All Things Avalon

[FuelScience]

Johnoclark,

 

My reply to your questions assumes that you live in the US. If not, your mileage may vary. You might consider putting your place of residence in your publicly available information on cc.

 

FuelScience

[JohnoClark]

Is laundry priced by the item or similar to Holland America for a laundry bag full of clothes or ?

[JVilleGal]

Is laundry priced by the item or similar to Holland America for a laundry bag full of clothes or ?

 

Sailed Avalon last Sept for 15 days Amsterdam to Budapest and used the laundry on a regular basis. Prices were reasonable (we paid over $7000 pp to take this trip) in the skeem of things I was not going to worry about laundry . The prices were always per item and never was the "bag" deal ever done.

 

This was a trip of a lifetime and I was not going to worry about laundry or the price of laundry. Can I say I filled out the Laundry Form and intentionally did not look at the price. I would suggest you enjoy your trip, send your laundry out and DO NOT look at the prices.

 

Safe journey!

[tstr]

Has anyone tried the bistro dining?

 

Thanks

[Kenato]

Yes we did the Bistro this year. You get 10 servings, 3 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 3 deserts. Servings are not large but you will not finish hungry. Food is varied and tasty. Some servings are of local foods but all are good. We went twice on our 15 day cruise and servings were different both times and we enjoyed the experience.

 

 

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[tstr]

Thanks Kenato appreciate response.

[YoungDubFan]

I did not do the Bistro dinner on my cruise because I did not find enough courses that appealed to me. The menu was the same on every night of my cruise. The bartenders had the menu & let me view it before I signed up. Others on my cruise seemed to enjoy it.

[tstr]

Thanks, we will probably give it a try at least once. Sounds sort of like a "Tasting" menu you might find on some menus.

 

Dinner was pretty good on our first Avalon cruise, a nice mix of regional cuisine and wine which I liked. This cruise is a wine cruise so I am hoping for more of the same.

[cmjfgll]

Hi There, I've only done 1 river cruise...it was on Avalon.

 

I can't help you at all with Avalon flights. We booked ours independently.

 

We booked 2nd level, mid ship and loved it! We did enjoy having our drapes opened all the way and we did open the window a couple of times. I've read some posts on here from people who booked the lower deck and they seemed perfectly content. You will not be in your cabin that much unless you're sick!! It seems to be the consensus to get as mid ship as possible.

 

I don't think it's unusual in river cruising, but not having an itinerary drove me crazy. I'm used to ocean cruising where you know the itinerary. I did email Avalon with some very specific questions and they were really helpful. I asked where some included tours began and ended (then I was able to figure out the itinerary).

And I asked what time we would arrive and leave in Vienna.

 

Hope this helps some...gotta run...oven timer beeping

Chris

 

My husband and I have booked our first river cruise for next May. Our only other cruise experience was an Azamara Med cruise. I noticed in your post that Avalon may not publish an itinerary in advance and that this may not be unusual for river cruises. Am I understanding you correctly? Did you then need to call Avalon and ask the arrival/departure times; dock locations etc? Is it possible to do you own thing versus only ship tours?

 

I hope I do not sound stupid but having had no previous experience with this type of cruise more info is definitely helpful. Thanks!

[stonepebble]

My husband and I have booked our first river cruise for next May. Our only other cruise experience was an Azamara Med cruise. I noticed in your post that Avalon may not publish an itinerary in advance and that this may not be unusual for river cruises. Am I understanding you correctly? Did you then need to call Avalon and ask the arrival/departure times; dock locations etc? Is it possible to do you own thing versus only ship tours?

 

I hope I do not sound stupid but having had no previous experience with this type of cruise more info is definitely helpful. Thanks!

 

Ha ha...If you saw all the questions I had before I left!!

 

idk about the other lines but I believe it is the same. There is a day by day itinerary but it does not include times.

 

I called Avalon a couple of times and ended up getting the email address of someone who answered specific questions for me. i.e. I wanted to know what time we left Vienna so I could make plans. I wanted to know what time we would arrive in Prague for the same reason.

 

She was very helpful and did answer what she could.

 

I never asked about docking locations...I had found out on cc a lot about that & frequently it didn't matter so I can't help you there. I would read reviews from posters who have done your itinerary...you will gain tons from that!! Ask them questions!

 

We went on our own alot but didn't organize any private outside tours but I've read that people do...sometimes things change on a river cruise though and it might be risky.

 

Hope this helps a little...if I can answer anything else let me know.

