Amadeus vs. Avalon

[FredToll]

We are planning a July '08 Danube River cruise. The Amadeus Amacello was our first choice until reading some comments on this site. Does anyone have a strong opinion on the difference in the boats re: food,cabins,amenities etc.? Also any other lines to consider. The Amedeus boats appear to be the newest.

[letsgo39]

I have only cruised on the Avalon Tranquility so I don't have an opinion about Amadeus however our cruise on the Avalon Tranquility was absolutely fantastic including very good food!!Also I believe that Avalon has the newer ships as the The Tranquility and The Imagery were both built in 2007. The Tapestry was built in 2006. These ships also have the Silent Drive System which makes for a very quiet ride. The navigational bridge is located in the stern and is separate from the remainder of the ship.You often can't even tell if you are moving unless you look at the shore.It is very quiet.

In 2008 Avalon will be launching a new ship called The Scenery which will cruise in France.

There are several reviews on here of Avalon cruises and I think all of the reviews were very positive.

 

Have fun planning.:)

[Robyn France]

We are booked on the Sept. 3, 2008 Amadeus Danube discovery--I have read some recent issues on the cuisine--although others said it was wonderful. Have written to the president to ensure that the food is of gourmet standards--the Amacello on which we will sail is a brand new ship--being launched in 2008 and supposedly gorgeous. Will let u know when we hear back.

 

Happy cruising,

Robyn France

[amd1234]

Robyn, Have a great time on your Danube cruise and please give your remarks when you return. Hopefully our letters to Amadeus will result in a good review on the food.. BON VOYAGE...Ann:)

[jeffejo]

My wife and I sailed on the Amadagio last fall from Budapest to Amsterdam. We thought the food was excellent. Smaller portions than on ocean cruise ships but lovely presentation.

[letsgo39]

My wife and I sailed on the Amadagio last fall from Budapest to Amsterdam. We thought the food was excellent. Smaller portions than on ocean cruise ships but lovely presentation.

 

 

The problem with the food on the Amadeus line has been this year not last year. In 2006 there were many positive reviews on the food so it appears they changed their food vendor this year.Just about everyone who has cruised Amadeus this year has complained about the food so something has gone wrong for sure.I was considering Amadeus for a cruise next year but I guess I will now just stick with Avalon for 2008.

[Yosemitegal]

I just returned from the Amadagio, Amsterdam to Budapest. I was also a little concerned about the food etc. after reading a couple earlier posts. I found the food and crew to be top notch, the crew went above and beyond to make sure that everyone had a wonderful time. The meals were very good, nothing less than what you would expect from a high class resturant. There were always several choices on the menu. I never heard aanyone complain about the food, in fact everyone was raving about how good it was. The only complant I heard was that we were all eating so often and so much that we were growing out of our clothes.

[AliceS]

Glad to hear it. We leave on Wednesday. I'll take some stretch cloths just in case. How was the weather? Did you see many jackets for dinner for the men?

[Yosemitegal]

the weather was cool in Amsterdam, a few showers in the morning and then nice for our canal boat ride through Amsterdam. We had wonderful weather all along the way...it did get a little warm and humid in Bratislava and Budapest (save your coolest clothes for that part of the trip). If you have a small purse size umbrella, bring it. There were a couple of times that we were off the ship and hit with a passing rain cloud.

There were a couple of men that had jackets for the captains dinner, but I think they mainly brought them to wear to the concert in Vienna. My husband didnt bring a jacket and didnt look or feel out of place, we didnt attend the concert in Vienna as it wasnt something we wanted to do. Only a couple of the ladies wore a dress, most wore pants and nice blouses. River cruising is a lot more casual than an ocean cruise.

Hope you have a great time...wish I was going again!!!

[Robyn France]

I am quite relieved to hear the positive cuisine reviews--particularly since they appear to be of recent vintage. Small portions are fine with us--it is best not to tempt us with larger portions--that way the clothing continues to fit comfortably and we feel and look better. I think I am hearing here that presently several folks have had good experiences on the food front this year--not just last year--so that is great. I will still let you know what the company responds regarding cuisine. Yosemite Gal, did you happen to note if there were any dumbbells in the exercise room? Were there concert options in Budapest?

 

Thanks all for your information.

 

Best wishes,

Robyn France

[rogerdawhip]

I have done the trip from Amsterdam to Budapest (or reverse) on Vantage, Amadeus, and Grand Cricle (GCT only goes to Vienna). All trips and ship were great. The ships are a little different in sleeping arrangements. GCT only has fold down twin beds, Vantages has some suites with large hotel style beds while all of Amadeus' beds are hotel style. I personally prefer Vantage and GCT mainly due to the presence of multiple (3-4) program directers on board (Amadeus only has 1). I have also found the price is also considerably lower on Vantage and GCT. If you want a new ship go with Amadeus but the age of the ship has never been a concern with me becuase they are all kept up like new. Whichever line you chose, you will have a great trip.

[Robyn France]

Roger, I had read an earlier post which indicated that there were different groups on the Amadeus tours so that those who moved slowly did not feel rushed, and those who liked to move at a faster pace could do so. I don't know if these people are who one calls "tour directors", but has that been your experience? Many thanks.

 

Take care,

Robyn France

[FredToll]

Thanks for the useful info. My next Q involves booking the extentions to Prague and Budapest with the cruise or independently. Do the costs of the transfers,the hotels and the guided tours equate to what is being charged, or can I do better on my own. Also, if I want to book my own tours do the hotels assist and are they as well run?

