2021 Summer on the Rhine Cruise
The Rhine river has been a vital waterway since Roman times, features in myths and legends going back to time immemorial, and was the setting for perhaps the greatest opera ever written (certainly the longest!), Wagner’s four-part “Ring of the Nibelung”.
A medieval marine “superhighway”, its importance caused towns and cities to line its banks along it 764.3 mile length, giving us the parade of wonderful places to visit we can enjoy today.
Today, the Rhine is still very much a “working river” with lots of commercial traffic on it. And, for us, it is the pathway to an unfolding series of treasured experiences and memories as we enjoy the beauty of the river, its towns and its villages, all from our base on a luxurious state-of-the-art river cruising ship.
The comfort and luxury of our “traveling hotel” means we avoid the pesky process of constant packing and unpacking, have an assured high quality stay, can relax and get comfortable while onboard the ship.
Every day sees us visiting lovely towns and villages in Switzerland, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium, offering us history, amazing architecture, culture, food, drink and entertainment.
A pre-cruise option features Zurich and Lucerne, and a Travel Insider exclusive post-cruise option takes us via Rotterdam and Antwerp to northern France for four days based in Lille, while exploring the region – to the coast and Dunkirk, and up into Belgium (Ypres, and Bruges).
This page tells you what you need to know about the tour in general. We also have a detailed day by day itinerary so you can understand everything that you’ll get to see and do during your lovely Summer on the Rhine Cruise.
Start Date & Options
The cruise starts on Thursday 12 August in Basel.
You can board the ship any time from lunchtime, and our cabins will be available from 3pm.
Optional Pre-cruise Extension
Firstly, we always recommend you should arrive at least a day early when joining tours internationally. This gives you a day to unwind after the flights, and also gives you an “emergency” day in case of problems with flights en route. So, if nothing else, we urge you to arrive in Basel a day or two before the cruise.
Secondly, if you’re coming over early, why not use your extra days to good purpose, and consider joining the pre-tour optional extension, starting in Zurich and going on to Lucerne, then arriving in Basel and boarding the ship on Thursday afternoon. These options are detailed on the day-by-day itinerary page.
End Date & Options
The cruise finishes on Thursday 19 August, in Amsterdam.
We arrive into Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon, so you can leave any time on Thursday morning if you’ve an early flight to catch.
Optional Post-cruise Extension
If you have extra time, we’d of course recommend you add on our post-cruise extension.
We travel down to Lille in France, with stops in the port city of Rotterdam and the “Diamond city” of Antwerp. A lovely four night stay in Lille gives you time to settle in to this great part of France, and we include plenty of touring around the region to show it to you.
After our extension, you might wish to travel on to Paris (a mere hour away by very high speed train), either conveniently direct to the airport for flying home (or elsewhere) or – like me – to spend a few days in Paris, too.
Our detailed day-by-day itinerary page explains the post-cruise option.
If there’s somewhere else you’d like to go, either instead or as well, please ask. I’m pleased to help you plan whatever you might want to do.
All About River Cruising
Maybe you’ve cruised on a gigantic cruise ship before. River cruising is very different. Our lovely river cruiser, Amamora, has only 78 cabins, making for a more personal and less institutional experience.
The crew quickly get to know you by name and remember your preferences, and because you’re on board for a week, you also get to know fellow cruisers, making the experience more social and pleasurable in every respect.
Please click the tabs below for more information on what to expect on a river cruise.
Similar to a regular cruise, all your meals are included, with three great meals a day, various other snacks, and even tapas too.
Meals are multi-course and dinners are commonly five or more courses, with choices of food for most of the courses. If you’ve special dietary requirements, they can usually be catered to without any problems.
And if you like the wonderful food so much you want more, that’s not a problem. You can always ask for seconds!
There’s also a premium restaurant on board, but – unlike a regular cruise – you’re welcome to dine there at no extra cost.
A nice bonus is free and unlimited wine, beer or soda included with your lunches and dinners.
If you like to have a “pick me up” in the morning, there’s sparkling white wine, also free, offered with breakfast.
There are gourmet espresso coffee drinks available all day that put Starbucks to shame. It too is free. Plus assorted other drinks, special health-giving waters, and an assortment of teas.
If you’d enjoy some other type of alcoholic beverage, a well-stocked bar has just about everything you could wish, at reasonable prices.
And if you’d like to celebrate with a bottle of something privately, you’ll love the prices for wine in the stores in the towns you’ll visit. Unlike many larger cruise ships, there are no restrictions on bringing drinks back on board with you.
