Magnificent Europe - Budapest to Amsterdam Reviews

The APT river cruise was fantastic. Went in Autumn and the scenery was incredible with lots of beautiful colours. The staff on the ship were great. Would recommend it.

We completed this same itinerary seven years ago with Viking at the same time period in mid October. There were obvious differences between the operators. Viking cruisers were predominantly from the USA whereas this cruise was mostly from Australia and to a lesser degree the UK. The Scandinavian design of Vikings ship was much preferred to that of both ...read more of the APT ships. This cruise was impacted by low water which we were aware could be a problem. As a result we were placed on a Travelmarvel ship after a two hour bus ride from our starting port of Budapest.

Unfortunately for many guests the planned activities for Budapest did not happen. APT did arrange for guests to travel by coach to have a lunch cruise the next day (6 hours of road travel) The staff on Travelmarvel tried very hard but it was obvious more training is needed. The food and wine advertised in APT’s brochures emphasises fine wine and food. The wine was far from fine and food was bland. Viking also excelled in this area. Passengers had no other wine option made available to guests. One house white and one house red and a sparkling. When off ship we purchased wine. APT’s advertising promotes that passengers will not need to spend any more dollars once you are aboard. Viking’s offering in this area was far superior!

We did approach a senior staff member about these issues and were told we should expect better when we changed ships. APT had ample time to upgrade wine and food menus prior to commencing the cruise .
The wine offerings continued to fall short on quality though you could purchase from a short list of wine around the 30euro mark.
Staff on the Amastella were more proficient and the cabin were meticulously cleaned. Viking was also rated highly in this aspect.
The off ship excursions were very good on both cruises. We have traveled on 3 Viking river cruises and have experienced high quality cruises. We cannot say this about our most recent APT experience.

On the whole a great trip. The one let-down was the food, which would not pass muster in a Melbourne bistro. Restaurant staff were largely under-trained, which may be a hang-over from COVID.

After a year of stress our trip with APT from Budapest to Amsterdam was just what we needed. All the arrangements were worry free thanks to Yvonne of Global Journeys, and once on board relaxation was the order of the day. Autumn was in full colour enhancing the already beautiful landscapes. Nothing was too much trouble for the hard working crew on AmaBella ...read more and cruise director Korana especially, made our trip one to remember forever. A fantastic trip, one I absolutely recommend.

Promoted as "5 Star" with 5 star price. The overall service was good & reasonably well organised. The food was lacking in variety & flavour. RSL Buffet quality at best (all you can eat ice cream does not make it 5 star).

Many times we were docked alongside other ships. This is when you realise how dated and lacking in quality our vessel was. At ...read more one stage, our cruise director had to lay on the lounge floor with the Microphone to his laptop (also on the floor) just to get the sound for the info sessions.

We travelled over the Easter Period where many towns had closed for holidays. This is totally understandable...what was disappointing was the total lack of any planned alternatives considering these holidays happen every year and would not come as a surprise.

From the first day to the last day, much of the information in the brochure was misleading at best or just untrue. If you are expecting "5 Star" you will be disappointed. If you accept it will be a nice cruise with average facilities & food.....that's the best you can hope for regardless of the huge amount of money out laid.

We have travelled extensively each year by air, on land and with many ocean cruises but this was the first river cruise for us. Last year on a tour to Scandinavia almost the entire bus had done an APT European river cruise and were full of praise and this in part motivated us to experience it ourselves.

The transfers at each end of the trip were ...read more efficient and seamless. The ship and the crew were first rate and the service unparalleled. We give a special commendation for the cruise director Emma Leslie for both friendliness and she demonstrated the greatest attention to detail with backup plans when because of the river height, when they needed a Plan B. She also gave an excellent on-board commentary while travelling through the castle reaches of the Rhine Valley.

We are active tourists but we appreciated that the company provided more gentle excursions for those who are not up for rigorous activity. The food was of a high standard served by friendly and courteous waiting staff, but with the greatest respect lacked the WOW factor of say a Seabourn cruise which is approximately in the same price range.

