tedly1960

Good day all,

Haven't booked yet but are going to be booking on the Dawn for a Mediterranean cruise in and out of Venice. Not huge cruise people, but between the front or back of the ship, what is better when the seas are rough?

Thank you in advance.

Good day all. We are booking a cruise soon for 2020. I know things can change from day to day or week to week but we are trying to decide whether to get the free drink package (I know we have to pay the gratuity portion) or not. My wife doesn't drink. I was wondering at any and all of the bars will they make a virgin drink of your choice and charge you accordingly or would they still charge whatever the drink cost with alcohol? Our experience last spring in Europe was that bars only had a limited virgin drink menu (mostly sweet fruity options) and if my wife wanted a virgin drink that wasn't offered on the virgin menu, they would charge the full price of the drink even if there was no alcohol in it. They wouldn't deviate from the virgin menu. Is this the same on Norwegian? We will be sailing on the Dawn. 

Thanks in advance.

A bit sad because I think at least some of the people that knocked Cuba have never been there. We have been 6 times. Beaches are beautiful, maybe some of the best in the Caribbean. People are very friendly and genuine. I believe one of the safest islands in the Caribbean. A trip to Havana is a must, just so much history there. Food is not great but is good. Oh and the cigars!! Nothing like it. Never been to Bermuda, so I can't say anything about it.

Does anyone know the current laundry prices on Avalon?

 

I’m a chronic over-packer who is trying to be better this trip. But, I also don’t want to be washing clothes in the sink every night, and I really prefer wearing clean clothes as opposed to clean enough clothes. Trying to find the balance between saving money (we need some electrical work done) vs my desire not to haul an overly heavy suitcase on the train. (We’ll be going to Salzburg after our Active Discovery Cruise on the Rhine.) We’re traveling for two weeks so I can’t just wing it.

 

Thanks!

We got some laundry done on our cruise a few weeks ago. All prices in euros, socks were 2, men's shirts were 3 and women's shirts I think were 4. We sent out our laundry in the morning and it was back that afternoon.

My wife and I just returned from a Danube (Budapest to Prague)Active Discovery. Loved all the options of excursions. We were booked solid with excursions and we also purchased 3 optional excursions. We thought we may have over extended ourselves but had no problem whatsoever. We prepaid our tips and didn't leave anything extra when we disembarked. That's just an individual thing. Service was great and our onboard cruise director was also great. Her name was Sabine and had a daily briefing in the lounge for any information. This was just before dinner and during the happy hour.

We didn't overpack and had some laundry done on the boat. It went out in the morning and was returned late afternoon. All prices in Euros, men's socks were 2, mens shirts were 3, I think ladies shirts were 4.

In my opinion, I thought drinks were a bit pricey. Some would argue that prices were normal for the area and a cruise ship. If this is a worry for you, I would advise to bring your own of your favorite on board with you.

Any other questions just ask.

Compared to what? Compared to a land bar/restaurant in Germany or France, that's normal. Compared to an ocean cruise, that's normal.

 

If you want the cheapest option, as noted, bring your own alcohol on board. We bought local beers & wine on board for drinks while we were getting ready for dinner, and we brought some bourbon for nightcaps too ;p

I guess it all depends on the country you are in. Beers in Prague and Budapest were considerably cheaper. I'm sure local economies dictate all this.

Did 1 ocean cruise and had a promo drink package so didn't pay attention to drink prices. As we are a 1 drinker family, I didn't bring anything on board. Next time I would for sure.

This isn't an Avalon thing but more a Europe thing - all places I saw that had a virgin drink menu would not deviate from that. By and large all the virgin drinks offered were sweet fruity things. At a cafe in Budapest, my wife asked for a virgin bloody mary and was told they could do that but would have to charge the full price. Where we live any bar will make you a virgin anything and just charge for a non alcoholic. Not a hard thing to do.

Avalon doesn't offer drink packages...it's added to your tab and payed for at the end of the cruise. The cost of drinks was pretty reasonable. If you are too worried, you can always bring some on board and mix in your room.

