Pat & I boarded the Amalegro in Paris yesterday in near freezing temperatures (we even had snow flurries the day before.) It's like the PARIS cruise but without the Christmas markets. This is the boat's first cruise of the season and we're doing a B to B. The first segment is Paris to Paris with visits including Honfleur & Normandy beaches. We then get flown to Lisbon for 4 days in a hotel and then a week on the Duro River in Portugal & Spain. The internet is far faster than on Regent and the food has been very good so far and the bar prices are very reasonable. other than being cold, it should be a great trip.

love the river boats

We sailed the Seine until around 11:00am when de docked at the town on Vernon in Normandy. We boarded a bus and went to Chateau De Bizy, which was originally built in the 1500s and destroyed during the French Revolution. The stables, which can house 60 horses, originate from 1740 but the rest of the chateau was built in the 1800s. It is a former royal residence of King Louis XV, the Duke of Penthievre and King Louis-Philippe, the last king of France who died in 1830. It has since been owned by the dukes of Albufera, descendants of the brothers of Napoleon Bonaparte. The current owner is a descendant of Marechal (Marshal) Suchet. The furniture had all been sold by past generations and the valuable tapestries were hidden away when the Nazis used it as a headquarters. Mush of the original or similar furniture was repurchased after WWII and furnishes the public viewing areas. It hasn’t yet opened for the 2013 season so we had a private tour, 2 groups of 15, and had no crowds to distract us. The carved panel walls were impressive as was an ornate wood stairway going square shaped up 2 floors. The gardens cover 240 acres and have several fountains giving the chateau the nickname the Versailles of Normandy. Since the snow has only been gone for 2 weeks, the gardens haven’t been planted and the fountains are empty, however it is still a spectacular place to visit. Following our 2½ hour visit we went back into Vernon to wander on our own for 1½ hours. Normally the ship would have remained there until we returned, but the lock keepers weren’t going to work Saturday evening or Easter day so the ship went through the locks to Les Andelys and we had to wait until it got there, hence the extra free time in Vernon. Vernon was founded in the 9th century by Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy and a=was incorporated into the Kingdom of France and the castle was fortified by King Philip III Agustus (1180 – 1223) but only the archives tower remains. It’s close to Giverny where Monet’s house is located. Unfortunately Monet’s extensive gardens haven’t been planted for the season and there are none of his original paintings there. People who took that tour were very disappointed and it appears that we got the better deal of the day. Once we got back on the ship, we sailed down river to Rouen where we docked at 11:00pm.
we found out that 80% of the crew is new, mostly from Hungary & Bulgaria, and 70% of the guests are first time river cruisers so we're having lots of fun watching all the goof ups from all the newbies.

thanks for the full report

Nice to hear about. This is a trip I would consider.

According to TV weather forecasters, yesterday was the coldest Easter on record in northern Europe. The Moscow river is still frozen and I hope it thaws before our river cruise there in 5 weeks.

The food on AMA has improved dramatically since we sailed them 2 & 3 years ago. Although there isn't as large a variety as on Regent, the quality has been as good and the selections excellent. Even Ngaire would find something to order off the main selections instead of reverting to hamburgers.

Thanks for the reports Jim!!

There were only 2 couples doing the back to back Seine & Douro and it turned out that 2 other couples did Rhine & Douro. The B2B is a new product and ours was the first one. It wasn't well enough advertized because several people commented that they weren't aware of it. The package is well priced with both cruises costing less than each individually and our airfare from Paris to Lisbon and 4 nights in the hotel cost less than the 3 day pre cruise package. Since we were in Lisbon a day ahead of the pre cruise group, we had a private tour for 4 of us the first day and then joined with the other 25 for the next 3 days. There were included tours every day and optional ones to purchase. The Amavida is a new ship (this was its 3rd week) and the ship is owned by Douroazul, which also employs the crew and owns the buses. They seem to have a monopoly on the Douro cruises because all the other companies, such as Uniworld & Vantage also were run by Douroazul and the cruise companies charter or lease them. Because of this, gratuities must be paid in cash.
The ship is well laid out with larger cabins and all of decks 2 & 3 have real, but small, balconies. We liked the room layout and there was plenty of storage and space to move around. The bathrooms are great. The ship only holds 106 passengers and there isn't a rear "Pooch Lounge", but the regular lounge is spacious and there is plenty of seating. The restaurant can hold more than 106 so there were always open tables. The buses used for tours are new and have great legroom.
Ama offers 2 Douro cruise versions: the standard and the wine tasting. We did the wine tasting and you are tasting wine and / or port every day, often 2 or 3 different times. Wine at the meals flows freely and, even with doing 2 weeks worth of laundry we couldn't use up the shipboard credit because you get so much free wine with the tastings & meals you don't have much room for purchased drinks. The Douro trip is well worth it even if you don't do a B2B.
Rudi Schreiner, CEO and Co-Owner of Ama Waterways, was on board for the first 4 or 5 days and said that Ama is looking at many new places to run cruises. Myanmar is expected to start up in 2014 and they have even looked at the Amazon.
Jim

