All Things Avalon

[Canal archive]

Fouremco you will love it 🥰 

[JVilleGal]

On 7/7/2022 at 6:29 AM, jsn55 said:

Yeah!  I'll send you an email.

@jsn55 hey girl sent you an email!!! What the heck happened?

[rsewell2]

Thanks again for the responses to my previous posts. Really helped.  New question we are close to booking the Rhine Rhone cruise which obviously requires a change of ships.  How is this handled, i.e. with respect to luggage, new cabin assignments, etc?  

[Kenster]

Typically, you’ll be in the same cabin on both ships. The staff will handle your luggage for you. 

[YoungDubFan]

When I took my Paris to Normandy trip a few years ago, about 15 people were continuing and the Cruise Director was continuing as well. Avalon handled the luggage transfers and the passengers took a TGV train. I should mention, this was when France and the Seine were flooded, so I’m not sure if the TGV train transfer is a normal part or was to help get around flooding. 

[Kenster]

5 minutes ago, YoungDubFan said:

When I took my Paris to Normandy trip a few years ago, about 15 people were continuing and the Cruise Director was continuing as well. Avalon handled the luggage transfers and the passengers took a TGV train. I should mention, this was when France and the Seine were flooded, so I’m not sure if the TGV train transfer is a normal part or was to help get around flooding. 

The train is part of the itinerary.  

[lorif]

Hoping someone familiar with Vienna excursions can help 🙂

We are booked for a mid Oct sailing, and our excursion choices just came up this weekend.  For Vienna, we were looking at "Biking in Vienna with your Adventure Host"   In the short description, for the 1.5 hour tour, it says it's a fun and relaxing trip, but also covers 23 km in the 1.5 hours. 

Has anyone done this tour?    We were thinking of this in the morning, and then the Bites and Highlights in the afternoon.

Thanks,

[rsewell2]

Gettting ready to book our return flights home.  Any advice on how long of a layover I should schedule when departing Marseille and transit through Frankfurt??  Have seen some negative comments about Frankfurt airport.  

[Kenster]

Absolute minimum of two hours. Three would be better. 

[jsn55]

1 hour ago, rsewell2 said:

Gettting ready to book our return flights home.  Any advice on how long of a layover I should schedule when departing Marseille and transit through Frankfurt??  Have seen some negative comments about Frankfurt airport.  

I remember arriving at the Frankfurt airport years ago and there had been some kind of kerfuffle involving  Israelies.  We arrived 3.5 hours before our flight.  We barely made it through insane security ... thorough pat-downs ... in time for the flight. 

 

You just nevah know ... I'd always prefer to amuse myself at an airport gate after getting all the formalities out of the way.  Today, I'd probably want a minimum of 4 hours; I hate glitches and being powerless to do anything to unscrew the issues.  I prefer to serenely sail through an airport without any fuss at all ... and if you have plenty of time, fusses aren't a problem. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by jsn55

[Daisi]

Ok, time for a little bragging....  

 

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-river-cruise-line-2021/

 

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-river-cruise-ship-2021/

 

Congratulations Avalon.

[PaulS]

Can anyone tell me if the rooms on Avalon ships have safes?

 

Thanks

[Playtennis]

yes they do.

[PaulS]

Thanks so much!

[PaulS]

I just posted this information on the Rhine water level thread and thought that people who follow this thread may be interested.

 

 

We boarded the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam yesterday for a cruise to Basel that is to end on August 13. Our original ship was to have been the Avalon Vista but we were informed last week of the ship change. Last night on the ship we were advised that the ship could not make it to Basel and that we would switch to the Avalon Vista on Wednesday. The plan is to go to Cologne tomorrow and to Koblenz on Wednesday. On Wednesday,  we are to sail on a local boat in the Rhine Gorge to Kaub and then return to the ship in Koblenz for the night. On Wednesday we will disembark the Panorama and go to Heidelberg for tours. Then we will bus to Kehl and embark on the Avalon Vista. The people on the Vista will take our places on the Panorama. 

The  cruise has been great so far. I just hope that things will go as planned.

 

[jsn55]

5 hours ago, PaulS said:

I just posted this information on the Rhine water level thread and thought that people who follow this thread may be interested.

