Scenic Views; Wonderful Staff

There was one issue for us that was really upsetting on embarkation day, but AMA and the cruise manager tried to make it right in the end. The published material said to have our luggage outside of the hotel room by 8:00 a.m., to be in the lobby between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m., and we were to walk to the bus for a pre-cruise tour before embarkation at 9:30 a.m. Our luggage was out when it was supposed to be, and we went down to the lobby at 9:20 only to find it completely empty. The cruise manager's table had his things on it, but he wasn't there. Reception couldn't provide any information and no messages had been left for us. There was a van outside the hotel with cruise luggage on it, but the driver couldn't answer any questions either. We called AMA's "emergency" number, and they said they would have the cruise manager call us. He returned to the hotel around 9:40 a.m., and we were pretty aggravated at that point. We asked for cab fare to the tour starting location, and he said the company policy is not to provide cab fare when guests are late. He said that he'd asked the front desk to call us at the number we provided, but no one in our party of three received a call. He said we were supposed to be there by 9:15, but when he looked at his own posted material, he acknowledged that's not what it stated and said he would have to change that for the future to avoid this problem. He apparently had no authority to make adjustments on his own and couldn't even pay for a cab without authorization. He told us he tried to call the cruise headquarters and left a message when no one immediately answered. He offered to walk us to the ship, and I imagine it was an uncomfortable walk for him because I was peppering him with questions. He took us to the lounge area to wait the several hours until our cabin was available. After a short while, he returned and said he was able to contact someone to get approval for an adjustment. We were scheduled for a canal tour the next day, and the company offered to pay for a cab and a canal tour that afternoon, and he said he would change our tour the next day to Keukenhof Gardens. We accepted the offer, he called a cab, rode with us, paid the driver, walked us to a canal tour company that he said was very nice, and paid for the tickets. While we were disappointed with how the day started, I think the company and the cruise manager did everything they could to try to make it right. And, even though it wasn't on embarkation day per se, I want to give a shout out to the gentleman who picked us up at the airport when we arrived and took us to the hotel. Even though it was early in the morning, he was cheerful and full of information. It was a lovely welcome to Amsterdam. Side note: checking into the river cruise was more like checking into a hotel. There was no huge terminal, long lines, checkpoints, etc. It was organized and efficient.

There really are only two choices for evening dining and only one seating - the main dining room and the Chef's Table by reservation (due to limited seating). We didn't go to the Chef's Table. Dinner in the dining room was a multi-course experience with excellent food and complimentary beer and wine, and they matched the wines to the local area we cruised to that day (though you could request a different wine). There was a limited menu for breakfast with a buffet - always excellent. Lunch in the dining room was menu only (way too much food for us the one time we went though it was very good) or there was a smaller place to eat at the front of the ship where you could order from a limited menu. We had pizza once in the small dining area (it was just OK). Dinner service can be noticeably slow sometimes. Our waiter told us that can happen if a lot of people order the always offered choices rather than the evening selection. For some reason, the dining room was usually cold, and I needed a jacket or a sweater. We'd only been on ocean cruises before, and the attire was quite casual in comparison. My husband brought a suit jacket, and he was overdressed when he wore it. Most everyone wore casual slacks to dinner. Men wore regular shirts or golf-style shirts and no ties. Even though the literature says to dress as though you are going to a five-star restaurant for the farewell dinner (two days before the cruise ends), I only noticed a few people dressing up a bit more and there was no formal attire. You can't make reservations, but if you would like a particular table (small enough to sit by yourself, for example), you are always welcome to walk down to the dining room 10-15 minutes before dinner starts and sit wherever you want. We did both. All of the other passengers we talked to were super nice. They had a 24-hour coffee machine so you could get a cappuccino any time you wanted. They had a daily teatime and offered beverages and small sandwiches. There was also a daily happy hour, and we enjoyed that very much. They had a cocktail of the day that you are served when you walk in, or you have the choice of ordering any of the drinks from their happy hour menu at no additional charge. If you order premium cocktails outside of happy hour, the cost is approximately half the price of what I would expect from a cruise ship. For example, a Cosmo was 8 Euros. The cruise manager made a daily announcement about the next day and anything else you needed to know towards the end of happy hour. Dinner usually followed at 7. The mandatory safety briefing on the first day included a cocktail party, so you should allow 50 minutes for that and dress for dinner before coming. We enjoyed complimentary champagne on our embarkation day in our room.

There weren't a lot of onboard activities. There was a small pool with a wet bar. Few people used it, but the weather was usually in the 60s. They had a very small fitness area with three machines and some weights. There was a dedicated fitness coach who offered classes (we didn't take any). Many people enjoyed fitness classes on the sun deck. They also have a small spa and hair salon. We didn't use them.

We really enjoyed Jozsef's piano playing during happy hour. We didn't attend any evening activities though there were a few evening entertainers offered.

There were no children on the cruise and no children's activities. Other than our young adult daughter, the passengers appeared to be retirement age (or approaching retirement age). Everyone was very friendly, and she had fun meeting new people.

