Kudos to Avalon for their handling of this!

[FrenchRiverCruiser]

Here's how this unfolded from my perspective.

 

I flew to Amsterdam, arriving on Monday for an Avalon cruise beginning Thursday, and spent a few days with a college friend who has lived in the Netherlands since our graduation, more than fifty years ago. I booked my own flights and simply used the Dutch train to get to Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon. My documentation said to go to the Movenpick, so my friend and I went on Google maps and confirmed which sidewalk to take, where to cross the street and generally how to walk from the Central Station to the hotel. As I was walking there, I saw there were several river cruise ships docked along the sidewalk, including two from Avalon, but not including ours, the Affinity. It seemed to me that where there were two there might be three, and perhaps I could shorten the walk by dropping off my suitcase right at the ship. I boarded the closest one and asked at the reception desk where to find the Affinity. The staff there said they did not know. As I turned to leave, a guy in "civvies" (civilian clothes, not a uniform) asked me if he could help me. I asked him if he knew where to find the ship and he said it was at the Barbizon Hotel. Not wanting to go on a wild goose chase, I replied by beginning to pull out my documentation, which clearly said Movenpick. He immediately understood what I was thinking (who is this guy and where did he get this notion which was only going to send me in the wrong direction....). So he immediately said "I'm the cruise director on the Avalon XXX" (another Avalon ship). He pulled out a cell phone and called someone. He said that they all had each other's numbers, that that was the cruise director for the Affinity, and that we were indeed supposed to go to the Barbizon. Again, he seemed to be able to anticipate that I was beginning to get irritated and concerned (where am I going to find the Barbizon? Where can I find the information about where it is at the docks?) and he said he'd call a taxi for me and pay for it! He called a taxi, suggested I sit down, and got me a little glass of orange juice and grenadine to drink while I waited. A few minutes later, a taxi arrived, he went out and returned with a receipt (having paid for it), walked with me down the gang plank and put me and my luggage in the taxi.

 

Still mystified why the plans had changed, I went into the Barbizon and saw an Avalon desk. Another guy in civvies said "Here's the information about the refund..." To say I was surprised doesn't begin to cover it!

 

This guy turned out to be our cruise director Nico, who quickly filled me in. (Avalon cruise directors do not wear uniforms.) The Affinity was in dry dock because its engine needed repairing. We'd be in the Barbizon Hotel for two nights and then join the ship. Arrangements for meals in Amsterdam and complimentary excursions had been made. In addition to hotel rooms, meals and excursions, we'd get refunds for the two nights--half in money the way it had been paid (from a travel agent, from Avalon for those who had booked direct) and half in a credit for a future cruise. I'm attaching a pdf of the three handouts which outline the arrangements.

 

Now here's why I called this thread "Kudos to Avalon."

 

1. The cruise director of the other ship was more than helpful. If I had had to flounder around on my own, my whole view of this would be entirely different. I wasn't sailing on his boat, it wasn't his job, but he really stepped up.

 

2. Communication was excellent. When you read the handouts, you'll see they are clear and complete. The first evening, Nico went over everything again, and I really don't remember any questions. They covered everything.

 

3. The Barbizon is a five star hotel, and it's located closer to the center of Amsterdam than any of the river ship docks. It was partly a stroke of luck that they were able to get all 130 of us rooms in the same hotel on incredibly short notice, but it's also to Avalon's credit that they kept us in town and not in some distant suburb. Dinner the first night at the hotel included champagne and wine (they kept refilling the glasses) and was certainly comparable to the food on the ship.

 

4. I was cruising with friends from the UK. Friday, they went on the canal boat excursion and I went to the Aalsmeer flower market. We met where the canal boat trip ended. We then went together to the Handbag Museum. I had breakfast/lunch while I waited for them, and they had lunch at the museum. They then took one of the now included afternoon excursions to the Muiderslot castle while I went to the Dutch Resistance Museum. Because we were not having lunch on the Affinity, we were able to do one more thing than if we had gone back to the ship for lunch. We had a fuller day in Amsterdam because of the dry dock. Indeed, we also had a fuller evening. We took our "handout" and ate at a restaurant near the hotel, and then took a night-time walk, enjoying the old buildings which were lit up, and wandering into the Red Light district (a couple of awful jokes and we high tailed it out of there!). If we'd been on the ship, I'm sure we would have gone to the lounge and missed that very pleasant walk, so we had a fuller evening, also.

 

5. The compensation for the meals (15 Euros for lunch and 30 Euros for dinner) was more than adequate. Someone said to me that first night that he had looked forward to the four course dinners and didn't think 30 Euros would cover it in a restaurant. I actually think it would not. We went to a small restaurant near the hotel, not fancy but pleasant, and had a main dish and some wine. All three of us said we were very satisfied that we'd had a nice city dinner, and that we'd "made money!" (The meals cost less than 45 Euros).

