Avalon river cruise first impressions!

this is our first river cruise. It's on the Avalon waterways panorama. It's a 15 day cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest.

first the good points.

- we are having lots of fun and are about two thirds done.

- The cruise director and the service on board is first rate in all departments.

- The rooms are smaller than they look online but now we sort of like them. The bathrooms are larger and very nice.

- The showers are nice and roomy and you could get the water as hot as you want with good water pressure as long as you want.

- The weather has been perfect every day in the mid to high 60s and the water level in all the rivers is just fine.

- The food runs from just OK to excellent and most the time it's just in the good range. But now two thirds done some of the food is getting a bit monotonous. But you can tell the chef is trying to mix it up with new items every day.

- The passengers are all very friendly but I would say the average age was late 60s too early 70s.

- The cruise director is very helpful in planning the following days activities but it would've been more helpful had he given us the information earlier in the evening before.

The cruise director is very helpful in planning the following days activities but it would've been more helpful had he given us the information earlier in the evening before.

and for some of the negatives :

- The river cruise seems to be a way to get you a tiny taste of each port. Some of the ports were only one and a half to two hours long before we had to board the ship again. Many of the days where we had a longer time in the port were at hours or days when stores were closed.

- after taking one excursion we decided not to do anymore. The excursions involved lots of people moving very slowly with a constant barrage of facts and information . furthermore they take you to places where all the other ships excursions are going so you're crowded group is surrounded by dozens of other crowded groups. we opted to get a few blocks away from the ship and that was a much more rewarding experience.

- when you're on the ship it's like you're almost still at home. Just about all the passengers speak English. They were from Canada, who had the most, England, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other places. It was fun to talk to them but you did not experience any of the local culture.

- while the ships food was good, and the chef try to make food that was local to the region, it was kind of a filtered or dummied down version of the local cuisine. So we have tried to eat in the ports and away from the river where many people do not speak English. And we had much rewarding experiences and meals that way. But because of the timing in the ports we can only do that every few days.

- A note on ship cabin selection we were on the second level up in the middle of the ship and it was a great choice. I was under the impression that the third level would have been better. But we found that there is a lot of traffic in that hallway because in the rear of the boat is where the coffee machine and cookies are located making the aisle fairly busy. We also noticed that in the rear of the ship even on the third level you could really feel and hear the vibration of the engine. This was not the case in our second level midship location

so while I am complaining a lot we are still having a great time. I am also working on a travel blog for our trip with a lot more detail, pictures, and video. so I'll have a lot more information that I will provide with that .

good report. I know what you mean about the crowds in some places. we had that experience in Bamberg last year. we have been there before on a river cruise and it was not as crowded with groups.

the roads/pathways are narrow and around it seemed every corner there were masses of people being guided along. as we had been there previously we broke away, but even then they came masses of people and yes it seemed there were at least 2-3 different viking as well as ama and Avalon.

it is possible to move away to see things yourself. some of the groups are just too big for comfort.

Please say hi to Tom and Dara for me!