waytocruise7

I came across your review of this cruise and had a couple of questions for you. We just got back from a Viking cruise (our first river cruise) and are considering the Rhine Basel to Amsterdam for 2017. While we enjoyed Viking and would have no concerns sailing them again, I began looking at other companies for comparison to see what else is out there.

1) The tours on Viking all included a QuietVox (ear piece) to hear the guide. Does Avalon use something similar? That was a HUGE help in adding enjoyment and freedom to the tours.

2) It looks like dinner is an option up in the Panoramic Lounge. What kind of food was served there as an option for the dining room every night. If we are in port and want to go back out again, we like to grab something quick and then head out walking.

3) What was the attire like in the dining room most nights? On Viking, there were some in jeans, but most had on Docker type pants and long sleeve polo shirt type wear. We travel with carry-on's only, so bringing a large supply of dinner wear doesn't work for us.

 

Thanks for your input!

We did enjoy our Basel to Amsterdam cruise with Avalon very much. We also did the pre-cruise to Mt Pilateus and Lucerne with Avalon. With regards to your questions,

1) QuietVox – we used QuietVox for all our shore excursions. There was one occasion where my QuietVox did not work but the guide had a replacement for me, which was good.

2) There is an alternative light lunch or dinner at the Panaromic Lounge but we did not try that. What we tried was a really wonderful and yummy dinner that was served in one of the upper lounges (can’t remember which). This was offered a few times during the cruise so each guest has the opportunity to enjoy it once. It is a multi-course dinner and each course is more like a nouvelle cuisine with wine pairing. Sign up early for this event; it is really good.

3) Attire – most were nicely dressed but not formal. Dining room atmosphere was very relaxed and casual which we enjoyed.

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.

I realize your post was several months ago, but we are on the same itinerary next month and we are also taking the optional excursion from Zurich to Lucerne. My question is - what time did you arrive at the ship? Did the tour guide drive through Basel before depositing you at the ship? Did you have time to unpack and change for the Welcome Reception (if you were expected to be a little dressy for the reception). Hopefully you will see these questions and get a chance to respond.

Cole

Thanks – your questions gave me the opportunity to ‘relive’ the cruise again. The excursion to Lucerne started at 10 am and we were brought back to the ship at about 3.30 or 4. We definitely had time to have a shower and change before going for the Welcome Reception. Our luggage was already in the room when we arrived. The tour guide did not give us a guided tour of Basel. Actually, the excursion was quite full on. We spent the morning portion at Mt Pilatus and had lunch in one of the cafeterias on the mountain top. After lunch, we did the Lucerne tour before we were deposited at the ship. The excursion to Mt Pilatus & Lucerne was a good start to the cruise. We figured it was better than waiting at Movenpick to be bussed to the ship. Enjoy your cruise.

What a wonderful review...we are doing a Rhine River cruise next June, our first River cruise after numerous ocean cruises. Your comments about excursions are very helpful, thank you.

 

We are glad to be trying River cruising, we love ocean cruising so will be interested to see how the two compare!

Hi Sunsetbeachgal

Just eight more months before your first river cruise. How exciting! Go with the mindset that river cruising is very different from ocean cruising and you will enjoy it.

For a start, there is only one dining room. Even though the chef had varied menus each evening, by about the seventh day, we appreciated the alternative dining venues offered by a larger ocean cruise. It also became a bit boring herding to the same dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner for twelve days. But we did enjoy the nice conversations we had with different passengers. Our cruise-mates are very very friendly.

If you enjoy broadway-style shows and the like offered by ocean cruises, this is, understandably, also not available for the smaller river cruises. We had a resident pianist who played during afternoon coffee and cake hour, happy hour and after dinner. Two nights we had two different violinist/guitarist trios who came onboard. Another night, we had some sort of a singing band. We enjoy piano music. So it was a bonus for us. There was also no problem finding a seat to just relax and have a drink.

In ocean cruises we had been on, the skydeck was always crowded and deckchairs had to come by. In our river cruise, the sundeck was fairly empty, with about less than ten of the deckchairs being occupied. One of our favourite activities was going to the sundeck for a stroll after dinner and we had the whole sundeck and the sky to ourselves.

And, of course, a river cruise is a whole new experience, bringing us to destinations not accessible on an ocean cruise.

