After a marvelous week aboard the AMA Amacello, Andy, Char and I disembarked this morning outside Dijon to begin part two of this journey. From the ship, we drove for around 45 minutes to Dijon, where we spent two hours wandering around the historic city center, including the massive food hall (Les Halles) and the Place Wilson (the plaza in front of the imposing Dukes’ Palace), interspersed with stops for croissants and mustard (both are obligatory). Then it was back into the car for the three-hour ride to Montreux, Switzerland.
In today’s post, I’ll offer my thoughts on the AMA cruise experience compared to river cruises I’ve taken on Viking and Tauck. Tomorrow, I’ll write about our time to Montreux. To break up the text, I’ll incorporate pictures from our time in Dijon.
After three river cruises on Viking (western Danube, Rhine, and Douro) and one on Tauck (eastern Danube), this was my first voyage with AMA. I had a wonderful experience and recommend AMA highly.
Cabins. As I explained in an earlier post about this trip, I chose AMA because of its excellent reputation and the availability of solo cabins on this particular ship Viking doesn’t have solo cabins, and it charges an outrageous single supplement if you’re a solo traveler in a regular double cabin.
Tauck does have cabins for solo travelers, but my cabin on AMA was better located and a bit bigger (which isn’t saying much for either cabin!) than the one I had on Tauck. AMA, I should note, only offers solo cabins on a few of its ships.
My impression is that the regular cabins (non-solo) on Viking have a bit more space than AMA, and they definitely have more useful storage space. I realize, though, that newer AMA vessels may have different and perhaps more functional cabin layouts than the Amacello.
Amenities. The Amacello is one of AMA’s older ships, but it’s in excellent condition and has better amenities than the Viking ships I’ve sailed, including bikes on board and a small gym. (Tauck had both of these as well.)
Food. I give AMA an edge over both Viking and Tauck on quality and variety of vegetarian offerings. Moreover – and this is important! – AMA has fabulous ice cream. (The oatmeal, on the other hand ….) The meat eaters among my fellow passengers thought Viking’s food was a little better than AMA’s, though several said AMA’s burgers are excellent.
Excurions. AMA, like Tauck, includes all excursions in the base fare. Some excursions on Viking carry an additional charge. If you’re choosing between AMA and Viking, you’ll need to compare the base fares and also look at Viking’s excursions to determine whether you’ll need to factor in additional expenses. (In my experience, Tauck generally is pricier than AMA and Viking.)
I had four fantastic local guides on this trip out of eight total; the others were very good. I’ve had excellent local guides on Viking as well, but none who were as outstanding as those on this trip. Although local guides aren’t cruise company employees, they are identified and retained by the cruise lines.
Service. Both AMA and Viking provide exceptional service. In my limited experience. Tauck’s service is very good, but I didn’t find it superlative.
I’d gladly sail both AMA and Viking again. My decision, when it comes, will be based on itinerary, price, availability or not of a solo cabin on AMA, and level of the single supplement, if applicable.
Although I’ll save my discussion of Montreux for my next post, I’ll leave you with a couple of sunset pictures from the Lake Geneva waterfront.
PuffinlessTravel 
That reflection photo is a stunner. I’m loving all of the vibrant outdoor art you’ve seen on this trip (various murals and, at the top of this post, the multicolored head at the entrance of Les Halles.
There’s public art everywhere, much of it vibrantly colored. The art along the lakefront in Montreux is brilliant, as you’ll see in my next post.