the photos one of the finest features of all the Amawaterways ships - their wonderful crews.  These people are friendly, hard-working, well trained, and a delight to interact with.  They add enormously to the pleasure of the cruise.

They are generally young people in their 20s, and seem to come in large part from Hungary or other Eastern European countries.  They all speak good English.

We joined the ship in Nuremberg, then after sightseeing there cruised on to Regensburg, then continued on to Passau and in to Austria.

Like much of Germany, it takes a bit of an effort to filter out the new buildings in Nuremberg and to appreciate what remains of its historic past.  Much of most German cities was destroyed during Allied bombing missions in World War Two.

Nuremberg has a strong association with the Nazi Germany period.  As one of the most influential parts of Germany, and one of the most historic parts, Hitler wanted to put his mark on Nuremberg to affirm his role as Germany's new leader.

Regensburg is one of my favorite stops along the Danube.

The town was fortunate to suffer virtually no damage in World War II and so is perhaps Germany's best-preserved medieval city.  A pleasant walking tour took us around the heart of the town - a town enjoying a resurgence of fame as being Pope Benedict's chosen hometown.  He was a professor at the university, and his brother, who still lives there, was the Music Director at Regensburg Cathedral.  There are several different markets in the town, but for me, the best market - perhaps of the entire cruise - is the one five minutes further walk, set in the grounds of the impressive Thurn und Taxis Palace.  The craft market there features traditional handicrafts from the region, some of which are made in front of you, and wonderful meats (including wild boar) are spit-roasted in the food stalls

It is a good value city to eat in, and the Hungarian cuisine is excellent and appealing.  Most restaurants supplement their food with gypsy music, making for memorable and enjoyable evenings.

This last December, I was fortunate enough to sail on the AWW Amalegro as she sailed from Nuremburg to Budapest. The weather was cold and overcast but there was not a great deal of snow on the ground as yet. Boarding this lovely ship, greeted by smiling crew handing out hot spiced wine to warm us up, we instantly forgot the cold outside. The welcome was quick and efficient,  the cabin, with floor-to-ceiling, sliding French doors, was spacious, modern and inviting. The ship, carrying only 98 passengers, was well-appointed and very easy to navigate. Meals on board were very fresh and well-prepared. Dinners were joyfull affairs as the complimentary wine was served without restraint.

The Christmas markets became increasingly larger and larger as we moved from city to city. Local sweets and savouries filled the air with tantalizing fragrances. And oh, did I mention the 'gluwein'? It flowed from early in the morning to late at night in all the markets and while locals seemed to be imbibing with little visible effects, our group found it quite potent. Crafts galore, again reflecting the local market specialties made this perfect for finding something special for the hard-to-please someone back home.  The stops into places like Nuremburg, Passau, Regensburg, Linz and Melk were outstanding in terms of history and culture but my favorite places for the Christmas markets were Vienna and surprisingly, Budapest. Vienna is such a lovely baroque city bustling with Christmas shoppers and stunningly beautiful with its Christmas lights on display. Budapest for having my favorite Christmas market. This market was established only a decade a ago, but now is massive. It is filled with some truly outstanding crafts, many of them reflecting a very ancient culture. There were bow makers, lovingly carving and shaping wooden bows. There were leather makers, book binders, and sculpters. Huge frying pans sizzled with unknown varieties of sausages, cabbage rolls and fried potatoes. Absolutely fabulous journey!