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Discover all you need to know about doing a European river cruise with AmaWaterways. In this video I explore the 8 Things you really need to know before cruising with them. Things like who they are, what type of river cruising experience they offer, what the fare includes and excludes, dress codes, facilities, dining options and excursion choices.
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you're about to discover eight things
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that I think you really need to know if
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you're thinking of or planning going on
0:06
a river cruise in Europe with our
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waterways hi I'm Gary beverage and this
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is another of my tips for travelers
0:13
amaura waterways is a family-owned
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company that was established in 2002 and
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still run by the families he was set up
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by rudy Schrader
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Kristin cast and Jimmy Murphy and waters
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is very much a luxury river cruise line
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operating in the more premium and and
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their ships and their service and the
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quality of what they offer is very
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highly rated so for example the Berlitz
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cruising guide they ranked over 300
0:37
river cruise ships and their top ten
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were all a marauder ways ships they do
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operate in the Mekong and also on the
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trailer of an Africa but around 20 of
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their ships are actually either in
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service are about to come into service
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in Europe and they cruise very
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extensively in Europe so they operate on
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the Danube which is where about 80% of
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all river cruises take place there on
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the Rhine then on the duero in Portugal
1:01
there on the main the Marcel the Seine
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the Rhone Bordeaux the Dutch waterways
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but of course they're concentrating more
1:08
ships and more options but I like to do
1:11
is focus on what River cruise lines do
1:13
that's different unique or they do
1:15
better than other river cruise line
1:17
companies to help you decide if this is
1:19
really right for you and I think there's
1:20
probably six things that really struck
1:22
me that our waterways - that are unique
1:24
different or they do just much better
1:27
first of all because they are a more
1:29
luxury cruise line they offer more space
1:33
per passengers so they have slightly
1:34
less passengers on board their ships
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which means that cabins can be a little
1:37
bit bigger and also very importantly
1:39
they have a higher crew to passenger
1:41
ratio so roughly about one crew member
1:43
for every three passengers the second
1:45
thing they do which they do talk a lot
1:47
about is their twin balcony cabins now
1:50
one of the challenges is when you go on
1:52
a river cruise you'd like having a
1:54
balcony because there's such beautiful
1:56
scenery of course if I'm about kind it
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reduces the size of cabins which or
1:59
already relatively small so what they
2:01
introduced is these twin balconies so
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you have a French balcony which means
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that you have all the space in the room
2:07
but you can open it and get the fresh
2:08
air and the views and then an actual
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balcony it's about 80 percent
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of the cabins onboard the waterways are
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these type of cabins and I really like
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that solution to having both the space
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and also having access to the outside
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very easily
2:21
the third thing they do which is pretty
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impressive is their wellness program now
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certainly they are the only or certainly
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they were the first to have a dedicated
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wellness person on board so they'll run
2:31
programs from early morning stretches or
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yoga they might have Samba or line
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dancing classes they might give some
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lectures they might have more classes in
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the evening circuit training or other
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gym classes they also have in pretty
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much every port they'll have an active
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sort of hiking tour there also have
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bicycle tours in all of the ports where
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it's possible to have one also because
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they carry bikes on board you can also
2:55
then just take on the bikes and go off
2:56
and explore on a bike by yourself they
2:59
have a walking track on the sundeck so
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if you've been cruising you can still
3:03
keep active they have a fitness room on
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board and also they have healthy and
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more lighter dining options within the
3:09
menu another thing they do which I think
3:11
they do very well is they have a
