Hot on the heels of the recent launch of the 161-passenger AMAVERDE, AmaWaterways is poised to unveil its newest vessel, the AMAKATARINA. Capable of carrying 212 fortunate passengers, she will make her debut on the 12-day Russian Waterways itinerary sailing from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Tuesday May 10, 2011.
Designed specifically to be among the most luxurious vessels operating on Russia’s famous Volga waterway, the new AMAKATARINA was an existing vessel that was stripped to the hull, redesigned and rebuilt from the keel up to conform to the already-high standards of AmaWaterways.
In addition to her modern, upscale décor, guests sailing aboard AMAKATARINA will find 76 staterooms feature outside balconies, along with suites measuring up to 432 square feet in size. The ship features a total of 106 staterooms, all of which include a sitting area, bathroom including a separate shower, a refrigerator, hair dryer, and a safe.
Outside of their staterooms, guests are treated to all the features and amenities they’d expect from the line’s European-based river ships. Two separate dining venues are available for guests to enjoy, and wine, beer and soft drinks are all complimentary with dinner service. To that end, an American chef with extensive Russian experience is onboard to ensure the culinary experience is inspired yet accessible.
AMAKATARINA also boasts an expansive Panorama Lounge, an elegant Solarium, a fitness centre, dedicated hairdresser and masseuse, along with a gift shop, conference hall, and an onboard infirmary. Particularly rare among river cruise ships in this region is the addition of an elevator is available for passenger use, traversing all four decks. The ship is also equipped throughout with wireless internet access.
AmaWaterways President Rudi Schreiner called AMAKATARINA “a ship that represents a new standard of cruising in Russia. We are confident that she will provide the finest river cruise experience available in this highly-desirable destination, and further AMAWATERWAYS’ position as the overall river cruise industry leader.”
AMAKATARINA’s 12-day Russian Waterways itinerary offers guests a chance to experience this fascinating and mysterious country up-close and personal. Highlights of note include a visit to the Kremlin, the spectacular Hermitage Museum, a private ballet performance a the Hermitage Theatre, a day boat lunch cruise on the Moscow River, and a specially-arranged visit to the home of a local Russian family in the city of Uglich. Onboard AMAKATARINA, passengers are also treated to Russian music and language classes along with a variety of enrichment lectures spanning nearly every aspect of this immense country.
For more information on AmaWaterways and AMAKATARINA, check out our detailed overview right here on River Cruise Advisor.
Not Happy says
We were on a June sailing of this ship and experienced the same or similar problems as noted on the initial sailing. Some examples:
1. kept waiting for over two hours at airport and not having to help us as there were no English speaking airport personnel. At long last we found someone who knew just enough English to contact AmaKaterina staff.
2. cabin furnishings are not in any way luxurious but the bed was reasonably comfortable.
3. air conditioning either did not work consistently or was turned off whenever the ship was docked. There is considerable noise in cabins which can make sleeping very difficult.
4. food quality was sub standard often being served cold or tepid
5. wait staff were helpful but were inexperienced university students. There was significant confusion and lack of attentiveness – mostly due to the absence of a restaurant manager. Ama had to send someone over from Vienna to try and rectify the numerous complaints about food and service.
I could go on about other issues which effectively made this a 3 star operation and not was is described by AMA as a luxury/deluxe ship. There was a mini revolt amongst some customers who felt they had been mislead. The pricing for this trip was nearly twice what is offered by Viking which is also rated as 3 star. Save your money and look for a trip that offers better value.
Mzungu says
We were on the inaugural cruise of the Amakatarina (actually it’s officially the Mickael Rostropovich – the Russian authorities have refused to register the boat as Amakatarina). The cruise had a number of significant problems which resulted in AmaWaterways giving a huge compensation package to all passengers. Here is a summary of the issues from our perspective.
1. The refit of the boat was not completed on time. At the time the cruise commenced (10 May 2011) painters were still painting, engineers were still engineering, and much of the equipment had not been unpacked or installed. The outdoor furniture and gym equipment were still packed away. The outdoor deck was unavailable for passengers use until midway through the cruise. Safety signs were installed sometime during the cruise. On day one we had towels. On day two we also got toiletries. A few days later we got a bath mat and rubbish bin. The safe was not installed in the cabins but this was rectified after a few days. Sometime later workmen appeared and installed coat-hooks in the cabin. This list is just a summary to give a flavour of the issues – the boat was just not ready for its first passengers. For subsequent cruises these problems should now mostly be rectified.
