rudeman

Anyone hear of the Sun cancelling cruises from Feb - Apr 1?  We got emails.

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Avalon had tables for two in a line and quite close together on our cruise. Of the 160 passengers, only 11 were American and we had the pleasure of dining with folks from several different countries so we weren't interested in tables for two and can't comment on how "private" they were (or weren't). But they WERE there.

I agree these cruises are quite communal affairs, which is our cup of tea (we eschew ALL fixed-seating cruises for that reason) but may not be everyone's.

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On Avalon, I turned in my room key when leaving on a tour, and when I got back the receptionist handed it back to me without me even saying my name, she then addressed me by name and welcomed me back. Every time I passed through the lobby she addressed me by name. We loved our Avalon cruises, the fridges in the rooms, the staterooms with the French Balconies. We actually prefer those, they add space to the stateroom that you can use when the weather is not so good.

We've only been on Avalon so can't compare head-to-head with AMA. I can tell you that the room configuration was a selling point when comparing them "on paper". Others on here in the past have disputed our assessment as trivial but, trust me, the experience very much supported our personal conclusions.

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We, too, love the smaller towns. Other than a few key sites within it, we don't find cities all that appealing. We took Avalon's 15-day Budapest to Amsterdam cruise. The book ends are obviously fairly large cities, as are Vienna and Cologne. Otherwise, all 12+ other stops are relatively small towns, some extremely quaint and lovely. We had several physically challenged folks who did all right though I admittedly did not make note of accessibility issues, if any.

Others have mentioned some nice itineraries, also.

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With the exception of ensuring you have some coins for restrooms, your rule of thumb should be do what you'd do in your own country. If you normally carry and pay with cash, then use ATMs, get Euros and do so. If you normally carry little cash and pay with credit cards, then do so. These aren't third-world countries. There are ATMs everywhere and almost everyone takes credit cards - even a lot of street vendors! Unless you really don't want to pay with credit cards, I find it hard to imagine when you'd need to withdraw more than your daily limit - but I'm a credit card guy.

Get them at an ATM. Shopping: just about everyone takes credit cards. We just keep Euros handy for small items, tips off-vessel and, of course, for restrooms. Be sure to have some on hand for that!!

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I take it you want to fly Delta. If that's not necessarily the case, American/USAir flies seasonal non-stops from Charlotte to Lisbon!

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As with modern ocean cruising, it makes little difference. They'll dock on either side, depending on the port, traffic, etc. ("Port" nowadays means "left", nothing more.) You really need to look at the itinerary, much like an ocean cruise along a coast, like, say, South America, and determine which side will have the better views when you plan to be in your cabin while sailing. Worst case, you go up one or two decks to the Sky Deck and take in the view 360 from there! When docked, as others have mentioned, it's a toss-up whether you'll even have a view. Once again - Sky Deck!

I don't think I'd book based solely on that bed configuration.

Agreed. And we didn't...but now that we experienced it, the competition would need to be leaps and bounds above Avalon in other categories, (hard to imagine) for us to switch.

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Cannot speak for AMA, but when we were selecting our cruise, we did narrow it down to these two. We picked Avalon because of 1) bed configuration. May seem trivial at first blush but having the ability for both of us to look out at the passing scenery while lying there was a big selling point for us and 2) Avalon is a Globus company who have been doing European tours for decades (we have done their bus tours) and felt they would really know how to do it right.

Now, post-cruise, we were very happy with our decision all-around regarding cabins, staff, food, entertainment, tours, outstanding CD, etc.

If we do another river cruise, I don't see us even bothering with another line at this point.

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I read Fermor's "A Time of Gifts", since we were only doing Budapest to Amsterdam. It was a good read.

I also read Nick Thorpe's "The Danube: A Journey Upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest". This would be especially valuable for any going from Budapest to the Black Sea as he spends much of the book on that section. He still covers from Budapest, upriver quite well, also. It's well-done and, clearly, more relevant from a "modern" perspective.

I'd recommend both books. I really enjoyed them both.

We did Avalon from Budapest to Amsterdam this past July. Wifi was excellent. We even used FaceTime (audio - didn't try video) back to the States for free calling. Used iPad on board often for port research. No issues.

