By the time my husband and I thought of a river cruise for a wedding anniversary we already had enough of ocean liners gigantomania and clearly knew each drawback of a sea voyage. Though, we find it very exciting to see different places at one go - that’s a huge advantage of any water travel. Applying value for money approach to the desired dates (12.11-19.11) and destination (Basel-Amsterdam) we made our choice - Amawaterways. The ship meant to carry us along the route was AmaStella, if not the low water level on the Rhine, due to which we later moved to AmaKristina.

Getting ready for our maiden river voyage was full of doubt - will a small ship be comfortable enough? shall we need to share a table with some fellow passengers during meals? what if we in our early 40s feel a bit too young for such cruise? In fact, there were dozens of people younger than we, including passengers and staff members - thus, we are not too young. Never we had to share a table with anybody else. Surprisingly, I had much more private space onboard AmaWaterways ships than I ever had on any ocean cruise liner, - needless to say that sun deck in November is a paradise for misanthropes.)

Food onboard Amawaterways was of rather good 4* quality. I cannot share negative opinions - with rare exceptions it was perfectly acceptable. I wonder how can one expect to have a truly high-end cuisine onboard a cruise ship, if presumably all fish and meats are defrosted? We did not seek Michelin stars experience and were completely satisfied. Read more