A new experience awaits every day on a luxury river cruise! You will explore different cities each day and enjoy different types and duration of excursions. While the scenery changes continuously, a typical day on-board a luxury river cruise would look something like our recent experience on AmaWaterways’ luxurious AmaLea ship as we sailed on the Danube River.
Morning
Wake up at about 6:30 AM and join the wellness coach for morning stretching for 30 minutes on the sundeck or lounge depending on the weather. Eat a delicious buffet breakfast in the main restaurant. Then pick up your colored card from the reception desk that designates your tour group.
The morning tours normally start at 9:00 or 9:30 AM. The tours meet on shore, next to where the ship has docked. Don’t forget to scan your key card when you disembark so the crew knows you have left the ship. On shore you will find the tour guide that is holding the “lollipop” that matches the color on your card. At this point, you can activate your personal listening device (your tour guide will help you).
The listening device is a radio receiver with headphones. The device is tuned to just receive your tour guide, so you only hear his or her voice in your ear. I love this technology as you can always hear the tour guide and you have some freedom to move around and take photos. The device comes with an earpiece and lanyard to wear the device around your neck. I am picky about earpiece so I used my own headphones and it worked perfectly. Also, I am not a fan of hanging things around my neck and looking like a tourist, so I placed the device in my cross-body bag.
There are a number of tours to choose from: bike tours, castle hikes, tasting local food and drinks, and overview tours. There are also different tour paces. The general overview tour normally consists of gentle or regular pace options. So, there is something for everyone. The tours vary in size from about 6 to 15 people. The hikes and faster pace tours normally have smaller groups. The tours last between 2 to 4 hours with some free time to go shopping or explore on your own.
After the morning tour, you return to the ship scanning your key card on the way in and return the color card to the reception desk. When you return you are greeted with a refreshing drink and cool towel.
Afternoon
The afternoon starts with a delicious buffet in the main restaurant or a light lunch in the lounge.
The afternoons are varied depending on the day and where you are sailing. For example, in Budapest, Linz, and Vienna we didn’t sail until late afternoon or evening. We took the opportunity in Budapest to go on an active wellness walk to Gellert Hill, take another tour in Linz, and have free time in Vienna.
On the other days, we had scenic sailing so we either sat on the sun deck or in the lounge and watched the beautiful scenery. If you would like to be active, the wellness host always has activities such as a digestive walk around the sun deck, standing stretching, and circuit training.
If you are feeling hungry, there is tea time at about 3:30 PM. Tea time consists of little sandwiches and delicious cakes and pastries in the lounge. However, one day we had an ice cream party and another day we had Kaisersoritzer and onion tart.
Evening
The evening starts with a sip and sail cocktail party in the lounge. There is a cocktail of the day such as a cosmopolitan, lemon daiquiri, appletini, etc. If you don’t like cocktails there is also beer and wine. This is the perfect time to catch up with fellow guests and learn about how they spent the day.
After cocktail hour, either head down to the main dining room for a 4-course meal or to the chef’s table for a 7-course meal. I loved the food and really appreciated that they included local dishes, so we could experience the local flavors.
After dinner, we normally retired to our room to rest for the next day. However, there is entertainment in the lounge with the on-board musician or a local entertainer. Then at 10:30 PM, there are late-night snacks in the lounge. In Vienna, there is the opportunity to have an early dinner and then go to a Mozart and Strauss concert.
Luxury river cruises have much to offer the discerning traveler. Are you ready to sail the Danube? Another river perhaps? How about the Rhine? River cruises are offered throughout the rivers of the world — not just Europe! Contact us today to start planning your next trip.