No sorry the cost of drinks is not reasonable. Outside of the Happy hours a beer ran almost 7 euros (over $10 CAN). My wife doesn't drink but liked the virgin bloody mary's. They were 6.8 Euros. Those are not reasonable prices.

Thank you. I leave in 18 days are there any tips you can suggest for a enjoyable cruise. We've all booked the "unbalcony" cabins....lol How was the weather and tours?

First river cruise so getting very excited.

We are staying in Budapest for 2 days before the cruise and 3 days in Prague after as part of our package.:D

Hi Karen. We absolutely loved our Avalon Cruise. First day in Budapest it was wet as it had rained but the rain had stopped once we started walking around. It did get hot the next day but after that it cooled and was very comfortable for touring around. Last day in Prague it was a little warm but not unbearable. We did cruise on the Luminary. Our cruise directors name was Sabine. If you get her for your cruise you will be very lucky as she did a fantastic job, always keeping people informed as she always had a briefing in the lounge before dinner. Not sure what you have booked but we booked an "active discovery" cruise. Each stop we had a choice of about 3 or 4 excursions, 1 or 2 usually more for the active, such as a hike or bike tour. They would also always have a leisurely tour as well, such as a city tour or walking tour. Dinners were themed for the area, but at the bottom of the menu there were 3 or 4 regular items if you didn't care for any of the themed items. Also for dinner and lunch they offered a lighter fare in the lounge if you didn't care to go to the dining room. I am including the link to our cruise, so if you see an excursion that you are picking then I can give you more details. If these are offered for you, must do's are the Heurigan Wine Tavern dinner and the traditional Czech Dinner and show, both very enjoyable. These were both optional excursions that we paid extra for. Another was the symphony in Vienna. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

https://www.avalonwaterways.ca/river-cruise/active-discovery-on-the-danube-with-prague-westbound/wblp/

Ted

wonder how the Danube is? Leave in 3 1/2 weeks for Budapest - Prague cruise

We just returned today from the exact same itinerary. The river level was fine all the way along the Danube.

On the river cruises I have taken, I found the French Balcony useful in the early morning when I could stay in the room in my pjs taking photos and videos of the countryside sailing by. I would not have gone on deck that early to do this. Also I agree that the high windows are a bit claustrophobic and it would be frustrating for me not to be able to look out without standing on a chair or tiptoes.😳

 

However having said that, if the cost difference was great enough, I might reconsider because you really aren’t in the room that much except in the evenings.

 

A savings of 2,000 or so could go a long way.

 

It’s all in your priorities.

We just returned today from the Avalon Budapest to Prague. For our first river cruise it was what we wanted and wished for and more. We also booked a french balcony, but often, especially in the busier stops, we would wake up and open the drapes only to see another ship tethered to us, so in these cases the french balcony is basically useless. The ship would be only a foot or 2 away. Aside from that, I would still book a french balcony.

Good day all,

Just about a month away from our Avalon Budapest to Prague River Cruise. Looking like we will have to balance 3 different currencies, Hungarian Forint, Czech Koruna and Euros. I have heard that euros are accepted in Czech. Widely accepted, not widely accepted or not accepted at all? Any insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

We booked with Avalon last year for this June. I was periodically looking to see the price after we booked saw that it went down by about $500 pp. Called my travel agent. She told me that river cruise companies don't normally give a lower rate once you are booked in. But she called, got a manager and argued on our behalf and they gave us the lower price. Not saying they will always do it but it worked for us. Good Luck.

The summer months always skews a younger age due to teachers love to travel. Plus teenagers are off from school and go with their parents or grandparents.

 

Amawaterways offers an active excursion at every port which usually includes hiking or bike riding. I believe Avalon has certain sailings with active excursions.

 

 

Yes Avalon also has active excursions. We are set to sail on Avalon in June and there are usually 3 options of excursions, which at least 1 will be some sort of a walking tour/hike or biking. One stop also has a canoe excursion.

