Maximize your Christmas experience by embarking at the height of the holiday market season with daily or near-daily visits to Christmas Markets.
Get "just a taste" of the holidays in mid-November or late December with visits to one or two Christmas Markets during your river cruise.
We are pleased to offer guests the opportunity to experience Floriade in 2022 while sailing along the Rhine River and Dutch and Belgian Waterways between April 14 and October 9. Right outside Amsterdam, this rare experience calls for its visitors to “explore, touch and change” as part of their journey into Floriade – which is set to feature stunning gardens, innovative sustainable gardening exhibits, live entertainment, talk shows, souvenirs and food stalls.
We invite you to join our incredible cruise on the Rhône with a Latin Touch, featuring bilingual cruise managers, daily tours with Spanish-speaking guides, Latin-inspired music nights and other distinctive elements.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive response received from the announcement of our first-ever “Soulful Experience” on the Rhône River in 2023, we are delighted to announce four new opportunities for guests to celebrate their heritage and discover Black history and culture along the rivers with us in 2024.
Join award-winning television host and travel expert, Samantha Brown, Godmother of AmaMagna, as we cruise through four countries along the Danube River. Special events and Travel Talks are included on this exclusive sailing.
We invite you to join our incredible cruise on the Danube with a Latin Touch, featuring bilingual cruise managers, daily tours with Spanish-speaking guides, Latin-inspired music nights and other distinctive elements.
Explore the rich history of classical music along the Danube River where famous composers lived, worked and performed. Plus, be treated to a variety of live performances on this melodious journey.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive response received from the announcement of our first-ever “Soulful Experience” on the Rhône River in 2023, we are delighted to announce four new opportunities for guests to celebrate their heritage and discover Black history and culture along the rivers with us in 2025
Join award-winning television host and travel expert, Samantha Brown, Godmother of AmaMagna, as we cruise through five countries along the Danube River. Special events and Travel Talks are included on this exclusive sailing.
We invite you to join our incredible cruise on the Douro with a Latin Touch, featuring bilingual cruise managers, daily tours with Spanish-speaking guides, Latin-inspired music nights and other distinctive elements.
We invite our loyal past guests to join us once again on these special Loyalty Cruises, offering unique experiences in multiple ports, commemorative gifts, and many more surprises and delights.
Imagine if there was a way to combine luxury river cruising on the Danube with the opportunity to indulge your passion and play golf? We have created the perfect package to enable you to do just that! Our exclusive Concierge Golf Programme includes 7 nights onboard one of the highest rated ships in Europe, complete with award winning cuisine, a choice of excursions in every port and our unique Twin Balconies, as well as up to 5 rounds of golf at some of the leading championship courses on the continent. Our Programme takes you straight from your ship to the course and back making your golfing experience seamless – Golf and River Cruise truly is a marriage made in heaven.
Hello! "I'm Kristin Karst, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of AmaWaterways and I'm passionate about river cruising. Each month, I love to share with you my thoughts, personal stories, travel tips and latest news on the people and places that help turn every mile of our guests' river cruise experience into one of their most cherished memories!"
Crossing the European Continental Divide
On select river cruises, AmaWaterways guests enjoy an iconic travel experience: crossing the European Continental Divide – the history-making canal that ultimately led to the founding of AmaWaterways!
What is a Continental Divide?
A continental divide is a drainage divide separating two major bodies of water that feed into different oceans or seas—or rivers, in this case. The European watershed is a triple divide—with the Main-Rhine rivers flowing into the North Sea, the Danube River into the Black Sea, and Italy’s Po River draining into the Adriatic Sea. The only way river cruise ships can cross the Continental Divide between the North Sea and the Black Sea is through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.
Early History of the Canal
It was Charlemagne, the 8th- and 9th-century emperor who laid the groundwork for the Holy Roman Empire, who first came up with the idea of a canal connecting the North and Black seas via the Main and Danube rivers. However, heavy rains and lateral erosion, the process by which heavy vessels push sediment from the bottom of the river onto the banks, prevented Charlemagne’s dream from becoming a reality.
That was, until some 1,200 years later, when King Ludwig I of Bavaria began construction of a section of the canal from Bamberg to Nuremberg. At that time, boats were pulled through by horses to compensate for the changes in altitude. Later, a system of locks was put into place. However, the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal, as it was known at the time, was heavily damaged during World War II and was officially shut down in 1950.
The Rhine Joins In
An increase in shipping and passenger traffic soon made it clear that a connection between the rivers was not only desired, but necessary. In 1992, a bigger and better canal was completed that expanded upon the former visionaries’ ideas: the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.
A watery staircase measuring 106 miles long and 30 feet deep, the canal allows ships to sail from the Black Sea to the North Sea via European rivers. The completion of the canal paved the way for the visionary “godfather of river cruising,” AmaWaterways’ award-winning Co-owner and President, Rudi Schreiner, to develop river cruising as we know it today.
Crossing Process
To cross the summit of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, otherwise known as the European Continental Divide—and the highest point on Earth accessible by watercraft—ships must transit 16 locks to lift themselves more than 1,300 feet above sea level.
Locks are remarkable feats of engineering that push a ship upwards by allowing water in from tanks to raise and alternatively lower a ship back down, thanks to a little help from gravity. Water drained from one part of the lock system flows into a tank that saves it from escaping back into the river. Since the Danube and Main rivers have different elevations, locks are necessary to bring ships from one river to the other.
During the crossing process, the ships are somewhat enclosed within the walls of the locks—at times, mere inches from the sides of the ship – an unusual and unforgettable experience for guests! At the summit, a large monument designed by German artist Hanns Jörg Voth marks the Continental Divide.
An AmaWaterways Event
AmaWaterways guests on Medieval Treasures, Europe’s Rivers & Castles, Legendary Danube and Blue Danube Discovery river cruises will be able to experience a special ceremony for the crossing of the European Continental Divide from up on the Sun Deck. A glass of sparkling champagne or cocktail is served, and guests receive a certificate documenting their historic journey. When passing the Divide to the Danube River during the daytime, the Blue Danube Waltz is played on board.