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specialized dining restaurant which is
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called the chef's table it's a very
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special menu where the chef's are
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actually right in the restaurant cooking
3:19
and you can explain what the dishes are
3:22
and also there's wine paired for each of
3:24
the courses it's included within the
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fair and all you have to do is book
3:27
because it's a relatively small cozy
3:29
venue another thing they do which really
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appeals to me as a traveler is
3:32
technology so they have an app which you
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can download before and it has things
3:37
like the daily program on it also tracks
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the voyage so you can see we are with
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various port guides the one thing which
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is fantastic which I haven't seen on any
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other River cruise ship is their whole
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interactive system in the cabin so this
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is an Apple iMac based system and on
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here you can do things I'll select watch
3:55
television you can stream videos but
3:57
also it has internet access you'd have
3:59
to bring a laptop with you and you'll do
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things on here like the survey at the
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end of the cruise is all done on that
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system embracing technology was really
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great to see the other thing they do is
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they are very innovative when it comes
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to pushing what's possible onboard the
4:14
river so ever you spoke about some of
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the software things they do like
4:17
wellness but they for example have the
4:19
amma Magna this is a ship which is
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double the width of other river
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cruise ships which means they can have
4:26
much more facilities much more space
4:28
much more choice which is very unusual
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on board river cruises because there are
4:32
relatively constrained it doesn't mean
4:34
that they're only able to use this ship
4:36
on the Danube so those are things that I
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think that they do that's unique
4:39
different or better pretty much all of
4:42
the european river cruise lines we'll
4:43
talk about being all-inclusive every
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single cruise line has different
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definitions of what all-inclusive means
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so let's take a look at what the amur
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waterways fare includes and excludes
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first of all obviously your
4:55
accommodations included all of your
4:57
dining is included so you have breakfast
4:59
lunch and dinner which is all in the
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main dining room there are a number of
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alternatives already mentioned the
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chef's table but if you want an early or
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late riser breakfast that they do have
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some options up in the lounge there's
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also a light lunch served in the lounge
5:12
because the tap s that you've allotted
5:13
during the day and then in the afternoon
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around about 4 o'clock there's normally
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an afternoon tea service and then it's
5:18
late nights next now what about drinks
5:19
so some drinks are included at lunch and
5:22
dinner you have a range of wines beers
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soft drinks every evening they'll have a
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sip and sale cocktail hour where all the
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cocktails and other wines and spirits
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that they're all included they then have
5:34
a 24-hour tea and coffee hot chocolate
5:37
station internet access is included the
5:40
entire wellness program is all included
5:43
and of course excursions are in goods so
5:45
you'll find that in their report there's
5:47
an excursion so what's not included well
5:49
obviously drinks outside of those times
5:51
that have already mentioned are not
5:52
included gratuities are not included
5:54
additional services like the laundry is
5:56
also extra now in my view river cruising
5:58
is still very much more of a
6:00
baby-boomers type of activity just
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because the nature of the places that
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river cruises call on the sites just
6:06
seeing and some of the other passengers
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so in my view our waterways is perfect
6:09
for that kind of baby boomer audience so
6:11
an adult audience 50 60 70 s and above
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that's really the heart of river
6:16
cruising and I think of who am always is
6:18
really perfectly suited for now saying
6:20
that when it comes to multi-generational
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travel and families our waterways is
6:24
encouraging or making it easier to bring
6:27
families onboard so for example on some
6:30
of the newer ships they are doing things
6:32
like having more into connecting cabins
6:34
they are in some of the bigger care
6:37
they're having a sofa bed so third
6:39
person or kids can sleep within there
6:41
very important it's also English
6:43
speaking so all of the services all of
6:46
the excursions everything on board is in
6:48
English now one of things that's very
6:49
important for river cruising and I think
6:51
this is also true of amyl waterways is
6:53
it's not really ideal for people with
6:56
really limited mobility and particularly
6:57
