What is the"Crystal" of the river cruise world? The "Oceania" ? the "Celebrity" the

[caviargal]

We were pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of wine served on our Avalon cruise. It was different each evening and as our waiters grew to know our tastes, they offered us options. It was not jug wine and we enjoyed French, Italian and German options over the course of our trip.

 

Also, the corkage fee of only 6 E per bottle meant that we were able to bring aboard some interesting local wines to enjoy as well.

[franski]

Not sure if they actually charge the corkage if you bring your own and drink it in your room, or up on deck. I believe that some have posted they brought their own corkscrew along, and bypassed this charge. Of course, in the dining room would be a different issue.

[caviargal]

Not sure if they actually charge the corkage if you bring your own and drink it in your room, or up on deck. I believe that some have posted they brought their own corkscrew along, and bypassed this charge. Of course, in the dining room would be a different issue.

 

They do not charge a corkage except in the main lounge and the dining room. We always pack a corkscrew as we enjoy trying local wines. Avalon made it easy to do so.

[shoshona2]

Hi all,

 

Just back from our wonderful Tauck Rhine/Moselle river cruise! I promise to post a review in several weeks.

 

Sheila

[jaybell]

Here's my review of the AMA Amadante Prague to Budapest we took last August. Hope it helps in making your decision. We liked AMA and the itinerary so well that we're on their Rhine cruise from Zurich to Amsterdam, departing next week!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=58260

[shoshona2]

Hi Jaybell,

 

Have a great time! We returned from Tauck's 12 day Rhine/Moselle river cruise. The weather had cooled in Amsterdam and the Rhine River ports when we left Amsterdam yesterday. We had temps in the high 90's. We didn't take AMA's Rhine riverboat cruise because it was only 7 days on the boat and four days in hotels. We didn't want to pack and unpack at hotels and had previously been to Zurich and Lucerne. We started in Basel

which was very nice. We had two days there before the cruise and used their wonderful transit system to get around.

 

We booked AMA for Russian next year, so I will be interested in your review of your Rhine cruise.

 

Happy sailing.

Sheila

[jaybell]

Thanks, Sheila. I've been wondering about the temperatures in that area so hearing from you on that subject is helpful. Guess we'll go prepared for the heat but hope it will continue to cool as you suggested it had started to do.

 

Having been to Zurich and Lucerne before, do you happen to have any suggestions for restaurants, etc.?

 

I'll be sure to post a review when we return!

Janie

[shoshona2]

Hi Jaybell,

 

We were in Lucerne and Zurich so long ago, but if you check out the two cities on tripadvisor.com you will probably get some advice on restaurants. You can also check out the weather on weather.com for next week.

 

Happy sailing!!!

 

Sheila

[Mparis184]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences. We love "O" and have been on 30 cruises on a lot of different cruise lines. I think it is time I got serious about taking a river cruise.

 

Marion

[btoohill]

Good thread.

 

Can anyone provide a review of Tauck's China tour? Since it involves a brief river cruise, I thought maybe I'd find someone on this thread who has taken this trip.

 

Thanks!

 

We took Tauck's trip to China in May 2010. It was an excellent tour. Tauck is high-end in terms of hotels and food. The local guides were excellent and the Tauck tour director who stayed with us the entire time was also excellent and unflappable. We spent 4 nights on the river on a very nice riverboat. While on the boat, we had daily excursions, passed through the locks of the new dam, and enjoyed the Yangtzse River scenery. You definitely pay more for Tauck but it includes almost everything.

[shoshona2]

In 2011, Tauck is also including nights at the hotel they are using pre-cruise or post-cruise. One night for new people and two nights for past travelers with Tauck. We are getting two nights in July on our Tauck tour -- one in London at the Hyatt Regency and one in Paris at the Intercontinental. You have to book by December 31, 2010!

 

Sheila

[Talisker92]

I have been on a few river cruises with Vantage. As far as I am concerned, they have the most "bang for the buck". If you want wine with your meals, believe me, the cruise fare has taken that into account on other lines.

I have written a story about our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and posted it on our website.

http://home.mindspring.com/~highlandpark/

I also wrote a story about our Xmas river cruise but had to drop it from our site because of space limitations. E-mail me at highlandpark@mindspring.com and I will be more than happy to send it.

Note: the accommodations are not the same as an ocean cruise ship, but we were in an A1 cabin and there was plenty of storage space plus a French balcony.

I have cruised a number of lines, from Norwegian to Silverseas and in between, and we loved the intimacy of the smaller ship on the river cruise.

We will be happy to answer any questions

I finally broke down a got a full website for all our trip stories

http://www.stevekathytravels.com My e-mail address is the same