Avalon Rhine & Moselle

[waytocruise7]

We’re looking at doing the Rhine and Moselle with Avalon either 2015 May 28 (Ams to Basel) or September 20 (Basel to Ams). Any advice on preferred direction or month would really be appreciated. We are very flexible on dates.

 

I’ve read (in CC) that cruising through the Rhine Gorge is really beautiful. Does Avalon sail through the Rhine Gorge in the morning or afternoon? Does it make much difference if the Rhine Gorge cruising is in the morning or afternoon?

 

This is my first time posting but I’ve been reading CC reviews for a while. Also, we have done a few ocean cruises but first time looking at a river cruise.

 

Thanks

[YoungDubFan]

Here is a link to the trip report / review I posted after my Avalon Rhine cruise in 2012.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1646466&highlight=trip+report+felicity

The timing of the sailing through the Rhine gorge depends on the direction. Going from Basel to Amsterdam, we spent the night in Rudesheim and then sailed through the gorge in the morning. We had some dreary, drizzly weather for this section, but it was still a beautiful section of the river. My understanding if you are going from Amsterdam to Basel, you hit the main part of the gorge in late morning. On this direction, the ship only spends about 1/2 a day in Rudesheim before heading on.

[peterdkiwi]

We sailed Basel to Amsterdam last July with Avalon - sailed through gorge in morning, at bit cool to start with but great overall.

I had read a couple of CC reports 18months before we sailed that said that the Basel to Amsterdam was the best direction. Can't compare with other way but we found the cruise faultless in every way and timing of port arrival and departure were extremely good ( this was the reasons given to doing it that direction)

Booked Prague to Budapest with Avalon for July this year, can't wait

[waytocruise7]

Thanks so much YoungDubFan for the link to your review. That is really helpful and I enjoyed reading your trip so much.

Thanks Peterdkiwi for your insight on direction.

The reason why we might choose the April cruise is so we can do Amsterdam in Spring pre-cruise. But our priority is the cruise experience and for that we might do the Basel to Ams direction. Having another ‘wild’ idea. Thinking of doing the Rhine cruise and continue with a Norwegian fjord ocean cruise after that. We did the Baltics two years back but did not do b2b with the Norwegian fjord. And, we don’t fancy flying fifteen hours again just to do the fjord cruise. If anyone has suggestion on this possibility of combining Rhine cruise with Norwegian fjord, would appreciate your input.

[peterdkiwi]

Our friends that we meet up with on the Basel to Amsterdam did Norwegian cruise after our river cruise last year. Sorry haven't got details, but they used train from Amsterdam after spending a few days there. April good time for all the flowers

[RvrCrzr]

I really don't think time of day makes any difference...unless you are a photographer using light and shadows. The gorge is really beautiful...but really not all that long. The castles are cool, but I like cruising the Moselle River better. The river is much narrower and scenery seems close enough to touch.

 

Time of year makes a big difference in the weather and scenery, however. Early in the season, the trees and vineyards haven't yet budded out and things look more bare. Standing on the ships decks in the cold and wind can also be brutal if the weather is cold or raining. But you know what? It's all worth it. Enjoy! :)

[waytocruise7]

I really don't think time of day makes any difference...unless you are a photographer using light and shadows. The gorge is really beautiful...but really not all that long. The castles are cool, but I like cruising the Moselle River better. The river is much narrower and scenery seems close enough to touch.

 

Time of year makes a big difference in the weather and scenery, however. Early in the season, the trees and vineyards haven't yet budded out and things look more bare. Standing on the ships decks in the cold and wind can also be brutal if the weather is cold or raining. But you know what? It's all worth it. Enjoy! :)

 

Thanks, RveCrzr, for your insight. Based on suggestions that Basel to Ams is a better direction & also looking at Avalon’s Suite Ship, we’ve narrowed to two dates, 9 May or 20 Sept 2015. Any suggestion on which is a better month? Would the vineyards be more lush in May and would it be very cold on deck in Sept? Thanks.

[caviargal]

The harvest is in October normally and when we did the Vineyards of the Rhine and Moselle with AMA in mid November, the colors were beautiful!

 

Have to say this was some of the best scenery we have experienced and the cruise itself was wonderful (it was a wine themed cruise) but the ports on this one were our least favorite of any river itinerary so far.

[notamermaid]

Hello waytocruise7,

 

welcome to cruisecritic!

 

I like the idea of doing the two rivers in one cruise, a great opportunity to compare the two rivers, seemingly similar but the scenery can differ greatly in parts.

