All Things Travel Podcast
Listen in each week with Creating Magic Vacations Travel Advisors and destination experts Ryan and Julie.
He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She is a Disney-loving, Maryland mom of 3 and a specialist in family travel.
Whether they're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories…it’s always All Things Travel.
All Things Travel Podcast
Exploring the Danube River with AmaWaterways (Part 1)
Join travel advisors Ryan and Julie as they discuss Ryan's recent river cruise experience on AmaWaterways' Romantic Danube itinerary. In this episode, Ryan shares the first part of his journey, including his pre-cruise adventures in Munich, Germany, and his initial experiences aboard the ship.
Episode Highlights:
- Ryan participated in AmaWaterways' "Seminar on the River" program, combining a typical river cruise experience with special training sessions for travel advisors
- The cruise sailed from Vilshofen, Germany to Budapest, Hungary on a 7-night journey
- Ryan discusses his pre-cruise stay in Munich, including hotel selection strategies and a food and beer walking tour
- Detailed insights about logistical considerations: currency exchange, phone service, language barriers, and jet lag management
- Transportation from Munich to the embarkation point in Vilshofen via train
- The welcoming experience on the ship, including a special Oktoberfest celebration hosted by the town of Vilshofen
- Port visits to Passau, Germany and Linz, Austria, with excursion options including Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic
- Discussion of AmaWaterways' included excursions and how they're organized into different activity levels (gentle, regular, and active)
- Ryan's experience traveling solo and how river cruising naturally facilitates making connections with other travelers
AmaWaterways River Cruise Insights:
- Excursions are included in the cruise fare (with one exception in Vienna)
- Options to book pre/post cruise extensions in destinations like Prague
- The logistics of booking air through the cruise line and transfer considerations
- How excursions are organized into small groups for a more intimate experience
- Why river cruising works well for solo travelers
Stay tuned for the next episode where Ryan will continue sharing his Danube River cruise experience, including shipboard life, dining, and more port adventures!
Whether you're considering a river cruise or just curious about European travel, this episode offers valuable insights about planning, logistics, and making the most of your adventure.
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Hello and welcome to all things Travel River. Cruising combines an immersive experience that allows you to explore a region of the world while enjoying a luxury hotel on the rivers. recently returned from sailing at the Dan U River with Amma Waterways, and today we're gonna discuss this amazing trip.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And I am a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:hi Julie. How are you doing?
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I am doing well. This is the first time that we have been on a Zoom type video thing or talked for an actual period of time in weeks because Ryan keeps leaving to travel, which is kind of the whole point of things.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah. So I'm super excited to talk about last trip with, ammo waterways. what do you have going on?
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Well, we're recording this on Easter. We had a great day hanging out with family. Happy Easter. We've been egg hunting for the past, seven hours. Um, not like,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:do it hardcore.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:it's not like it's one egg hunt that's really hard. It's that we find the eggs and then the children hide them again and again so yeah, they had a great day. But otherwise we're just, moving along right into spring. we're kind of through spring break season now and, moving towards summer.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah. Well, I had a good family weekend, with brunch and all that kind of stuff for Easter and, playing cards on the deck
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Ugh.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:just some good times.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:it's good. it feels good to definitely having come back from Europe and feel like spring is finally here.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Our weather in Maryland has been just perfect.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So with this trip, Julie, I was with Amma Waterways, which we've talked about before, on the podcast. I was doing what's called a seminar on the river, where a group of travel advisors join the other guests. And are part of the overall guests on the ship. But we have some special training as we're going along. We have several meetings. We have special, some special things going on specifically for travel advisors. I.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:That's amazing.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah. Yeah. So I did the romantic Dan U itinerary. So I am all excited to talk about this. I wanna talk about Amma waterways. I wanna talk about the Dan U. Super excited. But first, if you have not listened to last week's episode. We do a really good job, especially Julie does a really good job of talking about all things Disney dining and you're gonna get a crash course and how to make sure you get the reservations you want and what restaurants you should focus on.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay, so we're gonna run this kind of as like a, like a q and a, like an informal interview where I'm gonna ask Ryan a bunch of questions and he's gonna hopefully give us some good answers so we can get a good look into Alma waterways and his crews.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:okay. Sounds good.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:what kind of reservations did you set up in advance for this trip?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah, so I think, when you're looking at something like a river cruise, you can set up several different things. You can set up obviously, your state room and your reservation. You can set up airfare and transfers and either a pre or a post tour, associated with the cruises. I was originally going to do a pre tour in Prague, but those dates did not work for me, so I ended up doing my regular cruise accommodations and then I did my air through Amma'cause I wanted to have that experience. I'd never done that before. that was really well set up. Especially later on when I talk about my transfer at the end, I was really happy that I'd done that air with them.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So back up a moment, because you said you were gonna do a pre tour and Prague, I was under the impression you did a pre-tour. Was it just, you just arrived early?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:just