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Glad they did good by you. I really felt bad for you all, especially since I know you had been watching our earlier trip. Hope the next one works out better.

BTW - after seeing some of the complaints recently on this board where they at least got to stay on A ship the whole way, (that is, didn't have to stay in hotels multiple nights like you) kudos to you for your positive postings. You clearly are a GENTLEMANcruiser!

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We have done 2 river cruises' date=' about 75% of the men wore jackets on the nights when it was the captains dinner night..[/quote']

 

 

We were on Avalon Impression in July. No more than 5 men ever wore a jacket, 1 or 2 ties.

 

 

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I guess I would assume (maybe I shouldn't) that cruise lines have this info and schedule accordingly!

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Not sure what line you're on. We were on Avalon. Cruise docs told us the meeting place (a hotel - in Budapest) and then they bussed us the short distance to the ship when it was time to board. They took care of luggage when we checked in at the hotel so we had plenty of time to wander around before boarding time. We just needed to take a taxi from our hotel (we were there for two nights prior to cruise) to the meeting place hotel.

From what I'm reading, Basel is apparently different from Budapest. In Budapest, ships could be docked anywhere so it's not a "given" where Viking or Avalon or A-Rosa or whoever will be docked any given day. In fact, interestingly enough, our embarkation ramp was a Viking ramp!!

We DID use Avalon's airport transfer at disembarkation time since we had to leave the day of disembarkation (in Amsterdam) and had a relatively early flight. Can only speak for Avalon but it was worth it.

The model river cruise lines use is the same as a European bus tour. You have a tour director for the entire trip, which is the CD on cruises, and individual local tour guides whom you tip as you go. At the end of the bus tour, one would (hopefully) tip the tour director that's been traveling with you the last x days. Seems the same should apply to the CD. We need to equate the position to a bus tour director, not an ocean cruise liner Cruise Director.

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Whether we agree with the practice or not, clearly the cruise director is not well-compensated by the cruise line (ANY cruise line) and is counting on gratuities.

If one elects to go to a high-priced restaurant for a special meal, does one stiff the waiter because, in one's opinion, the restaurant charges too much? I hope not. It certainly won't harm the restaurant, just the poor waiter.

A river cruise is a high-priced cruise for, one assumes, a special occasion. Please don't blame the cruise director or the crew for the high prices. Stiffing them sends a message to them, alone, and does NOT hurt the cruise line one bit.

On our cruise, our CD was worth his weight in gold. We gave him the recommended amount - and more.

I DO agree with Mark_T that it would be nice to have the CD compensation part of the price but until (if?) that happens, please compensate the CD and the crew for the good work they do.

That's the trip we took in reverse. Avalon was great with the caveat it's the only RC line we've been on. You'll have a great time.

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Edit....just saw an answer to this on another thread.....thanks....would still love feedback from anyone....were you both able to sit at window with sofa?

I was the one who answered the question on the other thread and I apologize as I hadn't seen you were talking about the Felicity, which is not a Suite Ship. Our experience had been on the Impression, which is. It does appear that there is only one chair in the regular staterooms on the Felicity. As some have mentioned, most cruise viewing will be done on the sky deck, but still a bit of a bummer that there is only one chair.

Ok....I have a chair question.....it looks like on Viking there are 2 chairs by the French balcony but on Avalon it only shows one chair in the room...can anyone confirm this? Seems it would be nice to have 2 chair to at least sit and have a glass of wine by the glass door?

Didn't see anyone answer, so ...

There is one chair and a small sofa next to the French balcony, at least on our ship. Each takes one, both sit on sofa, doesn't matter - it's right there at the balcony.

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I don't know how to be more clear, unless they just gave you a table:

CD. - 4e

Crew - 12e

Etc.

But it's certainly all there on pages 9&10.

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We just did the prepay and added some to each envelope.

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Cesky Krumlov pluses: gets you into another country and you get to visit a UNESCO World Heritage site, which influences some of us. The bus ride affords the opportunity to to see countryside other than along the river.

Folks on our cruise who went absolutely loved it. We had opted for a similar all-day tour to Salzburg and saw some beautiful countryside.

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