Avalon goes the extra mile

I have read lots on CC about the good and bad of various River Cruise lines and the shocking attitude of some lines during the flooding last year.

Perhaps I am wrong on pasting the quote below which I copied off a internet site and apologise to the writer if he is upset, but I believe this shows how good Avalon is. We sailed with them 2013 and are booked for 2014

I want to anyone who is sitting on the fence about going on an Avalon Cruise.... Sign up for one! We went last year, during a flood of all things. And we had a fantastic trip. My wife and I had a first hand experience of how Avalon bent over backwards to make our trip an exceptional one. I had the opportunity to talk to passengers from three other river cruise companies. All of them were unhappy with their choice of cruise line, and all were amazed how Avalon took care of us. Over and over again, Avalon made our cruise one we will never forget. We went from Amsterdam to Budapest. What a fantastic journey. I wish I could show you all first hand how enjoyable our trip was. I have to admit that I was not sure when I booked our trip on who to go with. So many choices, and so many options. But I know now, and trust me, Avalon will not let you down. Oh, and the rooms are Fantastic. I was able to get on the Panorama, Vista, and Exprission....all of them were just perfect. Go, call your travel agent. Tell them Avalon... and you will not regret it. And no I do not work for Avalon

That's great to hear. We are booked on Avalon this spring from Nuremberg to Budapest. There really isn't much on the boards about Avalon. We were going to book on AMA but the dates on Avalon worked better for us.

It's our first river cruise so it's nice to hear positive things about Avalon.

Yes, Avalon was one of the better lines in last year's flooding (based on CC threads that I followed). I think that means a lot. We never book a cruise without taking trip insurance, and the cruise lines' track records last year is another kind of insurance.

perterkiwi, good to hear. word of mouth is so valuable.

Thanks for your positive post. I talked three other couples into joining us on an Avalon Danube cruise in late August/early September. My husband and I have cruised with AMA (Tulip Time) and Viking (China and Russia) and wanted to try something different. We were on an older ship with AMA, although some of their newer ones look much nicer. Our cabin was tiny and the beds hard. Viking was great in China, but we had issues with the ship in Russia. Thus our decision to look at Avalon.

We cruised last July on Avalon on the Danube. We were one of the first cruises after the floods

I cannot say enough about Avalon. This was our first river Cruise. From being picked up at the airport in Prague to being delivered to our hotel in Budapest, everything was flawless

Our only complaint was the Prague Hilton was too far from the sights. The hotel was excellent, just poorly located

Food was great, all staff wonderful, city guides good, even the weather was perfect.

We had an "aquarium" room on the lowest floor. Our room was the same size as all others except the big suites. We did not feel we missed the big windows in our room. We weren't in the room that often

We plan another Avalon trip next year from Munich to Basel

Enjoy!!

We went on Avalon's Felicity this past April from Amsterdam to Basel for our 1st river cruise & loved everything about it. We liked it so much that we just booked the Luminary from Prague to Bucharest next April 2015 and can't wait. A class act company!!!

We went on Avalon's Felicity this past April from Amsterdam to Basel for our 1st river cruise & loved everything about it. We liked it so much that we just booked the Luminary from Prague to Bucharest next April 2015 and can't wait. A class act company!!!

Sailing the Felicity from Basel to Amsterdam this July. Glad to hear the glowing reports. We sailed the Creativity Paris/Normandy Landing Beaches and loved every minute of it. Nothing to complain about. Avalon is a class act.

I have read lots on CC about the good and bad of various River Cruise lines and the shocking attitude of some lines during the flooding last year.

Perhaps I am wrong on pasting the quote below which I copied off a internet site and apologise to the writer if he is upset, but I believe this shows how good Avalon is. We sailed with them 2013 and are booked for 2014

 

I want to anyone who is sitting on the fence about going on an Avalon Cruise.... Sign up for one! We went last year, during a flood of all things. And we had a fantastic trip. My wife and I had a first hand experience of how Avalon bent over backwards to make our trip an exceptional one. I had the opportunity to talk to passengers from three other river cruise companies. All of them were unhappy with their choice of cruise line, and all were amazed how Avalon took care of us. Over and over again, Avalon made our cruise one we will never forget. We went from Amsterdam to Budapest. What a fantastic journey. I wish I could show you all first hand how enjoyable our trip was. I have to admit that I was not sure when I booked our trip on who to go with. So many choices, and so many options. But I know now, and trust me, Avalon will not let you down. Oh, and the rooms are Fantastic. I was able to get on the Panorama, Vista, and Exprission....all of them were just perfect. Go, call your travel agent. Tell them Avalon... and you will not regret it. And no I do not work for Avalon

Absolutely right Peter. We did Amsterdam-Basel early June 2013 starting on board the AVALON Felicity, yup, same high water, same GREAT service; and 2 more vessels and; we too heard brand X travellers. SO, next, Cruising on the Luminary, Black Sea - North Sea (E). Starting Istanbul April 19 2015 And We'll be happy to meet up again with Robert our CD. Need I say more? (We'll be happy to get to know fellow cruisers on that).