OMG. Everyone worked so hard to make things wonderful. The best way to describe it is to say that each and every employee on the AmaSiena will treat you as well as your regular waiter and cabin attendant will treat you on a commercial cruise liner. I can't compliment them enough. All the employees work together. For example, I saw a ship's officer, the cruise manager, and a receptionist working alongside the porters on disembarkation day to make sure that everyone's luggage was timely taken off the ship for their transfers. I saw the service manager taking out trays of food at lunch to help the waiters. This is why the way they handle tipping makes a lot of sense. They recommend 300 euros for each cabin for the week for the staff, to be split evenly, and 100 euros for each cabin for the week to the cruise manager. You are free to tip any staff member an additional amount if you want but you have to do that on your own. If you add a tip to your bill, it will be split evenly. Of special note for us was Sorin the headwater who made sure my daughter had a bowl of fresh cut strawberries every morning along with plain rolls shortly after she sat down. Bartender George will make any drink you want with a smile. Stefan was a total sweetheart in the ship's bar as well as bringing drinks for dinner. We preferred to sit in Antonio the waiter's section, but every waiter we had was wonderful (three others who come to mind are San, Wong, and Aung). Our cabin attendant Maung was awesome, as was the substitute attendant we had for one day when Maung was off (and he went to great lengths to ask us for any special requests because he said he wanted us to be as happy with him as we were with Maung).

The ship was beautiful. The captain said it was launched during COVID and didn't have many passengers at first which probably explained the lack of wear and tear. The only complaint I have about the layout is that the elevator did not go up to the sun deck, so anyone who was physically challenged would have to navigate some stairs. Watching the castles go by on the sun deck is an entirely different experience than watching from the lounge or from your balcony (where you can only see half the river). The weirdest thing was that sometimes, there would be two ships in port at the same time and they would dock next to each other so that passengers from the furthest ship would walk through the lobby of the closest ship. The captain told us to lock our balcony doors because it would be easy for someone to come into a cabin and take things. The floor configuration was somewhat confusing. There are six floors to walk on, but the ship itself only has three levels. They are offset by half a flight of stairs, starting at the center of the ship. If you go down half a flight, there are staterooms on one side, but if you are on the other half flight, there is a dining room on the opposite side, for example. This means that no one is above or below a main floor unless you are in a 300-floor cabin, in which case you are underneath the sun deck. We also traveled through many locks. The captain's and crew's skills were impressive, because there was often less than a foot between the ship and the wall. The WiFi was spotty at times, and you had to reactivate it if you weren't on it for a while. We were told that when the ship is between two countries, the WiFi towers will compete, resulting in a bad connection. There was no extra charge for WiFi, and you could use as many devices as you wished (as opposed to expensive commercial cruise ship WiFi that requires you sign out of one device to be able to use another). AMA has a really good app, and it provided a lot of helpful information. You can provide responses to an end of cruise questionnaire in paper form or through the app. They also had an app that provided commentary as we were going down the river, which was nice (though some of the commentary was a bit outdated). The QuietVox units they provided for some of the tours worked well and the sound was quite clear. There were chargers in the bathroom for them.

We were in one of the four largest cabins. We wanted a little extra room because we were travelling as a party of three. (We specifically selected AMA because they had a three-person option.) My daughter said the couch bed was comfortable, and our bed was comfortable as well. We each got one good pillow and one not-so-good pillow (not very substantive). You could ask for extra pillows if you wanted them. I did not like the closets. While there was ample place for three people to store things throughout the cabin (and you could put big suitcases out of the way under the bed), the areas where you could hang things were too short, even for a shirt, so if you were to hang something up, it would get wrinkled at the bottom. The hangar bar was straight (rather than horizontal) and could be pulled out so you could see easily see things at the back, which was a nice touch. The closet had two sides, but you could only access one side at a time which could be frustrating if everyone was trying to get ready at the same time. I think it would be easy to twist a longer fingernail in the closet doors while opening them. They offered no-charge laundry and pressing, which was very nice. We used it at the beginning of the cruise, and our things were back sooner than promised. I liked the day and evening room lighting, and even with all the lights off, the bathroom had a small blue light over the commode that came on when the door opened so you could use the facilities in the dark without turning on the light and waking a companion. They provided daily fresh fruit (apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and two different types of grapes), still water, and soft drinks and juice in the small refrigerator at no extra charge. We received two scarves and a hat as gifts, and the ladies received a beautiful long-stemmed rose at the beginning of the cruise that brightened up our room for the duration. There were two televisions in the room, but the one at the foot of the main bed wasn't fully viewable unless you unhooked the hooks at the end of the curtain. The other television was on a swivel so it could be seen from the side of the bed and the couch. It wasn't a big deal; we didn't watch television except to look for information about the ship. There was a desk and chair, and a balcony with two chairs and a table. We could have moved one of the other two chairs outside and three people could have sat on the balcony if they'd wanted to, though it would have been a tight fit. Alternatively, there was a double sliding glass door that you could open, allowing you to lie on the bed and watch the river go by while breathing in fresh air. Please note that the heating and air conditioning will shut off when either balcony door is open. The bathroom was fabulous! There was a long counter and mirror and a double sink. There was a full bathtub with a handheld spray, a glass shower stall with a rainfall type showerhead and a detachable hand spray, and a separate commode with a door. I thought the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and moisturizer they provided smelled like the old Herbal Essence shampoo. (I liked it; my daughter didn't.) My only complaint was there was no place to hang a hand towel. We would have appreciated more ceiling soundproofing. We could hear cornhole bags being thrown, and thumps from the evening walkers and joggers on the sun deck. In contrast, the ship itself was amazingly quiet, and we were often surprised to look out a window and see that we'd left the dock.

Everything went wonderfully well and was very smooth. There was a full breakfast served at the usual time. We were ready to leave the ship at 8:15 (though our scheduled departure was 8:30). Our transport was there early, and we left at 8:20. This woman was remarkable. Not only did she drop us off at the airport, but she also walked us into the airport and right up to the ticket counter so we were in the right line and wouldn't get lost.