It’s hard to compete with Budapest, the wonderful 800-year-old Franconian Bavarian villages, and the elegance of Vienna. The itinerary with the peak experiences at the Lichtenstein private Palace concert in Vienna and the dinner recital at Schloss Burg Namedy were memorable. The latter with a live Princess soldering-on, reminded us of the Alan Bennett play "People" about another lady dedicated to the upkeep of a stately old home in the country.

Fellow travellers were mainly Australian and we still not cannot get our head around why gentlemen in their 70s with legs way past their prime and looking like the legs of a queen chair, insist on wearing shorts even when the temperature was hovering around 15 Celsius. It quite put us off our Martinis which were perfect once we had taught Stan the barman how to make a 007 Bond Vesper Martini.

Look forward to travelling with the company again.

From day one we enjoyed the welcoming and pleasurable hospitality on board the MS AmaVenita. Every aspect of this trip was executed with perfection and we honestly cannot fault it. The itinerary was well planned with options for guests at each port during the journey. As it turned out every guest's preferences for the on-shore excursions were met.

The ...read more Cruise Director Emma, kept us all informed and aware of events at every point during the trip. We were also blessed with great weather for the full fifteen April spring days. There was plenty of variety in the choice of excursions and through visiting small towns such as Melk and Miltenberg and big cities like Budapest Vienna and Cologne, guests were given a taste of many different worlds. We did everything from learning how to make Apple Strudel to Beer Drinking to listening to fabulous concerts In the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna and Schloss Burg Namedy in Germany.

The journey by river in itself is so interesting as the ship travelled through 68 locks. The engineering involved is amazing and to explain it, a university lecturer and Historian specialising in Engineering History gave the most interesting account of the waterway system we were travelling on.

The food was excellent and varied with the menu reflecting the different regions we passed through. The journey was made pleasant through the sheer friendliness of all staff. I fully recommend this trip to anyone looking for a relaxing and yet stimulating journey. Thank you to the team from APT and Global Journeys for making it a seamless experience which now has become a set of the most beautiful memories.

We booked with Yvonne of Global Journeys. Everything was worry free and Yvonne promptly dealt with any questions and was so easy to deal with. When, 10 days out, we were notified that APT needed to change the itinerary because of low water levels in the Danube and Rhine rivers Yvonne was immediately in contact.
We decided to go on the revised itinerary ...read more and we were not disappointed!

APT went to great lengths to ensure we enjoyed a holiday like no other. The Majestic Imperator was an absolute highlight, four hours of regal luxury from Budapest to Vienna was just bliss. The private charter flight to Rotterdam was another highlight and the unique voyage through The Netherlands and Belgium was full of delightful stops at places like Kinderdyke and Willemstad.

Apparently this itinerary was a first for APT, maybe one they should repeat. We both returned home relaxed, maybe a kilo or two heavier. We thoroughly recommend Global Journeys and APT.

Absolutely fabulous cruise under the the direction of Daniela Obermeir on board AMA Reina & Venita, couldn't find a fault. One of the most magnificent holidays we have had, if not the best. Lots of laughs with wonderful food and organisation. Will certainly travel with APT again.

People have asked me what was the highlight of my trip and my answer was I didn’t have a favourite as it was all fabulous in different ways. Each country was unique and there was always something amazing to see. As I was travelling on my own, it was a very safe way to go, and I am already thinking of my next cruise with APT.

Top marks. Fantastic trip. Everything included, drinks, transfers and port excursions made it a very relaxed and easy. No hassles - great staff and shipmates. Definitely a great holiday!

We really enjoyed the river cruise. Great cabin with outdoor balcony. The weather was very kind -hotter than expected. APT is very organized and we were very clear about our choices for day trips. Great to have a slow walkers group for those days where we were less energetic[because of a cold] We felt very safe when we could not speak the language of ...read more the country as the staff made it easy to explore the highlights and have some free time. It was quite busy but you could stay on the bot if you needed down time. The food was great[but too much] and the wine was more than plenty for us.

Re our flights - we took up the special $2,000.00 per person business class fare -that was great. However 7 airports and four airlines was a bit of a challenge but we managed it. We had a long wait at Hong Kong between flights from 10pm until 12md - we intended to stay at the airport business lounge rather than stay at a hotel as would spend several hours just getting there and back to airport. However the Singapore Business lounge [which Swiss Airlines uses] is closed overnight from 12am to 6am. We did not know this so would be good to let your customers know. We are glad to be home. We had a wonderful trip thank you. Booking on line worked well for us.

