Avalon Panorama Amsterdam to Budapest June 2012 Review and Actual Itinery

[russy1]

Amsterdam to Budapest June 2012

 

This was a wonderful holiday and any slight negatives I may say did not detract from the overall experience, they are just observations. The ship was very nice, modern and comfortable, the cabins were a good size (always smaller than the photo in the brouchure) The bathroom and shower were very good and l'occitane toiletries very nice. There is a mini bar in the room and the prices are reasonable, 2 bottles of water placed in cabin everyday, more than enough storage and a safe. The air conditioning was adequate unless your cabin has been on the sunny side all day and then it struggles to cope, and the windows become red hot! Bar prices are reasonable apx 7 euros for a cocktail, 5.50 for a spirit and 3.50 for a beer and Happy hour most evenings before dinner it was 2 for the price of 1. The wine and beer (Becks) flowed at dinner but sometimes the wine waiters can miss you out, don't be afraid to give them a shout if you want a top up, also beer took a time to arrive as it came from the bar so best to order before you have finished the one you have. Food is difficult to review as its down to personal taste. I would say overall the food was good, some menus I preferred to others and there is always salmon chicken or steak as an alternative at dinner. I don't think it is as good as an ocean cruise but nothing really to compain about apart from the coffee, disgusting, stewed and strong, preferred to have coffee from the machine in the club lounge at the back. The crew were really good and it was nice to get to know them better over the 2 weeks, the Captain was very personable with a good sense of humour, and the Cruise Director was very well organised and informative. The trips were well organised, a lot of them did start early in the morning and if you booked optional tours could be quite tiring. The sun deck did have to be closed for a few days at the start of the cruise due to low bridges which can't be helped. We didn't do any optional tours as we live in the Uk and it's easy for us to go back to places we enjoyed. Most people enjoyed the optional tours and I probably would have done them if I had flown from AUS, USA, CAN etc. I wouldn't usually comment on a tour I hadn't taken myself but every single person we spoke to had a bad opinion of the Evening Concert in Vienna, they were squashed in a room on plastic chairs, roasting hot because the doors had to be closed due to noise outside, they did say that the music was very good but overall wasn't a good experience, it might be worth asking the cruise direcor about the venue before you book.

 

All in all it was a great holiday and I would recommend it to anyone.:)

 

Tips

Carry 50 cent coins especially the ladies as this is the fee for the toilet everywhere

Hungary oap's of any nationality travel free on public transport (advised by a local).

If you like shopping be aware depending which port you are at most shops still close on Sundays even large cities like Vienna.

Most people tipped the local guide a euro or 2 (up to you) so have some change handy.

 

 

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Amsterdam to Budapest Avalon Panorama Itinery

Day 1

Arrive at Amsterdam Airport transfer direct to ship

Cabins ready unpacked free time into Amsterdam docked right in town

Day 2 Amsterdam

08:30 - 10:00 Amsterdam Canal Cruise, back to boat for lunch sail at 12:30pm. sail to Cologne.

Day 3 Cologne

Arrive in Cologne 12:30pm. 1:30pm Cologne walking tour apx 1 hour and then free time docked right in the town. Sail at 8pm to Rudesheim.

TIP: The walking tour lasted longer than published so don't be afraid to peel away if you prefer to do your own thing.

Day 4 Rudesheim

Arrive 11am. 12:30pm mini train tour to Siegfried's Musical Instrument Museum 2pm Rudesheimer Coffee tasting. free time walk back or mini train at 3:15pm. 3:30pm sail for Miltenberg.

TIP: try and get in the first trip on the road train as it takes ages to return for the second load of people.

Day 5 Miltenberg

Arrive 12pm. 1pm walking tour of Miltenberg apx 1 hour.2:45pm sail to Wurzburg

Day 6 Wurzburg

Arrive 8am. 8:30am Wurzburg city tour, visit residence palace and free time

TIP: Palace doesn't allow large bags above size of A4 paper, they have lockers but you will need a 1 Euro coin. 12:30pm sail for Bamberg.

Day 7 Bamberg

Arrive 11am 1:30pm Sightseeing of Bamberg, combination coach and walking. 3:30pm or 5pm coach transfer back to ship (not walkable). 6:30pm sail for Nuremberg

Day 8 Nuremberg

Arrive 7am. 8:30 am Nuremberg city sightseeing coach and walking apx 2 hours. 11:30am Transfer back to ship (not walkable) 12pm sail for Nuremberg

Day 9 Regensberg

Arrive 8am. 9am Walking tour of Regensburg, approx 1.5 hours, free time, easy walking distance from ship. 6:30pm sail for Passau (revised to 21:30)

TIP: You will be given a voucher for Bratwurst meal and a beer for 2 locations, we were the only people that went to the one by the palace, it was a bit of a walk but worth it. The old sausage Kitchen nearer the ship is probably very good though.

