May 22, 2024 • 34 mins
Imagine setting sail on a voyage where every corner turned unravels a new dimension of wellness and luxury—that's the promise of our Wellness River Cruise. Join us in this episode as we dive into the Wellness River Cruise I'm hosting, a journey inspired by my love for travel, adventure, and wellness. This river cruise is designed for like-minded individuals who seek to enrich their lives through new experiences and holistic well-being.
Adventure and challenge are fundamental to our happiness and well-being. Whether it's trying a new restaurant, exploring a different route to work, trail running in the Faroe Islands, or going on a wellness river cruise, novelty keeps us grounded and expansive.
This episode will explore how the Wellness River Cruise offers a unique blend of travel and holistic wellness. Discover the details of this transformative journey and learn how it can enhance your well-being. Join us and prepare to set sail on an unforgettable adventure that nurtures both body and soul.
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Wellness Riverboat Cruise
Magna On The Danube: https://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2025/magna-on-the-danube
AmaMagna: https://youtu.be/23-5Qy3skM0
AmaMagna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM1GHLA2EF4
Tami Hiroka
281.336.7374
contact@fresitravels.com
Total Wine Event: REGISTER HERE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hello, wellness warriors, welcome back to
another episode of the wellnessinspired podcast, a place where
you can find inspiration,motivation and empowerment in
the pursuit of a wellnesslifestyle.
I'm your host, sherry Davidson.
I'm a wellness coach andacupuncturist in Houston Texas
and I am deeply passionate abouthealth and wellbeing.
And, as always, I'm here withmy cohost, finn.
(00:41):
And if you're new to thepodcast, finn is my Terrier, mix
Rescue Dog, trail runner andloyal companion.
He is also a therapy dog andgreeter at Element 5 Acupuncture
and Wellness.
Hi, tammy, hi Lori, hi, how areyou?
(01:06):
I'm good, how are you guys?
Good, great, well, thank youfor being here today.
I know you were taking yourtime out of a Saturday to be
here to do this, so I reallyappreciate it, appreciate both
of you.
And we're going to talk aboutthe Wellness River Cruise today
that I've been talking about fora year on the podcast.
Wellness River Cruise todaythat I've been talking about for
(01:28):
a year.
On the podcast, we're finallydoing it.
My fault, because I originallywanted to do it in October, but
January.
I reached out to Tammy.
I was like I'm ready.
She's like it's sold out, so wehad to push it to next year,
which is fine.
I think everything happens fora reason.
I just want to talk a little bitabout what inspired me to do
(01:48):
the Wellness River Cruise.
I was inspired to do thisbecause of my love of traveling,
my love of adventure andwellness, and I thought it would
be great to share it withlike-minded people, community of
like-minded people, and Ireally believe that adventure
and challenge are basic humanneeds and it's important for our
(02:10):
well-being and our happiness.
So, whether you experience anew restaurant or take a new
route to work, trail run in theFaroe Islands which I did what
two years ago Super awesome orgo on a river cruise, we all
need novelty in our life.
And every time I travel, I comeback just feeling like a better
(02:30):
human being, I'm more groundedand I also have this sense of
expansion as well.
So that's what inspired me todo this, and, of course, tammy
was like what about a rivercruise?
You know, because we had talkeda little bit about doing some
wellness travel.
But yeah, so that's why we'rehere right now.
We're going to talk about that,and the goal of this episode is
(02:50):
to expand on the wellness rivercruise experience for those
people who are interested, and Ihave quite a few people that
are interested, so hopefullythey'll listen to this.
I did tell them it was comingout, but also I want to say this
up front so I don't forget it.
I do want to talk about theevent at Total Wine really
quickly, just because I don'twant to forget it.
(03:11):
We're hosting an in-personevent at Total Wine on June the
17th, that's a Monday, at 530.
So it's the Total Wine at theLower Heights, which is off of
Washington, and then we're goingto do a French wine tasting and
then, laurie, you're going togive a presentation.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It's a presentation yes, Just the nuts and bolts of
what river cruising is like,because I know a lot of your
listeners have never been on ariver cruise.
So we're going to talk aboutthe experience on board, but
also a day-by-day, just to kindof give them an idea and get
them excited about what they getto experience.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I'm excited about that, yeah, so I hopefully we'll
have a full.
I think hopefully we'll have afull, yes, full, I was gonna say
full class, full event.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
But they get some wine as well, right, yeah, I get
to taste a couple of Frenchwines yes, french wine.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I picked the french wine one.
There was a french wine and Ican't remember the other one,
but I was like it's.
It was closer to, I guess, thethe where we, where we were
going to be yes, the danuberiver, yes, we weren't going to
be in france, but close enough.
So, uh, laurie, why don't youintroduce yourself?
And then tammy, you canintroduce yourself.
Tammy, you've been on thepodcast before for the people.
Why don't you introduceyourself?
And then, tammy, you canintroduce yourself.
(04:25):
Tammy, you've been on thepodcast before.
For the people that don't know,you just go ahead and tell
people who you are.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So I'm Laurie Smith and I'm the business development
manager for Ama.
I get to work for this lovelycompany and I've been in the
business almost 12 years, so I'mon the Riverside and it's a
lovely place to be.
I've always wanted to be here.
It's kind of like you put itout there and you get to
experience it.
So, um, it was, uh, uh, a greatexperience for me and, um, I
(04:53):
love what I do.
And um, I get to work withTammy, so it's nice.
And I get to, um work with youSherry I've just met you but, um
, I get to work with you as welland sell something.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love, yeah, yeah.
Well, I will say that I've hadthe brochure on my little side
table and I can't tell you howmany people have picked that up
and they're like I keep hearingabout these river cruises and I
so want to go on one.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
It's my place to travel.
It's a place to be Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
My name is Tammy Hiroka and I'm the co-founder of
Fresi Travels.
We specialize in tailoritineraries and unique
experiences around the world.
And a fun fact about me I havevisited 82 countries so far and
I will be the link between yourclients.
Sherry and I'm a waterway, sothat's kind of the link between
(05:49):
the three of us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, tell them about your childhood story.
Which one?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
The one where you were at Disney World?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Oh, the one at Disney World, yes, you were inspired
at a very young age, I wasinspired very early and at early
age.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
My mom and dad took me to Disneyland in California
when I was young and I took theride.
Of course it's a small world,it's a small world and after I
went through that was the ridethat I actually really, really
loved from Disneyland at thatpoint and I told my mom I'll
(06:27):
visit every single country thatI have seen in that ride.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Isn't that a great story?
And how many 80?
, 82 so far.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I don't know how many Disneyland has.
