Shebely

Amalotus 2011. AMa ship older

Looking at a tour cruise Hanoi to Saigon in November 2015. any comments on which company to choose for experiences, guides , services. The AMA ship newer and has more passengers. Any comments appreciated.

Avalon Siem Reap ship launched 2015. Avalon designed its size so it is only ship to sail from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to Siem Reap across Tonle Sap lake or vice versa thus avoiding 7 hour bumpy bus ride. Cabins 245 square feet; 36 passengers. Not sure what you mean cruise from Hanoi to Saigon. Mekong river is between Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and Siem Reap Cambodia. Vietnam itineraries that include Hanoi schedule flight to Hanoi. Hanoi flight to Ho Chi Minh is just short of 5 hours.

I am a "poster child" for motion sickness. I have been on 6 river cruises and I never have had a twinge of motion sickness. I cannot do ocean cruising. I do not wear my sea bands while on the river cruise.

Hope this helps.

Congratulations to you and your bride to be on your upcoming wedding.

I want to point out that there are differences in the itinerary between Viking and Avalon.

If you look at the maps for the two trips, Viking turns around at Rouen while Avalon goes closer to Normandy (Caudebec).

We did this itinerary in 2013 with a French cruiseline and I can tell you that you would want to go closer to Normandy for two reasons at least. First of all, the bus tour to the Normandy beaches will be shorter and you should have more time there. Also, in our opinion, the most picturesque portion of the Seine was beyond Rouen.

Of course, comparing prices is a part of the decision process. Also look at included excursions, size of cabin choices, etc.

On our 2013 cruise, we docked very close to the Eiffel Tower. That is where you want to be so you can enjoy Paris. It has been reported that the Viking longship, Rinda is docking outside of Paris in Le Pecq.

This results in bus rides to and from the ship. Next year Viking lists the ships on this itinerary as two longships. Will both longships dock outside Paris?

In the interest of full disclosure, we have sailed on 4 Avalon cruises. We love the ship design, cabins, food, crew, local guides, etc.

I am somewhat surprised at the "pro-Avalon Waterways" on this board. Many of the posts seem to come from people who have not sailed with them yet. The travel agency I work with prefers not to sell it. They indicated that their clients have a more positive experience with other river cruise lines. I have not been on Avalon to compare. I will probably stay with Uniworld and Tauck as they seem to be a good fit.

We are Avalon cheerleaders. Three down and 2 more this year. Two in Europe already, one in South America (Peru). One in Asia (Mekong) and one in Europe coming up. We have had wonderful trips and I believe Avalon has one of the best logistical teams in all of river cruising.

On the river cruises we have already had, I have talked to many of our fellow cruisers and I have not heard one complaint. In 2013, our cruise was just after the record flooding and our Captain and the Avalon logistical team had to work us around the German lockworkers strike. They did.

We love the "Suite ships" and their roomy cabins and beautiful bathrooms. The crew is wonderful and experienced.

Here is a story I love to tell. On the Rhine cruise last year, early on the cruise we sat with at dinner a lovely couple from England. The cruise was to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The wife explained that she had called 3 or 4 river cruise companies because her husband has serious dietary restrictions. She got the answers she needed from the Avalon representative and here they were. During the cruise, I saw that as soon as they entered the dining room at lunch or dinner, the Maitre D came to their table with the menu and helped her husband to make his meal selections.

I could go on and on. Will we travel with other companies? Possibly, if there is a itinerary we see that we want to do.

I don't know what the travel agent for Casey12 is talking about. My money is on Avalon.

Low water, high water I believe that Avalon's logistical team has their Plan B and maybe Plan C worked out.

Travel Guard gold plan covers default of the tour operator. Travel Guard has a list of travel companies /tour operators which are NOT covered. You have to check that your tour operator is not on the list before you purchase the policy.

If you pay early by check or cashiers check, and if you have proper documentation of that early payment, and if you have a third party travelers insurance plan with default coverage, you will be ok and you will be reimbursed.

This is how Travel Guard writes their policy for default of the travel company. There are other companies that may also cover this situation.

CroisiEurope. One set meal sit down for lunch and dinner served in courses. No buffet for lunch. Lunch drawn out so that we barely had time to go back to cabin before afternoon tours. Assigned table for dinner for length of cruise. Some people have said you could ask for alternative meal, but we did not see that on our cruise. For us, it was boring to be at the same table with the same people all week. Crew was great, cabins small and bathroom was very small. You could hardly turn around in the shower. Large size window, not french balcony. We were on upper level of Ms France one way on Seine Paris to Normandy. Cruise we were on we were bused back to Paris. Ship was chartered by US based travel group.