Day 10 Passau

Arrive early am in Deggendorf. We had a change in itinery as the water levels were high due to heavy rain, we had a coach to Passau and all other Optional trips to Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov went ahead and while we were all ashore the ship sailed slowly to Passau and picked us up at 12:10 unfortunately we had to miss out Linz but 5:30pm arrive in a small town called Aschah to pick up passengers on the optional tours so we could walk ashore and have a drink in the riverside bars. 9:30 pm sail for Melk

Day 11 Melk - Durnstein

Arrive Melk 7:30am. 8:30am Transfer to Melk Abbey and guided tour apx 1 hour, free time, transfer back or walk (apx 30 min walk) to ship. 11:30am sail for Duernstein. 1pm arrive Duernstein 1:30pm Walking tour and free time, walking distance to ship. 6:30pm sail for Vienna

Day 12 Vienna

Arrive early am. 8:15 city tour of Vienna coach 45 min and walk 45 min, coach will take you back for lunch if you wish or come back 2 stops on the metro (very easy and cheap) 12am sail for Bratislava.

Day 13 Bratislava

Arrive 7.30am. 8.30 City tour of Bratislave 1 hour by coach 45 min walking, can opt out of walking if you want to. Free time easy walking distance ship docked in the town. 6:30pm sail for Budapest

Day 14 Budapest

Arrive (sailing into Budapest) 8.15 am worth being up as you sale into amazing views of the town. 8.30am Budapest City tour apx 3 hours mainly coach some walking. Docked in town

Day 15 Disembarkation

Very well organised, leave cabin by 9am, disembark ship by 10am

 

As you can see it is quite a packed itinery and this is without optional tours, some places we were slightly dissappointed we didn't have longer but they had a schedule to keep to:)

 

　

　

　

　

[KCcruisin07]

Looks like a great itinerary. We went from Budapest to Nuremberg on AMA and saw some of the same ports as Days 8-14. We loved Durstein, Bratislava, and Budapest, and overall the scenes from the riverboat were beautiful. What were your favorites?

I'm glad you had a good time. Thank you for posting your review!

[tassietravellers]

Hi Russy

 

Thank you for such a detailed and interesting review, you answered quite a few questions I had, we travel the same route but in reverse on the Panorama in August. One question I did have, I know lots of boards have had this question, but what was the dress for dinner, my husband is not really a jacket person, we'll be away for 2 months so he didnt really want to have to carry one if he didnt need to wear it all.

 

We hadnt really planned on doing any of the extra side tours, unless anyone can convince us that they were not to be missed, as each port we stop at will be new to us and there might be things there that we'd be missing by bussing off to somewhere else.

 

I was surprised about how short some of the stops were, I'd imagined being at each port for most of the day, but it all sounds great and I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. I'm getting very excited about ours.

 

thank you again, Debbie

[russy1]

Hi Debbie,

Dinner is really casual, a couple of people even wore shorts to dinner which is not really allowed but no one said anything, most men wore trousers and a shirt/polo shirt, there are 2 nights that people dressed up more but most people still had casual on, about 75% were Australian on our ship and most have them had been travelling round Europe for a while so the overall feel was casual. Some of the stops were shorter than expected so don't be afraid to do you're own thing if you have something specific in mind.:)

[tassietravellers]

Thanks Russy, that made my husband very happy!!

[robynkc]

We have just returned from the Avalon Luminary and i agree dress is very casual for dinner. I was quite surprised even for the formal nights as said on the itinerary it really was up to the individual to what you wore. I think its nice to get dressed up a couple of nights but it certainly didnt matter what you wore, i hardly saw any men in a jacket so def not bother packing it just for the cruise.

Hi Debbie,

Dinner is really casual, a couple of people even wore shorts to dinner which is not really allowed but no one said anything, most men wore trousers and a shirt/polo shirt, there are 2 nights that people dressed up more but most people still had casual on, about 75% were Australian on our ship and most have them had been travelling round Europe for a while so the overall feel was casual. Some of the stops were shorter than expected so don't be afraid to do you're own thing if you have something specific in mind.:)

[tassietravellers]

We have just returned from the Avalon Luminary and i agree dress is very casual for dinner. I was quite surprised even for the formal nights as said on the itinerary it really was up to the individual to what you wore. I think its nice to get dressed up a couple of nights but it certainly didnt matter what you wore, i hardly saw any men in a jacket so def not bother packing it just for the cruise.

 

 

Thanks Robyn thats good to know, its hard enough packing for 2 months and lots of different weathers, without taking clothing that wont be needed.

[smokeynz]

Thank you so much for your review. Knowing the number of hours in each place will make planning much easier. Did you have many meals off the boat? Sounds like you had a fabulous time.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

This is a great review--have you posted it to as a formal review on Cruise Critic as well? That way people can go back and read it months from now.

 

I'm a bit surprised too about the shortness of some stops, especially Vienna. But overall sounds wonderful.

[caviargal]

This is a great review--have you posted it to as a formal review on Cruise Critic as well? That way people can go back and read it months from now.

 

I'm a bit surprised too about the shortness of some stops, especially Vienna. But overall sounds wonderful.

 

The time in Vienna was not bad at all IMO as they did not depart until midnight and arrived early morning.

 

I agree that it would be great if the OP could make this an official review as there are so few on this ship and river cruises in general.