 

Chris

[cmjfgll]

Thanks for the info, Chris! I have been reading as much as I can find on cc and have picked up some useful info from nice people like you. I have not found anyone mentioning our specific itinerary yet which is the Rhine and Moselle 2017, Amsterdam to Zurich, (Basel, )on Avalon Artistry II departing May 7.

 

I understand that river cruises may be much more changeable due to high/low water conditions, etc., so it may not be feasible for them to publish a solid itinerary. The main things I would need to know is what time and where we need to be on departure day and where they expect to dock and the timing on the day we disembark. Since we are arriving a few days ahead of the cruise and then continuing on our own when we arrive in Basel, those details would help in making continuing travel arrangements. Hopefully, I will be able to find out those things when we get closer to our trip date.

[stonepebble]

Thanks for the info, Chris! I have been reading as much as I can find on cc and have picked up some useful info from nice people like you. I have not found anyone mentioning our specific itinerary yet which is the Rhine and Moselle 2017, Amsterdam to Zurich, (Basel, )on Avalon Artistry II departing May 7.

 

I understand that river cruises may be much more changeable due to high/low water conditions, etc., so it may not be feasible for them to publish a solid itinerary. The main things I would need to know is what time and where we need to be on departure day and where they expect to dock and the timing on the day we disembark. Since we are arriving a few days ahead of the cruise and then continuing on our own when we arrive in Basel, those details would help in making continuing travel arrangements. Hopefully, I will be able to find out those things when we get closer to our trip date.

 

Oh...this should not be a problem for you...you can find this information out easily.

Are you staying in the cruise line hotel before you depart? If there was an optional included hotel stay before your cruise there will be a representative there (in the lobby) for sure the day of departure if not before.

 

Regardless in your cruise documents which you will get around 30 days before your departure, you will get your Cruise directors phone number.

 

When we went we checked with the representative at the hotel & called the cruise director. They both said exactly the same thing...told us where the ship would be docked and what time to be on the ship....it was no problem.

 

As for disembarkation...we did the included 3 days in Prague after our tour. I still wanted to know the details for planning purposes...I did get the wrong info from the land representative when i called before we left....She actually gave me the info for passengers who were not going on to Prague. Since we were we had to be off the ship early.

 

The passengers who were continuing on their own actually had a little longer before they had to disembark. It was around 10am (we had to be off around 8). I would think that the land based people could tell you were you will dock and my guess is that the time will be as I've said...

 

If you would like feel free to email me at diamondplusstone at gmail dot com and we can exchange phone numbers if I can help!!

I don't mind answering questions here either!

 

Chris

[Cobbie48]

Thanks for the info, Chris! I have been reading as much as I can find on cc and have picked up some useful info from nice people like you. I have not found anyone mentioning our specific itinerary yet which is the Rhine and Moselle 2017, Amsterdam to Zurich, (Basel, )on Avalon Artistry II departing May 7.

 

I understand that river cruises may be much more changeable due to high/low water conditions, etc., so it may not be feasible for them to publish a solid itinerary. The main things I would need to know is what time and where we need to be on departure day and where they expect to dock and the timing on the day we disembark. Since we are arriving a few days ahead of the cruise and then continuing on our own when we arrive in Basel, those details would help in making continuing travel arrangements. Hopefully, I will be able to find out those things when we get closer to our trip date.

 

We are going on this same cruise leaving Oct 18, 2016. I will post a trip report. This is our second cruise. We are not staying at the Movenick where we are to meet to go to the dock. We are to be there in the early afternoon.

 

I was told we could arrange with the CD to take the bus to Zurich and be dropped at the train station. I don't know if we will be charged for this. We are staying at the Doubletree near the train station in Amaterdam . It's not far to the Movenpick and the rate was better.

[cmjfgll]

We will be staying outside of Amsterdam in Haarlem for a few days prior to the cruise and will go in to Amsterdam the day of boarding. It is good to know that we will have contact info to find out when and where to show up. When we disembark in Basel we will use the ship transfer to the airport and use the train station there to go into Zurich for the night. I do not think the ship's transfer will take us to the main train station downtown.

 

It would be nice to know how much time we will have in a port so we can make tentative plans, oh well. Were you usually docked near enough to the towns to be able to walk in and around on your own if you did not want to go on a tour?

 

Thanks again for your help and your email. The more I learn the more questions I have!

 

Carolyn

 

PS: Cobbie48, I will look forward to reading your trip report.

[xpcdoojk]

I have been looking at cruises that sail Christmas or after, and I can't seem to find any in 2016 and definitely none listed for 2017. Does Avalon shut down for Xmas and New Years?