 

6. The compensation happened the way they said it would. Once on the boat, we just needed to stop by Nico's desk to get our Euros. He had a big stack of 50 Euro and 20 Euro bills (couples got 70 Euros), and he just took bills from the stack and handed them to us. He asked us to "scribble" next to our name that we had received them--not much paperwork. I needed to contact my travel agency for another reason and before the cruise was over they had already received my refund.

 

7. They took the delay into account in discussing tips at the end of the cruise. Look at the last document. The recommended amounts for the crew were for five days only, since we had only been on board five days. For the cruise director, the recommendations were for seven days, since he'd been with us in Amsterdam.

 

8. We had to make up time and were not able to stop at Cologne. But they did add an excursion (complementary) to the Airborne Museum (Operation Market Garden) before we boarded.

 

Someone has posted here that the mark of a good cruise line is how they handle problems. By this measure, Avalon is indeed a good cruise line!

 

So often on this board people post stories about things going wrong and the cruise company itself seeming to make a bad situation worse. The reason for this long post is to give credit where it's due. I hope you agree that this is a model of the right way to do it!

Avalon Arrival - 1.pdf

Avalon Arrival - 2a.pdf

Avalon Arrival - 2b.pdf

Avalon Arrival -3.pdf

Avalon Departure.pdf

[cruiseryyc]

Thanks for posting; as you said - too often we just heard about bad experiences and not the good (or great) ones.

[Got2Cruise]

Im glad Avalon and their parent company Globus are standing by their good reputation. Also yes the Cruise Directors might not schmooze you like on some other lines, but they make certain that everything runs like clockwork.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thank you for posting. I do believe that cruise lines should be judged by how they react when things go wrong, and your story is evidence that Avalon is one of the top notch lines by this measure.

[Cobbie48]

We are cruising on the Affinity on July 19. I know it's an older ship. Does it appear well cared for?

 

Would like to read a review of your full tour.

 

This is our second Avalon cruise. The first was just after the huge floods on the Danube in 2013. They kept us well informed of the floods prior to departure. Ours was the first Avalon ship to cruise when the flood had receded.

[pully8]

pleased you had a positive outcome. our recent experience is sadly different. letter given by cruise director at Vernon outlining compensation may 7th. still waiting for any communication from Avalon. our agent has tried and we have sent an email today. disappointed after 8 cruises with them.

[tassietravellers]

Great to hear that Avalon is still so customer focused and they handled the situation so well, it doesn't surprise me, as we encountered low water levels/a river barge accident and a damaged bridge on our first cruise in 2012 and we were extremely happy with how everything was handled.

 

Deb

[Los_Pepes]

I am impressed by the fact that Avalon handled everything so well and they took care of you. I also must give you kudos for taking the incident in stride and recognizing that Avalon was doing everything they could to make it right.

[webfoot]

Love Avalon! Two years ago I was on a cruise that was affected by the lock operator's strike. Our captain, through his connections, got us from Regensburg (where over 100 passengers got off to go to a hotel) to Frankfurt to pick up the travelers and to get us to our other ports of call on time.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Avalon Waterways]

pleased you had a positive outcome. our recent experience is sadly different. letter given by cruise director at Vernon outlining compensation may 7th. still waiting for any communication from Avalon. our agent has tried and we have sent an email today. disappointed after 8 cruises with them.

 

Pully8 - We are sorry to read that you are less-than-thrilled with your recent cruise experience. Our goal is always to exceed expectations. We would like the opportunity to speak with you directly about any/all concerns. Please contact our traveler services team at 877.333.3920 or email travelerservices@globusfamily.com. We hope to hear from you soon! Thank you.

[Avalon Waterways]

"Someone has posted here that the mark of a good cruise line is how they handle problems. By this measure, Avalon is indeed a good cruise line!

 

So often on this board people post stories about things going wrong and the cruise company itself seeming to make a bad situation worse. The reason for this long post is to give credit where it's due. I hope you agree that this is a model of the right way to do it!"

 

Thank you, FrenchRiverCruiser.

[davidrw]

The quality of a good river cruise company lies in their Cruise Directors (who seem to be self employed) and their Captains.

 

2 Years ago in July I was on a 2 week cruise with Avalon from Budapest to Amsterdam. The locks had started to open after repairs from the floods and we started on an excellent Cruise when the German Lock Keepers went on strike. For the next week, the Cruise Director and Captain were working on plan A, plan B and plan C and the Cruise Director spent a long time on her phone. We were given choices and half the boat went to Nuremburg for 3 nights in a hotel and an excellent set of excursions, the remaining half had a new Cruise Director flown in and entertainment on the boat followed by a fast catch up when the locks opened. Due to the lock delays when we got back to the boat they had to keep adjusting the schedule, however we generally gained free high quality events. / lunches onshore.

 

I was impressed by Avalon and the size of their rooms (it is more like a hotel room with a changing view than a cabin).

 

We are now going to Southern France with them next month and hopefully it will be just as good, but hopefully not as eventful.

