Disabled Facilities

We welcome guests with special needs. Guests who have any medical, physical or other special needs must contact their travel agent or Amadeus directly to obtain specific information. All vessels and coaches are equipped to European standards. Vessel operators will, under appropriate circumstances, permit passengers to use motorised scooters and wheelchairs that satisfy criteria confirmed by Amadeus. In all cases passengers must understand and accept that the vessels do not have lifts permitting easy access from deck to deck, and that some decks are multilevel and/or have significant thresholds. Accordingly physically disabled passengers may need the services of a responsible adult, and should be aware that crew availability to assist them is often severely limited.

Special Dietary Needs

There is always a vegetarian option for all meals on board AMADEUS ships. If you have special dietary requirements or suffer from food allergies, please inform your travel agent or tour operator at least 60 days prior to departure. On request, our chefs will certainly provide special dishes suitable for people with conditions such as lactose or gluten intolerance. We will do our best to ensure that your request is accommodated, but cannot guarantee all diet needs and preferences can be met. Be aware that we can only confirm that our employees will do their very best to adhere to them, as they are also responsible for preparing food for the other passengers on board. Some requests might be declined or may incur a small service charge.

Dress Code

We want our guests to feel comfortable, which is why there is no binding dress code on board. We recommend elegant clothing for dinner and for special occasions.

What to pack:

The following items are essential for any destination: sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, and umbrella. In the colder months we suggest to bring a warm scarf, gloves and waterproof shoes. It is recommended that you bring duplicates of prescription eyewear, copies of prescriptions for any medications (generic equivalents are usually easier to obtain), copies of credit card information, and copies of your passport information pages.

An adapter/transformer may be necessary (the on-board power supply is 230V AC/50 Hz) if you bring any electronic devices with you. A travel alarm clock is helpful as is a currency converter if you want to purchase any souvenirs on excursions. If you want to send postcards, do not forget to note the addresses of the recipients.

Clothing:

Comfortable, casual clothing is appropriate both onshore and onboard and we suggest lightweight clothing that can be layered. Shorts are appropriate for most tours, however long pants may be required for inside visits on some excursions. Your cruise manager will advise when and if this is required. Mix-and-match colour schemes work best to help keep baggage light. You will find a significant amount of walking over uneven terrain during your time ashore. We recommend comfortable walking shoes with good ankle support. Sturdy sandals are another good option.

Don’t forget to pack a lightweight, waterproof jacket (preferably hooded) or even a heavier-weight wind-breaker for cooler temperatures. Also, keep in mind that the ship, motor coaches and other venues visited on our itinerary are air conditioned and may be quite cool. We recommend you that you pack a lightweight sweater or long sleeve shirts and carry them with you on excursions.

Our guests travelling on the AMADEUS Queen or AMADEUS Provence may want to bring a swimsuit.

Smoking Policy

For safety reasons, smoking on board is not allowed in the entire interior of our ships; only on the sun deck and in specially marked areas. We ask our smoking guests to always show consideration to non-smokers. We ask for your understanding that smoking in cabins is completely prohibited for safety reasons. The penalty for non-compliance is €375 per passenger.

Laundry Service

Our onboard laundry service is available to wash and iron your personal clothes for a small fee. Please note that there are no dry-cleaning facilities on board. Please contact the reception if you want to use the laundry service.

Internet and Wifi

Wireless Internet access is available on all AMADEUS ships and is provided in all public areas of the ship. We ask for your understanding that the connection during your trip may be weaker within certain sections of the route and does not meet the standard of a hotel Internet connection. In addition, downtimes may occur on board, as international borders are often crossed during the cruise. Please contact reception upon arrival to get more information.

Travel and Cancellation Protection

No one wants to fall ill before or during their trip. In order to ensure that you have the best possible protection should the worst happen, we recommend that you take out an appropriate insurance policy before starting your journey. This will cover any travel cancellation costs, compensation for lost or damaged luggage and potential medical treatment. Please contact your local tour operator for insurance coverage.

Shore Excursions

You will get to know many different countries and cultures first hand with our tailor-made excursion program. We therefore recommend our carefully selected excursions and excursion packages to all explorers and globetrotters. You will find a detailed description of the possible or already booked excursions in your travel documents.

On all our excursions you’ll be provided with our wireless AMADEUS listening devices. The receiver can be worn quite comfortably around the neck or carried in a bag. The comfortable headphones allow you to hear your experienced tour guide’s explanations with the very best acoustic quality. Enjoy complete freedom of movement, without missing any of the interesting commentary.

Important Information:

• All excursions can be booked in advance or aboard. (For organisational reasons, some excursions can only be booked aboard)
• Minimum participation for excursions by bus: 20 people
• Minimum participation for excursions on foot: 12 people
• The schedule of individual excursions can vary; this is partly due to the volume of traffic in the cities and the opening hours of facilities.
• Please remember to wear sturdy shoes as well as comfortable, waterproof clothing when attending the excursions.
• When exploring on your own, please remember to return to the vessel in time for its departure. If you miss the departure, you have to travel to the next port at your own expense. You will find the all aboard time in the daily program.
• Itineraries and prices are subject to alterations

Walking Grade:

Some excursions involve a fair amount of walking, sometimes over uneven surfaces. The following coding system has been used to assist with identifying which excursions are appropriate for you. Please ask your cruise director for additional information as required.

• LEVEL 1: Minimum walking; excursion by bus with short photo stops.
• LEVEL 2: The excursion by bus is followed by a moderate walking tour. You may need to climb some stairs.
• LEVEL 3: The excursion by bus is followed by a longer walk. You may need to climb several stairs.
• LEVEL 4: Moderate walking tour. You may need to climb some stairs.
• LEVEL 5: Considerable walk with longer distances. This may include uneven surfaces and some stairs.

Pioneer of Luxury Eco-Friendly River Cruises

By being fully committed to observing the ecological principles, AMADEUS River Cruises has taken a leadership position in meeting the growing challenges of environmental sustainability in river cruising.

At Amadeus River Cruises we set great store by traveling up and down our beautiful rivers using resources∘ as sparingly as possible. It’s not just a question of saving water and energy, of operating vessels economically, of consistently avoiding the creation of rubbish or preferring local produce; the company also promotes active awareness of our general responsibility for the environment and society.

Cooperation with atmosfair

In addition to setting new standards in the field of protecting the environment, we have also introduced opportunities to make voluntary contributions to climate protection since 2011. Working closely with the climate protection organisation atmosfair, we are Europe’s first river cruise operator to offer guests aboard our AMADEUS vessels an opportunity to offset their own CO2 consumption during the cruise with a donation. Amadeus River Cruises supports the project with an additional donation of 25% of the amounts contributed in this way.

At the end of the cruise passengers can decide for themselves if they would like to pay the suggested climate protection levy of €2 per day per cabin. Such donations support exclusively UN-certified∘ projects in developing countries intended to benefit the people who pollute the environment and cause climate change the least.