Avalon new ship -Felicity

[mephisto]

We are thinking of taking a river cruise on the new 2010 ship "Felicity" -Avalon Waterways.We want to go on the "Romantic Rhine" cruise next summer. I'd like to know any opinions from experienced river cruisers. We are in our late 50's and have cruised, bus toured and traveled independently, but are new to river cruising. We'd appreciate any input. Thanks!

[webfoot]

You will find a variety of ages on the river cruises. Our cruise on the Affinity had a range of folks from late 30's through early 80's ... I'm 61 and my husband is 67. We enjoy meeting other people ... and we did have dinner with the youngest couple and the oldest 'youngster' on the ship ...

 

I like the fact that the tours often leave time to stroll through the city. It is nice to find an outdoor cafe and enjoy coffee, beer or wine and watch the world go by.

 

Our trip was on the Avalon Affinity ... we were on the maiden voyage. It is a lovely ship and I understand that the Felicity is going to be similar. Rooms are spacious (some folks compare the room on river cruises and on the ocean cruises ... ), with plenty of storage. The bathrooms have a lot of storage also and have a nice-sized shower.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[mephisto]

Thanks for responding. How is the food? How do people dress for dinner? What are the suggested tips for a river cruise?

[webfoot]

We thought that the food was very good. Breakfasts are buffet with an egg station. Lots of variety in the choices. Fresh fruits, breads, cheeses, cereal, yogurt, bacon, broiled tomatoes ... just to mention a few items.

 

Lunch you had a choice of a buffet or order from the menu. The menu had two choices each day. Those that ordered from it loved the cheeseburgers. Buffet had salad bar, fruit bar, rolls, two 'main' courses with sides, and a pasta station, where the chef made something different each day.

 

Dinner was multi-coursed ... usually an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, and dessert. The wine flowed freely. If you didn't like the menu offerings, they always had chicken and salmon. I enjoyed the dinners ...

 

Everyone dressed casual. I took along three fancy tops and alternated them along with either black pants or skirt. I didn't take anything fancy ... however, one couple came to the final dinner in evening gown and tux ... but that was just one couple.

 

There is a guide for tipping in the Avalon documentation. The recommended tips are (well, for this year anyhow):

 

Tour director: 3 Euro per day per person

Staff: 12 Euro per day per person

 

I thought that both the tour director and staff did an outstanding job and I tipped a little bit more. For the staff, you can add it to your shipboard account, which I found very convenient.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[Marie-Claude]

Hi Webfoot!

 

I'm also looking at this river cruise for next summer!

 

I was wondering if the tours/excursions were included like Viking, and how they were... good guides? do they have a microphones?

 

Also, what was the passenger nationality mix? Was it mostly Americans?

By any chance, would you know if they offered tours in languages other than English?

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!!

MC

[hcross888]

We just returned from the Romantic Rhine on the Affinity, and it was wonderful. The service isn't as extensive as ocean cruising, but it is wonderful to walk off the boat and there you are in town!. Every day there is an included tour (sometimes another tour in the afternoon.) The food was fantastic and the boat was immaculately clean.

 

I can't say enough good things about our Rhine cruise.

[webfoot]

Hi Marie-Claud,

 

Each day there was an included tour .. sometimes two tours, depending on where we were. There are also optional tours that cost extra. What I like about having the optional tours is that you can pick and choose which ones you really want to go on. Headsets are used with all of the tours, which is quite helpful. The one time that we were so grateful to have them was in Versailles ... it was crowded and folks around us were taking is many different languages. With the headsets we could hear our English-speaking guide.

 

Our ship was made up of folks from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. The tours that were offered were only in English, though.

 

If you have any other questions, please let me know ...

[Marie-Claude]

Thank you so much for the information Webfoot!

That's exactly the information I was looking for... sounds like a great cruiseline! I just have to find the perfect itinerary!!

 

THanks again,

MC