 

 

 

We boarded the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam yesterday for a cruise to Basel that is to end on August 13. Our original ship was to have been the Avalon Vista but we were informed last week of the ship change. Last night on the ship we were advised that the ship could not make it to Basel and that we would switch to the Avalon Vista on Wednesday. The plan is to go to Cologne tomorrow and to Koblenz on Wednesday. On Wednesday,  we are to sail on a local boat in the Rhine Gorge to Kaub and then return to the ship in Koblenz for the night. On Wednesday we will disembark the Panorama and go to Heidelberg for tours. Then we will bus to Kehl and embark on the Avalon Vista. The people on the Vista will take our places on the Panorama. 

The  cruise has been great so far. I just hope that things will go as planned.

 

• I hope so too.  It's really good that you have advance notice, somehow that makes this kind of challenge easier to deal with.  River cruising in August is always a gamble. 

 

[*Miss G*]

6 hours ago, PaulS said:

I just posted this information on the Rhine water level thread and thought that people who follow this thread may be interested.

 

 

 

We boarded the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam yesterday for a cruise to Basel that is to end on August 13. Our original ship was to have been the Avalon Vista but we were informed last week of the ship change. Last night on the ship we were advised that the ship could not make it to Basel and that we would switch to the Avalon Vista on Wednesday. The plan is to go to Cologne tomorrow and to Koblenz on Wednesday. On Wednesday,  we are to sail on a local boat in the Rhine Gorge to Kaub and then return to the ship in Koblenz for the night. On Wednesday we will disembark the Panorama and go to Heidelberg for tours. Then we will bus to Kehl and embark on the Avalon Vista. The people on the Vista will take our places on the Panorama. 

The  cruise has been great so far. I just hope that things will go as planned.

 

 

Thank you for the heads up.  I haven’t been following that thread but it looks like now I should.  Glad you are enjoying your cruise.

[Daisi]

I heard on another board that someone on the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise has had to stop around Nuremberg. They will be bussed the remainder of the trip, and are supposed to be receiving a generous reimbursement for the missed cruise. 

[CT-Edin]

We've just finished the Avalon Lower Danube cruise (Bucharest to Budapest).

We did the Transylvania extension before joining the cruise - really good.

The ship was meant to depart from Fetesti, but due to low water levels, we departed a day later than planned from further upstream (Turneu Magarele in Romania), and so Avalon is refunding 1 night's accommodation, meals and gratuities cost as we only got 8 nights on the ship instead of 9.  We had to miss out Constanta, as too far to drive from Transylvania so we had an extra night at the Athenee Hilton in Bucharest, with a tour of the Parliament, and Ceaucescu's house, before driving 2.5 hours to the ship. The rest of the itinerary operated as planned and we sailed to Budapest. Enjoyed the trip (apart from the boarding experience), the weather was very hot and evidence of drought in all the countries visited. Let me know if any questions!

[jsn55]

12 minutes ago, CT-Edin said:

We've just finished the Avalon Lower Danube cruise (Bucharest to Budapest).

We did the Transylvania extension before joining the cruise - really good.

The ship was meant to depart from Fetesti, but due to low water levels, we departed a day later than planned from further upstream (Turneu Magarele in Romania), and so Avalon is refunding 1 night's accommodation, meals and gratuities cost as we only got 8 nights on the ship instead of 9.  We had to miss out Constanta, as too far to drive from Transylvania so we had an extra night at the Athenee Hilton in Bucharest, with a tour of the Parliament, and Ceaucescu's house, before driving 2.5 hours to the ship. The rest of the itinerary operated as planned and we sailed to Budapest. Enjoyed the trip (apart from the boarding experience), the weather was very hot and evidence of drought in all the countries visited. Let me know if any questions!

COOL!  Good friends were sailing with you ... I've been dying to know all the details, so this was a most interesting post!  Apparently Avalon behaved in the first-class way that makes us all so loyal.  Very happy y'all had a great cruise experience ... for them it was the first European trip in 3 years. 