The best holiday we have ever experienced. Five star luxury and inclusions travelling with APT on a European river cruise. We travelled Budapest to Amsterdam onboard the Amabella and it exceeded every expectation and we would highly recommend. We booked through Hannah at Global Journeys and she was fantastic. Hannah made the whole experience of choosing ...read more and booking an absolute breeze. When we contacted her during our trip with a question regarding flight connections she got back to us with an answer within minutes, we were extremely impressed. Thank you Hannah, Global Journeys and APT for the trip of a lifetime.

This trip certainly lived up to our expectations and was professionally handled on a day by day basis by the Cruise Director. All on shore activities that we participated in were also very well organised an informative. We particularly liked the fact that we were treated like royalty by the on board staff and all costs including food and drinks were ...read more all included in the cruise cost. The booking process through Global Journeys was handled efficiently and all flight connections worked out perfectly.

Once again thanks to Global Journeys for managing our booking and to APT for there expertise in providing a complete worry free cruising holiday. We had a good mix of travellers every one get on very well , this was our first cruise experience and we were not disappointed, with a very committed professional cruised guide that made sure that every thing ...read more was just right. Also a thank you to the cabin and dinning room staff very good.

We had been wanting to go on a European river cruise for a number of years and we finally had the time to go. It certainly didn't disappoint. We had a wonderful time. The food was delicious, there was a wonderful selection of wines on board and the staff were amazing. Nothing was too much trouble. The scenery, the on board entertainment and the freedom ...read more of choice excursions were sensational - all the guides were knowledgeable and fun to spend time with. The cabin was comfortable and clean. We can't recommend the trip and the service we received from Georgie at Global Journeys highly enough. We are now looking forward to our next APT trip and will definitely have Global Journeys organise it for us.

Overall it was a great trip. Excursions cancelled in Budapest because of the National holiday on the first and second day of the cruise. APT did not inform us about it and kept advertising the twilight cruise on the first day - it is a bit disappointing as we had 3 days before the cruise started we could done the twilight cruise and the Buda castle ...read more excursion before the start of the cruise. The internet on the the Amareina was very bad - our cabin was at the back of the ship so no internet in the cabin. You have to go to the reception area or the top deck to have access to the internet. The staff were wonderful excellent services, the cabin was very nice but we couldn't use the balcony as when the ship dock usually other ship are docked one feet from your balcony. If you want to book a cabin I think you would be better of with the cabin with the French balcony usually most of the day you are out. The Excursions were great if not cancelled by APT.

We enjoyed ourselves very much, but if we had paid full price, we would not think it value for money. Too much emphasis on food and drink. Not enough physical activity for us. The boat was very comfortable and the staff were uniformly enthusiastic and charming. Kristen, the Tour Director, was efficient, charming, quick thinking and caring. A very professional ...read more tour director. We missed out on the first three days cruising, because of low river in upper Danube. We were ferried by coach and stayed at 4 star hotels in Budapest and Vienna. So no complaints. Excursions were very good, informative and entertaining, and we were taken to very interesting places. A good introduction to river cruising, but would have appreciated more opportunities for walking and cycling.

Overall trip was very good. WiFi not that good throughout the trip. Hospitality staff were excellent. Cruise guide was excellent. Some suggestions for having and Aussie BBQ on deck? Or grill at some point along the way. Would have been nice to have a real steak. Aironditioning filters probably need cleaning, half the passengers were coughing. We enjoyed ...read more the trip very much, we were well looked after.

As indicated by my ratings, my conclusive statement is 'Everything promised in the website and other publicity was delivered.' The downside was that someone had brought on board a respiratory infection of some sort so that on about day four, 75% of the pax were barking and coughing all over the place, us included. Nevertheless, Cheri the cruise director, ...read more herself afflicted, worked tirelessly so that, at every available opportunity a doctor was brought aboard. But the biggest bonus of the trip for me was the fabulous crew - a lovely collation of young men and women, mainly from eastern Europe (I think) who made the official United Nations look as shabby as it so often is. Thanks, too, for your courtesy and help.