Enjoy your cruise.

I was so sad to have to cancel our Rhine Falls tour through Viator during our pre-cruise stay in Zurich! My father's family came from Hemmental, about 1.5 miles from Schaffhausen and have lived there for almost 500 years. Can you tell me a bit about the tour?

Hi Drivelikemario

The Viator tour-guide prefaced the tour with ‘Rheinfall is NOT Niagara Falls. But it is the biggest waterfall in Europe.’ Well, we went to Zurich to visit Rheinfall and we enjoyed our half-day tour to the Rheinfall very much. As our coach neared the fall, there was great expectation as we had a small glimpse of the fall from among the foliage and surrounding buildings. Initially, the fall did not seem very much but as we walked further in, it became more and more majestic. And, as it was a sunny day, the water-mist and sprays cutting through the sunrays was spectacular. We did not take the boat trip to climb to the top of the rock as it appeared steep and slippery and we did not want any mishap just before our cruise. We, however, took the boat trip that took us round the fall and that was wonderful. The guy who steered the boat did a great job. He took a route such that whether we were seated on the right or left side of the boat, we had great views of the fall and at certain spectacular points, he slowed the boat down for photo taking. He also steered the boat towards the middle of the fall which added to the fun of the whole trip. As he neared the fall and people realised what he was doing, everyone (including us) started putting on their hoodies and the excitement grew. He brought us almost straight under the fall and with the sprays on our faces, wind blowing our hair into a tangled mess, children (and some adults) shrieking in delight, and deafening sound of the water gushing down, it was another great experience as part of our overall Rhine River cruise. After the intense excitement of being under the fall, the ride began to wind down as he brought us back to the starting point. I guess what you missed out in Rheinfall is gained by visiting relatives who have lived in the same area for 500 years!! I have not even lived in my current house for more than 5 years.

Avalon Rhine (Basel to Amsterdam) Review

After one and a half years of planning and reading and rereading CC, our Rhine & Moselle cruise finally came. And after twelve glorious days of cruising past rolling hills, steep vineyards, quaint farmhouses and enchanting castles, our cruise came to an end, and here we are, back to reality. And giving back to CC what we have gained so much through reading the many reviews. First, many many thanks to all the contributors who have given us such wonderful advice and suggestions regarding river cruising.

PRE CRUISE ANXIETY

When we first booked the cruise, we did not know about the low/high water, broken locks and other potential issues that could change a cruise to a bus ride. As we read on and April high-water turned to Sept low-water, we became more and more anxious. But the good thing was that knowing beforehand meant we were mentally prepared. So, we went with high hopes and tampered expectations that we would have a great trip. And, a great trip we had. Yeah!!

PRE-CRUISE

Since we had to travel seventeen hours to Zurich, we decided to spend three days in Zurich to get over the jetlag as well as to enjoy the place. During the three days, we did an old city walking tour (booked with Zurich Tourist Information Office), went to Rhines Falls (with VIATOR), went up Uetliberg Mountain (getting lost on our own), dashed into an art museum last minute, did Lake Zurich cruise (free with our Zurichcard) and went to Lucerne and Mt Pilatus (with Avalon). After our trip to Lucerne, Avalon transported us to the ship at Basel for embarkation.

AVALON ARTISTRY 2

Avalon Artistry 2 is beautiful and spotlessly clean. Having our bed face the panoramic windows was a huge plus as we could lay in bed as we sail past the beautiful scenery. So, sometimes, after a tiring morning shore excursion and a heavy lunch, watching the scenery pass would morph into a siesta, all in the same place.

The staff is warm and friendly. Kudos to the dining room staff and housekeeping staff. The cabin attendant remembered our names after the first introduction and always greeted us by name every time he saw us. His was the first cheery greeting we got every morning when we leave our cabin for breakfast. If he was cleaning a neighbouring cabin, he would quickly pop his head out and give us a smiley greeting. The dining room staff was also a gem. We are truly impressed with the attention of the dining room staff. We don’t drink alcohol, which is free flowing during dinner. The first night, we asked for lemon slices to go with our ice water. After a few meals of asking for lemon slices, for the rest of the cruise, lemon slices were brought to our table without us asking, regardless of where we were sitting.