Thanks, Jim. We love Portugal and would definitely consider this trip.
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Helen

I met a lady on our flight back from Lisbon who was on the same cruise as you. She had nothing but great things to say about it.

We’ve been on board the Amakatarina in Moscow for 21/2 days and tonight we begin the river cruise to St Petersburg. The ship is much larger than other Ama ships, longer and 4 decks high. The food has been really good, steaks properly medium rare and pink through, salads wonderful and only the soups seem to be Russian recipes. I wish there were more Russian selections on the menus. It’s been sunny with temperatures in the upper 70s so it’s been a great trip so far. It’s a holiday week so Moscow wasn’t crowded and we really got to enjoy the sights.
Jim

Wow...the only way that they would cook our steaks when we were on board was well done. It was the rule...shoe leather.

Things are always changing they must have found some way to get around the Russian Restrictions. That is GREAT news I loved the cruise really only issue for me was the food.

We heard a logical reason for your overcooked meat on TSARS. A woman from Ama Paris office is on board and we commented on your food problems. She said that last year and the year before there was a meat contamination problem in Russia and all restaurants in Russia were required to cook all meat well done to kill off potential bacteria. It was embarrassing to Ama and they had many complaints. The restrictions are gone now.
The food on this trip has been excellent and the soups are outstanding. A new Ama feature is that each night on your pillow is a 3" x 6" card with a recipe of one of the country's food from the day's lunch or dinner menu with the ingredients and preparation method. We'll be trying French, Portuguese & Russian recipes when we get home.
So far the weather has been sunny and temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s making this a really enjoyable cruise.
Jim

Great to hear there have been positive improvements in the food for you!

We're home from our 9 week European trip which included 3 Ama Waterways cruises, the final one being Moscow to St Petersburg on the AmaKatarina. Although our food was far better than reported on Tsars, it still isn't up to Western Europe Ama cuisine. Even though the meat wasn't overcooked, they have inferior quality and they try to "Westernize" it. The lunch time stews, stroganoff, goulash & chicken in a gravy were very tasty and they should concentrate on that type of selection at dinner. The soups & salads were very good and breakfast was plentiful. 2 meals we had off the ship as part of the full day tours were excellent. The borscht on the ship was good but the borschts we had in towns had more pork and flavor in them. The wine on board was good. They had Spanish & Australian occasionally but the Russian Cabernet was very good and we drank that at the bar as well (after the Russian vodka starter of course.)

It was the first cruise of the season and a lot of the crew were new and still learning. After 6 months or more of not speaking English they were a bit rusty but tried really hard. The onboard guides & cruise director spoke excellent English and did an excellent job. Other than one cold morning in St Petersburg, the weather couldn't have been better. It was sunny & warm every day and the small towns we visited were a real treat.

There was a restaurant at the dock where we were tied up in St Petersburg and we ate there one night. It was an Azerbaijan restaurant and the food & wine were excellent.

9 weeks--a dream

Hi Jim, glad the experience in Russia was better than ours food wise. I have to agree that the stroganoff and goulash were excellent and i believe the salads were very fresh too. The senior management on the ship was poor, but the rest of the crew worked very hard for us and were lovely. Nine weeks! Would love to do that.