You're going to have to go backand count In the ride.
Maybe they don't have.
I don't know if they have allof them.
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
But yeah, I love that story Inspired at a young age,
very young age.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It happened, yeah, I totally believe that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So where would you like?
I mean what's?
Where's a good place to startwith people?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I can start because I want to talk about the
experience and what kind of whatbrought on the wellness part of
our cruise.
So Christine Kors, our owner,we are going to be 22 years old
this year.
We're celebrating our 22ndanniversary and we're still
privately held.
So Christine Kors, rudySchreiner and some of you may
(07:26):
meet them at some point if youtake multiple Alma Waterways
cruises, because they're onboard, they hop on off.
Christine's actually in Europeright now, on board.
So she is a big component ofyoga and Pilates and decided
that we wanted to put some typeof wellness program on board and
(07:49):
she was really the inspirationbehind our wellness program.
So we do have a wellness hoston board that will guide some
activities serious ones, butsome fun ones too, like
champagne yoga.
I love that yes yes, and weoffer stretching classes in the
morning.
We do have a small gym on theMagna, we have spinning on the
(08:13):
back of the Magna, so there'salways a component.
We do have a juice bar, ahealth juice bar, on board as
well.
So just one of our, our bars.
So just a little bit moreactive lifestyle.
And of course, we do havedifferent paces.
So our um, our excursions arebroken down into gentle walkers
(08:35):
or regular walkers, and then weget a little bit more active
because we carry bicycles onboard as well and we are the
only fleet um, that fleet thathas a wellness component with a
wellness host.
So very unique.
And that goes with the culinaryas well, and we have different
(08:58):
dietary restrictions that we canaccommodate.
So it makes it really, ifyou're coming on board to maybe
just get a little bit moreactive but also eat healthier,
you can certainly do that withus.
So we do have an option for amasseuse on board.
So if you want, to have amassage.
I couldn't remember if you guyshad a spa, we do, but it's not
(09:19):
your traditional spa like a wetroom or a um or a sauna, but it
does have a masseuse and we wecan accommodate um um a couple
of chairs with a masseuse.
So if you want a massage, okayyou can have one.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I want to back up for a second.
22 years, yes, that's a longtime.
It's a long time for becausepeople seem to just be finding
out about it, right, what'sbecause people seem to?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
just be finding out about it, right?
What happened?
Well, rudy hails from Viennaand Christine from Dresden,
germany, so they both grew up onthese beautiful rivers and went
to work for another company, avery high-profile company,
another river line, and decidedthat they wanted to come and
just really start their owncompany.
We have a select room category,not on this vessel, but a twin
(10:08):
balcony which is a full verandaand a French balcony in the same
room type and it's quite large.
The design of the vessel, with alower draft and just different
components of a river cruisethat Rudy really wanted to run
(10:28):
it a little bit differently aswell Very involved in the
company, and that, to me, is thekey.
When you run your own companyand you've got a company the
size of Alma, being hands-on isreally important and still
having that private ownership isincredible as well.
We were on our global summit injanuary and we made a couple of
(10:51):
decisions right off the bat.
He had all of his executiveteam on board and that's the
kind of company he runs.
We made a couple of decisions Iwas part of that which made me
feel extremely valuable andimportant.
And but that's when you come onboard we treat you like family.
I like that.
(11:12):
Yes, it always is Community,community, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, I really like that.
I actually cruise with AmmaWaterways back in December for
the Christmas market.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Was that your?
That wasn't your first one,though You've done it.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
I have done several ones for with other companies as
well, but this was the firsttime I was cruising with Alma
waterways and, of course, it wasthe Alma magna the one that you
will cruise with with yourclients, and it's an spectacular
ship.
I think it's the best one outthere, it's the biggest one and
(11:47):
it is wellness focused.
But it depends on what type ofwellness you want to actually
acquire during your time in thecruise.
But I really enjoy the classes.
So you normally have like maybewe'll go through day by day,
but normally you have like atour that is included with your
package, but then you have a lotof time that you can spend
(12:09):
outside or inside the ship.
So there's a lot of differentwellness classes that you can
join and I joined several ofthem and all of them were you
did the bikes on the back, I didthe bikes on on the bike, but
it was too cold so I took thebike inside.
Like the bike inside, I waslooking outside the people that
were outside doing it and I wasjust following what they were
(12:31):
doing because it was too coldfor me.
I didn't bring the rightoutdoor clothing for exercising.
I brought the clothing just forthe tours.
But, the indoor.
It was like shorts and t-shirts, so I was like maybe I
shouldn't be doing they move,the bikes move, yeah, and I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I was wondering on the bike rides, on the excursion
bike rides, I was like where dowe get the bikes?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
so they're on board they're on board, we carry them
on board and we have 26 on themagna.
Now, a little bit of differencebetween the Magna.
She's our flagship.
She's actually double the width, but she can only navigate the
Danube.
That's why she stays on theDanube.
Our 110-meter vessels have 156passengers but they navigate all
(13:19):
the rivers because they can gothrough the lock system.
But the Magna, she has fourrestaurants, four bars, um, you
know the spinning.
On the back we have apickleball court that we just
put on the Magna.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And there's a pool.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It does have a pool.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
It does have a pool, it does have a walking track.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It is a um the pool, not, not the hot tub.
Okay, Not the hot tub, butbecause she's very unique and
double the width, but we stillonly put just 196 passengers.
So the suite start at 217square feet and go all the way
to 710 square feet.
(13:59):
So a lot of space right ABwhich what is lot of space right
.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You got the AB, ab, which.
What is it's?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
just that, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
AB.
I think that's what I got.
I think I got the AB.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So your suite would be 252 square feet, which is an
outside balcony, all of theseare going to be outside
balconies.
I didn't have a suite.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yes, you had a suite.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yes, but you do have butler service in the suite.
So if you want that elevatedservice, you can certainly.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
You had butler service.
You had butler service, yes Idid so special, absolutely so.
There's so, butler, like whatdo they do?
Sorry, I'm like what is?
What do they do on the cruisefor you?
Well, morning coffee if youwant morning coffee to be
(14:53):
brought to you.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
We do allow um.
You can order breakfast in themorning if you like and um, of
course, if you have a headacheor something's happening, you
just can't make it to the diningroom.
We can certainly bring yourfood to you and your butler is
there to help.
Laundry service is included andthat's laundered no dry clean
but laundered and, of course, astocked mini bar with many, many
(15:18):
amenities.
We do a lot of surprise anddelights on board, so I like to
talk about I don't like to talkabout those because I want them
to be a surprise and delight,right, but lots and lots of
special attention.