2. Some passengers experienced significant mechanical failure in their cabins. Some toilets didn’t flush and the passengers had to be moved to other cabins. Some cabins didn’t have hot water. One passenger reported that the toilet flushed hot water but the basin and shower only had cold. For all of us, and for the crew in the public areas, there was significant difficulty in controlling the temperature. Sometimes the air-con worked, sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes the heating worked, sometimes it didn’t. All through one night we shivered in a very cold cabin. A team of workmen accompanied the cruise and most of these problems seemed to have been resolved by the final day.
3. The cruise was not as ‘luxury’ as some passengers expected. This boat is hyped as the most luxurious cruise ship ever to ply the Russian rivers, and in comparison to the other boats on the river it is a lot better, but nevertheless in many areas it fell significantly short of expectations. Many passengers felt that the food was not up to the standard expected when compared to European river cruises. For us, we didn’t have a point of comparison and thought the food was ok without being memorable. A major disappointment was our cabin. Cruise marketeers tend to use a lot of hyperbole in describing their products, and hence a poky little cabin becomes a ‘Stateroom’ in the advertising brochures. Our cabin was marketed as a Marinsky Suite and priced accordingly. A ‘suite’ it was not. It turned out to be just a slightly wider version of the adjacent cabins, with the addition of two hard-backed chairs (far too uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time) and a small table. Also we had booked a ‘double’ and what we got was 2 single beds pushed together. Our balcony, another big selling point of this boat, had a high, solid outer side which meant there was no view when sitting. A note about balconies – when the boat is docked for three days at each end of the cruise it is double or triple moored with other boats. For passengers whose balcony was on the inside, moored against another boat, it became unusable due to the noise and fumes from the A/C plant on the adjacent boat.
4. The sightseeing itinerary was very interesting but tended to be conducted in waltz time – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. Tours were slow getting going (they never started on time), and almost always stuck in slow traffic, sometimes for hours. Moscow traffic is bad news and we typically spent 1 to 2 hours getting to and from the boat to the city centre. St Petersburg is similar. On a good run it took half an hour into the city but when it went bad it was awful. One group took 3 hours to get back to the boat. So we were always running behind schedule which meant the tours sometimes got a bit rushed and truncated – quick, quick. And then back to the slow crawl back to the boat. Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.
5. Most of the crew appeared to be inexperienced and, initially, lacked confidence. As the cruise progressed they became more knowledgeable and confident in their roles. We actually found this to be a bonus as it made them more human and likeable – their lack of cruising experience was overcome with abundant enthusiasm.
In summary, many of the problems that we encountered have now been fixed. Subsequent cruises on this boat should be a lot better. We were told that the food would be improved, but it didn’t happen for us. Some problems are less easily fixed, like the Moscow traffic and the overall expectation of getting a consistently premium product for a premium price. Apart from the obvious issues of mechanical and operational lack of readiness, we thought that the cruise was mostly ok while not really earning a ‘luxury’ label.
Anonymous says
Thank you for your balanced and insightful report. We certainly welcome more reports like this one, which help consumers make informed river cruise vacation decisions.
Peter says
Many thanks for this information-I have posed the question to APT (Australia) who are organizing our trip.
Mzungu says
Thanks Peter. We were also with APT and they did their best in a difficult situation. The ship is operated by a Russian company, Vodohod. Both APT and AmaWaterways seemed to be rather embarrased by the situation. APT have been reasonably prompt in paying the 50% refund.
Mzungu says
We were on the initial Amakatarina cruise from Moscow to St Petersburg, 10th May – 21 May 2011. For AMA waterways the cruise was a major disaster to the extent that every passenger had to be immediately placated with all of the ‘add-on’ tours being made free and lunchtime drinks (beer & wine) also being made free. This was just the beginning. By the end of the tour Amawaterways announced a compensation package of an immediate 50% cash refund of the cruise cost to every passenger, plus a free 7-day European waterways cruise in the same room category as booked on Amakatarina. By the way, the Russian authorities have refused to accept the name Amakatarina so the ship is now officialy the Michael Rostropovich. So how bad was it that caused Amawaterways to come up with such an unprecedented compensation package? I’ll deetail some of this in another post when I get some free time.
Karen says
This boat looks really nice. Put it on my desk top when we decide to do Russia. Most of the companies who run in Russia have older boats. This is a vast improvement.