[Yosemitegal]

Robyn France: I don't remember seeing dumbbells in the exercise room, I only remember seeing exercise bikes and tredmills. However I did see a couple nice looking deck hands lifting weights at the rear of the ship one evening.....maybe you could join them:D. There were no concert options offered in Budapest, if you are planning to stay on in Budapest you may be able to find something on your own. We did have a concert option in Vienna.

Yes, the Amadagio only had one cruise director, however when we left the ship to tour we were split up into several smaller groups, each group had a local tour guide to take us around, there was always a group for the slower walkers. Our tour director went out of her way to make sure that the slower walkers always were able to get to where they needed to be, she even ordered taxi's on a few occasions for a few people at Amadeus expense. The slower walkers never held the others back, and many times seemed to be ahead of the rest of us.

In a few ports we docked side by side with other ships and had to walk through one or two ships to get to the dock. Some nice....some not so nice. The one big thing I noticed when walking through some of them is that they smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke. Some cruise lines allow smoking in the ship, Amadeus does not. If you arent a smoker, you probably wouldnt want to be on a ship that allows it.

[rogerdawhip]

Robyn France,

When I traveled on Amadeus they did not have a special group for slow walkers. This must be smething new and is an idea I like since I am a fast walker. All of the companies (Amadeus, Avalon, GCT, Vantage) that cater to US travelers are non smoking except for the sun deck. On all of my trips there were only a couple smokers and they were very courteous of the rest of us non-smokers.

[Coral]

Robyn France,

When I traveled on Amadeus they did not have a special group for slow walkers. This must be smething new and is an idea I like since I am a fast walker.

 

I was on an Amadeus ship this summer and we were not divided amongst slow and fast walkers. Our division came with Canadians and everyone else. There were 2 Canadian groups and they had their own busses (2 of them). The rest of us (US, Australians and UK individuals) got the other 2 busses.

[letsgo39]

On our Avalon Budapest to Amsterdam we had 4 busses but everyone could get on any bus they wanted to. Each bus had its own tour guide.I liked the idea of there not being any assigned bus.

Our ship was totally non smoking inside with just a few smokers on board.They had to smoke on the sundeck or on the outside deck in front of the lounge. I think there was only about 3 or 4 smokers and they were very polite to us non smokers.

[amd1234]

We were on the Amalegro in June and we were divided into different color buses. Yellow, red etc. There was a pink bus for the people that had difficulty walking and wanted to take a slower pace. In fact one day we were late and we were escorted to the pink bus and I really didn't see much difference.:confused: We still talk about our day on the pink bus!! We had one woman who pushed her husband's wheelchair the entire trip.She was truly amazing they both had such positive attitudes.

[msmeltz]

We were on the Avalon Poetry, and everything was great. The food was very good, and the waiters always came around with platters of extras at dinner.....in answer to the the small portions statement. Breakfast and lunch was buffet, and the food was plentiful. The staff was wonderful....always went out of their way to be helpful...even charged batteries for us. The boat was beautiful and clean, and there was plenty of storage space.

 

At every stop there was a ship from Amadeus, viking and others, so I guess everyone is also doing the same itinerary.

[Robyn France]

I note that we did talk about the cuisine on Amadeus ships here--and I wanted to point to another response left on a different question (if you click on my name it will come up-but here is the short version). Mr. Schreiner, president of Amadeus called me directly and gave me very specific passenger ratings regarding food--I think we may have seen a couple of dissatisfied passengers who posted and reposted--but I was grateful that he took the time for a long conversation regarding many aspects of the food, prep. and chefs and food companies, etc. I am very high on the client care following that a more recent reviews of Alice S, Blue Bryce and YosemiteGal. Can't wait to go.

 

Take care,

Robyn France

[Coral]

I note that we did talk about the cuisine on Amadeus ships here--and I wanted to point to another response left on a different question (if you click on my name it will come up-but here is the short version). Mr. Schreiner, president of Amadeus called me directly and gave me very specific passenger ratings regarding food--I think we may have seen a couple of dissatisfied passengers who posted and reposted--but I was grateful that he took the time for a long conversation regarding many aspects of the food, prep. and chefs and food companies, etc. I am very high on the client care following that a more recent reviews of Alice S, Blue Bryce and YosemiteGal. Can't wait to go.

 

Take care,

Robyn France

 

Robyn - I finally wrote Amadeus about 2 weeks ago with my comments on my trip (poor food and bad planning for our time in Moscow). Many people on our sailing were dissatisfied with the food. I had been to Russia previously and had no problems on that trip (which cost significantly less) so it had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of food in Russia. Of all of my trips I have been on (land and sea), I have only been disappointed with food on one other trip - so I am not a constant complainer.

 

It will be interesting if I get a response. Our food was extremely poor on our trip, to the point where I stopped going to the dining room except for breakfast.

[brandonjordan]

Do you remember whether the Analon ships had self-service laundry facilities on board?

 

thank you

[letsgo39]

We were on the Avalon Tranquility,Budapest to Amsterdam in July and there were no self service laundry facilities unless you include the bathroom sink.;) They would do your laundry for you but it was not cheap. We made out just fine as you don't need really dressy clothes and it was a simple matter to wash out the personal items ourselves.We purchased one of those twisted clothes lines from Rick Steves and just strung it up in the bathroom.

Avalon was fantastic and the ship brand new and beautiful. Everything about this cruise was absolutely fantastic including the food.