We're almost two to one crew topassenger ratio on the Magna,
(15:39):
so you do have that service.
We do have our um, our cruisemanager, and our cruise manager
is like the maestro of the ship,like like an orchestra all the
moving pieces, cruise managersthere to help you, along with
the hotel manager and, of course, the very, very friendly staff.
That's what brings people backon board.
(16:01):
The service levels, the staff,the staff really make it.
You know, tammy and Sherry,when you get on board, they will
know your name that afternoonand if there's certain things
that you would like maybe a cupof coffee, a certain type of
coffee or tea in the morning.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
For us?
What's the tea sausage?
Say it again, a certain type ofcoffee, or tea in the morning.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
For us it was the cheese sausage.
Say it again.
So for us, my mom, my friendand I, for some reason we loved
the cheese sausage that theyserved.
It was not in the main diningarea, it was a fresco only, but
every day they brought us to themain dining area our cheese
sausage.
I don't remember the Germanname, but if you say cheese
(16:44):
sausage they will bring it toyou.
And every single day theybrought us the cheese sausage
for lunch, even though we didn'task for it.
But they knew that we loved itand it was served in the other
restaurant, but they alwaysbrought it for us.
So that's the type ofpersonalized service that you
will get at Amma Waterways.
Wow, the cheese sausage.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I'm going to have to try that.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
And by name.
Right, they are going to youknow, call you by name.
I know that my last cruise.
I drink black tea in themorning, english breakfast and
my little waiter follows mearound in the dining room trying
to give me my tea because Iknow you would like to.
To uh, to um, um bags plus anextra pot of hot water.
(17:29):
So that's my.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That's my want.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And so when you get back home, I think the main um,
um, the main point we're tryingto make, you're going to be
looking for your waiter and, uh,it's a very sad day when you
get back home because you haveto do everything yourself at
that point.
So um, that's really what it'sabout.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Well, that must be why people, when they pick that
up, they're like I've heard goodthings about this company.
Absolutely, You're building aname for yourself.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Absolutely.
We don't have a big consumerpresence.
It's going to be through ourpartners, like Tammy and the
agency, and it sounds fantastic.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
The food is amazing yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So there's four restaurants, so talk a little
bit about each restaurant.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
So we do have four restaurants, um and four bar
areas, but we do have the chef'stable and that is the only
restaurant that you'll have tomake a reservation for.
It is a four to six coursepairing with wine, and the wine
that we serve on board are goingto be regional wines.
On this itinerary you gothrough four different countries
(18:44):
, so our wine changes every timeyou go through a new country
and sometimes you want the winethat you had yesterday.
You can certainly get that, butit's different cuisine, Always
prepared fresh.
We resource local.
We don't freeze any food.
Ice cream's the only thing inthe freezer, so everything is
(19:06):
loaded daily.
So when you take your excursion, the captain on down to the,
the cabin stewards are loadingprovisions for the day and we
load um daily.
So that's where you're going toget that fresh produce and the
chef goes out into the marketand purchases it.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I think that's fantastic.
That was one of the when wewere talking in the very
beginning.
That was one of the things thatgot me, yeah.
And the other thing was is thatshe's like you know you're
going to go through towns thatyou would never go to if you
went to.
You know Turkey, like you'renever you wouldn't go to, if you
went to Turkey, you wouldn't goto these towns.
That was another piece.
Besides the wellness, I had tomake sure we had.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
the magna, that was, the locally sourced cuisine, was
absolutely on my top of mindand and um, it's more of an
experience right when we'regoing through some of these
beautiful communities.
They they serve a certain mealor they serve a certain product,
(20:07):
and um, you'll definitely beable to experience that in each
of the destinations, the menuslots of choices.
Um, we have a late risersbreakfast, so there's always
time for food.
And I think I eat my waythrough the itineraries.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Um, you know, breakfast, late risers breakfast
you have um afternoon tea inthe lounge in the afternoon at
three o'clock and then you have,you know, your meal and then
tapas in the lounge at night.
So there's always food for youto have, anything from light to
heavy.
And is that included in theprice?
That is included in the price,even the chef's table, that
(20:46):
beautiful four to four to sixcourse pairing with wine.
All of that is included.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, and we talked about doing that for the group
at the end.
Yes, yes, and we talked aboutdoing that for the group at the
end.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yes, yes, it'll be a special night if you're
celebrating an anniversary orbirthday or something special.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Please let Tammy and Sherry we have a birthday on
board.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, we do a very good job with those as well, but
it's a lovely evening.
It's sometimes a three or fourhour meal.
You probably will close it down.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I like that because I think it'll be a good
way to get the group together atthe end and everybody can talk
about their experiences and, youknow, people will have already
met and had some interactionwith each other, so I think
it'll be a good way to end thetrip.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
So now's a good time to probably talk about what's
included, right?
What's included in the cruise.
So, from start to finish, youpay an upfront price and really
there's no nickel and diming.
We can even add gratuities.
That's the only thing that wedon't include, because we feel
gratuities are very personalchoice for people.
Um, you're going to want to tipyour, your servers and waiters,
(21:51):
and you can put that on yourfolio at the end if you'd like.
So all the excursions thatyou're going to experience
between four and five excursionsin the destination, and that
does include some of our bikingand hiking tours, and we'll get
to that in just a bit, but thoseare all included.
So you'll have your choice topick those excursions ahead of
(22:14):
time or you can do it on board.
It's all included.
Also, we have a sip and sellcocktail hour right before
dinner.
So cocktails on Alma.
We have a drink of the day.
If you don't like that drink,you can certainly have anything
you like.
And then, really, your cruisefare, pre and post are something
(22:35):
that you can add, and we'lltalk about that in just a bit as
well, but everything that youneed is available and that is
included.
I think my folio when I got offwas $19 on my last cruise and I
did laundry.
We do offer laundry service.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So what do you pay for?
Like what are the what'savailable that you would, the
likelihood that you would haveto pay Correct, like laundry
services, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Which is very inexpensive.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
I might add maybe $1.30 for a piece of clothing to
do and it's laundry, it's notdry clean.
But if you'd like to have amassage, that is, you can do a
45-minute massage for $60.
I mean, it's very reasonable.
The gift shop and that'ssomething.
If you would like a drink, acocktail, at any other time
(23:26):
during the day, that would alsoyou have to pay for.
But some of the drinks, some ofthe cocktails, are like $4,
$4.50, $5.
It's not very inexpensive at alland, of course, if you just
drink cocktails before dinner,you have it all covered with the
sip and sell cocktail hour.