Just saying due to most ships being sized to "just barely" fit the locks.... Look at the ships passenger count and compare the cabin size that you plan to book. More passengers does mean squeezing more cabins into pretty much the same space as a boat with a much smaller passenger count.

 

Just one of many measures to compare "Apples to Apples"

 

Me, I'll take the smaller passenger load and more space per passenger plus less passengers eating at same time.

But that's just me... Not you

Yes, yes me too. I have seen reports that on ships with larger passenger counts, it is hard to find adequate seating especially in the lounge for ports talks.

I know you asked about optionals, but if I were you I would make sure you go to Mainz to see the Gutenberg museum. Our local guide on Avalon literally "stepped into the shoes" of Johannes Gutenberg to show how he invented printing.

We absolutely fell in love with Strasbourg, France and really enjoyed the beauty of the city and the history. We had a lovely canal cruise here too. Our guide for the included and optional tours is one of the best local guides we have ever had. Kudos to Avalon for securing her. She is enthusiastic, very knowledgable, and of course, she loves her community.

We very much appreciate the design, function of the Avalon panorama suites at 200 sq feet.

We are getting ready to leave on our 4th Avalon adventure. Three in Europe and a Peru trip to Machu Pichu/Amazon. In September, we travel to Vietnam, Cambodia for our Mekong cruise.

One last suggestion. When you get down to pricing, please look at the online travel agents for great price reductions. The online company I use sells both Avalon and AMA. I am not permitted to give the compzny name, but do some searches and I am confident you will find them. I do all my research and when I am ready to "pull the trigger" I get the quotes from them.

Since Avalon is part if the Globus family, Globus offers a extra 5% off for returning customers.

Enjoy your planning and enjoy your cruise.

2014 June, ship Visionary

Amsterdam

Sunday - Choice of one of these in afternoon prior to sailing from Amsterdam prior to dinner

Dutch Village tour - Volendam and Edam

Rijksmuseum

Anne Frank house

Biking outside Amsterdam

Monday - Cologne - no optional excursion

Tuesday - Rudesheim optional German Dinner party evening

note: docked overnight Rudesheim sail 4:45 am

Wednesday - Mainz and Heidelberg - no optionals

Thursday - Strasbourg France

choice one of afternoon tours

French Wine Tasting in Alsace

Maginot Line

Friday - Breisach, Black Forest and Colmar, France

choice of one of two optional afternoon tours

Biking & E- biking (electric)

Excursion to Colmar, France

Saturday - disembark Basel am

Hope this helps

On our Avalon Rhine cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, we were given city maps each night in our room after we came back from the port talk and dinner. There was enough detail so that if you went on your own after the walking tour you could find your way back to the ship. These could also serve as a way to go off on your own.

In addition, at the start of the cruise we received a document to aid us as we were cruising. On each side bank of the Rhine there are numerical location markings. We were given the guide to those markings so we could look up where we were. I loved that. You could use the guide to easily tell the name of a town or what the landmark you just passed by.

Thank you. I really needed this information and the picture. We board Poetry II on July 4th. Are there sny other optionals that you liked or did not like.

How often this happens is difficult to answer. In our experience on two cruises (Danube and Rhine) I am remembering it happened once each cruise that we had to go up and over. There are many ships now and the rivers and towns are getting more crowded so it probably will happen more in the future.

When it happened on our Rhine trip, our Captain and Cruise Director were unaware ahead of time that the other ship was even going to be docked there and they had to go to Plan B to get us off the ship. There was a delay getting us off because the crew had to bring up planks for us to go from our ship to the other one.

Also I have not seen an elevator on a ship that goes to the sun deck.

Of course, if you have difficulty climbing up and down stairs, you will need to research which ships are best for you.

But, and this is a big one, you never know which ship from what company will show up rafted next to your ship.

I understand your concerns and I hope you find some others to relate their experiences.

Our experience with walking through another ship while the ships are side by side (rafting) is that we walked through the lobby only. On occasion we had to climb up stairs to the top deck and go over to get to shore or back on our vessel. So you have a limited view of the other ship. Sometimes during the dinner hour the ships would be lined up in a way that you could see the lounge or the dining room other ship.

Hope this helps explain the situation.

ship.

What is the dress code for men for the optional excursion in Monaco (Grace, Glamour and Glitter)?

