MS Andrea

 MS Andrea was a last minute fill in for MS Asara which was supposed to be our ship along the Main-Donau canal.  Asara got caught on the wrong side of shallow water and so could not arrive at her scheduled cruise, but lucky for us, Andrea had a similar problem on our side and so we got the sister ship.  We were assured that they were the same except for the colour schemes.  

She was lovely.  The cabins were more spacious than any I have had on a boat before, and fitted out with lots of shelving and drawers.  The crew is to be commended as everything about her was clean and new looking.  There was a main dining room and a small dining area which served light lunches and steaks in the evening.  We got mixed reviews on the speciality restaurant and were quite pleased to just enjoy the ambiance and delicious offerings of the main dining room.  Clara found that they had smoked salmon and croissants for her every morning and I feasted on dark break, eggs and blue cheese.  

By midweek, we realized that the kitchen was OK with special orders and so C got just the veggies she would eat and in good quantity.  Sauces were left off meat and pasta.  She got double desserts. The head chef was South African and had 2 Michelen stars.  We ate very well.

There was a quiz (scrambled german names for countries and Islands), bingo (Clara took first prize and Eva tied 2 others for second), bbq on the sundeck, ice cream sundaes and other group activities.  It was a very nice mixture of time alone and mixing with others.  We discovered they had bicycles and even the helmets needed so C felt safe riding. Cycling along a waterway is such a lovely way to travel!!