Some people want to simply relax and do as little as possible. If so, you’ll love the cruise, because everything is optional. Some people will even never go off the ship for the entire week.
There’s a small library and collection of games on board for your enjoyment.
Other people want to be entertained – either to passively enjoy other performers, or to actively participate. Some wish to be educated. There are assorted presentations, lectures, and even practical classes during the cruise to give you a better understanding of where we’re going and what we’re seeing.
Most evenings feature performers and groups brought onto the ship from the various places we visit, giving regional and international entertainment.
The evenings also see a chance to get up on the dance floor for a while, with the ship’s musician playing a range of favorites that you’re sure to remember and love.
Talking about entertainment, Amacerto has Wi-Fi throughout so you can keep connected with back home and can send lots of photos of your wonderful experiences back to your friends every day! Try not to boast too much about the wonderful time you’re enjoying….
In early days, rivers were the heart of regional economies, and towns grew up on the banks of the rivers. So, today, usually where we stop is right in the historic heart of the towns we’re visiting. Simply walk off the ship and you’re in the middle of the lovely town.
In addition to exploring on your own, every day sees at least one, and sometimes two or more off-ship touring opportunities, with all but three of them being free and available for you to select and participate in as you wish.
Tours are designed to fit around the ship’s meal times, but of course, you can eat ashore if you wish – just make sure you’re back on board before the ship sails! (Although if you miss the ship, that’s not necessarily a big deal – just take a taxi a few miles along the river to meet the ship at the next lock or other suitable point).
The three extra cost tours are an evening concert in Vienna, a visit to Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, and the all-day tour to Salzburg.
There’s so much to love about a river cruise – an easy concept that perhaps doesn’t need a lot of explanation, but we’d like you to understand everything you’ll enjoy.
For example, you never have rough seas, and you’re always treated to beautiful views of the passing scenery directly outside your (typically) floor-to-ceiling windows, never empty ocean.
The river cruise ships are small, so you never have seemingly endless miles of corridors to walk and stairs to climb to get anywhere.
If there’s something we’ve not answered on that page or this page, or if you’ve any other question and need more clarification, please go ahead and ask. Feel free to send us an email.
Please click here to visit our detailed day by day itinerary page.
Look at Everything that's Included
Food and Drink inclusions
- Three cooked meals every day, served plated at your table (ie no long lines at buffets with slowly stewing hot items and wilting cold items)
- Morning, afternoon, and evening snacks
- Tapas menu during the day
- Special gourmet “Chef’s Table” restaurant also available for dinner at no extra cost
- Captain’s welcome ceremony with canapes and drinks the first night
- Farewell ceremony with canapes and drinks the last night
- A return-cruiser function one afternoon, also with drinks and nibbles
- Unlimited free wine, beer, and/or soft drinks with every lunch and dinner
- Sparking wine with breakfast
- Gourmet coffee and tea available 24/7
- Special “health waters” featured daily
Travel Insider Extras
- An exclusive Travel Insider function prior to dinner one night with drinks and nibbles
- An alumni/supporters function prior to dinner one night with drinks and nibbles
- A high-value post-tour option to and around Lille
- A small Travel Insider gift
- Special Travel Insider $50 per person shipboard credit
- Special Travel Insider discount off the regular cruise fare
- Personal assistance from David Rowell during the cruise and post-tour to help with any extra needs or requirements you have
Other Inclusions and Features
- Daily off-ship excursions every day at no extra cost
- Free bike rentals from the ship if you want to explore on your own
- Gym and wellness program on board
- Evening entertainment most nights
- We also stay in some ports until late evening giving you a chance to enjoy your choice of shore-side entertainments
Responding to Covid-19
At present – late June (we will update this section any time there are significant changes) new virus case numbers are declining in the EU and North America. The countries we will be visiting are now accepting Americans with vaccination certificates. Most of us have had a chance to be vaccinated if we wish, and probably everyone else will have a similar chance between now and the cruise. We recommend you be vaccinated, for all the obvious reasons.
Amawaterways has a fastidious approach to hygiene, and is the only US based river cruise operator to have successfully operated a four month season of cruises during the worst of the pandemic in 2020.
Their cruises all fully comply with “best practices” and exceed host country guidelines. All cabins have their own independent air conditioning units.
Currently, masking is only required while moving around on board the ship, and might be eliminated entirely by mid August. Enhanced cleaning, plenty of hand sanitizing stations, a change from buffet to individually served plated meals, reducing the number of people per cruise, and social distancing in smaller sides groups for shore excursions, plus assorted other measures, all combine to give you a high level of safety at minimum impact to your wonderful cruise experience.
