Daisi

I was checking the Avalon Dining site the other day for someone and noticed they now provide picnic baskets. Will possibly have to check them out when we are duplicating some of the Rhine on our next cruise.

"They fit my style of vacation." This is the most important, and also the reason we love Avalon. Others will choose other lines (or avoid other lines) for the same reason. The only reason I think I would look at another line is for the itinerary - like CroisiEurope's cruise on the Loire.

Hi, I'll do my best to answer your questions. 1) Yes there is laundry, I'll attach the pricing I have from another site. 2) According to the Avalon Waterway's site, under "Dining", you can get complimentary lunch & dinner for room service, and I believe the continental breakfast is also included. 3) No special perks for the 2 Royal Suite cabins other than the larger cabin. Everyone on the ship gets access to everything, no special perks at all. 4) Yes, breakfast & lunch are buffet, there is a made to order omelet station for breakfast, and usually the chef is there with a carving station for lunch. There are also items that can be ordered from a menu, limited, but the buffets are quite large with choices for almost everything. You can check sample menus under the "Dining" tab on the website. 5) Have fun, go with the flow, and be prepared for anything. They are very good at overcoming river level problems, and are also good for organising extras if you ask. Pre-booking outside tours isn't really recommended unless you know for sure you will be at the port as things can change quickly. 6) How easy it is to get to know almost everyone onboard, from crew to fellow passengers. We were on one of the longer ships for our Danube cruise in Sept, and I was a bit worried about the larger #'s (not one for crowds), but it still didn't feel crowded. Do your research, so you know what is possible to see, and have fun, Avalon is a fantastic line, 5* service but casual enough that you don't feel uncomfortable.

Attentive staff can vary from ship to ship, someone can sail on one ship and have fantastic staff, and then on the same line on another ship and just have staff that are good but.... Food is a very personal thing, do you wish local food or more general American style ( I'm not talking hamburgers unless having a BBQ, but that would disappoint me if I was on an European cruise)? As for decor, that is also personal - look through YouTube videos (by passengers not the cruise line) to see how the ships are set up. We've been happy with Avalon, 2 cruises and have had great staff (although we never saw our cabin attendant on the last one, and I will say the staff were interacting with the passengers more on our first cruise pre-covid). Food is good, with a lot of local dishes so we get to try stuff we've never had. Design is contemporary, so not fussy or plain. We always stay on the 2nd level to be close to the water but able to open the window. Unfortunately, the excursions are going to be mostly around the local attractions which will include churches and castles. One of the things I do like most about Avalon is the ability to choose different tours when you are repeating the same town. Or you can always take a bike out (or do a full bike excursion), or hike, or just wander around the town.

@franski, I think it was just a glitch, as they were back on the site (Canada anyway) about an hour after OP posted. I was hoping to get them credited back as well, but guess not. 😉

We use these, they have 2 usb-c and 2 usb-a outlets (still haven't updated the power bank & camera so need the old outlets) as well as plugs if needed. They worked great on our Avalon cruise in Sept. and with the folding plugs, take up a bit less space. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0C69NRF5Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 Avalon only has usb-a outlets, so if you need the usb-c, make sure you have the right cables.

Thanks @AtlantaCruiser72, I just sent a note off to my TA to inquire. I'll let her know. I was sure when I was playing around with airfare this morning the pre-pay gratuities were on the Cdn site, but they are off now. Oh well, good thing to let her know anyway, so she can know for future clients to keep an eye out.

They are closer to the Belgium border, but then, for me, they aren't far from Limburg either. 🙂

If you are planning on doing the tour with Avalon on the day of your embarkment, you can drop your luggage off at the ship prior to taking the tour. We did Keukenhof the day of embarkment, after spending a few days on our own touring around. We went to the ship around 12:00 as the tour was at 1:00. We dropped our luggage, and they invited us into the lounge to have a light lunch. We will be back in Amsterdam in 2025 with Avalon again and will be doing Zaanse Schans with them then.

@notamermaid, yes, we finally got winter. It's on the cool side, -7C, but will warm up back to 0 by next week. The creek has frozen so the ducks have left for the river as it stays open in spots year round. We also have some snow now, got about 30cm between Friday -Sunday, so it's white now. I heard from cousins in the Netherlands that they even got some snow. 🙂

Lol.. .they tried... it was "le Sandwich au formage fondant", but I guess the public balked and in 2017 they allowed grilled cheese. The language police have allowed a few english words to slip in - "smash", "baby boon" to name a few, and most big chain stores were allowed to keep their english names, but every once in a while, they get out to the anglo areas and fine the stores that aren't complying.