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:early, so I,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:spent some time in Munich, but that was on my own.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Amma,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:gonna say.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:With this cruise offered a pre-trip to Prague. Sometimes they offered things at the beginning and the end. Sometimes they offered the same thing, the beginning and the end. Sometimes they offer different things.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:where did the ship sail
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:the ship sailed from Vil, Chauvin, Germany. It was a seven night cruise, and it sailed all the way to Budapest, flew into Munich and I flew out of Budapest.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Could you have done a post cruise in Budapest or No.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:they did not offer one for this
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:No.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it. But sometimes they do it just.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:obviously were staying and doing their own thing, but not through Rama.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it. And that's one of the things that I think is really unique to River Cruising is being able to add those pre and post tours on,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:they really make it feel like a very all inclusive type trip. I know most of the time, when I am booking those kinds of things for my clients, those pre and post tours will include transportation. You're staying at the hotel where everyone else is staying. You're having certain tours included, meals included, and I just think that's a really great way to get introduced to the area that you're in.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:and get introduced to folks you're gonna be traveling with
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:You mentioned that you flew into Munich. Was that, your first time in Germany? What was that like?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:so I joke'cause I've been to Germany multiple times, but I've never been to Germany'cause I've only been in the airports. in fact, Munich Airport I've been in most when it comes to Germany. I did my flights with Amma waterways. However, my transfers were not included because I didn't not come in the day of the cruise. I decided to come in a day early. I did not have that beginning transfer, but that was okay'cause I wanted to kind of go off and do my own thing. I traveled Indianapolis to Washington, DC and then Washington DC to Munich, Germany. I got in at seven 15 in the morning, in Munich. And so the flights went fine. Everything was great. no problem there. I strategically chose a hotel close to the train station because I knew the next day I was taking the train to Vil Chauvin where the cruise was. I also knew I could take the train from the airport directly to the train station by my hotel.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Amazing.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I chose that as a central place plus it was a quick 20 minute walk to old town where I wanted to do some touristy things.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:And was that a hotel you found on your own or suggested by Alma.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So Amad does not offer hotels unless you're doing the pre cruise. So I just was kind of off on my own.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:several people on the cruise experienced this. I was looking at, hotels in Munich and I, one could not find anything, and two, I could not find anything that was. sort of price that I wanted to pay. And I found out later when I did my excursion that there was a conference that only happens every three or four years, that was happening in Munich at the same time, for heavy construction. those huge cranes that are building that are, you know, working on buildings in Dubai and all this kind of stuff. That's the conference that was going on. So literally all of Munich was full of these construction folks. and that's where all the hotel rooms went. So I found the train station. Perfectly fine. I just bought my ticket there at the airport, got on the right train. I've traveled in Europe via train before, so I'm a little savvy. I had done some pre-work to know what I was doing and it took about an hour to get to the central station and my hotel. luckily my hotel room was ready. I was planning on just dropping off my luggage and then heading out for the day, but I was able to shower, get cleaned up, settle in, and that was really nice.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So talk to me a little more about the travel portion. I'm gonna ask a couple extra questions.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yep.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Did you have to do any entry paperwork? So did you guys have to do anything for this trip?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:No,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:now, the EU does not have that set up yet, It was like every other time I traveled to Europe,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:no issue at all.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Did you do any sort of currency exchange?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I just went to an ATM and took out cash. I find the exchange rates fine. I got, some cash to start out. in Europe compared to even several years ago, cashless is akay. you know, getting a, getting a coffee and a pastry at a place before you could never think about using your credit card, and now it's no issue at all.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:you just alerted your credit card company?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So my credit card company doesn't need to know. But my debit card, company does. I went to the bank the week before and gave them the dates of where I was traveling, they entered it onto my account.'cause remember I was also going to Mexico