Thanks

On tripadvisor Russia forum, Tom Harper journeys, page 9, post 84 is a email from Tom Harper regarding going out of business. I understand that not many people got an email.

Then google Travel Weekly magazine - May 18 regarding Tom Harper closing.

We were supposed to travel to S Africa with Tom Harper, leaving 5/22/15, fully paid by credit card. Have you already received a credit card refund? Tom Harper never notified us of the cancellation, but the insurance company confirmed that they are out of business. Do you have any additional information? A way to contact others who have the same problem?

Maxjayden4

Which insurance company are you referring to in regard to the confirmation that Tom Harper is out of business? What a mess. So sad.

We did a Seine river cruise Paris to Normandy the second week of May and it was too cool for us. It was too windy and cool to be on the top deck. Everyone on the cruise sat in the lounge anytime we were sailing. We prefer being outside when sailing so we can get better views and take better pictures. Our day in Normandy was windy, cool and rainy although the sun did come out in the afternoon.

I believe that a November cruise would be similar. Remember if you think you can sit in your cabin and see the sights, you are seeing only one side of the river and you may miss things. Also most river cruise lounges do not have couches or chairs arranged to offer the best outside viewing.

When I saw the picture of the canopy with the Viking name, it brought back memories of something I saw last June in Amsterdam at the river cruise docks near Central Station. We were docked there at the start of an Avalon cruise and when we left mid-morning for our included tour of Amsterdam, we saw a Viking canopy just like the one in the picture and it was full of unattended luggage. I could not believe that there was no one watching the luggage. When we came back 2 hours later, the canopy and the unattended luggage was there. Just another in my list of reasons to avoid Viking river cruises.

I looked at our documents from June 2014 and this is what I found:

Amsterdam

Zaanse Schans E34

Anne Frank E39

Rijksmuseum E39

Biking in the countryside E49*

Volendam and Edam Dutch village tours E34

* DH did biking and loved it. You take one of the free pedestrian/bike ferries from behind Central Station and are on countryside roads away from busy Amsterdam streets.

We arrived in Amsterdam 4 days early so we had taken care of other options akready.

Rudesheim - we did not do the dinner

Excursion to Back Forest from Strasbourg E78

We this and it was a long bus ride. We regreted this choice.

Last day Excursion to Colmar E39 OR

Biking through the Kaiserstuhl region. E39*

*DH did this and he would recommend it

We left boat at Basel and we transferred directly to the Zurich airport. On a previous trip many years ago, we traveled to Lucerne and other sites in Switzerland.

Sign onto MyAvalon after final payment 3 months prior to departure and see list of excursions and prices. You can sign up early. Consider signing up early for departure city. However, check cancellation rules.

Hope this helps.. Enjoy. This is. great cruise.

My 2 cents. Extend your trip in Budapest. It is a magical city and hire a guide to take you around the city and inside the most beautiful Parliament building. Avalon uses the Intercontinental hotel with views of the Chain Bridge. I upgraded our room to river view on a higher floor and that was welll worth it.

I totally agree with Caviargal. You just are not in your room enough to appreciate the suite. Also we choose the Sapphire (middle) deck on the Suite ships. Again there is no big advantage to pay more to be on the Royal deck. Also there is a very popular lounge at the back of the ship on the Royal deck. The only way to get there is to walk past the cabins on the Royal deck. So there is a little more traffic on that hallway.

On a river cruise, you want to be where you can see both sides of the river. That would be top deck, or forward or back lounge.

Enjoy,

the river cruise lines dock in an industrial area about 30 minutes from Nuremberg proper. Hotel is probably familiar with location. Have a great trip.

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience with high water and how well AMA handled the situation. It is always good to hear about a river cruise company that is prepared with a good Plan B. Glad that the rest of your river cruise went well.

Got our travel documents in the mail yesterday! Yay!

 

On a note of irritation. My and my wife's passports expire late March 2015, so months maybe a year ago, I checked every country we are visiting to see what the requirements were. Everyone of the countries, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Germany (flying thru) require a valid passport that is valid 3 months after we leave the country we are visiting as tourists. Yet the stupid documents from Avalon say 6 months. I know that there are countries in the world that require this but none that we are visiting. This caused me to lose sleep last night until I could check again with each country we are visiting.

 

Stupid cruise-line or lazy cruise-line.:mad:

 

jc

It is really helpful if the OP titles the thread specifically to the concern rather than the general title which was given - Avalon Waterways! My 2 cents.