Amawaterways also offer you the ability to change your sailing date any time up until 48 hours prior to the start of your journey (if you deposit your booking by 31 July), with the money you’d paid being credited in full for a future Amawaterways cruise prior to 31 Dec 2023. If you buy their Travel Waiver Plus insurance policy (by 31 July), this allows you to cancel as well as change your booking (ask us for full details).
Please ask if you have additional questions or concerns.
Cabin Types and Tour Cost
Amamora has 78 cabins on three decks. Their cabins are among the largest of any Danube cruise ship.
Cabins are typically either 210 sq ft or 235 sq ft in size, and with outside balconies as well as floor to ceiling windows. There are some smaller 170 and 155 sq ft cabins that appeal to the budget-conscious travelers, and some 160 sq ft cabins on the lowest deck that have large portholes rather than floor to ceiling windows.
Suites are an wonderful 350 sq ft in size.
Of course, the better/bigger/higher up your cabin is, the more it costs. We’ve written a detailed article on choosing a cabin on a river cruise ship, here. Most people generally choose an AA/AB or BA/BB cabin, and others will choose a C/D/E cabin. There’s no wrong answer, and you’ll love your cruise, whichever you choose.
The cabin choices and prices for the cruise is shown immediately below.
Note these rates include a special Travel Insider $2500 per cabin ($1250 per person) discount.
| Cabin Type | Special Travel Insider Cruise Price per person | Single Supplement |
|---|---|---|
| Suite top deck 350 sq ft | $6148 ($7398 before discount) | $6148 |
| AA top deck 235 sq ft | $4748 ($5998 before discount) | $2750 |
| AB middle deck 235 sq ft | $4548 ($5798 before discount) | $2700 |
| BA (only 2 remaining) 210 sq ft top deck | $4348 ($5598 before discount) | $2650 |
| BB 210 sq ft middle deck | $4148 ($5398 before discount) | $2600 |
| CA 170 sq ft – no outside balcony mid and top decks | $3548 ($4798 before discount) | $2450 |
| CB 155 sq ft – no outside balcony top deck | $3248 ($4498 before discount) | $2375 |
| D 160 sq ft – fixed windows lower deck | $2848 ($4098 before discount) | $1660 |
| E (possibly all sold) 160 sq ft – fixed windows lower deck | $2549 ($3799 before discount) | $1630 |
Rates are per person, share twin. Single supplements (at a special discount – normally 50% of the full rate) are shown if you are traveling alone.
We can help to match together singles if you’d like to share with a compatible fellow single traveler but can not guarantee this.
Extras
In addition to the cruise (and pre/post tour options) rates, there is a $196 per person port charge.
Passengers are invited to offer a voluntary gratuity to the ship’s crew and to the ship’s Tour Manager at the end of the cruise.
Other Price Comments
The cruise and pre-cruise option can be paid for with credit card and no surcharge. The post cruise option reflect a 3% discount for cash/check.
Due to the closeness to departure, full payment will be required within five days of when your cruise request has been confirmed.
Tour does not include the costs of travel to and from the tour start and end points, or anything not specified as included.
Amawaterways Return Cruisers
If you’ve been on a previous Amawaterways cruise, you are probably entitled to return cruiser loyalty benefits. These range from $100 per person discounts up to cabin upgrades. We’ll explain these to you if you qualify.
Special Travel Insider Savings
The biggest saving is of course the $1250 per person discount. But there’s more, too!
Why not bring a friend or two with you, for more shared fun and fellowship.
To encourage you to do this, and your friends to travel with you, we’ll offer a 1% discount for each extra person you bring with you (other than anyone you are already sharing your room with).
Bring another couple, and they get a 2% discount – and you get the same 2% discount too! Bring two couples and all of you get a 4% discount, and so on (up to a maximum of 10%).
Singles Save Too!
Travel Insider tours always have a large number of singles – our groups are friendly, inclusive, and welcoming, making them ideal for singles as well as couples and larger groups.
We do our best to make our tours not only as friendly as possible, but also affordable and fair for singles, too.
Amawaterways are offering reduced single supplements for singles on this cruise. This has been shown in the table above.
More Helpful Information
Usually you will save money and gain flexible convenience if you arrange your own air travel.
You can choose whichever carrier has the best fare and the best schedules for you, and you can also choose the airline you wish to earn miles with. You can even cash in miles and fly on frequent flier awards and/or upgrade to premium cabins.