people in wheelchairs part of the reason
7:00
for that is so the ship's they it will
7:02
often talk next to each other so you
7:03
have to go through various ships to get
7:05
to the actual land side in some cases
7:08
there can be very steep ramps to get on
7:10
based on where you've docked
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once you get off you'll find often
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there's cobbled streets lots of steps so
7:16
if you have limited mobility and so if
7:18
you in a wheelchair going river cruising
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can be very challenging now I'm always
7:21
do try and make it easier for people
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with limited mobility so for example
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they have elevators and the ships they
7:28
do have some cabins which will cope much
7:30
better with limited mobility approach
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with caution or certainly speaks animal
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world ways or your agent if you do have
7:37
limited mobility and check that you do
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have the right facilities and the right
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ship and the right itinerary if you're
7:43
considering it in every single port that
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you call on there's gonna be at least
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one excursion included within the fair
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and within these you're gonna have a
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couple of options so they'll normally be
7:53
a fairly traditional tour we are go and
7:55
see the key sites and that will normally
7:58
split into a gentle walker and a regular
8:00
walker option the other thing that would
8:02
do is they will normally have some kind
8:04
of active so either a hiking or a brisk
8:08
walking option and then you will have a
8:11
biking option also on some sailings they
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will also have a late riser option so
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excursions which will go a little bit
8:17
later now every one of the toys is run
8:20
by local tour guides now in some ports
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they will also offer special interest
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tours which do tend to have an extra
8:27
charge what about their overall ambience
8:29
and the dress code on Emma waterways
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well first let's talk about the dress
8:33
code it's pretty relaxed so you'll find
8:34
that most people during the day will
8:36
wear jeans or two slacks or I see if
8:38
it's nice and warm there wear shorts in
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the evenings again it's relatively
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casual they do to go out so that country
8:43
casual smart casual kind of approach for
8:46
dinner the fact there's quite a mix on
8:47
most evenings for dinner some people
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might just wear jeans
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no shirt or slacks on the more formal
8:54
nights sir example the captain's
8:56
farewell party people will tend to dress
8:58
a little bit smarter so the whole
8:59
experience is a pretty relaxed
9:01
experience overall so not lots of
9:03
formality this open see the dining so
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you can sit with whoever you want to
9:07
very high level of service because that
9:09
high passenger to crew ratio so if you
9:12
like a much more relaxed informal
9:14
approach but some nice touches in terms
9:17
of premium luxury it's a really good
9:18
balance I think of those two things
9:20
what sort of facilities can you expect
9:22
on an animal waterways ship within
9:24
Europe so you'll have a Sun Deck which
9:26
will normally have lots of seating they
9:28
do have a swimming pool on board which
9:30
is a pretty decent size
9:32
the next lever down which is normally
9:33
known as the violin deck this is really
9:35
the heart of the ship so to put the
9:36
lounge this is where we will meet for
9:39
the in the evenings for drinks you know
9:40
this sip and so you'll have all your
9:42
briefings in here there's evening
9:44
entertainment you'll have it here gift
9:46
shop here you have your 24-hour coffee
9:48
and tea making facilities you have your
9:49
reception back of the ship you also have
9:52
the chef's table or depending on the
9:53
ship this is also where you might have
9:55
the fitness center the massage area and
9:57
the hairdressers now on some of the
9:59
ships that's been moved down to the
10:00
lower level on the cello deck is where
10:03
you have the main dining room now what's
10:05
very important with Emeraude raises all
10:06
of the ships have different Dacor so
10:08
they all have a different look and feel
10:10
so even though the structures are fairly
10:12
similar layouts are fairly similar
10:13
you'll find that the deck or on all the
10:15
ships is different there is a range of
10:18
accommodation onboard you do have some
10:20
sweets onboard as I already mentioned
10:22
80% of the cabins are the twin balcony
10:25
these are the cabins which you'll always
10:27
sell out fastest on board there is
10:29
another option which is on the cella
10:30
deck which is four cabins which are sort
10:32
of more below the water level which just
10:34
have a window sort of much higher up
10:36
however if you're going on a more
10:38
waterways cruise in Europe I recommend
10:41
if you possibly can get one of those
10:42
balcony cabins because you're you have
10:44
scenery all of the time around you and
10:46
it's just a beautiful way of just
10:48
enjoying the sights around you and
10:51
waterways operates at the luxury end the
10:53
more premium end of river cruising they
10:56
have a product which I really liked
10:58
I mean I really like the ships I like
10:59
the style I like the feel of the ships I
11:01
really love the cabin
11:03
twin balcony cabins the food was
11:05
excellent the service was great and I
11:07
really was very impressed with the
11:09
product so if you're looking at going
11:10
cruising or you're trying to decide
11:12
which River cruise line you want to go
11:14
around Europe take a look at amel
11:15
waterways hope you found that helpful
11:17
and I'd love it if you watch many more
11:19
of my tips or traveler's videos because
11:21
they're designed to help you make much
11:23
more of your precious travel time and
11:25
money on both land and at sea and of
11:28
course on rivers
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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