My trip on the No.1 rated River Ship……..AMAPRIMA

I’ve just been lucky enough to experience 02 nights onboard the number 1 rated river ship AMAPrima according to the Berlitz guides. Thats right the AMAPrima came out top ahead of all the Viking ships (and there are a lot!) so as you can imagine I was very keen to see what all the fuss was about. I was invited by APT (Australian Pacific Touring) as they charter many of the AMA Waterways ships as they own undoubtedly some of the best river cruise ships in the market.

The ship was based in Amsterdam, right in the heart of the city only a few hundred yards from Central Station so you could walk into the centre in less than 10 mins. To start in Amsterdam is great as pretty much all UK airports offer flights to Amsterdam. I started my journey from Cardiff which is ideal as i’m only 25 mins away!

After meeting up with the group at the airport we were transported to the ship in a brand new AMA Waterways branded luxury coach, and it was brand new only 34 kms on the clock. Its only a 20 min journey from the airport.

On arrival at the ship I was quite shocked to see the length of the ship, wasn’t expecting it but I suppose thats why the term ‘Longship’ is used to describe these modern vessels. First impressions were great, met up with more colleagues in the main lounge which I can see is the main focal point of an evening pre or post dinner as it was a very comfortable light and airy room with plenty of sofas for everyone. Right the way around the room were huge windows which would give great views when sailing passed the various towns/cities along the Rhine, Danube etc. This is the room where quite often local entertainers will come on as the entertainment for an evening after dinner. When they have finished there is a resident pianist who was fantastic.

After a quick refreshment we were taken on a guided tour of the ship, firstly we started on the top deck. This surprised me as there was plenty of space, with sun loungers, comfy chairs, a huge chess set and a small heated pool with a swim up bar. Great on those hot days of summer but not in Amsterdam in March!

We then went to view some cabins, I thought the cabins were a decent size in fairness at approx 160 sq ft for a river view, these are the rooms where you have 2 rectangular windows at head height. Thats about the same size or larger than the equivalent on an ocean cruise! The french balcony rooms are 170 sq ft size and then there is a twin balcony which has a french balcony aswell as a small outside balcony that you can sit out on, these are approx 210 sq ft in size. I’d be happy in any of them to be honest

Now for my favourite, the FOOD! As many of you know I’ve been lucky to have cruised on the luxury ocean cruises such as Oceania, Silversea, Regent, Azamara etc but I have to say the food on AMAPrima was up there with the best. Plenty of choice too and for anyone with dietry requirements do not worry they can sort it.

On the second night I was chosen to dine at the Chefs Table, an exclusive dining room at the back of ship which seats only 28 passengers. When you book on one of these cruises every passenger gets to experience this at least once on the cruise. Basically its a set menu with 6 – 7 courses, very unusual combinations but very very tasty! The chef is obviously very imaginative.

All in all it was a magnificent trip and really gave me an insight into the quality of APT and AMAWaterways. I would highly recommend them to many of clients and to be honest I already did as many customers of mine have cruised with them in Europe, Vietnam & Cambodia and more recently to Burma. The feedback I’ve had is nothing short of fantastic!