So the major things areincluded and there's really not
(23:48):
anything else to purchase onboard.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That would be it.
That would be it.
Whatever you buy like in thetowns that you pass through,
Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
All of your souvenirs .
We do not include gratuitiesfor the local guide.
So remember, when you get tothese beautiful destinations,
you have a local guide that willescort you.
We break you down into smallgroups and of course you're
active or gentle walkers or youknow hiking and biking.
Those groups get broken downinto smaller groups, so
(24:18):
sometimes you're only touringwith 15 to 20 people, sometimes
it could be as small as six orseven.
Those local guides give such aflavor of the destination that
you're going through.
That would be you'd want to tipthem, and we recommend $2 per
person per tour.
That's it, and that includesthe tip them, and we recommend
$2 per person per tour.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
That's it, and that includes the bus driver.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
if a bus is included.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
What's the exchange rate right now?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Actually the euro is almost one-to-one.
It's been fluctuating a littleover or never under, but a
little bit.
You know 1.25 or something likethat, very reasonable.
You know 1.25 or something likethat, very reasonable.
And, um, you know, you may wantto use an ATM and get currency
of that country.
(25:02):
The Euro is widely accepted soyou probably won't need to get
anything but Euros.
And, um, you may need somecoins because, um, on the tours
or in the city, most of thepublic restrooms, you have to
use a coin.
You need to know that.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Um, but our guides are very good about bringing you
to if you're going to a museumor doing a wine tasting.
Most of the places do havetheir own restrooms that are
free, so they do a good jobgetting you to those free
restrooms.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Oh, okay, that's fantastic.
Um, you know, there's an appthat I used in Portugal that
told me where all the publicbathrooms were Great.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I think it was called .
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Toilet Something, or I can't remember Good job, Good
job, Good job.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
But normally, if you go into a restaurant or a bar
and you buy something, you knowthat may be a bottle of water,
but we do send you out on theexcursion with water If it's
raining, or hopefully it's notgoing to be on your trip.
We have an umbrella for everyoneand you have a quiet box which
you would take your tour withwhich is a little piece earpiece
(26:06):
that you will be with the localguide and they carry a we call
them a lollipop that looks likea stick with lines and it's
Bluetooth.
If you have a hearing aid, it'sBluetooth compatible and we
will go through the.
If it's a cathedral we're goingthrough or a wine tasting, you
(26:29):
can hear the guide and you canventure off a little bit because
you can still hear the guideand that way she's not having to
scream or you have to stay veryclose to the guide.
But you, you have those quietboxes.
It's kind of like a routineright In the morning you pick up
your quiet box.
At an afternoon or the eveningyou put it back in the charger.
So it's nice and charged foryou when you get on the bus,
(26:52):
think of everything.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Yes, we do, we do.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
We do.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I don't know if this is the place to ask, but I just
wrote a note down Because one ofthe questions that last year
that someone was nervous aboutwas about the river and if the
river is too low, Right, itseems to be a question or too
high or too high, yes, or toohigh, yes, or too high, yeah, so
(27:21):
we actually, rudy.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Um has the design.
It's a low shaft so we can sailin relatively low water.
Normally we sail about 8 to 14days longer than some of my
competitors because of thatdraft and the way the ship was
designed.
Sometimes things happen we havea lock that breaks, or
(27:43):
something hits a lock and it'sout of commission.
If we have any of thosesituations, we can do a ship
swap On the Magna.
Of course, it's the only one,but normally if we wait a little
bit, water will go down or ifit rains, we can sail through.
So lots and lots of scenarios,um, and that's not something
(28:05):
that should stop anyone fromtaking a river cruise, because
that happens very, maybe very,very seldom maybe a half a
percent of the time yeah, and,and we were talking, it's like
there's always risk to travel.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, so yes
there's risk in traveling ingeneral, even getting out of
your home and taking your car.
So, yeah, I wouldn't say it'slike a very high risk, like it
happens all the time.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Well, I think that's important for people to hear for
sure.
So, because I know that was aquestion last year.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
And I know that Amma Waterways if that happens, it
has a very good program on howto handle the situation.
It's not like you and yourguests will be like abandoned,
yeah.
So I know that it really worksreally great.
So they will be taken care ifthat happens.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
A to Z literally, and we've gone pretty far down.
But operations, we have a teamin Basel, a European team in in
real time handling thesituations, um on the ground,
with um with the cruise manager,but also with the local guides,
so they're aware of everythingand you're kept abreast um of
(29:30):
anything and, of course, the dayactivities for the next day.
When you go into your sip andsail, the cruise manager talks
about what to expect the nextday if there are any hiccups or
if anything.
Or maybe we are addingsomething because we have extra
time, something like that.
So it's always a good thing.
It's always a good thing, okay.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Actually happened to me because last December the
waters were higher than expected.
It was snowing in Europeearlier than expected and then
it melt.
So the day that we were leavingfrom Munich I think it was
Lushoffen we had to change theport where we will be kind of
(30:13):
checking in, and they werereally good at communicating to
us beforehand that we had toleave at different times than
the one planned.
It was a longer ride, but wehad incredible stops so that we
can rest.
And then, when we got to theship, of course, a little bit of
program changing because peoplewere coming from different
(30:37):
places and they had to have theintroductions, the safety
program, for everybody at thesame time, so it had to shift a
little, but I didn't feel thatyeah, I felt that it was
seamless.
We had to change, we have toadapt.
But it wasn't like oh my God,this is so terrible.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
No, it wasn't chaotic , it was very seamless.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
And then the next day of course we had to change a
little bit our program where wewere stopping, and it was
fabulous too.
So you won't feel it.
Maybe behind the sceneseverybody's working really hard,
but you don't see that whenyou're experiencing the changes.
It's very seamless.
They're there to respond to anyquestions that you have.
(31:23):
Um.
So we didn't feel that therewas a major change for us, even
though it might have been majoron the back end.
For us it was like oh no, wecan have a little bit more of
wine at the lounge.
They served a little bit oflike snacks because we were
waiting for other groups, but wedidn't feel any like major
(31:48):
issues.
Everything was seamless and allthe staff was great when we had
that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I feel like communication is just.
It was key, it was key.
Like if you just talk to peopleyou know, you could.
You could solve a lot of angstand stress, Absolutely so we did
a great job because Tammydidn't feel anything and it was
all done Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
And you know that's life, right.
We have actually through thatexperience, have come up with
different ports that because wehad to go to a certain port, we
now put them in the folio.
So clients loved it so much, sogood things happen as well.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Yeah, yeah, I like that.
Okay, well, that's fantastic.
