I leave today from London Heathrow aboard a British Airways flight bound for Schiphol Airport Amsterdam where, after transfer, I will be joining the Ms AmaVenita for a 15 day "Magnificent Europe Amsterdam to Budapest" river cruise. As for New Zealand this cruise is with Australia Pacific Touring (APT). My home will be a class of river boat known as 'Concerto River Ships'. The photo (Courtesy of the APT website) is not of the AmaVenita but her sister ship the MS AmaReina. The AmaVenita is 135metres long, 11.4m wide and has 81 Suites (Cabins) which can accommodate 162 guests and a crew of 51. My suite is a Category T + on the Violin Deck, no 206 with a Panoramic Balcony and Outside Balcony (See the photo of the ships plan). Photos of the suite once aboard!!
The map shows the itinerary although there are likely to be some changes.
A particular joy for this cruise is that I will be meeting up with two great friends – Lesley & Bob - whom I first met on an Antarctic Expedition cruise in 2011. We have kept in touch over the years and have in fact met twice since that memorable time, the first in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) back in 2014 when I was invited to join them on an APT land tour of Vietnam and river tour of Cambodia along the Mekong. Lesley had been inspired by my River cruise with Viking on the Yangtse and booked to undertake a similar tour with APT but adding on the Vietnam and Cambodian tour. Lesley & Bob are great travellers and visited me in Kent in September 2016 after completing a cruise through the Northwest Passage and around the British Isles.
You can access my 'Imperial Jewels of China' and 'Vietnam and Cambodia" blogs by visiting 'My Profile' when you read this post on the Blog. Enjoy.
