My week on the Rivers with AmaWaterways
What happens when you pull together 8 Welsh travel agents and take them on a week-long River Cruise experience? Look no further...
I was really very lucky to be invited on this trip, co-hosted by AmaWaterways and Cardiff Airport, to experience life onboard two of their fabulous river cruise ships sailing from Amsterdam to Antwerp then Strasbourg to Basel.
Find out why this wasn't the original plan...
Admittedly, the original plan was a round-trip sailing from Amsterdam on AmaLea, but following the unforgettable heat of Summer 2026, the river levels throughout Europe have had a huge impact on River Cruises and their itineraries. Sadly it wasn't possible for our original sailing to go ahead as planned, but AmaWaterways were outstanding in their handling of this situation. They offered all passengers an alternate itinerary with a whopping 40% future cruise credit, and also took care of the extra cost of getting us back to Amsterdam!
So, the new plan - sail Amsterdam to Antwerp, take a coach to Strasbourg with a stop enroute to explore Luxembourg and then a second sailing from Strasbourg to Basel. They then covered the cost of re-arranging flights home for everyone.
They managed it incredibly well before and during the disruption, which was beyond their control and in all honesty, would probably have been handled much less in our favour had we been travelling with a different operator.
Day 1 - Flying out & Amsterdam
I arrived at Cardiff Airport, checked my bags in and whizzed through security into the lounge. From being dropped off to being sat with a coffee in my hand it took 13 minutes - one of the many reasons I choose to fly from Cardiff as much as possible!
Our flight was on-time and before we knew it we were in Amsterdam! After collecting our luggage we were into arrivals and greeted by the AmaWaterways team who introduced us to our transfer driver and within 30 minutes we were boarding the ship.
The different flight packages available
Fly Cruise: This is where your flights are included in the AmaWaterways package and you simply fly out, transfer to the ship, sail, and then transfer from the ship to the airport to fly home.
Pre & Post Cruise: This is where you flights are included in the AmaWaterways package but you fly out a few nights earlier, or fly home a few nights later, and for those extra nights you have guided experiences with your cruise manager. For example, you sail the Nile but want to spend a few days in Cairo before/after.
Mynt Package: This is where your flights are included in your Mynt Travel package. We'll book your cruise with AmaWaterways but your stay & experiences before and/or after the cruise will be more independent. On these packages, we still include flights & transfers, but as they're not handled by AmaWaterways then the driver will meet you at the airport and your first contact with AmaWaterways will be your arrival on the ship.
My first great impression of just how easy a River Cruise is, was that there was no huge check-in process on arrival at the ship. We simply handed our luggage over to the team, got onboard, were given our key card and that was it. Cabins are ready from 3pm but you can arrive anytime after 10am, as we were a little early we went straight into the lounge for welcome drinks (cheers to that!), but could've also gone for a roam around Amsterdam if we wanted.
Another massive perk of a river cruise is that most cities have their river at their heart, and so when you dock, you're docked as central as it gets. This is certainly the case in Amsterdam, which made it incredibly easy to get on and off the ship at leisure to explore this magnificent city.
How was the cabin?
There are no inside cabins on AmaWaterways so even in the cheapest priced cabin on the ship you'll have a window at river level. I've never sailed without having a Balcony before so I was a little apprehensive about having a fixed-window cabin, but it was absolutely fine. We actually ended up spending such little time in the cabin that it wouldn't have been worth paying to upgrade (but if you can afford to splash out then it can't be a bad thing to watch the World go by from your balcony can it?).
The cabin was surprisingly spacious, with plenty of hangars for clothes, a large (and very powerful) shower, and enough storage space for two of us for a week. The bed was almost too comfortable (I didn't want to get out of it most mornings!) and it had a coffee machine, hairdryer, TV and all the amenities you should need.
Check out a video of the cabin here:
Our first night began with a 1-hour drinks reception where cocktails, beers and wines are free-flowing. Here you get to meet your Cruise Manager and the entire team onboard. I thought this was a great touch that I definitely wasn't expecting, but it was really lovely.
After cocktail hour it was time for dinner (more on that below) and we then took advantage of our overnight stop in Amsterdam for a few hours out on the town - stumbling back onboard at 2am was no problem at all for anyone (except me the folliwing morning but the less said about that the better).