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So I had lots of movement.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So when you say you got cash at the ATM, you mean the ATM at the airport in Munich.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I did.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay. just wanna confirm that. Did you f.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:The only thing I will say for folks, and this is the same thing I say in the us, if you're in a city, make sure you use an ATM that's associated with a bank, which is easy to find and make sure that you use an ATM that looks like it's in good shape. It's not beat up or kind of sketchy.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay. I have a couple more logistical questions before we talk more about the ship itself. I know that you were in Mexico right before the crew, so how did it work with your phone? Did you have to pay extra to use your phone? Talk to listeners about how that worked.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So with, so I have at and t and, Mexico and Canada's included in my plan, so I didn't have to do anything special there. But what the international plan for at and t is, it's 12 hours a day. Up to 10 days, and then it's free after that. So basically every day I was using my phone, it cost$12. Once I got to 10 days, it doesn't cost any more money.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So you were using it as you normally would and allowing them to charge you that money.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I turned it on and just used it. And, you know, one for work and also personally doing things like Google Maps for walking,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:it makes too much sense that 12 hours a day to have that support.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:And like that feeling of safety and security, right? you have this one thing you can rely on.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:and I will tell you, my phone worked exactly the same as it did in the United States. No issues with calls, texting,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:wow,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:all was perfectly fine.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:how do you feel about the language barrier?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:it was funny, when we were in Mexico the week before, my fiance is biracial and folks assumed that she spoke, Spanish, which she didn't. And everyone expected me to speak German, which I didn't. one guy got mad at me'cause he was asking directions and I just said, I don't know. I have, I've traveled in a lot of European countries and I know when to play the tourist card as far as just kind of shrug and, point and all that kind of stuff. I ran into some problems the first day'cause I was so exhausted'cause I didn't sleep and I'm just kind of fumbling around from time to time. but I didn't find a problem at all, especially when you're in a tourist place like Munich. They're just so used To people from all over the world, and English continues to be a universal language across the world.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:how was your jet lag?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:my jet lag was not bad, I'm really bad at sleeping on planes. I can kind of zone out for a little bit. And so I always just assumed that I'm not going to sleep and that I'm surprised if I do, but I did not. so. I went, I'll talk a little bit about Munich in a second. I went out for part of the day, came back and laid down for about an hour and just kind of let myself, relax. I don't even know if I really fell asleep. and then I went out for an excursion, that evening, and I got back to my room probably around 10 o'clock. it was time to sleep and I slept. I woke up in the middle of the night for about a couple hours. I finished the series, white Lotus, and then went back to sleep and then, and then. And then went back to sleep for a little bit more, and, then the next day is always a little, a little tired. And then after that, I'm always on
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Good.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:it's
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:so
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:lag is hard, but I'm used to it, I know what to expect.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:tell us about this excursion in Munich.'cause this looked so cool.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:yeah, so Munich, I did a couple
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I was about 20 minutes from Old Town, so I wanted to go check that out, check out the architecture, check out the Guan spiel, which is the clock where, you've got the. figures dancing around at different times. they have this really good food market, like outside food market. So of course, I'm trying some
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Shocking.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I'm trying
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Shocking.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:know, some pretzels, things like that,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Is anyone surprised Ryan found a food market?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:It's just classic Bavaria, so sausage, pretzels, beer, it's just cool. I walked around there a little bit, checked some stuff out, one of my past university students is German and actually lives in Munich. I was hoping to. Touch base with her, but she was coming back from Berlin for a work trip and the train got stuck, so I wasn't able to, I went and found some coffee, went back to the hotel relaxed, and then at five that night I had a beer and food of Bavaria walking tour.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Of course.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah, so we met at the office, which ironically was literally across the street from my hotel. I did not plan that at all. So it just worked out. we met with our guides, an English woman. Who lives in Germany and there was about 12 of us. I was, there was only two of us that weren't part of this conference, this construction conference. We had a beer at the office and she told us some, intro information about the beer culture in Germany. then We walked down to the October Fest and Beer Museum, and we had a pretzel tasting and tasted three different kinds of beer. we did a walking tour through Old Town of Munich, including a famous beer hall. So we could see that whole culture. the local, football team was playing that night. so there was a lot of testosterone in Old Town then we went to a restaurant and had a private area where we had a Bavarian dinner.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Oh my