Hi @Tardis42, as Rebel says, it's easier to sign up ahead of time (usually comes available on MyAvalon once your final payment has been made). You pay for excursions onboard in Euros, on your MyAvalon, you pay in your home currency. It probably works out close, but you also aren't coming home to a large CC bill. 🙂 I don't think you have to worry about not being able to go on excursions, we were on the Danube in Sept. and they actually had 4 groups for one tour as so many wanted to go on it. Signing up ahead of time does help them organise the number of guides required. I know you can cancel any pre-paid excursion 48 (could be 24) hrs ahead of time no problem, just go through the MyAvalon site. I had to do it on our cruise and had my CC credited fairly quickly. I think the only excursions you can't sign up for ahead of time are the bike ones, and that could be for other reasons (weather?).

Quebec is a whole different thing....they "preserve" their language, but it's become so full of slang in everyday usage that it would hurt the ears of .Les Français. I remember having a lot of fun with our CD on the Rhine cruise, she was from Belgium and didn't care for our "oui" ( comes out more as a drawn out waay) our "onjou" for Bon Jour. And don't forget les Cheins Chauds... 🙂

Can't speak for Gate 1, as we've never sailed on them, however most river ships only have the one sit-down meal in the evening. Buffets are usually reserved for breakfast & lunch. Some lines do have an extra dining area where it's a bit more casual style, not sit down, (Avalon does one in the lounge like a tapas type where you pick individual servings of whatever is served for dinner, and it's actually 1/2 hr after the dinner starts). Some will also have snacks served around 4:00 or so. I haven't read this in full, but this is from a cruiser from last year, you may find some info in it:

They were calling for 30+ cm here for last night & today, but looks like we are only getting about 1/2. We are still staying mild, so if we ever see the sun for more than a couple of hours a week, the snow may go quickly. Hope you enjoy your snow.....

We always book the Aft staterooms, usually as close to the next category as possible. For example, on the Envision, we were in #228, and our Rhine cruise (and upcoming Moselle) we were (and will be) on the Imagery in suite #219. We figure the longer walk helps work off all the great food, and it's the identical room as the one next door that is in the next pricing category. We had a bit more noise on the Danube on the Envision, but the water levels were very low and we didn't manage to complete our sailing. We didn't hear anything after the 1st couple of nights anyway, so it never bothered us. Never heard a thing on the Rhine, and hoping the same on the Moselle.

I've been looking at Viva and CroisiEurope for some tours that aren't mainstream. There is one that looks interesting with Viva that goes from Prague to Berlin, and the CroisiEurope one on the Loire river looks good as well.

I noticed that, it was funny checking the weather for Cochem and Cologne and seeing the temps below ours. We had a storm go through yesterday, snow, freezing rain, rain and today it's sunny and 4C...gorgeous day, and hopefully the ice will melt off the roads in time for our next big snowfall coming in on the weekend. By the way...I don't find -3 cold, that's a nice day but we're used to that! 🙂

Avalon has active & discovery cruises, where you can hike, canoe, kayak, or do bike tours. Everyone can do what they want and meet up over dinner to compare notes. If anyone is into Yoga, there is a daily session before breakfast. As others mention, onboard entertainment is not much, so if they are fine with that, then they will be fine. Many people feel cruising is only for the older people, but if the younger generation is fine with being the minority, and content to be amongst older people, they will do fine.

Happy New Year all, may your rivers have just enough water in them to sail, and the skies have enough sun to tour. Best wishes for all.

@Tudy, as long as those who aren't comfortable spending the extra for the above ground cabin are ok without fresh air (and don't worry, each cabin has excellent air flow, they just can't open windows), they will be fine in the lower cabins. Going as a group, you will want to meet in the lounges and or decks to view the scenery as you get together, not sitting in your cabin. Also, the cabins closest to the stern on the mid level are identical to those closer to the bow or on the 3rd level...and at a better price if they wish to look at them. Our first cruise, we booked the cabin right at the "end" of that class (Cat B) which was right beside the first one in Cat A but at a $500.00/person difference! We spend our savings on the optional excursions. 🙂

No snow here, no ice either and lots of rain. Today is our first day in a while where we are not in the positive temps (high expected of -1C). I hear that down in southern Ont (Chatham) the Magnolia trees are starting to bud. Have to say, I'm not missing the snow and cold, I know it's coming, but so far, even the freezing rain is staying away.

The only reason we sail in the Panorama suites is because we like the ability to open the windows for fresh air when we are in the cabin. We always book the ones in category B to save costs (hey, it's an extra treat when we are out touring, or a couple of optional excursions 🙂). Of course, we also tour usually in May so the weather is nicer to have the windows open. We don't spend a lot of time in our cabin, but when we are in it (other than sleeping) we do have the window open. We've never been in the lower cabins, so can't talk about space.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, best wishes for the New Year.

Or "Advantage through Technology".