Magna on the danube

by cindy dobler

My husband, my sister and I had an AmaMagna adventure from Budapest to Vilshofen.

I used Delta Vacations for our air and hotels – we went two days early and added one night at the end. Our route was Kalispell-Salt Lake-Amsterdam on Delta and then on KLM to Budapest. It was easy to go through passport control, collect our bags and head outside for a taxi (there did not seem to be a lot of security at Budapest airport). We took a taxi to our City Center hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn (more American than I wanted) but it was very nice, modern and a great location.  We were one block from St. Stephens Basilica – one of the highlights and very beautiful. That night we felt very safe walking a few blocks and eating at a little local restaurant. I had added a Hop-On-Hop-Off, the big Red Bus to our Delta Vacation (DLV) package, so on Saturday away we went.  You can pick it up at any of its approximate 20 stops and trade your DLV voucher for the day pass.  We were able to catch it at the St. Stephens Basilica and then could ride and hop off at any of the 20 stops - see the sights and hop on again.  It takes you around both the Buda side and the Pest side of the Danube. Sunday, we had to check out of the hotel by noon so we thought we would head to the boat and check in with our bags.  The Ama info says you can check in after 12:30pm – but probably not get into your stateroom until 3:00pm, but they said, “your room is ready” and took us right up!  Yeah!  We unpacked, had a snack in the Al Fresco restaurant and waited for the Welcome Reception and Sip n Sail with the Cruise Manager that evening.  Monday we were still in Budapest and did a morning and afternoon tour with the local guides.  So much to see – I really enjoyed Budapest!

That evening and next morning we sailed to Bratislava, Slovakia and had an interesting walking tour there on Tuesday evening.  That night we sailed on to Vienna, what a beautiful, impressive city.  Amazing architecture, buildings, cathedrals and the Historic Centre of Vienna, a World Heritage Site.  That afternoon we visited the Schonbrunn Palace, also grand.

On to Durnstein and Krems (Melk Abbey) a huge still functioning monastery and school with beautiful fresco paintings.

Friday, from Linz, was a full day tour to Mondsee - quick stop famous for Sound of Music wedding church and outdoor scenes and on to Salzburg -famous for Mozart’s birthplace (beautiful but a bit touristy I thought – perhaps the area we saw).  Beautiful drive from lower elevations up to the more mountainous area.

On to Passau, a cute German town, our local guide there was excellent, who taught at the local University of Passau and was highly informative on Germany and their education system.  Another beautiful St Stephens Cathedral (a different St Stephens – he said than in Budapest).  We sailed on to Vilshofen and that evening we had an “Exclusive Oktoberfest” celebration.  Bavarian folk music, dancing, pretzels, and beer.  It was inside a large tent a short walk from the boat but a nice ending to our week.

I had purchased the Ama transfers from Vilshofen back to the Munich airport, only $30.00 per person for about ninety miles. They had three morning departures on Sunday morning, 3:30am, 6:00am and 9:00am. Since we were on vacation and did not want to get up that early, we took the 9:00am departure as we planned to stay at the Munich Hilton right at the airport. The Hilton was beautiful, very modern and is located right between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.  We arrived there about 11:00am and we were able to get into our rooms right away.

From the lobby level you can take the elevator down one level and follow a walkway that takes you to an open area with Terminal 1 on one side and Terminal 2 on the other side.  It can be quite a walk with baggage to get to the airline check in areas at Terminal 1, so if you  have older folks you don’t want to walk that far, the hotel bell service will also drive you and your bags around to the check-in area for about E10$, or they will call you a taxi.  My sister and I walked it a couple of times on that Sunday to check it out, eat and look at the shops, it is doable, but easier without too much baggage.

Overall, Ama was great, the AmaMagna was beautiful and always very clean.  The food was excellent and presented so very nicely.  Eash night they had the Sip n Sail cocktail hour, usually from 6:00-7:00pm, highlighting one cocktail but they also have a Sip n Sail menu which included other drinks that were available for no charge, or other drinks are available for a small charge.  Our Cruise Manager, Uwe, would also talk at the end and give information for the next days outings.  Then off to dinner at 7:00pm.  We tried the Chef’s table, Jimmy’s and the Al Fresco along with the Main Dining Room – all were very nice.  Service was excellent from all the staff; professional and everything ran very smoothly. The daily tours and local guides were very good.

For traveling in mid–March our weather was very good; 55–60-degree temperatures for most days, rainy for the last couple of days.  We enjoyed that it was not crowded or too busy during our outings.