 

For the Moselle, more so than for the Rhine, I would chose September. May is lovely for Spring flowers and lush green, but 9 May is early, so when Spring is late you may find the hills a little barren.

 

As you are (at the moment) planning on doing the Basel - Amsterdam:

 

Late September gives you the green trees very slowly turning yellow and the vineyards full of (almost) ripe grapes. It is the season of wine festivals and in Germany vintners open their little eateries for snacks and wine(-tasting). They are called Straußwirtschaft, marked by a little bouquet of flowers. Opening times differ greatly you would need to search around the internet a bit for those places.

 

The harvest is during October.

 

Local wines are available all year round of course, but for joining the locals in wine-drinking September is better! :).

 

Temperatures can vary a lot in both May and September, rain more likely in September, but even that varies.

 

notamermaid

[Memsahib27]

We’re looking at doing the Rhine and Moselle with Avalon either 2015 May 28 (Ams to Basel) or September 20 (Basel to Ams). Any advice on preferred direction or month would really be appreciated. We are very flexible on dates.

 

I’ve read (in CC) that cruising through the Rhine Gorge is really beautiful. Does Avalon sail through the Rhine Gorge in the morning or afternoon? Does it make much difference if the Rhine Gorge cruising is in the morning or afternoon?

 

This is my first time posting but I’ve been reading CC reviews for a while. Also, we have done a few ocean cruises but first time looking at a river cruise.

 

Thanks

 

We are booked to go Amsterdam to Basel mid-June this year and will be happy to let you know how it goes. We have sailed with Avalon before and were very happy with our cruise - mind you we have also used other companies and they all seem very professional - we chose Avalon for this one because it had the 12 day cruise and we prefer not to drink wine at lunchtime and it is an optional extra with Avalon. Hate paying for it and so feeling we have to have it!!;) River cruising is wonderful!:D

We also live in WA!

Edited May 7, 2014 by Memsahib27
Want to add something

[waytocruise7]

Thanks, notamermaid for the welcome & letting us know how beautiful Moselle will be in Sept. I was so excited with all the nice things I’ve read that I actually check if there is any availability for this year but most of the sailings are full. So, we will wait patiently for next year to cruise.

 

Memsahib27, since you’re from Aust, would appreciate if I can have your thoughts on 2 things

 

Did you book direct with Avalon US, Avalon Aust or through a travel agent? (Hope I’m not contravening CC rules asking this.)

 

Since our river cruise is about 16 months away, how do we get travel insurance? Most of the posts I’ve read advise that we get insurance when we pay deposit (to get waiver from pre-existing condition etc) but online insurance will not give a quote if travel is more than 12 months away.

 

Thanks

[Memsahib27]

In response to your questions - we booked through a local travel agent as that gives you protection ( actually I see that that changed two days ago and will come into effect in 2015 ... .........( http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/StatementDetails.aspx?listName=StatementsBarnett&StatId=82910 )

 

I am not sure if this is still the case - but when we did our last Avalon cruise we discovered that, as we Aussies are not good tippers, our fare includes gratuities - so much easier knowing what the total cost will be. Also the cruises booked from the USA usually include fares to and from the US - so not sure how it would work if you are leaving from Oz. We get 4 weeks annual holiday in Australia and most Aussies usually prefer to see more of Europe while there - US only usually get 2 weeks - so prefer a package that fits into that time. Of course there will be exceptions from US - retirees etc.

 

As we travel quite a bit within Australia and overseas we have a yearly travel insurance policy - we have found this is preferable as credit card insurance and many other online policies only go for about 37 days - as we often travel for longer, we have found an annual policy with a company that allows longer - especially as it also covers domestic travel. Email me at viv.m at outlook.com if you want more info.:)

[peterdkiwi]

Waytocruise7

We are in NZ and booked with Avalon directly in US, saved over $1000 by doing it that way, had to use US address on internet booking, once they had processed credit card for deposit, Phoned them and change address to NZ and did all future communications by e mail or phone. No problems at all, even when we had to change date of cruise twice 6 months out, no extra fees or anything. Avalon staff were brilliant.

[cbb]

I echo the idea of traveling in September.....think fat grapes! Seriously, the vineyards are wonderful that time of year and depending upon type of grape, you might even see the workers harvesting in the field.

 

We didn't have any bad weather in September either. Warm, lovely days, cool nights but not cold or rainy!

 

Great trip! Have fun!