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(32:52):
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(33:13):
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(33:33):
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Thank you so much for listening.
We'll meet here again next timeand remember never stop
(33:54):
exploring, learning, loving andbeing you Bye.
Hello, wellness warriors, welcome back to
another episode of the wellnessinspired podcast, a place where
you can find inspiration,motivation and empowerment in
the pursuit of a wellnesslifestyle.
I'm your host, sherry Davidson.
I'm a wellness coach andacupuncturist in Houston Texas
and I am deeply passionate abouthealth and wellbeing.
And, as always, I'm here withmy cohost, finn.
(00:41):
And if you're new to thepodcast, finn is my Terrier, mix
Rescue Dog, trail runner andloyal companion.
He is also a therapy dog andgreeter at Element 5 Acupuncture
and Wellness.
Hi, tammy, hi Lori, hi, how areyou?
(01:06):
I'm good, how are you guys?
Good, great, well, thank youfor being here today.
I know you were taking yourtime out of a Saturday to be
here to do this, so I reallyappreciate it, appreciate both
of you.
And we're going to talk aboutthe Wellness River Cruise today
that I've been talking about fora year on the podcast.
Wellness River Cruise todaythat I've been talking about for
(01:28):
a year.
On the podcast, we're finallydoing it.
My fault, because I originallywanted to do it in October, but
January.
I reached out to Tammy.
I was like I'm ready.
She's like it's sold out, so wehad to push it to next year,
which is fine.
I think everything happens fora reason.
I just want to talk a little bitabout what inspired me to do
(01:48):
the Wellness River Cruise.
I was inspired to do thisbecause of my love of traveling,
my love of adventure andwellness, and I thought it would
be great to share it withlike-minded people, community of
like-minded people, and Ireally believe that adventure
and challenge are basic humanneeds and it's important for our
(02:10):
well-being and our happiness.
So, whether you experience anew restaurant or take a new
route to work, trail run in theFaroe Islands which I did what
two years ago Super awesome orgo on a river cruise, we all
need novelty in our life.
And every time I travel, I comeback just feeling like a better
(02:30):
human being, I'm more groundedand I also have this sense of
expansion as well.
So that's what inspired me todo this, and, of course, tammy
was like what about a rivercruise?
You know, because we had talkeda little bit about doing some
wellness travel.
But yeah, so that's why we'rehere right now.
We're going to talk about that,and the goal of this episode is
(02:50):
to expand on the wellness rivercruise experience for those
people who are interested, and Ihave quite a few people that
are interested, so hopefullythey'll listen to this.
I did tell them it was comingout, but also I want to say this
up front so I don't forget it.
I do want to talk about theevent at Total Wine really
quickly, just because I don'twant to forget it.
(03:11):
We're hosting an in-personevent at Total Wine on June the
17th, that's a Monday, at 530.
So it's the Total Wine at theLower Heights, which is off of
Washington, and then we're goingto do a French wine tasting and
then, laurie, you're going togive a presentation.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
It's a presentation yes, Just the nuts and bolts of
what river cruising is like,because I know a lot of your
listeners have never been on ariver cruise.
So we're going to talk aboutthe experience on board, but
also a day-by-day, just to kindof give them an idea and get
them excited about what they getto experience.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
I'm excited about that, yeah, so I hopefully we'll
have a full.
I think hopefully we'll have afull, yes, full, I was gonna say
full class, full event.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
But they get some wine as well, right, yeah, I get
to taste a couple of Frenchwines yes, french wine.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I picked the french wine one.
There was a french wine and Ican't remember the other one,
but I was like it's.
It was closer to, I guess, thethe where we, where we were
going to be yes, the danuberiver, yes, we weren't going to
be in france, but close enough.
So, uh, laurie, why don't youintroduce yourself?
And then tammy, you canintroduce yourself.
Tammy, you've been on thepodcast before for the people.
Why don't you introduceyourself?
And then, tammy, you canintroduce yourself.
(04:25):
Tammy, you've been on thepodcast before.
For the people that don't know,you just go ahead and tell
people who you are.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
So I'm Laurie Smith and I'm the business development
manager for Ama.
I get to work for this lovelycompany and I've been in the
business almost 12 years, so I'mon the Riverside and it's a
lovely place to be.
I've always wanted to be here.
It's kind of like you put itout there and you get to
experience it.
So, um, it was, uh, uh, a greatexperience for me and, um, I
(04:53):
love what I do.
And um, I get to work withTammy, so it's nice.
And I get to, um work with youSherry I've just met you but, um
, I get to work with you as welland sell something.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love, yeah, yeah.
Well, I will say that I've hadthe brochure on my little side
table and I can't tell you howmany people have picked that up
and they're like I keep hearingabout these river cruises and I
so want to go on one.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
It's my place to travel.
It's a place to be Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
My name is Tammy Hiroka and I'm the co-founder of
Fresi Travels.
We specialize in tailoritineraries and unique
experiences around the world.
And a fun fact about me I havevisited 82 countries so far and
I will be the link between yourclients.
Sherry and I'm a waterway, sothat's kind of the link between
(05:49):
the three of us.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, tell them about your childhood story.
Which one?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
The one where you were at Disney World?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Oh, the one at Disney World, yes, you were inspired
at a very young age, I wasinspired very early and at early
age.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
My mom and dad took me to Disneyland in California
when I was young and I took theride.
Of course it's a small world,it's a small world and after I
went through that was the ridethat I actually really, really
loved from Disneyland at thatpoint and I told my mom I'll
(06:27):
visit every single country thatI have seen in that ride.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Isn't that a great story?
And how many 80?
, 82 so far.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
I don't know how many Disneyland has.
You're going to have to go backand count In the ride.
Maybe they don't have.
I don't know if they have allof them.
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
But yeah, I love that story Inspired at a young age,
very young age.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It happened, yeah, I totally believe that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So where would you like?
I mean what's?
Where's a good place to startwith people?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I can start because I want to talk about the
experience and what kind of whatbrought on the wellness part of
our cruise.
So Christine Kors, our owner,we are going to be 22 years old
this year.
We're celebrating our 22ndanniversary and we're still
privately held.
So Christine Kors, rudySchreiner and some of you may
(07:26):
meet them at some point if youtake multiple Alma Waterways
cruises, because they're onboard, they hop on off.
Christine's actually in Europeright now, on board.
So she is a big component ofyoga and Pilates and decided
that we wanted to put some typeof wellness program on board and
(07:49):
she was really the inspirationbehind our wellness program.
So we do have a wellness hoston board that will guide some
activities serious ones, butsome fun ones too, like
champagne yoga.