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:think, cabbage and sausage and cheeses and meats You know, just really, really good stuff. And of course, another beer. by that point, that was the end of our night and I, walked back to the hotel Yeah, that was a great experience. it was a really good excursion. I booked it through via tour. it was$75. It was three and a half hours long. I thought it was very, worth it as far as cost for time,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Wow, that's amazing.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah. So that was my day in Munich. Munich was a wonderful place. if I would've had more time there, two things I would've done. My son is heavily into racing and, I would've gone and checked out BMW. There's the BMW factory and museum there. And I would've also, Gone to dau. The, concentration camp the World War II concentration camp is a good day trip away from Munich. Those, those are two things I would've added, onto my trip in that area. But Munich was beautiful. I'll definitely go back.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So, on the topic of Munich, where exactly did the ship leave from again?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:they, left from a small town called Vil Shohan, which
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:So is,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:two and a half hours away.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:is Munich the easiest place to stay?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yes, Munich is the easiest entry point for that port.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:if you were sailing out of Passau.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:a lot of Dan U River cruises will do that
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Awesome. talk to us about getting to the ship and what that next day looked like for you.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So the next day, my goal was to get to the ship because the cruise was officially starting. and so I got online and purchased my ticket for the next day, so I knew what time I was leaving. I was leaving at nine 30 in the morning
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:On the train.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I went across the street to the train station, had some breakfast, Waited for the train. The only hiccup was I knew I wanted to do some work and so I paid for a first class ticket.'cause I wanted a little more space and a little more comfort. And when the train came, there was no first class train car, I still had a nice seat and was able to get everything done, but it's kinda like, well there's 15 bucks wasted. very easy train ride. if you've ever taken the train in Europe, it's almost always very efficient, very well done. they're always keeping you on time, you know exactly when you're getting places. about two hours and 15 minutes later. I was in Vil, Chauvin, Vil. Chauvin is a very small medieval village. the good thing that Amma does in all their pre-work, they have, maps of, the train station. they know a lot of people will be coming that way. Here's how you get to the ship. I kind of wandered down, through the city center. it was about a 10 minute walk and all of a sudden I saw the Amma ship. there was a gentleman in a crew outfit. I said, Hey, can I drop my bags off here? I know I can't check in yet. Check in was technically 3:00 PM he said, sure. And so I, And so I gave him luggage. He kind of took it down. I, I heard him say to the, to the other guy, this is heavy, be careful. and then I was taking pictures of the ship and I come back around and he is smoking a cigarette. So I joked, I'm like, oh, I'm sorry I interrupted your smoke break. And he laughed. Well, come to find out later, Julie, that was the captain that I had take my, luggage on the ship. So It was all good. That's the level of customer service that Amma Waterways provides.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:He is probably like this passenger.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:so I had about two hours in the afternoon I found some lunch walked around and checked out Vil, Chauvin had some coffee and enjoyed the day. It was beautiful weather. And then about two 30 I went back and the ship was, The ship was open, ready to go. I checked in with the registration desk. They gave me my key. my luggage had already been put in my room. My room was
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:By the captain.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:By the captain? Yes, probably personally. then I went to the lounge and relaxed for a bit At about, five o'clock everybody who was on like the pre-tour and everything, they were there. So everybody kind of, came together in the lounge. The lounge on a river cruise ship is the meeting point for everything, the cruise manager introduced herself. and said, we have something special for you. Every time we're docked in Vil Chauvin, the city of Vil Chauvin, puts on an October fest for us. So she invited us all to leave the ship, and right there on the pier was a tent. And we had folks from Vil Chauvin that were playing music and passing out beer. And there were pretzels for appetizers and it was a really good time.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:That's amazing.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yep.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I just wanna clarify one piece about transfers. you mentioned that you did not book transfers through Amma because you flew in the day before, and they only provide those if you're flying in the day of, which really is just so ironic to me that a lot of the cruise lines do that they only provide transfers the day of from the airport.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Don't
