Rebel54

Oh I was just thinking about the little bird boxes. That was probably my favorite part!. I've given up all my electric coffee machines. I grind my own beans and I use an Aero Press to make my one cup a day. Nice thing is it is light weight, plastic and travels every where I go :).

Hmmmm now I need to go make a coffee 🙂

I can't believe I missed the coffee. Now I'm going to have to plan another cruise so I can try it. I don't recall anyone mentioning it when we were there.

I'm on Prague to Transylvania with Avalon Aug 2nd - 22nd. I choose Avalon because I love the cabins, the service and the price point. Avalon is a part of Globus and they are well known to handle water issues.

Too funny. Most of our group agreed on the water puppets. Bottom line is you won't know if you don't go :).

I've only traveled with Avalon and I'm with you on not being keen on excursions, however, these tours are included in the price of your cruise and for the most part they are pretty good. I can't think of too many I didn't like. I wish I had passed on the Vietnamese water puppet show but what can you do and I wasn't too excited with the Music machine museum in Germany. We tend to do a combo of going on the provided tour and going off on our own, esp when there's an overnight in that stop. The nice thing is you can decide as you go. No need to choose now ... wing it and do what you want on your vacation.

Avalon has a less "formal" option for dinner which you might like. Same menu, just lighter options. Also, they wave single supplement on some cruises. They also offer room service for each meal if you just want to eat is peace. Avalon cabins are a bit larger than what you will find on Viking, fewer cabins mean less people and their payment options are way more attractive. https://www.avalonwaterways.com/river-cruise-deals/?computed_promotion_ids_sm=276319&sort=computed_itinerary_firstbestdiscountedprice_usd_tl%3Dasc&format=mobile

You are welcome. Happy to help. I've been to Prague a few times and love it. Such a special city. If you are into history, there's an old movie called Operation Daybreak. Set in Prague and when you are there you can go to the church where the end of the movie is set. If you get to the towers in town (Astronomical clock, Charles Bridge, etc) in the first hour they are open you can enter for half price. If you get to the Golden Lane in the castle complex after 5 pm, it's free to walk down it. Before then you have to pay. If you want a great photo tour check out: https://www.johnnyspraguetours.com/ Used him on my last trip and my photos were amazing!

If you really want to explore the castle grounds I would do it on my own and skip the tour. You could spend all day up there and in the surrounding area. If you just want a basic tour, then it's worth going with Avalon. Prague is easily walkable (unless you have physical limitations) and so wonderful to explore on your own. I would get up early to experience the Charles Bridge and Old Town before the crowds. Remember that if you want to explore the Jewish Quarter, it will be closed on Saturday. If you want an amazing food tour while in Prague check out https://www.tasteofprague.com/ Great tour with history and interesting info about the city and it's people. Worth the price. You also get a digital food map and I think their guide book, also digital, with your tour. Honest Guide and Real Prague guides have great videos on the ins and outs of Prague. How to use public transportation, how to avoid being scammed, where to change money, etc.

I can't wait to see this. I was watching a video on YouTube yesterday and the YouTuber was trying to put her foot in one of the shoes....It seemed rather disrespectful.

Facebook rumor mill is that the Avalon Go app seems to be back up and running.

I hope everyone will be ok. How frightening.

River Roll calls are here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/546-all-other-river-cruise-roll-calls/

Congrats. Hope you enjoy it. Avalon is a wonderful company. You probably won't get too many people in here on the same cruise but fear not, you will make friends when you board. River cruisers seem to be a very friendly bunch. You can just submit a reply and add your questions in the thread.

I prefer to book my own flights but I also tend to come in well in advance of my cruise in order to get over jet lag and explore the starting city. I am also a control freak so I prefer to do things myself.