Food, glorious food!
Rather than splitting my food posts over each individual day, I'm giving it's own, very well earned section of this blog.
Simply put - the food onboard was next level. Breakfast has a standard buffet with bacon, sausages, hash browns, baked beans, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, yoghurt and cereal. There's then also a menu with some staple items made to order, a manned omelette station, and all eggs are cooked to your liking.
There are three options for lunch:
Main restaurant - a three course a-la-carte which changes daily.
Lounge - Lighter bites if you don't fancy a full sit down meal. The menu changes daily here too but think burgers, gnocchi, pasta etc.
Chef's Table - Three course Italian a-la-carte.
There are two options for dinner:
Main restaurant - A four course a-la-carte which changes daily.
Chef's Table - A seven course tasting menu which must be booked in advance.
Click here for some example menus
I did not have one single complaint about any of the food I had all week, it was all exceptional, as was the service. Nothing was too much trouble, if you wanted to make small tweaks to the dishes then it's not an issue as everything is cooked to order. It honestly was absolutely top notch.
Lunch & Dinner are served with a large choice of wines, four of which change on a daily basis and it's all included in the price.
Day 2 – Amsterdam & Sailing
There were a couple of excursions on offer for this morning in Amsterdam, but as I've been a few times I decided to take advantage of having the ship to myself and took a look around, but those who ventured out enjoyed a guided canal tour of Amsterdam.
How do excursions work?
All excursions are included in the price of the sailing so there's nothing extra to pay, and there's a choice at all ports covering morning, afternoon and some full-day ones where applicable.
Excursions will vary depending on the country/city you're visiting, but you can expect a range of walking tours, guided city tours, food & drink experiences, hiking and much more.
You can swap and change your excursion choices right up until the day (subject to availability) and they were all very well organised with friendly, informative guides.
In the afternoon we set sail which was absolutely wonderful. Unlike a large ocean liner where you sail out to sea and then it's nothing but water, river cruises allows you to sail through cities, town and countries so you really get to enjoy the views and scenery as you go by.
At one point of this afternoon sailing along the Dutch Waterways I sat watching trains whizz by along the mainline, and I thought a river cruise would be perfect if you enjoy a rail holiday. You get the same scenery but at a much slower pace so you get to actually see and breathe it rather than just having it whizz by from the window of a train.
Day 3 - Antwerp
I actually got off my lazy backside today and went out and about. This was my first time in Antwerp so I wanted to get the best of our day here. For the morning excursion I chose the guided walking tour, which was a really easy walk around the city learning about it's history and seeing it's magnificent cathedral.
Some free time after the tour allowed me to pop to Elisa Praline, which offer some of the nicest chocolate I've ever tasted, grab a coffee and then wander back to the ship for lunch. Another great part of the ships being able to dock in the city centres are that it's not a mission to get back for lunch!
For the afternoon excursion, most of the group went off on a beer tour (when in Belgium, right?), but as I'm not much of a beer drinker I opted for the food tour instead. I was expecting small bites like you usually get on these tours but oh no, excursions aren't done by halves with AmaWaterways. A full portion of Belgian fries, a massive waffle, three chocolates and a sausage roll later I was ready to be rolled home. The beer tour group also had full pints for their tasters so you really are reaping the value in with these excursions!
Day 4 - The journey to Strasbourg
Today was the day where things were done a little differently. It's almost unheard of to have to swap ships during a river cruise, but as previously mentioned, due to the low river levels we did so in this itinerary.
An early start got us on a coach transfer for the 6 hour drive to Strasbourg, but it was nicely broken up halfway through with a visit to Luxembourg. It was my first time in Luxembourg so I was happy to scratch another flag off my World map.
A walking tour was on offer here but we actually decided to do our own thing today, so we grabbed lunch and then took a look around the city at our own leisure. As we couldn't have our lunch included here today, AmaWaterways generously credited our onboard account with 35€ per person to cover the cost.
Later that evening, we arrived onboard AmaViola for our second half of the week. AmaViola is a sister ship of AmaLea so other than the colours and some materials, there wasn't really any difference between the two ships and it was nice to have that familiarity for the second part of our week. It's also great to know that whilst it was a different ship, it was the same quality and service I was now very much accustomed to.