I love that yes yes, and weoffer stretching classes in the
morning.
We do have a small gym on theMagna, we have spinning on the
(08:13):
back of the Magna, so there'salways a component.
We do have a juice bar, ahealth juice bar, on board as
well.
So just one of our, our bars.
So just a little bit moreactive lifestyle.
And of course, we do havedifferent paces.
So our um, our excursions arebroken down into gentle walkers
(08:35):
or regular walkers, and then weget a little bit more active
because we carry bicycles onboard as well and we are the
only fleet um, that fleet thathas a wellness component with a
wellness host.
So very unique.
And that goes with the culinaryas well, and we have different
(08:58):
dietary restrictions that we canaccommodate.
So it makes it really, ifyou're coming on board to maybe
just get a little bit moreactive but also eat healthier,
you can certainly do that withus.
So we do have an option for amasseuse on board.
So if you want, to have amassage.
I couldn't remember if you guyshad a spa, we do, but it's not
(09:19):
your traditional spa like a wetroom or a um or a sauna, but it
does have a masseuse and we wecan accommodate um um a couple
of chairs with a masseuse.
So if you want a massage, okayyou can have one.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I want to back up for a second.
22 years, yes, that's a longtime.
It's a long time for becausepeople seem to just be finding
out about it, right, what'sbecause people seem to?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
just be finding out about it, right?
What happened?
Well, rudy hails from Viennaand Christine from Dresden,
germany, so they both grew up onthese beautiful rivers and went
to work for another company, avery high-profile company,
another river line, and decidedthat they wanted to come and
just really start their owncompany.
We have a select room category,not on this vessel, but a twin
(10:08):
balcony which is a full verandaand a French balcony in the same
room type and it's quite large.
The design of the vessel, with alower draft and just different
components of a river cruisethat Rudy really wanted to run
(10:28):
it a little bit differently aswell Very involved in the
company, and that, to me, is thekey.
When you run your own companyand you've got a company the
size of Alma, being hands-on isreally important and still
having that private ownership isincredible as well.
We were on our global summit injanuary and we made a couple of
(10:51):
decisions right off the bat.
He had all of his executiveteam on board and that's the
kind of company he runs.
We made a couple of decisions Iwas part of that which made me
feel extremely valuable andimportant.
And but that's when you come onboard we treat you like family.
I like that.
(11:12):
Yes, it always is Community,community, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, I really like that.
I actually cruise with AmmaWaterways back in December for
the Christmas market.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Was that your?
That wasn't your first one,though You've done it.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
I have done several ones for with other companies as
well, but this was the firsttime I was cruising with Alma
waterways and, of course, it wasthe Alma magna the one that you
will cruise with with yourclients, and it's an spectacular
ship.
I think it's the best one outthere, it's the biggest one and
(11:47):
it is wellness focused.
But it depends on what type ofwellness you want to actually
acquire during your time in thecruise.
But I really enjoy the classes.
So you normally have like maybewe'll go through day by day,
but normally you have like atour that is included with your
package, but then you have a lotof time that you can spend
(12:09):
outside or inside the ship.
So there's a lot of differentwellness classes that you can
join and I joined several ofthem and all of them were you
did the bikes on the back, I didthe bikes on on the bike, but
it was too cold so I took thebike inside.
Like the bike inside, I waslooking outside the people that
were outside doing it and I wasjust following what they were
(12:31):
doing because it was too coldfor me.
I didn't bring the rightoutdoor clothing for exercising.
I brought the clothing just forthe tours.
But, the indoor.
It was like shorts and t-shirts, so I was like maybe I
shouldn't be doing they move,the bikes move, yeah, and I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I was wondering on the bike rides, on the excursion
bike rides, I was like where dowe get the bikes?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
so they're on board they're on board, we carry them
on board and we have 26 on themagna.
Now, a little bit of differencebetween the Magna.
She's our flagship.
She's actually double the width, but she can only navigate the
Danube.
That's why she stays on theDanube.
Our 110-meter vessels have 156passengers but they navigate all
(13:19):
the rivers because they can gothrough the lock system.
But the Magna, she has fourrestaurants, four bars, um, you
know the spinning.
On the back we have apickleball court that we just
put on the Magna.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And there's a pool.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It does have a pool.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
It does have a pool, it does have a walking track.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It is a um the pool, not, not the hot tub.
Okay, Not the hot tub, butbecause she's very unique and
double the width, but we stillonly put just 196 passengers.
So the suite start at 217square feet and go all the way
to 710 square feet.
(13:59):
So a lot of space right ABwhich what is lot of space right
.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You got the AB, ab, which.
What is it's?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
just that, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
AB.
I think that's what I got.
I think I got the AB.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
So your suite would be 252 square feet, which is an
outside balcony, all of theseare going to be outside
balconies.
I didn't have a suite.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yes, you had a suite.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Yes, but you do have butler service in the suite.
So if you want that elevatedservice, you can certainly.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
You had butler service.
You had butler service, yes Idid so special, absolutely so.
There's so, butler, like whatdo they do?
Sorry, I'm like what is?
What do they do on the cruisefor you?
Well, morning coffee if youwant morning coffee to be
(14:53):
brought to you.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
We do allow um.
You can order breakfast in themorning if you like and um, of
course, if you have a headacheor something's happening, you
just can't make it to the diningroom.
We can certainly bring yourfood to you and your butler is
there to help.
Laundry service is included andthat's laundered no dry clean
but laundered and, of course, astocked mini bar with many, many
(15:18):
amenities.
We do a lot of surprise anddelights on board, so I like to
talk about I don't like to talkabout those because I want them
to be a surprise and delight,right, but lots and lots of
special attention.
We're almost two to one crew topassenger ratio on the Magna,
(15:39):
so you do have that service.
We do have our um, our cruisemanager, and our cruise manager
is like the maestro of the ship,like like an orchestra all the
moving pieces, cruise managersthere to help you, along with
the hotel manager and, of course, the very, very friendly staff.
That's what brings people backon board.
(16:01):
The service levels, the staff,the staff really make it.
You know, tammy and Sherry,when you get on board, they will
know your name that afternoonand if there's certain things
that you would like maybe a cupof coffee, a certain type of
coffee or tea in the morning.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
For us?
What's the tea sausage?
Say it again, a certain type ofcoffee, or tea in the morning.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
For us it was the cheese sausage.
Say it again.
So for us, my mom, my friendand I, for some reason we loved
the cheese sausage that theyserved.
It was not in the main diningarea, it was a fresco only, but
every day they brought us to themain dining area our cheese
sausage.
