In last week’s post, Our New Year’s Eve Wish For You, we told you about Dolf Dunn’s Christmas Markets cruise. Dolf and his wife Lannie shared photos of Christmas trees at various ports of call (as well as Christmas trees on AmaSiena). The Dunns praised AmaWaterways for not missing a single Christmas Market. “If a city closed a market, AmaWaterways found an alternative one to take us to,” Dolf wrote.
AmaWaterways’ Kristin Karst saw our story and reached out to us. If you don’t know who she is, let me tell you about Kristin. Originally from the region of Dresden, Germany, Kristin is the high-spirited, always smiling, always optimistic co-founder and co-owner of AmaWaterways. If you’re lucky enough to be on a cruise with her, you’ll recognize her right away. She’s just as I described, and you’ll often find her on ships making her way around the dining room talking to guests about their day and their experiences on AmaWaterways. If you’ve cruised with AmaWaterways, there’s a good chance you know – or know of – Kristin.
“Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful feedback from your recent cruise on AmaSiena,” Kristin wrote to Dolf and Lannie after last week’s post. “Although we had only a small group onboard your departure due to all the challenges, we hope all the guests who cruised together with you had a most magical and memorable experience, enjoying many of the Christmas markets along the Rhine as well as the festively decorated ship … Seeing everyone who decided to come to Europe creating an extra special connection with each other while showing gratitude traveling in these times and enjoying themselves is truly one of the most wonderful rewards for us and all our team and crew members.”
Dolf wasn’t the only one cruising during Christmas. Anna Wilson Schendel wrote us to say that she also traveled with AmaWaterways on the Rhine and had an “outstanding” cruise.
And far from Europe, Ben Rich and his significant other were cruising the Pacific on Viking. “Getting ready to ring in the new year and enjoying our sixth cruise since July,” Ben wrote to me. “Safe travel is still available.”
It is a challenging time to travel, but we’re confident that cruising will be back to normal real soon.
It’s clear that our readers are ready to cruise. How about you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
We cruised with Viking in November on the last Bordeaux cruise. Our ship was almost full. Masks were required of crew and guests except in lounge or dining room. We all had a fantastic time. All excursions were full. We were tested every morning and no one on our ship ever tested positive!
I have 6 cruises planned for this year. These stories give me the confidence to travel.
Thank you for sharing.
We cruised on AmaWaterways in September from Nuremberg to Amsterdam. There was a last minute change that prevented us from staying overnight in Amseterdam, Ama handled the change with ease. Anyone traveling in the era of COVID knows that flexibility is a must.
Our cruise only had 37 passengers on board, but we felt COVID safe throughout with their precautions and cleanliness.
We’ll complete the second week of our two week cruise this year, from Budapest to Nuremberg! Like I said, you need to be flexible.
We feel safer in Europe during COVID than in the US.
What is happening with COVID-19 are cruises being canceled have cruise booked for Seine end of March