Kenster

15 minutes ago, cccult said:

How exciting! Hope you have a great trip. The app is now working for us, though still no luggage tags. I’m guessing they will just have them when we board. 

 What type of name tags is everyone worried about?  You bring your own bags on board and take them to your cabin yourself. There’s no need for a paper tag on which to write your name and cabin number.  

If you’re talking about a fancy ID tag for your bag, we have always received ours in the mail shortly before the cruise, but it serves no real purpose for the cruise itself. 

1 hour ago, macaroni said:

Basel…

It varies. They may not know until very shortly before boarding. They will e-mail you where to meet the ship.  
If you bought a transfer, the driver will know. 

42 minutes ago, Playtennis said:

Kenster,

Thanks for your VERY prompt reply with a good explanation.  Today is (was) the day we can book excursions and, of course, not available.

Keith

Keith, I totally understand the frustration.  
 

We’ve done four Avalons and have never had a problem getting any excursion (included or optional) that we wanted. Even some that we waited until we were onboard to book. (Not that I suggest that, especially for the ones you really have your heart set on.) For many excursions, if there’s a big demand, they’ll just add another bus.  A few may be restricted, such as special dinners.  
I reckon you’ll be okay but, like you, I just like to get ‘er done! 
 

Cheers! 

2 minutes ago, Playtennis said:

Has anyone had difficulty getting in to your Avalon account today?  It seems that they are having difficulty.  Here is what they show on the opening page: "We are experiencing systems issues that are affecting the phone line, booking systems and certain Web sites. We are aware and working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. "

I have not even been able to call them. With our upcoming cruise with Avalon I'm getting concerned that their problems are something other than a "system problem".

 It’s pretty self explanatory.  Nothing nefarious going on.
Avalon, being part of the Globus Family, is in a very strong position. Nothing to worry about.  Their system will probably be back up very soon. 
 

If it’s something critical, try contacting them via Messenger on their Facebook page.  They’ve always been very responsive. AND forthcoming.  

On 3-3-3 seating, we would select the center row, aisle seats, and gamble that no one gets the middle seat. Sometimes we luck out, and that’s really nice on an overnight flight. But if someone gets cleared to the middle seat, my bride will usually slide to the middle and let him have the aisle.   Being in the center section at least gives us access to an aisle with crawling over a stranger or having a stranger crawl over us. 
 

The 767 2-3-2 configuration in coach is great if you can get the “2” seats (window/aisle). 

My biggest fear of buying airfare from the tour operator is ending up in the middle seat of five across in the back of the plane.  Often, with tour groups, you can’t even choose a seat. They aren’t assigned to the group until maybe 24 hours out, at which point all you have is left overs.  
It may be different in this case since you don’t have an entire group flying together.  I, too, would like to hear experiences of booking air through Avalon.  Are the fares offered based in Basic Economy seats? 
Every bill we pay, and every purchase we make goes into a mile generating credit card, which gets us Biz Class seats to Europe every year or so.  But I am curious about booking through Avalon. 

If the hotel is part of a pre-Cruise add on, with included activities (city tour/Zurich optionals, etc) it might be considered part of the entire package and, therefore Day One might be your arrival day in Zurich/Basel. In which case, Globus would be correct and they may want you to have your test 72 hours before starting your package, not the cruise.  That makes sense because they want their early arrival participants to be infection free, not just cruise participants. 
 

I am not one to leave anything to chance, however, so I would want Globus/Avalon to be very clear about that. In writing. 

I would also contact the pre-cruise hotel and ask them for suggestions on where you can get the test nearby… just in case.   I’m sure they will have a recommendation. 
 

29 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

What do you mean the cruise operator?

The company operating the cruise: Avalon, Viking, AMA, etc. 

Just like a tour operator: Globus, Colette, Tauck, etc. 

19 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Kenster I’m sorry I do take issue with you there, the hotel and maritime staff and crew are supplied by at least one German company which does not own the boats. I think Glen Moroney will be just a little surprised to find that he suddenly does not own his boats. I will send my Australian friend an email he started in the travel business at the same time as Glen I’m sure he’ll enjoy letting him know in Switzerland. They even own their boat on the Douro which was unusual. 

Thank you for the correction. I guess my point is that the ship’s crew are not Avalon employees whereas the Cruise Director is.  
And that the ships are not owned by the cruise operator, though they are branded Avalon, AMA, Viking, etc. 

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Interesting as far as I know on Scenic the CDs are employed by Scenic and the hotel and maritime staff are contracted although these can be fired by Scenic.

Most likely, the Scenic ships are branded Scenic but not actually owned by Scenic. That’s the way it is with most, if not all, river cruise lines. So, the CD actually works for the operators: Scenic, Avalon, Viking, etc, but everyone else on board works for the ship owner. 