I don't remember the Germanname, but if you say cheese
(16:44):
sausage they will bring it toyou.
And every single day theybrought us the cheese sausage
for lunch, even though we didn'task for it.
But they knew that we loved itand it was served in the other
restaurant, but they alwaysbrought it for us.
So that's the type ofpersonalized service that you
will get at Amma Waterways.
Wow, the cheese sausage.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I'm going to have to try that.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
And by name.
Right, they are going to youknow, call you by name.
I know that my last cruise.
I drink black tea in themorning, english breakfast and
my little waiter follows mearound in the dining room trying
to give me my tea because Iknow you would like to.
To uh, to um, um bags plus anextra pot of hot water.
(17:29):
So that's my.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That's my want.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
And so when you get back home, I think the main um,
um, the main point we're tryingto make, you're going to be
looking for your waiter and, uh,it's a very sad day when you
get back home because you haveto do everything yourself at
that point.
So um, that's really what it'sabout.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Well, that must be why people, when they pick that
up, they're like I've heard goodthings about this company.
Absolutely, You're building aname for yourself.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Absolutely.
We don't have a big consumerpresence.
It's going to be through ourpartners, like Tammy and the
agency, and it sounds fantastic.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
The food is amazing yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So there's four restaurants, so talk a little
bit about each restaurant.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
So we do have four restaurants, um and four bar
areas, but we do have the chef'stable and that is the only
restaurant that you'll have tomake a reservation for.
It is a four to six coursepairing with wine, and the wine
that we serve on board are goingto be regional wines.
On this itinerary you gothrough four different countries
(18:44):
, so our wine changes every timeyou go through a new country
and sometimes you want the winethat you had yesterday.
You can certainly get that, butit's different cuisine, Always
prepared fresh.
We resource local.
We don't freeze any food.
Ice cream's the only thing inthe freezer, so everything is
(19:06):
loaded daily.
So when you take your excursion, the captain on down to the,
the cabin stewards are loadingprovisions for the day and we
load um daily.
So that's where you're going toget that fresh produce and the
chef goes out into the marketand purchases it.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I think that's fantastic.
That was one of the when wewere talking in the very
beginning.
That was one of the things thatgot me, yeah.
And the other thing was is thatshe's like you know you're
going to go through towns thatyou would never go to if you
went to.
You know Turkey, like you'renever you wouldn't go to, if you
went to Turkey, you wouldn't goto these towns.
That was another piece.
Besides the wellness, I had tomake sure we had.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
the magna, that was, the locally sourced cuisine, was
absolutely on my top of mindand and um, it's more of an
experience right when we'regoing through some of these
beautiful communities.
They they serve a certain mealor they serve a certain product,
(20:07):
and um, you'll definitely beable to experience that in each
of the destinations, the menuslots of choices.
Um, we have a late risersbreakfast, so there's always
time for food.
And I think I eat my waythrough the itineraries.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I really do.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Um, you know, breakfast, late risers breakfast
you have um afternoon tea inthe lounge in the afternoon at
three o'clock and then you have,you know, your meal and then
tapas in the lounge at night.
So there's always food for youto have, anything from light to
heavy.
And is that included in theprice?
That is included in the price,even the chef's table, that
(20:46):
beautiful four to four to sixcourse pairing with wine.
All of that is included.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, and we talked about doing that for the group
at the end.
Yes, yes, and we talked aboutdoing that for the group at the
end.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yes, yes, it'll be a special night if you're
celebrating an anniversary orbirthday or something special.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Please let Tammy and Sherry we have a birthday on
board.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, we do a very good job with those as well, but
it's a lovely evening.
It's sometimes a three or fourhour meal.
You probably will close it down.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I like that because I think it'll be a good
way to get the group together atthe end and everybody can talk
about their experiences and, youknow, people will have already
met and had some interactionwith each other, so I think
it'll be a good way to end thetrip.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
So now's a good time to probably talk about what's
included, right?
What's included in the cruise.
So, from start to finish, youpay an upfront price and really
there's no nickel and diming.
We can even add gratuities.
That's the only thing that wedon't include, because we feel
gratuities are very personalchoice for people.
Um, you're going to want to tipyour, your servers and waiters,
(21:51):
and you can put that on yourfolio at the end if you'd like.
So all the excursions thatyou're going to experience
between four and five excursionsin the destination, and that
does include some of our bikingand hiking tours, and we'll get
to that in just a bit, but thoseare all included.
So you'll have your choice topick those excursions ahead of
(22:14):
time or you can do it on board.
It's all included.
Also, we have a sip and sellcocktail hour right before
dinner.
So cocktails on Alma.
We have a drink of the day.
If you don't like that drink,you can certainly have anything
you like.
And then, really, your cruisefare, pre and post are something
(22:35):
that you can add, and we'lltalk about that in just a bit as
well, but everything that youneed is available and that is
included.
I think my folio when I got offwas $19 on my last cruise and I
did laundry.
We do offer laundry service.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So what do you pay for?
Like what are the what'savailable that you would, the
likelihood that you would haveto pay Correct, like laundry
services, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Which is very inexpensive.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
I might add maybe $1.30 for a piece of clothing to
do and it's laundry, it's notdry clean.
But if you'd like to have amassage, that is, you can do a
45-minute massage for $60.
I mean, it's very reasonable.
The gift shop and that'ssomething.
If you would like a drink, acocktail, at any other time
(23:26):
during the day, that would alsoyou have to pay for.
But some of the drinks, some ofthe cocktails, are like $4,
$4.50, $5.
It's not very inexpensive at alland, of course, if you just
drink cocktails before dinner,you have it all covered with the
sip and sell cocktail hour.
So the major things areincluded and there's really not
(23:48):
anything else to purchase onboard.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That would be it.
That would be it.
Whatever you buy like in thetowns that you pass through,
Correct.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
All of your souvenirs .
We do not include gratuitiesfor the local guide.
So remember, when you get tothese beautiful destinations,
you have a local guide that willescort you.
We break you down into smallgroups and of course you're
active or gentle walkers or youknow hiking and biking.
Those groups get broken downinto smaller groups, so
(24:18):
sometimes you're only touringwith 15 to 20 people, sometimes
it could be as small as six orseven.
Those local guides give such aflavor of the destination that
you're going through.
That would be you'd want to tipthem, and we recommend $2 per
person per tour.
That's it, and that includesthe tip them, and we recommend
$2 per person per tour.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
That's it, and that includes the bus driver.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
if a bus is included.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
What's the exchange rate right now?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Actually the euro is almost one-to-one.
It's been fluctuating a littleover or never under, but a
little bit.