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:tell you.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:the day of.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Right. So it's just so ironic to me. But anyways, had you flown in the day of, would it have been like private transportation from the airport down to Vil? Chauvin? Would it have been your train ticket was included.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:My guess is they would've, kind of corralled folks that were getting in around the same time and we would've had a shared transfer.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So before we talk about rest of the, Julie, I'm gonna talk about where in the world is all things travel. So as I looked at locations, one that was interesting, that popped up for me because you and I just met an awesome friend there named Brittany, and we found out that she lived in Oahu, Hawaii. And so it was fun to see this pop up on my, stats. I wanna go out to Oahu with Brittany, what do you think we should do in Oahu? Julie, what would be a fun thing to do?
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Oh my gosh, Ryan, I think we need to go to the Giovanni Shrimp truck
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:All
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:maybe.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:so this is what we're gonna do. we're gonna fly into Honolulu. We're gonna rent a car. We're gonna pick Brittany up'cause she lives right by Pearl Harbor. We're gonna drive up to the North Shore and have some Giovanni shrimp truck.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:amazing. And then go sit on the beach.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:That sounds great. Brittany, we are so glad that you live in Oahu, so we could feature Oahu on today's all things travel.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Absolutely. Brian, recently we did an episode about solo travel, but this was like.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:this trip for me was solo travel on steroids.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Right, exactly. So tell us a little about like how that felt. Were you nervous about doing that? How did that end up working out for you throughout the trip,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Meeting up with people is very easy. you're in the lounge, sitting around, going on excursions with different folks. So it's easy to strike up conversations. Dining is very easy just to sit down because there's a lot of like tables that are side by side, like in restaurants, so you can sit down and chat with folks. river cruising really allows itself to socializing and meeting people. there are, you know, groups of couples that travel together and stay on their own, but really, to be honest, it really lent itself to meeting folks and talking. and really to be honest, the only. Time it could be awkward is dinner time.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:that's the first activity right after this October Fest. So I go in and
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:After
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:the
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Octoberfest,
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:after October Fest. No, I'm saying like that's when dinner was.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:But it's like you just had all this food and then they're like, time for dinner.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:yes, absolutely. Of course you don't wanna miss dinner. I sat down next to the woman from Amma Waterways that was leading our seminar, and she was already talking to a few folks, so I joined in with them. by lunch the next day I had a crew of. eight of us. it just happened organically. I'm from Indiana. There was somebody from Miami, somebody from Boston, somebody from Tampa, somebody from Australia, somebody from Madrid. this person knew this person and this person knew this person, and we just kind of became a crew
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:And were they all solo traveling as well?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Most of them were so, oh, and there was another woman from Denver as well, and it was very interesting because most of them were solo traveling, so we found each other and became a fun little group to sit during, the happy hour time and at meals. we weren't always together. Maybe there was a couple of us or, the big group was together. that was a lot of fun. you don't have to be social, but river cruising really does allow you to be social.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:All right. That seems like a lot of people traveling solo.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:I was very surprised. and all of them that were traveling solo were very happy with Amma and with the River Cruise.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:All right, do you wanna talk a little bit about, your excursions, your port stops, those kinds of things?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah, so just to give you an idea, with Amma, the excursions are included. In fact, there's only one excursion that cost extra money on
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:and that was a concert in Vienna in the evening, everything else was included and every day. There were three options when it
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:excursions. Often a gentle option, a regular option, and an active option. And really it depended on your level of activity. and then sometimes those would all be the same just different based on activity level, or sometimes there would be different ones to choose from. But again, all included.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:did you have to pick the excursions in advance? Like sign up for them?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:30 days beforehand, you went in and picked them on the Amma app, but
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:with this river cruise, there was never a time where, any of them were sold out or full.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Wow.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So Basically what you would do is you may want, if you're traveling with a group, you wanna make sure you're in the same group, within the same excursion. because what they really try to do is have small groups.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:say, 40 people are going. on an excursion, they might have four different guides on that excursion based on color so that they only have 10 people together. you don't have this big giant group. You have smaller groups, which is really nice.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:how would you make sure you're in the same group? Do you just show up together?
