AmaMagna Ship Tour: The Widest Ship on the Danube

AmaMagna is one of the most unique ships in cruising. This tour covers her restaurants, facilities, excursions, rooms, and open decks, everything worth knowing about life on board.

Boarding in Budapest, the first thing you notice is the sheer size of AmaMagna against every other ship docked along the river, nearly twice the width of a standard river cruiser, 72 feet against the usual 38. That extra space brings four restaurants, a wellness centre, spacious staterooms, and facilities that rival ocean-level ships. Crucially, AmaWaterways didn't use the extra width to cram in more passengers. AmaMagna carries just 196, meaning genuinely more space per person than a typical river ship.

The central lobby holds reception, the main restaurant Journeys, and the open offices of senior staff including the cruise manager, with corridors leading to the first level of balcony staterooms. One level up sits the Lark Lounge & Bar and the specialty restaurant Al Fresco, alongside a 24 hour drinks station for tea, coffee, and hot chocolate.

One more flight up is the sun deck, a real highlight, breathtaking views along the Danube through the Wachau Valley, arrivals into Vienna and Linz, and the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest, spectacular by day or night. The deck holds a walking track, a pool and hot tub, games areas, and plenty of lounging space. Our own cruise was in February, so rather than sunbathing, we were braving the snow, but the views were well worth the shivers.

Journeys is where most dining happens, breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. AmaMagna is a member of La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a prestigious gastronomic society, and the food matched the billing, a varied menu featuring local dishes, personal and swift service, with paired wines, pilsner, soft drinks, tea, and coffee all included in the fare.

Jimmy's offers a family-style concept with long sharing tables. Al Fresco serves Mediterranean-inspired dishes behind floor to ceiling windows, and doubles up for late night snacks. The Chef's Table is a seven course tasting menu prepared by expert chefs. Worth knowing for anyone used to ocean cruises: staff will try to book you into all three on day one, and it's not a sales tactic, there's no extra charge, so it's worth saying yes and enjoying the variety.

The central hub of the ship, used for port presentations, entertainment, live music, and a genuinely good spot to work or catch up on emails, mostly table service throughout the day and evening. Events like the Farewell Cocktail and the pre-dinner Sip & Sail Cocktail Hour serve cocktails, wine, beer, and soft drinks, all included in the fare, another detail worth flagging for anyone coming from ocean cruises where this usually costs extra.

The wellness studio includes a gym, outdoor spinning bikes, and regular classes led by the onboard wellness manager, alongside a cinema, laundry room, and a small boutique for gifts and treats.

We stayed in a balcony room, and calling it a stateroom undersells it. Having recently sailed Cunard's Queen Anne in the equivalent balcony category, the two aren't in the same league. AmaMagna's room feels more like a boutique hotel than a ship cabin, plenty of space, a proper marble bathroom with a large shower, good closet space, and thoughtful design throughout. Hair curlers aren't allowed on board, but the room provides them anyway, alongside an espresso machine, USB and USB-C power outlets, a fridge, a safe, and suitcase storage under the bed.

The balcony is the best feature of all. Every morning brings a new view, valleys, villages, passing scenery, sometimes lock walls close enough to touch, and simply drawing back the curtains to see the day's scene became one of the real highlights of the trip.

Each room includes a QuietVox audio device and earpiece, maybe the most valuable item on board. Unlike most ocean cruises, every excursion on AmaMagna is included in the fare, a genuine choice at every stop, from active hikes and bike rides to specific landmark visits. The QuietVox connects to your guide, so you hear the stories and history through your earpiece as you go. On other cruises this usually means a shuttle bus or wandering independently, here you meet a guide immediately and get a proper introduction to each place before free time on your own. For longer walks, like Vienna's dock, AmaMagna runs its own shuttle service. Included excursions on our cruise covered a horse-drawn carriage ride in Vienna, Melk Abbey, Schönbrunn Palace, and a crossing into the UNESCO-listed town of Český Krumlov, all at no extra charge.

AmaWaterways co-founder Rudi Schreiner has spoken about wanting to build a cruise experience he and his co-founders would genuinely want to take themselves. On this evidence, it shows.

The staff are excellent and genuinely happy to help with anything, and Cruise Manager Luis would regularly check in on guests or hand out chocolates. Breakfast is worth making time for, the smoothies and pancakes especially. The in-room TV went entirely unused, the views and onboard atmosphere were enough. Tipping isn't automatically added, it's entirely optional, either cash in an envelope dropped at reception or added to your onboard account by card. Small extras varied by trip but included water bottles, merch, and nightly pillow chocolates as part of turndown service.