lannek

I should mention that the morning temperature in Strasbourg was about 6 celsius. Probably opening the roof of the boat wouldn't have been welcomed by the group. I did manage some okay pictures even through the glass. I'm a point and shoot and hope for the best, photographer.

Strasbourg is one of the destinations that a person could plan things to do on their own since the Felicity doesn't set sail until 10:30pm.

Day 2 Speyer & Heidelberg

This was a free morning but a large group, led by our cruise director, Isabel, walked into town at 8:30. It took about 10 minutes to get to the Kaiserdom. Nice walk through green space. DH and I took off and headed towards the Altportel, a medieval tower that was once part of the town wall. It's right in the middle of a busy shopping district and the road runs right beside it. I wish we had taken time to climb to the top but had a couple of other places to visit. Next stop was the History Museum. It had some interesting artifacts covering the Roman, Celtic and Mesolithic periods. Most of the signage was in German but we were able to translate bits and pieces. Thankfully there wasn't a quiz after!! Last stop was the incredible Jewish bath (Mikwe Judisches Bad.) Had a look through the Museum Schira first then to the 12th century ritual bath. A large group was coming up the steps when we got there so the place was all ours. Thank goodness for the solitude as it is a place for reflection. Quite remarkable.

We were only day two of the cruise and I was already starting to feel the sense of sampling rather than savoring some of the wonderful places and sights. This feeling would continue for the remainder of the trip.

Good night and I'll continue my ramblings tomorrow!

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but the second part of my review didn't show up. I replied to Driveslikemario, wrote it out, then pressed the submit reply button. I'll try again tomorrow.

We returned 2 weeks ago from the Romantic Rhine on the Felicity. The weather was fantastic and we didn't run into any water level problems. A big thank you to Peter (from New Zealand) who sent me daily print outs last year, and to all the others who helped answer questions. YoungDubFans trip report had a lot of valuable information and thank you for that.

After spending 5 days in Switzerland, we made our own way to Basel. After phoning the boat and getting the dock location we took a cab (44.00 euros) and dropped our luggage off at about 11 am. We were travelling with friends who took another cab and their fare was 40.00 euros! Mind you, we had the nicest, cleanest ride in a newer model Mercedes. Basel has a lovely old town which was about 2 miles from the docking area. There was a lot going on, on the river...water skiers, pleasure boats. The warm weather brought people out in droves.

Embarkation started at 4pm and was handled well. Our room (Sapphire forward deck) had plenty of storage, very comfortable bed and bedding, good temperature control and a fantastic shower. Water pressure was strong, non-slip tile floor was appreciated and a rather noisy toilet.

We are a couple in our late 50's, our friends are early 50's and I would estimate the average age of other passengers to be mid to late 60's. There were maybe three couples under 50.

The food was good and plentiful. I am a rather unadventurous consumer of food and didn't pay much attention to the different menu items and usually ordered salads, chicken or beef. Most people seemed to enjoy the daily specials. Dinner does go on longer that I really wanted to spend sitting and it is, unfortunately, very noisy. I think this is a common complaint as the ceiling is low. We ate lunch a few times in the lounge area and it was great. The wine choices were fine and the servers kept your glass full.

Day 1 Strasbourg

We took buses at 8:30 to the canal touring boats. Our guide was engaging and interesting and we didn't use the headsets. Photography was challenging due to the glass. I don't know whether any canal boats are open air, but it sure would have better, especially in nice weather. The city is absolutely gorgeous and elegant. Really enjoyed seeing the Petite France area from that viewpoint. After about an hour, we docked in front of the Musee des Beaux-Arts. Different tour guide and I think there were 4 groups. DH and I lasted for about 5 minutes in the group, then decided to go off on our own. Wandered about, did a bit of shopping and eventually caught with the tour and walked back to the bus area at 11:30. Had lunch onboard. The 2 paid excursions were the Black Forest and Alsace Country Side. DH stayed on board and I took the Avalon bus back into the city. Spent the afternoon exploring, getting lost, finding another charming alley, getting lost ;-), and making my way back to Petite France. The Cathedral does act as a point of reference so the getting lost aspect was really enjoyable and never a concern! I would love to return to this area and spend a few days. I talked to people who liked the Alsace tour and apparently the Black Forest group got caught in a traffic jam and were delayed getting back.

Every night in the lounge there is happy hour, followed by the port talk, then dinner starts at 7 pm.

to be continued.....(off to work)

We are docked in beautiful Koblenz at the moment. Our ship is Avalon Felicity (Basel-Amsterdam)we and haven't had any delays or problems with water levels uIt is very low. Weather is what we refer to in Canada as an Indian summer. Loving the temperatures but many others are bundled up! Range from 6-18 Celsius

So many positive experiences and I will do a trip report in a few days.

Oh brother! Didn't even notice the dates. We'll keep our fingers crossed as I gather the Rhine is still low.

Oh no! Was it a problem with one of the rivers? We are a month away from our Felicity Romantic Rhine. I just checked Avalon facebook page and didn't see anything regarding your cruise. That is so disappointing for you.

This forum has provided me with a wealth of information and for that, I thank everyone who takes the time to write a review. It is discouraging to see that a low participation count on Cruise Critic may render a review as less credible.

The Gare D'Arles is just a few minutes east of Quai Lamartine and Chermin Des Segonnaux. Maybe a 5-10 walk from the station. We arrived by train a few years ago and I do remember seeing some boats and plenty of cabs as well.

Beautiful city with an abundance of historical sites. Hopefully you will have some time to visit.

Thank you for the replies. I wondered about the security when coming back onto the boat after hours. Good to know that there is some freedom to roam.

We will be on the Avalon Felicity next September. I'm curious to know if areas of the boat can be used late at night. In particular, computer desk or the lounge to sit and a read book. Are any of the crew still up past 11pm? There are a couple of ports where we will be either docked overnight or after midnight sailings. For lack of a better word, is there a curfew? Thanks for any input.

There are still a few restaurants in my small city that need to enforce the "no shirt, no shoes, no service!" So as long as my fellow passengers have their shoes and shirts (don't forget your pants) I will try and enjoy every moment of my upcoming cruise.

Happy anniversary! What a great way to celebrate. Have fun and I hope you write about your experiences.

To Got2Cruise, YoungDubFan and Webfoot. I thought I replied to each of you but I don't know whether I did it right. So a big thank you for your quick responses and information. What a nice group of people on this forum. Now I am off to read the "how to do things properly." Hopefully there is a dummy version of it :)

Hello. We have booked our cruise on the Felicity from Sep 27 - Oct 4/15. This forum has been a wealth of information and thanks to all who contribute. I noticed that someone has scanned and posted dailies for one of the Viking cruises and I was hoping the same could be done for our cruise. I contacted Avalon and asked for some more details re: time in each port but was told that specific details were not available until we are on the boat.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer some questions.