Romance On The Rhine

Chris Mosler and her husband Huw embark on their first river cruise on board luxury new ship AmaKristina

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We’re drinking Prosecco in the swimming pool on board AmaKristina with our new friends, the sun beating down as we watch our beautiful ship being expertly steered through gigantic locks with only millimetres to spare.

Our week-long Rhine river cruise has been full of moments like this, an absolute joy from the moment we stepped on board, via eight towns and cities, across four countries and ending with this moment of total relaxation.

We joined AmaKristina, the gleaming new addition to the AmaWaterways fleet, in Amsterdam, dropping our luggage off and grabbing a bowl of delicious soup in the beautifully appointed lounge with its eclectic collection of colourful and extremely comfortable chairs and sofas. A river cruise brings you right into the heart of the towns and villages en route, so it was easy to wander into the city. Amsterdam was bustling with bicycles and throbbing with life, and we spent a few happy hours exploring the canals before rejoining the ship and acquainting ourselves with our home for the next few days.

AmaKristina is the epitome of understated, relaxed luxury. Our stateroom was elegant and modern, with an Apple Mac computer and widescreen TV. It was very hard not to just dive into bed and avail ourselves of the huge selection of movies on offer, but there waiting for us was an invitation to eat at the Captain’s Table that evening. We washed away the travel dust in our roomy dual head shower, smartened up a little and headed to the lounge where every passenger was greeted with a cocktail and each lady was presented with a long-stemmed red rose. An evening with Captain Jan, his dry sense of humour and his cheeky smile was a great way to kick off this adventure.

We were welcomed on board with such warmth that we felt like we were joining a family – a feeling which lasted for the duration of our trip.