Day 5 - Strasbourg
Another first visit for me today! I opted for the bike tour this morning, which, having woken up and seeing the torrential rain outside I worried was going to be cancelled. Alas - it'll take more than a bit of rain to stop the AmaWaterways guides, who were outside, soaking, and ready for us.
As I mentioned before - you can swap your excursions up to the day if you like so plenty of people (wisely) swapped to something else at no extra cost - but not me! I'm clearly thrilled about my decision...
Despite the rain, I really enjoyed the experience! Our guide was local to Strasbourg and very informative. we saw loads of the city and covered around 13 kilometres in three hours.
After a welcomed hot shower, change of clothes and warm lunch I decided to spend the afternoon at leisure in the city, making use of the complimentary shuttle service from the port into town. Being me, I missed the last shuttle back but luckily the ship wasn't leaving until later in the evening so I spent a bit of extra time in town to grab a mulled wine and then got an Uber back to port - how's that for convenience?
Day 6 - Heidelberg
The ship had sailed overnight into Germany and today I took an excursion to Heidelberg. It was around 1h30 by coach from the ship and despite only a handful of us being on the excursion it did still run.
Heidelberg is a very pretty University-town and after a short orientation tour we had a couple of hours at leisure to take a look around and have some lunch before heading back to the ship. As an excursion, this one was more about doing things at your leisure than it was about being on an organised tour, the flexibility and freedom was a great way to explore. Other excursions on offer today were hiking, cycle tours or a trip to Baden-Baden. As a group, we each did different things and the feedback from every tour was that everyone had a great day!
This afternoon we were sailing, so we took advantage of the ship's facilities.
Leisure facilities onboard
The pool
This was my choice - the outside temperature was about 10 degrees and usually I'd never dream of getting in a pool in such cold weather, but the pool onboard was heated and the crew will change the temperature according to your preferences.
There is a pool bar but when there's little demand it's closed - the crew knew we were there though and came to take our drinks order.
Massage
Some of the girls decided to go for a full body massage and the feedback was overwhelmingly amazing! So much so, two of them booked another one for later in the week! A 1 hour full body massage on this ship was 90€ which is amazing value!
The gym
There is also a small gym onboard with some equipment, and wellness activities with the ship's PT are all included in the price. Top-deck Yoga was a particular favourite!
Day 7 - Colmar
Back into France for our final day, I took a walking tour of Colmar today. The town was the place that inspired the setting of Beauty & The Beast and it was clear to see why! Some of the others took a mountain hike to a vineyard for wine tasting.
Our final night began with a farewell cocktail party before dinner and some entertainment into the night.
Evening entertainment
Entertainment onboard was varied. Some days were great, other days not so much for my taste, but each to their own!
The music quiz on the second night was great (not just because we won!), and two of the nights where they had local bands in were fantastic. Other nights were a bit less lively. Unlike ocean liners, the ships only have one entertainment/lounge space so it's a lot harder for every taste to be catered for than it is on a larger ocean liner.
What I did love is that the entertainment onboard was always local acts brought onboard from whichever town/city we were visiting on that day.
Day 8 - The journey home
We had an early flight so after a hosted transfer to Basel Airport we were checked in and enroute to Amsterdam for our connection to Cardiff. Connecting through Amsterdam Schiphol is always a great experience and you can see more info on that on our Instagram.
Final thoughts
I'll be honest - I always thought river cruises were:
Amazing food: I was absolutely right. The food is 10/10.
Fine wine: I was half-right, the wine is great but there's plenty other choice.
Posh people: I was sooo wrong - you can be as dressed up or as casual as you like - everyone was really freindly and welcoming from the team onboard to the other customers.
Expensive: Absolutely not. Whilst the base cost of a river cruise is higher than that of other holiday types, the value-for-money in return for the price tag is absolutely worth it. For the amount I ate and drank, the standard of accommodation, the service and the excursions I took, the price is worth every penny.
I had a fantastic time from start to finish with some great people. I really enjoyed getting to know the other customers onboard and my final fact is that AmaWaterways have the highest rebooking rate on the rivers, and to me, it was very clear to see why!
Ready to book?
Check out our dedicated AmaWaterways page here, and get in touch with us today to book your AmaWaterways River Cruise with Mynt Travel.
