AmaSerena

Reception is where each day starts and ends, and the crew is waiting with a smile every time guests return from a tour. The desk handles check-in, check-out and the details in between. An elegant glass staircase and a glass elevator link the main passenger decks. Just forward is a small café with comfy chairs and self-service espresso, hot chocolate and tea, plus a boutique shop for souvenirs, logo wear and a Christmas section.

Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap 180 degrees around the Main Lounge, so it’s the place to be for scenic cruising through the Rhine Gorge or a lazy afternoon on the river. The bar pours mimosas, beer and wine, and the complimentary Sip & Sail happy hour runs an hour before dinner while the cruise manager reviews the next day’s excursions. Tapas are served in the afternoon, a pianist plays each evening, and local acts like a string quartet come aboard.

On the opposite side of the lounge from the café, the library is a quiet escape. Danny calls the lounge the ship’s living room and the library its den. Two large, comfortable couches, several chairs and cocktail tables surround a pair of faux fireplaces. There’s a selection of reference books, a shelf where guests leave books for others to borrow, and a few games, making it a cozy spot to read, chat or simply relax.

The Main Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, with windows on both sides so guests cruise with a view. Booths run down the middle, with tables for four, six and eight that can be joined for larger groups. Breakfast and lunch mix a buffet, grab-and-go items and dishes ordered from the menu, while dinner is served course by course. Two wine rooms off the entrance suit a private celebration with friends.

AmaWaterways is serious about food, and The Chef’s Table at the very aft of the ship shows it. This smaller dining room has its own demonstration kitchen, where chefs prepare a tasting menu of many small courses, each paired with local wines and explained as it arrives. It’s complimentary, and guests on a seven-night cruise dine here at least once. By day the room doubles as a lounge or a meeting space for groups of 30 to about 50.

The fitness room faces the river, with bikes, treadmills set down into the floor for extra headroom, a pulley machine, yoga mats, weights, fresh towels and bottled water. A health and wellness host sails on each cruise, leading options like sunrise yoga on the top deck and runs through the cities the ship visits. Across the hall is a salon for haircuts and styling, and the spa offers massages after a long flight or a busy day ashore.

The front of the Sun Deck works like a front porch, with tables and chairs, drink service and oversized lounge couches for watching castles slide by in the Rhine Gorge. In cooler months the crew brings up hot chocolate and treats. Farther aft are reclining loungers, umbrellas, windbreaks, a large shade structure and a walking track. Because the ship passes under low bridges, the railings, shades and even the bridge itself lower on hydraulics.

Danny calls the pool something unique to AmaWaterways. A shallow ledge runs around the side, so guests can sit and dip their toes in or slip in and relax on the benches. At the front is a swim-up bar with a beer tap and a variety of drinks. Around the pool are games for friendly competition, including giant chess, a small putting green and cornhole, and the heated pool is a favorite on sunny afternoons.