Shebely

Thank you again Avalon for your update about the Danube. We are hoping that conditions change for the better for the Danube cruisers.

We are currently on the Avalon Visionary sailing toward Mainz, Germany on the Rhine. We are right on schedule, enjoying our journey and headed toward Basel.

Note: Wifi availability has been good even when sailing.

I just checked the port and there are 39 ships in the Budapest port and not one single Viking ship.

 

Thank you very much for the information. I would like to know what site this information can be found on.

For letting us know the circumstances and the remedies offered to affected passengers. When I book an Avalon cruise, I have full confidence in the company based on my past experience traveling with them last Summer and especially since they are part of the Globus travel group. See you in 12 days in Amsterdam as we embark on our Rhine cruise.

Our favorite part of river cruising is being on the top deck and watching the scenery go by. We did a mid May cruise and it was cool and windy and we did not get outside while cruising. So that is why I would vote for September.

We have friends currently on an Avalon cruise who are having a very bad experience - their "river cruise" has become a "bus cruise". The ship apparently broke down and they are being bused around on uncomfortable, horribly long bus trips instead of getting their cruise.

They feel like their vacation has been completely ruined.

 

Can anyone advise as to the best way to deal with this major disappointment? Who can they contact at Avalon? Has anyone else experienced this? If so -how did Avalon respond?

 

If you can tell us where they flew to at least we would have some idea of which river they are on.

In relation to excursions do CroisiEurope offer a good range of excursions to choose from?

 

I have a minor concern about the set plated meals as Carol does not eat seafood but I am sure this is a problem which can be quite easily overcome.

 

Thanks again for your advice

 

Peter

 

In regard to the excursions, the Croisieurope cruise (Paris to Normandy) we were on had only included excursions. There were no optional excursions. So check the online information about the cruise for the daily itinerary.

I did not see anyone that received alternate meals although I am sure they must accommodate allergies or specific diet choices. I remember seeing many plates returned uneaten the night venison was served.

We were on an Croisieurope boat on 2013 from Paris to Normandy.

The entire week trip was a charter by a US travel company from the Midwest. I did not like the set menus for lunch and dinner without any choices. I am not a fussy eater, but I do like alternatives especially when paying the price you pay for a river cruise. One night venison was served. Lunch was a drawn out affair with courses just like dinner and it lasted at least an hour. It really did not give you a chance to go back to your cabin and relax before heading out for the afternoon activities. For dinner we were assigned to a table with the same companions for the entire cruise. Again there was no choice. We like to mingle and have a chance to talk to a variety of our cruise companions.

The boat was well taken care of and the crew was great. All of the passengers were from the US.

Note: Each time this topic comes up, I come back with this same report. This is the 4th time since May 2013

We are early risers even when in Europe. Even though we are early risers, we find that since tours often start at about 8:30, we get up, get ready and go have breakfast and then get ready to leave for the morning tour. We came back, have lunch and get ready for whatever afternoon activities we have planned off the boat. Ocean cruisers are used to sea days where you sit and watch the open seas go by. This is a difference with river cruises. No open seas. On river cruises, the vistas can be on either side. As I said, earlier, on river cruises, the best views are on the upper deck where there are chairs and covered seating. I also like the forward lounge or the outside seating just in front of the forward lounge. There will be more rafting when in port because of the great increase in boats that are being launched each year.

I just watched Avalon's promotional video, and they make a point of the fact that they do not have balconies, but rather have made their cabins bigger, with a larger sliding glass window.

 

I've always enjoyed sitting outside on a balcony when I'm on an ocean cruise, so am wondering if having the bigger cabin does make up for not having a balcony?

 

Any thoughts? I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who has tried the Avalon cabins.

 

Thanks!

 

This is a big difference, in my opinion, between ocean and river cruising. With river cruising, there are vistas on either side of the boat as you are sailing. The best views are from the top deck or from the forward lounge or forward viewing area.

If you are sitting on your balcony, your views are limited. Last summer on the Danube we could not leave our French balcony door open because of mosquitoes and gnats.

Most people are only in their cabins rarely. We have traveled on one Avalon cruise already and have 3 more booked.

I have always had severe motion sickness. I love, love, love river cruising and I have not had a problem. I cannot do ocean cruises. I have been on cruises on the Seine and Danube. We have booked 3 more river cruises.

If you purchased transfers from Avalon/Globus or if you have transfers included because you purchased Avalon air, they will take good care of you and

You will get to the airport with time to spare. Your Cruise Director will check with you to make sure your flight times have not changed. CD will publish bus departure times at least by the day before. My educated guess is that your bus will depart the Basel dock at or close 6:00 am. I chose to purchase the transfer from boat to Zuruch for our cruise in June 2014. Have a great voyage. I am sure you will.

