May 4, 2025 - Rhine Gorge Rudesheim, Germany

Today was Castle Day! Our morning was an unforgettable experience. We started off with a scenic cruise through the most famous stretch of the Rhine River. No less than 30 castles are to be found in this short stretch of river valley.

In the afternoon, the ship docked in the wine town of Rudesheim, famous for Riesling. We were not interesting to the Gondola ride and wine tasting, so we just walking around town and trying to do some shopping.

Later, we joined the group to visit Siegfried’s Mechanical Musical Cabinet, a museum with self-playing instruments. They have about 350 mechanical music instruments out of 3 centuries. It is a very unique museum.

May 5, 2025 - Ludwigshafen, Germany

We enjoyed a relaxing morning on board while the ship cruise to Ludwigshafen. In the afternoon we took part in a guided walking tour to Heidelberg, famous for its castle ruins and university, the oldest in Germany!

After an one hour coach ride we arrived Heidelberg, started with a walking tour at the castle complex. 

Thereafter we drove to the town where we enjoyed our free time on the shopping street. Helen and Alice were tired, so they stopped by a bakery for pastries and drinks. Mimi and Fei kept going to explore more stores. They went too far away from the town center. By the time, they arrived to our meeting place, the group left already. Luckily, our Cruise Manager Marcia was still waiting for them. How nice of her!

For dinner, we ate at the Main Dinning Room.

May 6, 2025 - Strasbourg, France

We woke up this morning in the beautiful town of Strasbourg. With its monumental cathedral featuring carvings as delicate as any piece of lacework,  Strasbourg is one of Europe's most attractive cities. Thanks to the richness and sheer density of its hertiage sites, the entire town center has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Strasbourg is well worth a visit to discover its history, its cuisine and its unique Alsatian atmosphere!

Capital of Alsace, Strasbourg is beloved for its wine culture and enchanting 16th and 17th century half-timbered houses which line La Petite France quarter on the banks of the Grand Île (Grand Island), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

After touring, we stopped at Naegel for pastries, pizza and drinks. We all enjoyed our lunch.

Later, we did a lot of shopping and bought many identical tops from St. James.

For our Farewell Gala Dinner, we missed the opportunity of sitting in the Main Dining Room with the Captain due to lacking of seating arrangements from AMA staffs. We end up eating dinner in the Bistro Lounge at the front of the ship.

The Rhine and Moselle rivers have many locks. These locks are designed to manage water levels and allow ships to navigate different sections of the river.

Sitting in the Bistro Lounge gave us an opportunity to view ship movements through these locks.

May 7, 2025 - Breisach, Germany

This morning we docked in Breisach, situated on the German side of the Rhine and directly facing the Alsatian region in France. 

For today's excursions, we visited Alsatian village of Riquewihr. We rode the bus for about 45 minutes along the Alsatian Wine Road to Riquewihr. We discovered this picturesque village (with its cobblestones and inclines) on a 30 minutes walking tour. It felt like we are stepping through the pages of history as we stroll through the charmingly narrow, cobbled streets of Breisach. Houses painted in lovely pastel-colored hues and window boxes overflowing with colorful flowers seem to grace nearly every fairytale lane.

Due to last night's mishap, the "Maitre d" offered us a nice table and compensated with nice Italy wine for dinner. 

The wait staffs in dinning room are very diligent, caring and nice. We took picture with our favorite waiter Kim.

This is our last night on AmaLucia, we stuffed and packed our luggage and went to bed early.

May 8, 2025 - Basel, Switzerland

This morning we need to disembark from the ship at Basel. Fei and Alice left at 7:15am for their 9:45 flight to Munich. Helen and Mimi stayed a little longer for their 10:30am transfer, then 1:00pm flight to San Francisco. 

We hugged and said goodby to each other. We treasured our time together in each gatherings and will be ready for another trip soon.