27 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Unlike CDs on ocean cruises, river cruise CDs [at least on AMA] only work one cruise at a time.  They start with the pre-cruise land portion, then the cruise, then the post-cruise land portion – then they collapse and rest until their next contract.  So the tips represent their income over a longer period than it seems.

The CD on Avalon is an actual employee of Avalon/Globus. (All other personnel are employees of the ship line, which is contracted by Avalon.  I know some CDs will do back to back cruises then have a bit of time until their next assignment. Some might do a pre-cruise land extension, but that’s not always the case. 
But yes,  what they make on the cruise should not be extrapolated as making that full time.  It’s not solid, and it IS seasonal. 

Crew tip is about $10-12 a day. 
Recommended CD tip is $3 a day. 
We’ve done four cruises in the past six years and that’s what it’s been. 

You can pay crew tips at the end of the cruise. You’ll be given one envelope for the combined crew tip and a separate envelope for the Cruise Director. They can be paid with cash or you can go to the pursers desk and put it all on your credit card. 
Tips for local guides for your daily or optional excursions  are included.  We typically give a little to the cruise “piano guy,” especially if he has played some requests.  And we always give a little extra to our favorite dining room waiter/waitress as well as the cocktail servers in the lounge if they have taken really good care of us. 
And by the end of the cruise we usually have a ton of loose change that we leave in the cabin for our steward. 

Glad to see this. With so many different rules at the various venues and countries, it just makes sense. 

We’ve done Avalon in early April (very cold), July (very hot), late August (warm and low water.) And October.  October was perfect but water was a little low. There were some concerns but we made it through with no problems. 

Of the four Avalons we’ve done in the last six years, two were right at capacity (160), one was the smaller suite ship (130ish) but only had about 100.  And the first one was the older, non suite ship. I think it held about 100 and we had 75-80 pax.  The only issue ever on full capacity big ships is a packed dining room every night, so if you like to sit with your new shipmates, you’d better get down there pretty quickly to grab a table. 
If you prefer to “work the room” and meet someone new every evening, it’s perfect.  
 

We don’t worry too much about where the outlets are. We always carry a couple of extension cords and run them between the wall and the mattress to the other side. 

4 minutes ago, SCBarker said:

 

 

I just did that to my cruise scheduled for July 3rd.  Out of the 83 staterooms, 74 were available to book! WOW...

It’s kind of a Catch 22, isn’t it. Everyone likes a cruise that’s not too crowded.  But we don’t want to wish for a virtually empty ship.  That’s a good way to have our cruise cancelled. 
Plus, we want the cruise line to remain profitable! 

We’ve done four Avalons in the past six years. 
There really isn’t a bad view from either side. 
we prefer a port side cabin because we’d rather watch the river going by than the near shore. That’s just our preference. 
I would not choose a cabin based on what you hope to see while docked.  You’re not in your cabin much while in port and you’re likely to only see a big concrete wall, anyway. 
 

The best views can be had on the top sun deck, anyway, Not from your cabin so don’t let port or starboard be a deal breaker. 
 

Karen, I see what you mean now. I’m not used to an airport hotel for the cruise pre-night. I’d be very surprised if they expected you to schlep your bags back to airport arrivals for your transfer to the ship. But I would call Avalon and ask to make sure. 

Karen, I’m confused by your luggage question. You ask about transferring luggage from hotel to ship but then you talk about baggage claim to transfer. So that’s two different things. 
Once you claim your bags at the airport and clear immigration and customs, you will meet the rep at the meeting point for the transfer to the hotel, bringing your bags to the bus. The next day, your bags will travel with you on the bus from hotel to the shop. 

Loreto, we have done that cruise. It’s probably my favorite of the four Avalons we have done in the past six years. We absolutely love Avalon. 

Europe is having its own issues with large reflares of Covid in many nations.  We are looking forward to booking our 5th Avalon but things are going to have to get better on both sides of the Atlantic. 

They usually show pre and post tour hotels in the brochure and website.  

Post this on their Facebook page.  Maybe a little public shaming will do the trick. 
Frankly, I would expect better from any Globus brand, especially Avalon.  The least they could do is credit your deposit toward a future trip. 

5 minutes ago, s35flyer said:

Imagine the people currently in the middle of a river cruise with flights back to the US now stopped.  Be glad your at home, I cant imagine what we would do or how, if we were on the cruise (Rhine) we had with Avalon last year.  I mean seriously what do you do if halfway?

 

not a cruise but my brother-in-law and his wife went to Cairo two days ago starting a 15 day tour, now that they are there, the tour is cancelled and the company is scrambling to get 35 people back before Friday.  
 

again be glad your home, go on the cruise another time.

 

Flights to the US are NOT stopped. The order prevents foreign travelers from entering the US. It does not prevent Americans from returning home.