First of all travel agents especially the large internet ones will give you a good discount off their commission but you will not be able to see that until they draw up a quote for you. They are also aware of special pricing available for special river cruise lines and dates. Cruise Critic does not allow me to give you the names of these travel agencies. I am sure you can find the them just google something like "river cruise discounted"

Second - check out Avalon Waterways which is part of the Globus umbrella. If you are a Journeys Club member because you previously traveled on Globus, Cosmos or Monograms you get a extra 5% off. Avalon charges more for their newer Suite ships, Their oldest boats were built on 2008 so comparably speaking their boats are among the newest in service.

The other cruise lines (Tauck, Iniworld, AMA

you mentioned in your price comparison offer things like butler service, maybe a special evening in a palace, etc. I have not traveled on any of the aforementioned luxury lines. From the reviews I have read, Viking is not in the same league.

We were on an Croisieurope boat on 2013 from Paris to Normandy.

The entire week trip was a charter by a US travel company from the Midwest. I did not like the set menus for lunch and dinner without any choices. I am not a fussy eater, but I do like alternatives especially when paying the price you pay for a river cruise. One night venison was served. Lunch was a drawn out affair with courses just like dinner and it lasted at least an hour. It really did not give you a chance to go back to your cabin and relax before heading out for the afternoon activities. For dinner we were assigned to a table with the same companions for the entire cruise. Again there was no choice. We like to mingle and have a chance to talk to a variety of our cruise companions.

The boat was well taken care of and the crew was great. All of the passengers were from the US.

You can go to Avalon's website and register for "My Avalon". After your registration you can enter your invoice number and since you are within 90 days of your cruise, you sill be able to look at optional excursions which will be available to you. There are included excursions each day and you can see what those are when looking at the itinerary. Your Cruise Director will give a briefing about the Optional tours and then give you time to sign up for any you are interested in. Hope this helps.

I am looking for packing tips about items that have multiple purposes. I always over pack. How can I be prepare with the least amount of items?:confused:

 

For example,

Baby Shampoo - can be used as laundry detergent, can be used as defog for snorkel mask, and as a shampoo, of course.

 

What are your ideas? (Please don't criticize the suggestions of others, unless the tip is dangerous somehow.) Thanks, in advance, for any input!:)

 

I believe most of the cruise lines stock the bathrooms with very nice bath products. I know Avalon uses L'Occitane so you may not need to bring baby shampoo for the reasons you mentioned.

I also bring at least 2 space bags so I can compress my clothes on the way back home. I bring a kitchen size garbage bag for dirty clothes and then compress the garbage bag with the clothes in the space bag.

For about the last 10 years we have been traveling with one carryon bag each and one bag each that fits under the seat in front.

I only bring costume jewelry. I would rather leave my wedding rings at home than to risk losing them.

On a river cruise, I believe, you need two pair of walking shoes and for the women add one pair of flats.

I was on a Croisieurope cruise last May from Paris to Normandy. I was surprised that lunch and dinner were sit down mult-course meals without menu choices. In other words, everyone ate the same meal. One night the meal was venison. I am not a fan of venison. Lunch was a long drawn out affair just like dinner. With a sit down served lunch there was no time to go back to your cabin and relax before starting any afternoon activities.

In addition, for dinner everyone had an assigned table that did not vary so you ate with the same travel companions each night. There was no choice in the table assignments. We like to meet and talk to different people so, for us, this arrangement was boring.

So I would ask before I booked with Croisieurope about menu choices and dinner table assignments.

That would seem to make sense, but then I see rates higher in May than June, and that seems illogical. Also, Avalon had a 10% discount on a cruise sailing on 4 July, but the regular price the week after and before that one. Odd. The Avalon agent with whom I spoke had no idea why that was either......

The reason that Avalon's prices vary for different dates is because they

charge more for their new "suite" ships. The suite ships debuted first in

2011. Also cruise companies run specials on particular dates because they know based on historical data which weeks need incentives to entice people to book.

I am surprised by the difference in price that you are finding between Avalon and Viking.

I book my Avalon cruises through a large online site and I get excellent discounts. Just google discount rates for European river cruises and you will find the online companies.

The balance due on Avalon cruises is 90 days before you sail. I refuse to fund Vikings building craze and I am offended by their advertising ploys which claim that the are offering 2 for 1 prices.

Yes, I am a happy Avalon cruiser. We have a Rhine cruise and a South American adventure/cruise booked for 2014.

I am trying to decide where we are headed for 2015.

Enjoy your travels.