DAILY SCHEDULE

Our daily activities fell into the following routine

7 am to 9 am – breakfast buffet (there is also had an early riser and a later riser Continental breakfast)

9 am – 11.30 am or thereabouts – Included Shore Excursion

12 noon or thereabouts – buffet lunch (there is also a light lunch at the lounge)

2 pm to 4 pm – optional shore excursion or second included excursion or snooze time

4 pm – afternoon coffee and cake

6.45 – port talk for the next day

7 pm – 4 course dinner with coffee and tea

9 pm till late – entertainment and dancing for those whose legs and bodies were up to it

ITINERARY

Some of the highlights of each place.

BLACK FOREST / COLMAR

We took all the included excursions except for the one on the first day to Black Forest. Reading the CC comments that Black Forest involved a 3-hour return bus ride convinced us that we would rather stay on board the first day and have a more leisurely start to our cruise. We, however, took an optional tour in the afternoon to Colmar, which was absolutely beautiful.

STRASBOURG

Our morning tour included a canal cruise in Strasbourg. It was really interesting cruising past the quaint old-charm buildings. Even in autumn, all window sills boast an array of lush and brilliant flowers. A walking tour of the La Petite France district added to the sensory delight.

HEIDELBERG CASTLE

Even though it was raining, it did not diminish our enjoyment of the Heidelberg Castle, mainly due to the excellent local guide that we had. With great flair, he introduced the castle to us as though he owned it. He transported us back to the times when we were ‘lords and ladies’ and with great drama, walked us through the castle grounds.

RUDESHEIM / RHINE GORGE

Today, we traded our mode of transport from a ship to a little tourist train that brought us to Rudesheim town. Rudesheim is such a pretty town and we were totally amazed with the intricacy of the Mechanical Musical Instrument. This was the day we were all looking forward to. After a morning visiting the museum and wandering along the cobblestone streets, we were all geared for the sailing through the Rhine Gorge. It was incredible sailing past one castle after another, with the CD narrating stories and facts related to the castles. At Rudesheim town, we also bought a full-coloured booklet, Castles along the Rhine. It was about 7 euros and well worth the money.

BERNKASTEL

Sailing past the Moselle Valley, we marvelled at the steepness of the hills where the vineyards were and had a new appreciation for the hard work involved in harvesting the grapes.

COCHEM

It was definitely a WOW factor when we reached the top of Reichsburg Castle and had a bird’s eye view of the picturesque town and river below.

KINDERDIJK

From vineyards to castles and now to windmills – what a great spectrum of change in landscape. It was an eye-opener seeing all the traditional windmills. We marvelled at the extent of work millers had to do to continue to work the traditional windmills.

AMSTERDAM

Many have said that to experience Amsterdam, one must cruise its canals. And that was what we did, cruising its many canals and appreciating the various architectures.

OTHER BITS AND PIECES

2 TOPS

There were about six 2-seaters in the dining room. The tables are, however, are so close to each other that on some evenings when we used the 2-seaters, we ended up talking with the neighbouring table. The advantage, however, was that if we choose not to talk with the neighbours, it was still possible, unlike sitting in an eight-person table.

PASSENGERS

Generally, most of the passengers are very friendly. We bump into each other during breakfast, lunch, dinner, shore excursions, port talks etc. Very often while walking to the dining room, someone would ask if we are sitting with anyone and if not, they would invite us to join their table.

GOING THAT EXTRA MILE

Most of the shore excursions had regular walkers and gentle walkers. What impressed us was one shore excursion was to the old town just across the road. It, however, involved crossing a very high overhead bridge. The CD announced that due to the height of the bridge, she had organised taxis (complimentary) to ferry the gentle walkers to and from the town, which was just across the road from the port. That is Avalon going the extra mile!!

OCEAN CRUISE / RIVER CRUISE

We’ve read so many CCers commenting that a river cruise feels more intimate. Oddly, we did not share that sentiment. On our ocean cruises, we usually ask for a 2-seater on the upper level near the railing. That gives us a sense of privacy and grandeur overlooking the lower level. It feels like a restaurant dining. However, having 120 passengers all in the one dining room seemed crowded and noisy to us.