Amawaterways can arrange air if you prefer. If you buy the Amawaterways airfare, they include transfers from the airport to the cruise ship when you arrive into Basel and leave from Amsterdam. These transfers are convenient, but require you to arrive and depart on the exact days the cruise starts and finishes.
We suggest you check to see if you can use any frequent flier miles you might have for this travel, and/or check to see what the best fare you can get on your favorite airline is, then compare it to the Amawaterways rate and make your decision then.
You are of course free to make your own arrangements, any way you wish, to travel to Basel (or Zurich) and then home again from Amsterdam (or Paris or anywhere else in both cases), and you can make extra stops, arrive earlier or stay longer.
Most people end up arranging their own air rather than booking through Amawaterways.
We’ll be pleased to answer any questions you might have about arranging your air transportation, of course. We’re here to help, every which way.
To join the cruise in Basel, you’ll probably simply fly into the Basel/Mulhouse airport itself. Astonishingly, the airport has three different codes – BSL, MLH and EAP. It is in both France and Switzerland simultaneously. But you could fly to a number of other cities if you preferred (for example, Paris), and then continue on to Basel by train. Europe has wonderful, comfortable, and fast train services.
If you’re joining the pre-tour in Zurich, a similar concept of course applies. Zurich has a good airport and good train connections.
If you are returning home from Amsterdam, you’ll probably be able to get a flight from there. Otherwise (and especially if you are traveling on to Lille), it is only a short train ride to Paris, or a longer train journey direct to the airport in Frankfurt and even more choices.
We’re traveling in mid-summer, so it is reasonable to expect warm to hot weather, and lots of daylight.
At the beginning of our journey in Basel, we can expect daily highs of about 77° and nightly lows around 57°. At the other end, in Amsterdam, the weather is likely to give us daily highs of about 70° and nightly lows of 56°.
If you treat yourself to the option in Lille after the tour, you can expect daily highs of about 72° and lows of about 56°. If you’ll be in Paris before or after the cruise, you’d get highs in the upper 70s and lows in the high 50s.
In other words, we should expect great weather throughout western Europe in mid August.
Pretty much every tour we operate sees someone potentially benefiting from travel insurance – either to offset cancellation costs prior to travel, or to assuage costs/losses while traveling. For that reason, we recommend you should at least consider travel insurance as prudent protection.
Rather than attempt to sell you some policy ourselves that may or may not suit your needs, we recommend you go to this insurance shopping site, which offers comparisons between something like 100 different policies offered by 18 different insurers, giving you all the options you need.
You might also be interested in Amawaterway’s insurance. In simple terms, it is 13% of the cruise cost, and there are options to add “cancel for any reason” type coverage too.
For more information about travel insurance than you probably ever thought you’d want to know, please click the link to read our three part series on the subject.
Please click here to visit our detailed day by day itinerary page.
If there’s something we’ve not answered on either that page or this page, or if you’ve any other question and need more clarification, please go ahead and ask. We’ve been on way more than a dozen different Amawaterways cruises, so there’s a good chance we know the answer and the best approach to all issues.
Feel free to send us an email.
Register Your Interest Now
As soon as your application is received, we will quickly respond to confirm your request.
Tour Terms and Conditions
Our standard terms and conditions apply to this tour.
In addition, please note these extra terms :
1. Because we are already within 90 days of the cruise, full payment will be required within five days of your cruise request being confirmed.
2. US, Canadian, and many other citizens require a current passport that will not expire until after the date of their planned return from the EU in order to be admitted to the Schengen zone and EU countries. A visa is not required. Citizens of other countries should check with the airline that will transport them to the UK to determine what passport and visa requirements may apply. Note that the EU requires a passport to be valid for at least three months after your planned departure from the EU.
3. The cruise price is unlikely to change unless there is a major change in exchange rates. The pre and post tour options area based on a wholesale Euro/Dollar exchange rate in the range of 1.16 – 1.22 (as shown, eg, in Yahoo Finance/Money – on 21 June 2021 it is showing a rate of 1.19). If the exchange rate moves outside this range, and prior to full payment having been received by you, we will adjust the price up or down to reflect the change in underlying tour costs. We will advise you if the exchange rate is materially changing and you can always lock in the price by sending in early full payment.
4. Terms and conditions of Amawaterways also apply. In particular, please note that the itinerary can occasionally (very rarely) change if water levels are too high or too low to allow the boat to travel.