We were on an older ship with AMA, although some of their newer ones look much nicer. Our cabin was tiny and the beds hard.

Their older ships actually have the same size cabins as the newer ones in French balcony cabins and are 10 Sq ft larger in the aquarium class than the newest boats.

We cruised on AmaDante, AmaBella and AmaCerto and enjoyed AmaDante (circa 2008) and AmaCerto (2012) the most.

Back to the topic posted, Avalon was great in high water situation in 2010 and handled it very well. We also had a great experience in low water with AMA in 2011. Both lines handled the situation very well. In the later case, the Viking ships were sitting empty due to low water and guests bussed on the remainder of the trip. Our Captain did not miss a beat.

That's great to hear. We are booked on Avalon this spring from Nuremberg to Budapest. There really isn't much on the boards about Avalon. We were going to book on AMA but the dates on Avalon worked better for us.

 

It's our first river cruise so it's nice to hear positive things about Avalon.

We did the same cruise last year on Avalon and had a great time. Had a great cruise director, very good food, just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My advice is to take as many tours as possible, they are so memorable.

While I knew picking Avalon was a good decision, it sure is great to have so many of my fellow CC members chime in and tell me again!

Sailing Avalon Sept 2015 Amsterdam to Budapest aboard the Illumination!

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That's the trip we took in reverse. Avalon was great with the caveat it's the only RC line we've been on. You'll have a great time.

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We just completed our first river cruise on the Avalon Visionary. Not sure if river cruising is a right fit for us, but, if we were to do another one, we'd do Avalon in a heartbeat. Quality operation. Highly recommend.

We just completed our first river cruise on the Avalon Visionary. Not sure if river cruising is a right fit for us, but, if we were to do another one, we'd do Avalon in a heartbeat. Quality operation. Highly recommend.

We just did our first river cruise on the Impression and we have come away with the same feelings because had a few problems and lost out on most of the river cruise portion. We really enjoyed the Avalon ship for the limited time we had.

We just did our first river cruise on the Impression and we have come away with the same feelings because had a few problems and lost out on most of the river cruise portion. We really enjoyed the Avalon ship for the limited time we had.

Thankfully our first river cruise did not have any river-condition issues, so we came away with a wonderful impression of river cruising. I can see how a first trip with bad weather or high- or low-water issues would tend to poison the well, as it were. For future reference, research Cruise Critic to see which river cruises seem to have the most issues and focus on safer itineraries: Tulip time; Rhone (except itineraries that try to sail North of Lyon); Douro -- I don't recall hearing any such issues with these itineraries.

I have read lots on CC about the good and bad of various River Cruise lines and the shocking attitude of some lines during the flooding last year.

Perhaps I am wrong on pasting the quote below which I copied off a internet site and apologise to the writer if he is upset, but I believe this shows how good Avalon is. We sailed with them 2013 and are booked for 2014

 

I want to anyone who is sitting on the fence about going on an Avalon Cruise.... Sign up for one! We went last year, during a flood of all things. And we had a fantastic trip. My wife and I had a first hand experience of how Avalon bent over backwards to make our trip an exceptional one. I had the opportunity to talk to passengers from three other river cruise companies. All of them were unhappy with their choice of cruise line, and all were amazed how Avalon took care of us. Over and over again, Avalon made our cruise one we will never forget. We went from Amsterdam to Budapest. What a fantastic journey. I wish I could show you all first hand how enjoyable our trip was. I have to admit that I was not sure when I booked our trip on who to go with. So many choices, and so many options. But I know now, and trust me, Avalon will not let you down. Oh, and the rooms are Fantastic. I was able to get on the Panorama, Vista, and Exprission....all of them were just perfect. Go, call your travel agent. Tell them Avalon... and you will not regret it. And no I do not work for Avalon

Thanks for the report!

So glad to read this since I just put a deposit on an Avalon trip for next Sept! Basil to Amsterdam on the Felicity.