You know 1.25 or something likethat, very reasonable.
You know 1.25 or something likethat, very reasonable.
And, um, you know, you may wantto use an ATM and get currency
of that country.
(25:02):
The Euro is widely accepted soyou probably won't need to get
anything but Euros.
And, um, you may need somecoins because, um, on the tours
or in the city, most of thepublic restrooms, you have to
use a coin.
You need to know that.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yes, you do.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Um, but our guides are very good about bringing you
to if you're going to a museumor doing a wine tasting.
Most of the places do havetheir own restrooms that are
free, so they do a good jobgetting you to those free
restrooms.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Oh, okay, that's fantastic.
Um, you know, there's an appthat I used in Portugal that
told me where all the publicbathrooms were Great.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I think it was called .
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Toilet Something, or I can't remember Good job, Good
job, Good job.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
But normally, if you go into a restaurant or a bar
and you buy something, you knowthat may be a bottle of water,
but we do send you out on theexcursion with water If it's
raining, or hopefully it's notgoing to be on your trip.
We have an umbrella for everyoneand you have a quiet box which
you would take your tour withwhich is a little piece earpiece
(26:06):
that you will be with the localguide and they carry a we call
them a lollipop that looks likea stick with lines and it's
Bluetooth.
If you have a hearing aid, it'sBluetooth compatible and we
will go through the.
If it's a cathedral we're goingthrough or a wine tasting, you
(26:29):
can hear the guide and you canventure off a little bit because
you can still hear the guideand that way she's not having to
scream or you have to stay veryclose to the guide.
But you, you have those quietboxes.
It's kind of like a routineright In the morning you pick up
your quiet box.
At an afternoon or the eveningyou put it back in the charger.
So it's nice and charged foryou when you get on the bus,
(26:52):
think of everything.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Yes, we do, we do.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
We do.
I like that.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
I don't know if this is the place to ask, but I just
wrote a note down Because one ofthe questions that last year
that someone was nervous aboutwas about the river and if the
river is too low, Right, itseems to be a question or too
high or too high, yes, or toohigh, yes, or too high, yeah, so
(27:21):
we actually, rudy.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Um has the design.
It's a low shaft so we can sailin relatively low water.
Normally we sail about 8 to 14days longer than some of my
competitors because of thatdraft and the way the ship was
designed.
Sometimes things happen we havea lock that breaks, or
(27:43):
something hits a lock and it'sout of commission.
If we have any of thosesituations, we can do a ship
swap On the Magna.
Of course, it's the only one,but normally if we wait a little
bit, water will go down or ifit rains, we can sail through.
So lots and lots of scenarios,um, and that's not something
(28:05):
that should stop anyone fromtaking a river cruise, because
that happens very, maybe very,very seldom maybe a half a
percent of the time yeah, and,and we were talking, it's like
there's always risk to travel.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, so yes
there's risk in traveling ingeneral, even getting out of
your home and taking your car.
So, yeah, I wouldn't say it'slike a very high risk, like it
happens all the time.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Well, I think that's important for people to hear for
sure.
So, because I know that was aquestion last year.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
And I know that Amma Waterways if that happens, it
has a very good program on howto handle the situation.
It's not like you and yourguests will be like abandoned,
yeah.
So I know that it really worksreally great.
So they will be taken care ifthat happens.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
A to Z literally, and we've gone pretty far down.
But operations, we have a teamin Basel, a European team in in
real time handling thesituations, um on the ground,
with um with the cruise manager,but also with the local guides,
so they're aware of everythingand you're kept abreast um of
(29:30):
anything and, of course, the dayactivities for the next day.
When you go into your sip andsail, the cruise manager talks
about what to expect the nextday if there are any hiccups or
if anything.
Or maybe we are addingsomething because we have extra
time, something like that.
So it's always a good thing.
It's always a good thing, okay.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Actually happened to me because last December the
waters were higher than expected.
It was snowing in Europeearlier than expected and then
it melt.
So the day that we were leavingfrom Munich I think it was
Lushoffen we had to change theport where we will be kind of
(30:13):
checking in, and they werereally good at communicating to
us beforehand that we had toleave at different times than
the one planned.
It was a longer ride, but wehad incredible stops so that we
can rest.
And then, when we got to theship, of course, a little bit of
program changing because peoplewere coming from different
(30:37):
places and they had to have theintroductions, the safety
program, for everybody at thesame time, so it had to shift a
little, but I didn't feel thatyeah, I felt that it was
seamless.
We had to change, we have toadapt.
But it wasn't like oh my God,this is so terrible.
Speaker 1 (30:58):
No, it wasn't chaotic , it was very seamless.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
And then the next day of course we had to change a
little bit our program where wewere stopping, and it was
fabulous too.
So you won't feel it.
Maybe behind the sceneseverybody's working really hard,
but you don't see that whenyou're experiencing the changes.
It's very seamless.
They're there to respond to anyquestions that you have.
(31:23):
Um.
So we didn't feel that therewas a major change for us, even
though it might have been majoron the back end.
For us it was like oh no, wecan have a little bit more of
wine at the lounge.
They served a little bit oflike snacks because we were
waiting for other groups, but wedidn't feel any like major
(31:48):
issues.
Everything was seamless and allthe staff was great when we had
that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I feel like communication is just.
It was key, it was key.
Like if you just talk to peopleyou know, you could.
You could solve a lot of angstand stress, Absolutely so we did
a great job because Tammydidn't feel anything and it was
all done Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
And you know that's life, right.
We have actually through thatexperience, have come up with
different ports that because wehad to go to a certain port, we
now put them in the folio.
So clients loved it so much, sogood things happen as well.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Yeah, yeah, I like that.
Okay, well, that's fantastic.
If you like what you hear,please subscribe to the podcast
and share with your family andfriends.
You can also give me a ratingand review wherever you listen
(32:52):
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It helps others find me as well.
To get updates on new episodesand wellness inspiration in your
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(33:13):
underscore inspired.
If you're in the Houston area orjust visiting and interested in
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zinchiatsu or dry needlingtherapy contact us.
You can find out more on ourwebsite at element5omcom that's
element5, the number 5, omcom,and again, I'll put the link in
(33:33):
the show notes.
If you're interested in healthand wellness coaching, we can
connect in the clinic or on zoom.
Reach out to us and we'll getyou on the schedule and, as
always, I would love to hearyour feedback.
I am dedicated to bringing yougreat content that is inspiring
and informative with an artsy,fun, edgy spin.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll meet here again next timeand remember never stop
(33:54):
exploring, learning, loving andbeing you Bye.
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