All Things Avalon

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

Our Avalon Cruise was seriously diminished by rain and disco in the lounge which may an useless retreat.

Fortunately we had a premium cabin - larger.

However, Avalon is off our list of River Cruise ships. The land package was great.

The excursions and entertainment were very disappointing.

Our Avalon Cruise was seriously diminished by rain and disco in the lounge which may an useless retreat.

 

Fortunately we had a premium cabin - larger.

 

However, Avalon is off our list of River Cruise ships. The land package was great.

 

The excursions and entertainment were very disappointing.

Really? I've never read any complaints like that before. Can you be more specific. They hardly have control over the weather.

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

You will have a wonderful time! We loved our Avalon cruise! The service was top notch, the excursions were all interesting and the scenery was beautiful! Can’t wait to book my 2018 cruise with Avalon.

Not sure what the other poster is referring to. We had no disco music. We had a piano player. One night a country singer sang and the whole crowd really enjoyed it. It was fun!

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You will have a wonderful time! We loved our Avalon cruise! The service was top notch, the excursions were all interesting and the scenery was beautiful! Can’t wait to book my 2018 cruise with Avalon.

Not sure what the other poster is referring to. We had no disco music. We had a piano player. One night a country singer sang and the whole crowd really enjoyed it. It was fun!

 

 

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That's why I asked for clarification???

I've always heard remarks like yours.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Our Danube Cruise was September 2016

At that time they had loud disco music. Maybe my complaint (and others worked).

The rain was beyond their control - but that meant the top deck was useless and the best option for the evening was the lounge - expect for the disco music.

Re the Excursions. Our excursion in Vienna was to one of the castles. The pouring rain was not Avalon's fault - sending us out to visit the Garden after a brief tour of the exhibits was their fault. They could have expanded the tour inside.

And in Salzburg, the guide did a short walk around the town - then left us on our own.

Reading about some of the more up scale Cruise Lines such as Scenic showed they took you to the key sites.

But they cost a little more money - so perhaps you get what you pay for. Not that Avalon is inexpensive, just less that the 5 star lines. I would give them 3 stars - including considering only one option for dinner and set time.

I am sure you will enjoy your trip and have a great time (perhaps unless rain dampens your experience). Just, in my view, if you can afford next time step up to a higher class such as Crystal. I know we will

Our Danube Cruise was September 2016

 

At that time they had loud disco music. Maybe my complaint (and others worked).

 

The rain was beyond their control - but that meant the top deck was useless and the best option for the evening was the lounge - expect for the disco music.

 

Re the Excursions. Our excursion in Vienna was to one of the castles. The pouring rain was not Avalon's fault - sending us out to visit the Garden after a brief tour of the exhibits was their fault. They could have expanded the tour inside.

 

And in Salzburg, the guide did a short walk around the town - then left us on our own.

 

Reading about some of the more up scale Cruise Lines such as Scenic showed they took you to the key sites.

 

But they cost a little more money - so perhaps you get what you pay for. Not that Avalon is inexpensive, just less that the 5 star lines. I would give them 3 stars - including considering only one option for dinner and set time.

 

I am sure you will enjoy your trip and have a great time (perhaps unless rain dampens your experience). Just, in my view, if you can afford next time step up to a higher class such as Crystal. I know we will

Thanks for your reply. Excursions don't bother me, as I like to explore and usually know what I want to see before I go. I'm a history buff, and have been to Europe lots, but not to Budapest or Prague. I agree that kind of music all the time would be annoying.

I have a friend that was just on Scenic and his shore excursions were almost the same as the ones offered on my cruise. He also mentioned that he saw lots of people from different lines on his tours.

there are 10 of us going so I'm sure we'll have a good time. The weather should be better as it's in July. I will take a small umbrella just in case.

On this cruise there are several different places to eat, and I know next yr Avalon is changing their eating from "set time" to come anytime between certain hrs. Enjoy Crystal:D:D

We never had disco music in the lounge on our Avalon cruise. There was a pianist that played in the evenings. Those who didn't want to listen to that we able to go upstairs to the deck or to the quiet lounge on the back of the boat. We loved everything about our cruise. We were really lucky however because there were only 52 people on it and never really felt crowded or herded around. We liked the brief tours and then the on our own time to explore but I'm not much a of a group tour person anyway. I think you are going to have an amazing time!

nice to hear. I have no doubt that we'll have a great time. Never had a bad cruise.

I think there will be more than 52 on our cruise. It looks like it's almost sold out.

nice to hear. I have no doubt that we'll have a great time. Never had a bad cruise.

I think there will be more than 52 on our cruise. It looks like it's almost sold out.