As fotopeg says it is a wonderful way to travel. In about 2 weeks we leave for our trips number 19 and 19. We fell in love with the pace the size of the boat and the opportunity to see the towns along the rivers of the world.

The newer boats have balconies, but they are really not necessary--limit your view to one side of the river. The lounge and sundeck are where most people go to watch the scenery.

Meals are a bit different. On most lines there is only one restaurant. All meals are openseating with no reserved seats. Breakfast and lunch are usually buffet with stations where food is freshly cooked. Some lines offer plated lunches--we found that to be too heavy for us. Dinner is plated with choices, usually at about 7 pm after the port talk for the next day.

Many evenings there will be local entertainment on board. There is also a piano player on board. The evenings are fairly quiet because the tours start at about

 

8:30am.

Keep asking questions. Pat

 

I know that Croisieurope ships are not mentioned much on Cruise Critic, but my first river cruise was on the MS France and I was very surprised and not pleased that everyone had assigned tables at dinner. Each night you sat with the same people and there was only one entre that was served. One night the entre was venison and there were many plates that were uneaten. Also lunch was a multi- course affair which took up a lot of time. Again there was no menu choices just the entre that was served. Breakfast was a brunch with many choices.

The reason I bring this up is that if you book a line that is not familiar to you, I suggest that you research and ask the question about assigned tables and the number of entres available at meals.

We booked this cruise through a travel agency in the Chicago IL area and they chartered the Croisieurope ship (French company) for one week.

Dear Idaho2some,

We traveled mid to late July from Budapest to July. It got hotter and hotter as the trip went on. During our days in Prague it was over 100 degrees. Heat records were broken. It really affected our ability to walk around and tour the cities. My recommendation would be September and the flights should be cheaper too.

We also did a river cruise in France in May 2013, but it was too cool to be up on the sky deck and for us that is the best way to experience the sights.

I would recommend Avalon. They are not all inclusive which some people prefer. I would rather pay for what I am actually going to use.

In July 2013 Avalon used the Intercontinental in both Budapest and Prague. I wanted the best view in Budapest so I upgraded our room in advance. So glad I did.
I did not upgrade in Prague as the river views aren't as spectacular.
Both hotels were in very good locations and the breakfast buffets were great.
I hired private guides in both cities and we were really pleased with the sites that we visited with the guides.
Please consider making sure that you get tickets for the Parliament building in Budapest. It is not to be missed.
Have a great voyage.

I know that many of us have our favorite river cruise company. But, what I am looking for here is to get recommendations of your favorite itinerary. I believe discussions of the itineraries get lost in either glowing reports or not of the cruise companies.

My favorite journey so far is on the Seine from Paris to Honfleur with the side trip to Normandy. I loved being able to walk off the ship into the delightful towns especially Rouen and Honfleur. My recommendations is that you make sure that your cruise goes as far as Honfleur. Some companies do not include Honfleur.

I wish I could say that the Danube from Budapest to Nuremberg was also a favorite, but the lock workers strike changed our journey and put us up to 11 hours behind off the schedule.

I don't like their 2 for 1 advertising, their "flooding" the European market with their fleet growth and their early pay in full policy. I doubt they have the "logistical" team to handle putting out a quality product each time and to be able to handle things when there are problems.

 

We are traveling Avalon - Amsterdam to Basel in late June 2014. We are going to Amsterdam early and staying 4 nights at a bed and breakfast in Amsterdam. This us our second Avalon trip and we are looking forward to their suite ship.

 

In September 2014 we are traveling on Avalon (Globus) to Peru "From the Inca Empire to the Peruvian Amazon.

For 2015 I am looking at itineraries and depending on what I see we may travel Uniworld, AMA, or Vantage.

I have not been on the Visionary yet. I am speaking from my own personal experience on an Avalon cruise with my own devices.

Did you use a converter and/or dual voltage devices? An adapter doesn't technically tell us the voltage (110 or 220). Though I'd go out on a limb and guess it was 220;)

 

Avalon mentions hotels at 220/240 on p 11 but I didn't see a declarative statement about the boats (yet, I'm skimming ;-): http://www.avalonwaterways.com/user/know-before-you-go/europe/know-before-you-go-avalon-europe.pdf

 

For the devices that we took all we needed was adapter. We had Iphone 4, Ipad 2 and hubby's shaver.

From the Apple store - the white box on the IPhone charger has a converter - read the very small print and it says 100-240 volt. Europe is 220 v so no problem with, for instance the IPhone.

But again, read the small print on the chargers you need to take for your devices.

Hi Nurse Carol,

When we were on Avalon, we needed the Type B adapter. It is the one with the 2 round prongs. Hope this helps. We are looking very much forward to June when we are sailing on the Visionary.

Lynn