 

I would think since we don't have kids that a cruise at Christmas and New Years would be a great time to go.

 

Any ideas?

 

JC

[JVilleGal]

I have been looking at cruises that sail Christmas or after, and I can't seem to find any in 2016 and definitely none listed for 2017. Does Avalon shut down for Xmas and New Years?

 

 

 

I would think since we don't have kids that a cruise at Christmas and New Years would be a great time to go.

 

 

 

Any ideas?

 

 

 

JC

 

 

Have you just called Avalon directly? I see a lot of Sold Out cruises. In this case I'd just call them.

 

 

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[notamermaid]

I have been looking at cruises that sail Christmas or after, and I can't seem to find any in 2016 and definitely none listed for 2017. Does Avalon shut down for Xmas and New Years?

 

I would think since we don't have kids that a cruise at Christmas and New Years would be a great time to go.

 

Any ideas?

 

JC

 

There does not seem to be much on or after Christmas with Avalon. I would agree with JVilleGal to phone them directly. Alternatively, you could have a look at AmaWaterways: http://www.amawaterways.com/treasures-of-the-main-&-rhine-2016

 

Sounds quite festive, however most Christmas markets close before Christmas. In most places you will only see nativity scenes in churches and the festive lights in the streets.

 

Or get adventurous and see if Arosa might appeal to you, these are the voyages they offer on the European market in December: https://www.a-rosa.de/en/river-cruises/service/search-book.html#|tmonth|2016-12|pricecategory|PRE

Their US-American website differs.

 

English language activities might be subject to a minimum numbers of people booking with such a requirement.

 

notamermaid

[JVilleGal]

Last Cruise of the season disembarks Dec 25 :(

 

 

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[xpcdoojk]

Last Cruise of the season disembarks Dec 25 :(

 

 

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So, what do they do, tie the ships up and leave them for a few weeks? I am so used to ocean ships that they never take them out of service, except for dry dock.

 

Still think it would be a good time for my DW and I to sail in Europe.

 

May have to look at other options.

 

Got an email from AMA for African cruises/tours, one of them that looked interesting started at $13,000 per person...... hack, cough. Ouch.:D

 

JC

[notamermaid]

The river cruise ships go indeed into "sleep mode", tied up in winter harbours. In January have a look at marinetraffic.com, go the Cologne on the map and see how many blue diamonds there are. River cruise ships from many different companies.

 

The crew goes on holiday and returns shortly before the season starts. Major repairs and refurbishments are done during that time. The crew gets accustomed to the ship again and does the finishing touches before the ship is ready to take passengers onboard again in March or April. Same goes for European companies, by the way. There simple are no river cruises on the Rhine, etc. after - say - 4th January and before - say - 20th March.

 

You can get day cruises around Christmas time and for New Year celebrations, complete with a hotel arrangement, meaning a bed to fall into at 2am. ;). I know that companies on the Rhine offer that, I am sure there are other rivers on which you can do this.

 

Hope you find somewhere nice to go to.

 

notamermaid

[xpcdoojk]

Thank you, Notamermaid.

 

Another mystery of the universe solved. Do the rivers freeze in the deep winter? I have been to Germany and Austria for snow skiing way back in the 80s, I had no concept of river cruising at the time. I remember driving by a large river going from Munich to Innsbruck and it seemed to be free flowing.

 

Thanks again.

 

JC

[notamermaid]

"Do the rivers freeze in winter?" That is a good question with not a general answer. The small rivers can freeze over, one nearby me that only canoes and tiny vessels sail on does sometimes. The Rhine "never" does. It used to until about 1947 to some extent. There are spots now in the Rhine gorge where you get ice developing and floating, probably at other shallow places a bit as well. But one cannot really walk over any stretch of the navigation channel. At Koblenz a couple of years ago the Moselle did freeze over for a couple of days. Canalized stretches may and can freeze at some rivers. The Danube and the Seine, as well as the Elbe, I can imagine getting close to freezing in parts but I am not sure.

 

notamermaid

[wirefox]

I booked a guaranteed cabin Cat D on a upcoming cruise. I have done this on the ocean cruises. Has anyone done one on a river cruise? Did you get upgraded? Thanks!

Donna

[JVilleGal]

Donna depending on the time of year, itinerary and ship many of these trips are book full over a year in advance. I would not book such an expensive trip on a guarantee. If you are happy with a D no problem.

 

 

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[JVilleGal]

PS Ocean cruise vs River Cruise are light years in difference!

 

 

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