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:you go to the registration desk
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:of cards beforehand
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:So you all are in the red group or the gray group
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:But you don't have to set that up in advance. You can do it on board.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:Yeah.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Got it.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:A hundred
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:after breakfast,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:check in with our group and say, who's going where? the joke was kind of like, Ryan's gonna take care of it. I would just go get everybody's colors and everything and since I had been on the cruise before, I kind of knew that was the system that they had.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Okay.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:sure, I could do that. okay. So let's talk about the first day. we've got that evening done. about mid-morning we start to sail. So that was really kind of exciting, right? we go from Vil Chauvin to Passau Germany, and like I said, sometimes the river cruises will start here with the Dan U. Passau is considered the city of the three rivers because there's three major rivers that converge in Passau, which made it a very wealthy city because of trade, military advantage, and the salt trade, now it's kind of a small little university town, we had a nice walking tour with a law student, there at the university and just kind of learned about the history and immersed ourselves in German culture
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:That sounds so sweet. I like that it was by a university student.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:the next day we woke up in Lins, Austria. we had officially left Germany and you had several different options for this day. You could go to, Chesky, Krum Love, which was in the Czech Republic, or Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the classic, let's learn about, the sound of music, kind of stuff. The people that did that loved it. I had a little different tack. I'm like, if I go to the Czech Republic, I can go to five countries on this, on this cruise. So I spent the day and I did that and I absolutely loved it. It was such a charming little town. Chesky crew, ma is considered the little Prague and, It has the second largest castle, in the Czech Republic, Chesky, Krum Love had a really nice excursion there. I, had a really nice lunch. I asked the lady where to go to get some real Czech food. So I had some beer, Duck and potatoes and cabbage and all that yummy stuff. then when we got back, the guide said, if anybody wants to do a walking tour in Lin, I'll do that. so I, took a little walking tour through Lin Austria, very beautiful little town. Lots of interesting things. That was actually the town that Hitler was planning to retire to. So all of the artwork and everything that was being stolen by the Nazis was going to come to LY and be displayed. That was gonna be kind of his grand place. in fact, we were in a church because if you're on excursion in Europe, you need to go to a church and, was kind of this dome in the back of the sanctuary. the guy pointed it out and said, you know, I know it looks very different. He said, this is where, Adolf Hitler was baptized when he was nine, and we actually covered it up because we don't want people to memorialize it in any way. he said, the baptistry is still used, but we don't have it open to anybody else. So it was, You kind of stop for a second, right. when you're in the Czech Republic that day and you're hearing about communism and, the effects on the local culture and, you're in the midst of World War II and the effects of World War ii and it was really interesting.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:And that's such a bringing history to life moment.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:100%. And then we get back to the ship. And during our sip and sail, which is our kind of happy hour before, dinner, our cruise manager says, we have an announcement to make. We have an issue going on with the ship, and it may impact the next couple days of our trip. And Julie, I'm gonna wait because we've already talked enough today. I'm gonna talk about those in a second episode,
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:Awesome. I can't wait.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:there's so much more to talk about. We're gonna talk about life on board. We're gonna talk about food. We're gonna talk through the rest of this amazing romantic Dan U I'm super excited. next episode, we're gonna talk about it all.
j_1_04-20-2025_184816:I can't wait to hear it. you wanna plan a trip to an amazing destination, but dunno how to get started. As your travel advisors, we work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach out to us at all Things travel podcasts.com and click contact us.
ryan_1_04-20-2025_184816:We look forward to talking to you next week on all Things Travel. When I discuss the second half of my river cruise,
