This was our first river cruise, so I don’t have much to compare to. The closest comparison we’d done was a small ship cruise around Greece two years ago.

That said, I found AMA to be excellent. The food was delicious. They had wine pairings each night local to the area we were sailing through. We managed to drink a fair amount while paying for very few drinks thanks to “Sip n Sail” hour each evening before dinner followed by free beer and wine at dinner. Beer and wine were also free at lunch although I never partook.

The rooms were nice, and housekeeping took good care of cleaning them. We had a French balcony on our room and were able to open the sliding door completely a few days since the weather was so nice. The lounge and sundeck were nice places to relax and read or just hang out. We also enjoyed the variety of excursions since our group had four in their 30s, three in their 60s, and one in her 70s. My wife, brother-in-law, and I enjoyed hiking and biking activities while our parents and my pregnant sister-in-law were able to stick to the city tours-and even those offered different groups from gentle to active walkers.

Ours was also a “wine cruise” with a wine host who owns the wineries in Oregon. He actually didn’t do much; he gave three hour-long wine take throughout the cruise and one night at dinner they had his wines instead of a local option. Otherwise, he was just like another cruise passenger. Seems like a pretty fantastic deal for your friend.



This is definitely true. They often tie up 2-3 boats deep at the ports, and you never know where your ship will be in the mix or even which direction will be facing towards town.