But, this Rhine river cruise is one special itinerary for us. There would not have been any other way that we could have enjoyed all the sights that we had except through a river cruise. And Avalon did a wonderful job delivering that. We saw much and we enenjoyed much.

Brand new to this board and to river cruises!

 

We were originally scheduled for a Rhine/Main cruise in August which was canceled due to the low water levels. Now we're supposed to board on Oct. 8 in Nuremberg heading to Amsterdam on Amras ship Amadeus Silver II. Is anyone currently on either of these rivers in this area and can report if all is okay? I keep checking "our" ship's progress on the Danube via vesselfinder.com but don't see any ships at all north of Regensberg. Really hoping we don't get canceled again!

We are currently on the Rhine & Moselle cruise, sailing from Basel to Amsterdam (20th Sept to 3rd Oct). We had smooth sailing throughout, with no water level issues. Weather is nice & all the places are beautiful. Will write a review after the cruise. You will enjoy your cruise.

This would be our tentative itinerary :

Day 1 – arrive in Zurich after about 19 hour flight plus transit. Join a free walking tour to walk off jetlag.

Day 2 – Go to Uetligerg Mountain and do a Lake Zurich cruise.

Day 3 – Day trip to Rhine falls (with Viator)

Day 4 – Lucerne and Mt Pilatus with Avalon before embarkation

In between, we will hop into some museums.

We are looking into getting a 3-day Zurich card, a 7vv 9 o’clock pass or a day pass. Would appreciate advice on which transport card is best for our movement.

Thanks, Hoyaheel for your suggestions. Yes, we will have an i-pad with us. And, we will goggle the tourist offices for the towns along our Rhine & Moselle cruise. Prior to this, I had only looked for information for Basel & Amsterdam, for our pre-cruise & post-cruise. Didn’t think of goggling all the other ports, for contingency planning. Because we are so unfamiliar with the Rhine area, when we booked this river cruise (our first), it was more the attraction of sightseeing while cruising, plus the included shore excursions. This cruise is very different from our previous ocean cruises where we had specific historical and cultural sites that we wanted to do (e.g. when we did Mediterranean and the Greek islands). Thanks again for your suggestions and I will start ‘researching’ the different ports.

You do not have to fly home early. You ditch the bus-river cruise, find some nice places to visit on your own, and then get to the disembarkation port and fly home as originally planned.

 

When you travel, you have to be flexible.

 

DON

We would like to be flexible in our travels but being totally unfamiliar with the towns along our cruise, we are not even sure what are the ‘nice places to visit on our own’, let alone organise it last minute. We will be doing Avalon’s Rhine and Moselle (from Basel to Amsterdam) in Sept 2015 and would really appreciate if some experienced cruises could give us suggestions on nice places to visit on our own / stay and even means of transport etc should our river cruise be cancelled at the last minute. We are coming from Australia and are planning to arrive at Zurich at least two days before the cruise. We even thought of a Plan B of joining an ocean cruise to the Norwegian Fjords but not many cruises do that in Sept. So, if anyone has suggestions on Plan B, would really appreciate hearing from you, just in case we have to be flexible.

Just wondering if anyone who has sailed on the Sea Princess recently have tipped for room service, waiters and stewards etc and if so, roughly how much should I offer?

 

Cheers - not long now for our June 1 cruise :D

We’ve not sailed on Princess but in our previous cruises on Holland American Line & Celebrity, gratuities were added on to our daily account.

However, when we ordered room service for breakfast or other times, we usually give the delivery person a tip (about $2 to $4).

The thing we’ve noticed is that the delivery person is in and out of the room very fast and does not hang around, waiting for a tip. I’ve learnt on CC before our last cruise, to put the tip money in the slot of the door where the ‘Do Not Disturb’ card is kept. That way, the money is handy when we are holding the door for the delivery person.

During our last cruise, when we did a back-to back, at the end of the first and last segment, we gave our dining steward & cabin steward tips (about $50 each) in envelopes (in addition to the already included gratuities) at the end of the finale dinner. For us, it was just a nice end to the cruise – to see someone really happy when handed the tip envelope.

