River Cruise Lunches on 3 Riverships
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
This is a report of our experiences having lunch on 3 different riverships during the ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) River Cruise Expo in Budapest in March of 2023.
This is our 24th Europe River Cruise. We are back on the Danube currently, and it is wonderful as always. River cruising just never gets old, each day and season is different.
We had a rare opportunity to report on lunches from 3 different lines—AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways and Viking River Cruises.
So, let’s explore together and learn about lunches on 3 different river cruise lines.
Overview
The design of the River Cruise Expo was to visit the ships to see their staterooms and on-board facilities, and to have a chance to eat either lunch or dinner on the different line that participated in the event. We got to eat lunch on AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, and Viking River Cruises. We also got the chance to savor the cuisine offered for dinner on AmaWaterways, Riverside Cruises and Scenic Cruises.
Here is our report about these culinary experiences. We will first show you the exact menu we were provided and then pictures and descriptions of each dish served to us.
AmaWaterways
Since we have sailed so many times on Ama, it would be easy to be a little biased, but I think the typical offerings will provide you with a clear picture why almost every serious travel writer and industry experts rate the food on AmaWaterways as the best.
The dining room on the AmaMagna
Another picture of the dining room on the AmaMagna
The lunch menu. This typical of ever day for lunch. It is far more extensive that most other river cruise lines. It is a four course meal or you can have a sandwich if you desire less food.
Here is the appetizer for this lunch. We had Buffalo Chicken wings/Olive Spread/Potatoe Cakes/Artichoke Salad
There were 2 soup choices. I decided on the Chicken Consommé. My other choice was Creamy Cauliflower Soup. Anne and I find that AmaWaterways has exce;llent soups.
The main course was a good selection. We could have had a Sandwich of the Day wich was a Tuna Melt. We also could have chosen Bouillabasisse a la Chef or Egg Plant Curry.
Te next course was from the Front Cooking Station. This is the Tandoori Chicken Curry. I could have selected theThai Shrimp Curry.
Anne really liked the Bread and Butter Pudding
I chose the Ice Cream Sunday
AmaWaterways pairs the wines to the meals but you can always request any of their 14 different wines.
I really enjoyed this red.
wine is unlimited during meals.
Avalon Waterways
We had a good lunch on the Avalon Envision.
At the entrance to the main dining room, this is the wine display.
This is how the main dining room is set up for lunch
Avalon does not have an extensive printed lunch menu. The printed lunch menu is to order from the menu with the wait staff. Most guests will visit the buffet.
Here is the lunch menu. As with all lines, they also offer their menu on line to save on paper waste.
Here is a picture of buffet area.
The sausage front cooking station had excellent sausages. which we both enjoyed
sides
Salad pfferings
This was the desert buffet.
the sausage was excellent but I did not care for the pasta.
This is their veggie burger
This is the hamburger which you can order every day at lunch.
My dessert cake.
Viking River Cruise
We ate lunch on the Viking Vali, and it also good.
This is a picture of the main dining room.
Another picture of the dining room
Here is the lunch menu. On this day, we had one choice for soup, 4 choices for a main course and 2 choices for dessert.
At the front cooking station, the chef prepared spaghetti a aa Carbonera. While this was good, I prefer a little less creamy sauce.
Another picture of the front cooking station
The red wine we had
This was the white wine
the corn soup
Our salad
Dessert
My coffee after lunch
You can also dine here
The outside uncovered area
The dinner menu
Our Final Thoughts.
This was a fun and eye-opening experience. In our previous comparisons reports, we have voiced our opinions about the differences of the on-board food and our previous reporting is very, very accurate. We hope you enjoyed this report.
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ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 51+ years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