 

On a final (off topic note) if anyone wants to see Normandy, I encourage you to do it on land and not on a boat. The boat ends up about 2 hours drive from Paris and Normandy is only an hour or two further and is a great place to spend time in.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Avalon is doing a fantastic job in communication. Their posts here are proof. Not only do they care about the positive comments, they address those that aren't positive and work for an amicable solution. KUDOS Avalon! This is the main reason I have booked my cruise with you! Service is EVERYTHING! :)

 

OP - I am so impressed with that CD on the other Avalon ship (I hope it's ours!). Going out of the way for you like that was very impressive. He is truly a gem in a well-run company! Thank you so much for detailing your experience. :)

[pully8]

thank you have sent details to you.

[webfoot]

Davidrw, it sounds like you and I were on the same cruise. Everything was handled professionally! I elected to stay on board and enjoyed the scenery!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[caviargal]

We were on two cruises with Avalon when there were issues that were challenging. One was a cruise where there was 22 inches of snow in 2 days. Frankfurt airport shut down completely and the roads and even trains were a mess. That was bad enough but a few days into the cruise, the snow melted and we had to hasten our departure from Regensburg without having everyone on board. The CM did a great job with everything that was thrown at him.

 

The 2nd was a different cruise where the boat ran into something that tore a hole in the bow. We had to go in for repairs. This was handled with little effect on passengers.

 

Avalon did a great job in both instances.

[Di Princess]

Pully8 - We are sorry to read that you are less-than-thrilled with your recent cruise experience. Our goal is always to exceed expectations. We would like the opportunity to speak with you directly about any/all concerns. Please contact our traveler services team at 877.333.3920 or email travelerservices@globusfamily.com. We hope to hear from you soon! Thank you.

 

PULLY: Please let us know if this is resolved to your satisfaction. Thanks! ;)

[pully8]

will be pleased to do so.

[Avalon Waterways]

Pully8-

We are concerned as we have not yet come across your email. We hope that you will (also) email one of our team members directly. Gayle Segura can be reached at gsegura@globusfamily.com.

 

We apologize if this extra step causes any inconvenience to you. We simply want to make sure we have the opportunity to get back in touch with you.

 

Thank you!!

[pully8]

yes wondered why no acknowledgement. will resubmit now to the email address and name provided. details are also provided about my travel agent who also has been assisting us both during the cruise and since we came home.

Edited June 6, 2015 by pully8
addition

[stretchcruz]

I've been on 3 Avalon cruises and am saving for my 4th!! They are a class act. We ran into some problems on one of our cruises when we lost an engine and missed Cologne, docked in Dusseldorf, then the river was too high to make it to Basel so we overnighted in Breisach. They handled everything professionally and got us to the train station in Basel the last day of the cruise in plenty of time to catch our train. I always recommend Avalon. Our most recent cruise, Budapest to Passau, was uneventful and wonderful!!

[cormike1]

We did an Avalon river cruise quite a few years ago and my husband and I got quite ill. The captain called us a couple of times a day to see how we were and did we need to see a Doctor. They really took care of us! With that thought we purposely picked Globus to do a bus tour of the British Isles last Sept. We missed our bus one day and asked another bus Globus bus driver to call our tour director to let her know we were okay. They told us to hop on their bus....they would not let us take a taxi back to our hotel, and they dropped us off near our hotel before going on to the one they were staying at. All of them were so nice and helpful....would not hesitate to recommend Avalon and Globus to anybody who wants to know they will be taken care of if anything happens!

[FrenchRiverCruiser]

Pully8 posted his follow up on a new thread here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2221148

 

I'm quite impressed that Avalon persisted in trying to get in touch with him. And that his matter appears to have been resolved to his satisfaction.

 

Someone on this board has the theory that the mark of a good cruise line is how they handle disruptions--which will occur. Host Jazzbeau, is that you? The recent Viking Freya tragedy makes that all the more clear. The lines that folks post about here all seem to have good products as long as nothing goes wrong. But based on posts on this board the way they handle mechanical problems, lock closures, high and low water situations, etc, etc varies wildly between lines. To me, this is really worth taking into account when choosing where to spend my vacation time and money.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Pully8 posted his follow up on a new thread here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2221148

 

I'm quite impressed that Avalon persisted in trying to get in touch with him. And that his matter appears to have been resolved to his satisfaction.

 

Someone on this board has the theory that the mark of a good cruise line is how they handle disruptions--which will occur. Host Jazzbeau, is that you? The recent Viking Freya tragedy makes that all the more clear. The lines that folks post about here all seem to have good products as long as nothing goes wrong. But based on posts on this board the way they handle mechanical problems, lock closures, high and low water situations, etc, etc varies wildly between lines. To me, this is really worth taking into account when choosing where to spend my vacation time and money.

 

I won't claim to have originated it [or anything else since copy and paste was invented...], but I do agree.

[Got2Cruise]

Agreed. It's not only how things turn out when the river cooperates, but when the river goes bad, that when the past performance should help base your decision. I just wish folks would understand that river cruising is not like in the commercials.