Good day all. My wife and I are doing the Avalon Luminary (WBLP) this June. Not experienced cruisers. Have only done 1 Mediterranean a few years ago. This will be our first river cruise. I know that you aren't allowed to bring any liquor onto a larger cruise ships. Are river boats the same? I'd like a little of something for our room for a few martinis along the way. Should I pack any of my spirits in a rum runner bag? Does the restaurant for dinner require men to wear pants? What is there to do after dinner on the boat? The site does say evening entertainment, but was just wondering what will be offered. Thank you in advance.

Hi all. Scouting out river cruises for 2017 for our first river cruise. Leaning toward Avalon. We did use Globus some years ago and were quite happy with them, so this is why we are liking Avalon. Looking through selections of the itinerary that we like, I see some fair price differences for different ships. The Luminary is the most affordable. I do see that it is a couple of years older than some of the others, but 2010 isn't all that bad???? Or could it be? Easy to choose a ship that is more modern, in terms of year built, but just unsure here. Anybody been on the Luminary and can offer any insight? Or any other helpful tips would be greatly appreciated. Thx in advance.

I would think there is a decimal point missing

And also for recent EPIC cruisers - which MDR restaurant is better TASTE OR MANHATTAN? (I'n not paying for any specialty restaurants!)

I thought Manhattan was better...IMO.

Everyones advice is spot on. Don't do it yourself. We did Ravello, Amalfi Town and Positano. Hired a van for 8 people. Got this from http://www.seeamalficoast.com. They are probably all good. Our experience with this company was great. Cost was 475 Euros for 8 people. Like many have said, check with your roll call. Set up an excursion by yourself and you will have people join you I'm sure, or you can join someone else's. If you do go to Positano, a must for lunch is La Tagliata. It was awesome!! Google them, they have their own website.

You can start by joining your roll call, if you haven't already. You can get a wealth of information from there. You can also set up and get people to join you for excursions or join someone else's excursions. I highly recommend private excursions. They are more personal and much less expensive. But do check the excursions that NCL has to offer and feed off that as to what interests you.

First day of your cruise, board as early as you can and explore the boat. If you want to dine in any of the specialty restaurants then prebook these and make reservations.

Check with your roll call, there might be a meet and mingle on the first day on the boat. The girl that started our roll call set this up for ours. It was a great way to meet up with the people that we were sharing excursions with. This was on the sea day (first day of cruise). When talking with our fellow excursion people we agreed to meet up in front of the Bliss Lounge at a prescribed time, and we walked off together.

I had the same questions before we sailed back in early June. We did the walk off on our own carrying our luggage with us. We walked off at about 8:00 am and quickly was able to get a taxi (plenty to be had) and was at the airport by about 8:45 am. We had an 11:45 am flight.

Hi,

 

Am on The Epic in a few weeks. Do we need to pre-book the Speciality Dining? Don't like being too organised in advance, but some of the reviews suggest that it's difficult to get a table!!!!

The reviews are correct. If you are particular about what time you want to eat, then you should make reservations. If you want to eat at prime time then make reservations. Nothing ever wrong with being organized.

We just cruised on the Epic. Didn't buy the UDP but ate at Cagney's, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki and La Cucina. La Cucina was our least favorite. I highly recommend the other 3. Also, in our opinion there was absolutely nothing wrong with Manhatten. It was quite good. I thought Taste wasn't quite as good as Manhatten. We never had dinner in the buffet.

I'm not really sure what the earliest time is that you can board. Best check with NCL. 1:00 pm seemed to work very well for us. Our cabin was ready so we could get into it. Went up to deck 15 to get some lunch, then worked our way down deck by deck.

What time did either of you get on the ship?? My husband and I are going to a villa for a week, in Spain, then two days in Barcelona.

We boarded at about 1:00 pm. Best to get on the ship earlier, as we used this to explore the ship and get oriented. Any other questions, just ask.