[SometimesCruiser]

We boarded the Avalon Visionary in Basel on Sunday, July 31st, for their Romantic Rhine cruise northbound from Basel to Amsterdam.  On Tuesday (while in Strasbourg) , we were notified that at least one person from each cabin was required to attend the port talk that evening (uh oh...!).  At the port talk, Adrian the Cruise Director informed us that due to low water levels, the Visionary would not be making the trip north.  We would be docking in Strasbourg for the next two nights (Tuesday and Wednesday) and Thursday morning we were to check out for transport to the Imagery II, which would be docked at Engers.

 

Wednesday, people with Heidelberg excursions were bussed from Strasbourg to Heidelberg, and back to Strasbourg.  Avalon also provided a shuttle bus for people to go into Strasbourg if not joining the Heidelberg excursion.  On Thursday, we were to put our luggage out for transport to the Imagery II.  We were all bussed to Rudesheim for an excursion at the Mechanical Musical Instrument museum, then a tour of the Rhine Gorge via tourist boat.  When we reached Engers, we boarded the Imagery II and continued on our way to Amsterdam under the same schedule that the Visionary would have followed.

 

Avalon provided lunch for everyone at a restaurant in both Heidelberg and Rudesheim.  They made a potentially messy situation run very smoothly, and really tried to make sure everyone's needs were met.  It was not ideal to have to switch ships midway through a cruise, but Adrian and the rest of the Avalon staff made sure it was as painless as possible. 

[jsn55]

On 7/9/2022 at 4:56 PM, Kenster said:

I sincerely hope they have a good time. 

Many people just can’t get past the “Downton Abbey Snow job” where DA fans were blitzed by frequent Viking ads.  I never heard of Viking before getting hooked on Downton Abbey, but I’ll give them credit for piquing my interest in river cruises.  Fortunately, though, my research led us to choose Avalon.  Five times so far. 

Isn't it amazing when a cruise line spends their money on their product instead wasting it on so much advertising that it actually annoys people?  I'm not sure I've ever heard a single substantive negative about Avalon.

[franski]

On 8/8/2022 at 12:51 PM, CT-Edin said:

We've just finished the Avalon Lower Danube cruise (Bucharest to Budapest).

We did the Transylvania extension before joining the cruise - really good.

The ship was meant to depart from Fetesti, but due to low water levels, we departed a day later than planned from further upstream (Turneu Magarele in Romania), and so Avalon is refunding 1 night's accommodation, meals and gratuities cost as we only got 8 nights on the ship instead of 9.  We had to miss out Constanta, as too far to drive from Transylvania so we had an extra night at the Athenee Hilton in Bucharest, with a tour of the Parliament, and Ceaucescu's house, before driving 2.5 hours to the ship. The rest of the itinerary operated as planned and we sailed to Budapest. Enjoyed the trip (apart from the boarding experience), the weather was very hot and evidence of drought in all the countries visited. Let me know if any questions!

Thanks for this post.  We had this trip scheduled twice with Avalon - and it was cancelled both times (first due to low water, 2nd due to Covid...)  We are now booked with Scenic - leaving in about 5 weeks.   We have 4 days in Transylvania before we board --> glad to hear it is worth the trip.

 

Hopefully things will improve on the rivers over the next month.  One of our day trips is over to the Black Sea --> hoping we are able to get there!!

 

Fran

[sanger727]

Has anyone experienced bad visa advice from Avalon? We are in a Mekong river cruise in November. Our travel packet specifically says that ‘evisa’s are not permitted. However the crossing location they give does allow e-visas’s and frankly that’s the only visas that Vietnam are issuing now. We can apply for one directly for $30. However, in our travel packet they refer you to a visa service that charges $300 to arrange the ‘allowed’ visa.

[jsn55]

5 hours ago, sanger727 said:

Has anyone experienced bad visa advice from Avalon? We are in a Mekong river cruise in November. Our travel packet specifically says that ‘evisa’s are not permitted. However the crossing location they give does allow e-visas’s and frankly that’s the only visas that Vietnam are issuing now. We can apply for one directly for $30. However, in our travel packet they refer you to a visa service that charges $300 to arrange the ‘allowed’ visa.

Never, ever, take the travel provider's information to be accurate ... always, always verify with the proper 'authorities'.  Use the company's info as fodder for  'research', much like using an online booking service for information before you book directly with the travel provider.