Avalon Waterways - Poetry

[MattC57]

I'm planning an Avalon Waterways , Tulip TIme, sailing on the Poetry.

Has anyone been?

[gas]

Matt, we did the Poetry last October. It was a great first river cruise experience. The ship was clean, cabin serviced twice a day, the food very good and plenty of it. The crew was helpful and not in your face for their tip. Our only problem was with the CD who seemed always busy with paper work and slow to respond to passenger questions. We love Avalon and wish they had a trip to Russia.

[Heintje]

Hi there,

 

Who was the Cruise Director on the cruise you took?

[Heintje]

Hi There,

 

What is the departure date of your Tulip time cruise?

[gas]

Our CD was Hans. Also on board was Peter, a CD-in training.

[letsgo39]

Henitje,

 

Are you going to be our CD on the Avalon Tranquility, July 7,Budapest to Amsterdam?

[Joanandjoe]

Hi There,

 

What is the departure date of your Tulip time cruise?

 

I don't know about MattC57, but we'll be on the 15 April cruise. We'll have a day in Amsterdam before the cruise (arrive Saturday morning 14/4, cruise departs on Sunday 15/4) and one after the cruise (cruise ends Sunday 22/4, we fly home Monday afternoon, 23/4).

 

MattC57, are you on the same cruise as us? If so, do you want to get together before or during the cruise?

 

Heintje, do you want to get together? If you live in Amsterdam, it could be before or after the cruise. If you live in another city, such as Arnhem or Rotterdam, maybe we can meet you when we're in your city. Or are you the cruise director on the Poetry, as implied by Letsgo39's post?

[Heintje]

Yes, I will be on the Tulip cruise, looking forward to meeting you. Noton the Tranquility in July however, I am sorry. Have a wonderful cruise. I have done that cruise extensively. You will love it.

[Joanandjoe]

Yes, I will be on the Tulip cruise, looking forward to meeting you. Noton the Tranquility in July however, I am sorry. Have a wonderful cruise. I have done that cruise extensively. You will love it.

 

We are certainly looking forward to the trip, and to meeting you. Is this the first cruise of the year? It certainly looks that way on the web site, and the cruise documents, which indicate that you won't know the docking point until early afternoon, would seem to confirm that. After all, for the second cruise you'd know where the ship is docked as soon as the previous cruise is assigned a docking spot.

 

Are you the cruise director? If so, we look forward to seeing you around 1530 on the 15th at the NL Amsterdam Centre Hotel. If not, let us know what your position is on the ship, so we can make sure we meet you. Otherwise, you can look up Joan and Joe Mach on the passenger list.

[Heintje]

Mr & Mrs Mach will you be arriving as part of the AAA group on Saturday?

[Joanandjoe]

Mr & Mrs Mach will you be arriving as part of the AAA group on Saturday?

 

No, we're on our own, but we will be arriving on Saturday, 14/5, on Continental Flight 70. If you are from the ship, is there a chance we can "hitch a ride" with them to the meeting place hotel? We'll be staying at the Owl Hotel just a few blocks away on Roemer Visscherstraat. I hope the group isn't too large, since a large group can really dominate a small ship. Interestingly, we are AAA members, but were unaware that there was an AAA group for this cruise.

[pacmom]

Is there any chance that Avalon will ever have a Russia cruise? There was talk at one time, but it hasn't surfaced in a long time.

 

Thanks, Pat

[msmeltz]

We will be on the cruise and tour starting in Budapest on July 19. Anyone going on that cruise?

[Heintje]

Hi Pacmom,

Yes chances are they will have a Russian Cruise in the program. The former program has been put on ice for the moment due to rules and regulations in Russia that made it impossible to create the ship that Avalon wanted.

[Heintje]

No, we're on our own, but we will be arriving on Saturday, 14/5, on Continental Flight 70. If you are from the ship, is there a chance we can "hitch a ride" with them to the meeting place hotel? We'll be staying at the Owl Hotel just a few blocks away on Roemer Visscherstraat. I hope the group isn't too large, since a large group can really dominate a small ship. Interestingly, we are AAA members, but were unaware that there was an AAA group for this cruise.

 

Let me get back to you on that OK.;)

[Joanandjoe]

Let me get back to you on that OK.;)

 

We may have found a reasonable taxi service, Airport Shuttle, that will take us to our hotel for 25E each way. If that's for the two of us, and not per person, we'll probably book it.

 

You obviously are with Avalon. Are you the cruise director, or do you have another position with the company?

[letsgo39]

Hi Joan and Joe,

 

From what others have said Heintje is a VERY good CD. There are several references to him on other threads from people who have been on his cruises. I am disappointed he will not be our CD on our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise.:( However having traveled with Globus in the past their TD/CD are always very good.I think I heard somewhere that the CD/TD are actually freelance although they do tend to work for the same company. Not sure that is accurate however so I stand to be corrected.:confused:

.

Globus/Avalon usually charges about $30.00 pp for transfers if you are not using their air.I know because I have taken their transfers before traveling with Globus. I was also told that transfers are not available at all if you are not using their hotels. I have always found that for pre/post days I can always do better booking my own hotels and arranging for my own transfers.If you go to the Schiphol web site you will be able to get lots of information on transfers from the airport to your hotel.

Hope you have a wonderful time and that you post a review of your cruise.

[Joanandjoe]

Thank you for the information, Letsgo. Since we booked the cruise last week (!!!), Avalon air, hotels, and transfers were already closed; so we booked our own flights and hotels.

[letsgo39]

Last week! Wow! You were lucky to get on it.

I always book my own air and hotel room as have discovered I can save lots of money by doing that. On my air fare I saved $900.00 by booking my own air and also got the connections and schedule I wanted.Same for hotel,I got a room for DH and I in Budapest at the Marriott Millenium Executive Apartments for 85.00 Euro a night including breakfast. That hotel is ranked #1 in Budapest by Tripadvisor.Avalon/Globus wanted $276.00 USD for their hotel. Big difference!:D

[Joanandjoe]

We were indeed lucky. I normally book a year or more in advance, but this opportunity came up very suddenly.

 

We have no idea what Avalon air or hotels would have cost, so we have no cost comparison.

[MattC57]

Departure date is 29 April. Roundtrip Amsterdam. This will be my first river cruise.

[magmorr75219]

My husband and I are traveling on the Poetry next month (Magnificent Europe, Amsterdam to Budapest). Does anyone know about laundry facilities?

 

Thanks!

magmorr75219

[gas]

We were on the Poetry last year and did not use their laundry service because it was very expensive. They do not have any self service facilities on board. I took a small clothes hanger with clothes pins and washed out some personal items in a zip lock bag, then hung them in the shower to dry.

[magmorr75219]

We were on the Poetry last year and did not use their laundry service because it was very expensive. They do not have any self service facilities on board. I took a small clothes hanger with clothes pins and washed out some personal items in a zip lock bag, then hung them in the shower to dry.

 

Thanks for the info. I had already planned on taking some woolite. I'll make sure I bring enough. :)

[Joanandjoe]

My husband and I are traveling on the Poetry next month (Magnificent Europe, Amsterdam to Budapest). Does anyone know about laundry facilities?

 

Thanks!

magmorr75219

 

As noted by "gas", laundry is indeed very expensive, and we washed as much as we could. We did not, however, attempt to wash pants (approx. 5 Euros per item) and some of our shirts and blouses (around 2 or 3 Euros), and chalked it up to part of the cost of the trip. When one is limited to one suitcase, and there is no laundromat, one has to incur some laundry costs.