Together, in the tip envelope, we also included a letter of commendation, citing specific things our dining steward / cabin steward had done that had made the cruise so enjoyable for us. We cited specific things like how impressed we were that the dining steward remembers that I like a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon during meal times. And, every evening the minute we sit down, the cup of hot water appears without our asking. It may sound tedious having to write during our holiday, but I did enjoy it during sea day to just think about how well treated we were and putting it on paper. We were told later that these letters go a long way in putting our stewards ahead when it comes to promotions and renewal of contracts.

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.

Thank you, everyone, for all the wonderful advice you had given. Usually when we do ocean-cruising, travel insurance is not an issue because we book our cruise within the year. However, with river-cruising, cabins sell out way in advance, so we are booking now for Sept next year. As suggested, we will pay our deposit with our credit card, and closer the one-year mark, buy a comprehensive travel insurance.

We are looking at a river cruise in Sept 2015. Could anyone (from Aust) advise us on possibility of getting travel insurance which is more than one year away? Most of the online sites I checked with do not offer insurance when travel is more than one year later. Even if we do an annual policy, the cruise will be out of the one-year time-frame.

Thanks.

I did the fjords on Brilliance from Amsterdam in 2012. Here's my (pretty long) review with lots of pictures.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1653948

 

Don't think about it, just go do it :)

We’ve been looking for a RCCL fjord cruise out of Amsterdam for 2015 but could not find any. Reason why we are looking at Amsterdam is because our Rhine River cruise (Basel to Amsterdam) finishes in Amsterdam on Oct 2 2015 and we are hoping to follow-up with a Norwegian fjord cruise. Haven’t been to this part of Europe in October. Would it be too cold to do a fjord cruise in October? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, notamermaid for the welcome & letting us know how beautiful Moselle will be in Sept. I was so excited with all the nice things I’ve read that I actually check if there is any availability for this year but most of the sailings are full. So, we will wait patiently for next year to cruise.

Memsahib27, since you’re from Aust, would appreciate if I can have your thoughts on 2 things

Did you book direct with Avalon US, Avalon Aust or through a travel agent? (Hope I’m not contravening CC rules asking this.)

Since our river cruise is about 16 months away, how do we get travel insurance? Most of the posts I’ve read advise that we get insurance when we pay deposit (to get waiver from pre-existing condition etc) but online insurance will not give a quote if travel is more than 12 months away.

Thanks

I really don't think time of day makes any difference...unless you are a photographer using light and shadows. The gorge is really beautiful...but really not all that long. The castles are cool, but I like cruising the Moselle River better. The river is much narrower and scenery seems close enough to touch.

 

Time of year makes a big difference in the weather and scenery, however. Early in the season, the trees and vineyards haven't yet budded out and things look more bare. Standing on the ships decks in the cold and wind can also be brutal if the weather is cold or raining. But you know what? It's all worth it. Enjoy! :)

Thanks, RveCrzr, for your insight. Based on suggestions that Basel to Ams is a better direction & also looking at Avalon’s Suite Ship, we’ve narrowed to two dates, 9 May or 20 Sept 2015. Any suggestion on which is a better month? Would the vineyards be more lush in May and would it be very cold on deck in Sept? Thanks.

Thanks so much YoungDubFan for the link to your review. That is really helpful and I enjoyed reading your trip so much.

Thanks Peterdkiwi for your insight on direction.

The reason why we might choose the April cruise is so we can do Amsterdam in Spring pre-cruise. But our priority is the cruise experience and for that we might do the Basel to Ams direction. Having another ‘wild’ idea. Thinking of doing the Rhine cruise and continue with a Norwegian fjord ocean cruise after that. We did the Baltics two years back but did not do b2b with the Norwegian fjord. And, we don’t fancy flying fifteen hours again just to do the fjord cruise. If anyone has suggestion on this possibility of combining Rhine cruise with Norwegian fjord, would appreciate your input.

We’re looking at doing the Rhine and Moselle with Avalon either 2015 May 28 (Ams to Basel) or September 20 (Basel to Ams). Any advice on preferred direction or month would really be appreciated. We are very flexible on dates.

I’ve read (in CC) that cruising through the Rhine Gorge is really beautiful. Does Avalon sail through the Rhine Gorge in the morning or afternoon? Does it make much difference if the Rhine Gorge cruising is in the morning or afternoon?

This is my first time posting but I’ve been reading CC reviews for a while. Also, we have done a few ocean cruises but first time looking at a river cruise.

Thanks