We went a few months after the Paris bombings and we ended in Paris so I think that it had a big impact on the level of sales.

I am responding to JohnOClark. We have highly enjoyed 6 Avalon river cruises starting in 2013 and our most recent one 2 months ago. We have never had disco music. Avalon takes you to all the “key sites” just as every other river line does. In Vienna, the excursion to Schronbrunn Palace is very important from a historical perspective as it show cases the Habsburg Empire. The Habsburg ‘s ruled for almost four hundred years throughout most of what we now call Europe. Anyone cruising the Danube will also hear about the Habsburg’s in Melk at the famous abbey. Salsburg France is one of our most favorite visits. We will never forget our history lesson that morning.

Question for you JohnOClark - Have you traveled on Crystal cruises? I personally do not compare cruise lines unless I have traveled on each of them.

Of course, there are more expensive cruise lines. I do not want to pay more for options that we do not need or want.

Dear Senior Lady. I am sure that you will have a great time.

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

I highly recommend you visit Cesky Krumlov if you can get there, and also take a tour of the Jewish area in Prague. Those were the highlights of my Avalon Xmas market cruise last December, especially when it snowed, making Cesky Krumlov a winter wonderland of exquisite beauty. Of course you won’t have that in the summer, but you will be able to walk around without sliding in the snow!

Have a great time. Avalon is a wonderful line and very good value for Singles too, as they can get the larger panoramic rooms with no single supplement, saving thousands of $$ compared to lines like Scenic and Viking. The quality of all river cruise lines seems to be good so no worries about that.

tedly1960..... Thank you for your great remarks. I'm not worried about enjoying the cruise. I love any kind of cruising. This is just going to be very different for all of us. I go to Europe every couple of years as I have a good friend that lives there. We are booking the

the traditional Czech Dinner and show. I'm thinking that will be a great way to end the cruise and start our 3 days in Prague.This is a pkg Avalon put together, so we have 2 days in Budapest, 7 day cruise and then 3 days in Prague.

As I said there are 10 of us going so I'm sure we will all have a fun time.

I've been checking the weather and it ranges from very hot to thundershowers. Europe in July has many ranges as it does here in Vancouver....lol

thanks everyone for your great suggestions. I've got some of my group coming for dinner tonight so we can look over the cute books they sent us and decide if any of us wants to do the extra excursions.:D

Whatever you do, do NOT miss Cesky Krumlov, which is an excursion from Prague. One of the most beautiful places ever!

Whatever you do, do NOT miss Cesky Krumlov, which is an excursion from Prague. One of the most beautiful places ever!

I just checked and it's not offered on our cruise or days in Prague.

How far is it and is it difficult to get there on our own?

There are many private tours from Prague to CK and I think they have a special bus that goes there if you google it. I forget where our excursion was from but we went from one of the ports before Prague. It is worth going to.

Thanks, I'll look into it.:D

I just checked and it's not offered on our cruise or days in Prague.

 

How far is it and is it difficult to get there on our own?

On our Avalon cruise the Cesky Krumlov optional tour was offered from our stop in Linz Austria. We were glad we took the tour. It was a beautiful little town and our guide talked a lot about life after communism in the Czech Republic. We learned a lot.

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I just looked in book and it's offered for us when we are in Passau

I just looked in book and it's offered for us when we are in Passau

I think that is where we took it. It was unbelievable in the snow! Dont miss it.

I second that. We got off the Danube coming from Budapest to Nuremberg last Friday the 15th and water levels were fine. And agree with the OP who said it was far warmer than they expected. Same for us. I never expected to be so hot and wished I had packed more short sleeves and cropped or even shorter (Capri) pants.

Does anyone know what hotel Avalon is using in Amsterdam this summer?

We are booked on Imagery II July 21 out of Amsterdam and received our cruise docs today. We are booked in Room Mate Aitana Hotel in Amsterdam.

We are booked on Imagery II July 21 out of Amsterdam and received our cruise docs today. We are booked in Room Mate Aitana Hotel in Amsterdam.

I'm doing the pre-cruise night on our own and then hoping to catch the shuttle to the river boat with rest of Avalon cruisers......am willing to pay for the shuttle...just not the price for the hotel through Avalon.

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We are booked on the Avalon Affinity for July 2018 Best of Switzerland and Romantic Rhine ending in Amsterdam. We have used cruise critic each time we have cruised and have had the comfort and pleasure of conversing on the computer with people who have taken the cruise prior or the ones that are booked on the same cruise. We cannot find anyone that has posted a message or any information on the roll calls or boards for this cruise on cruise critic.

If you took this cruise or are on one of the July sailings would you be nice enough to message me so that we can start a helpful thread to all passengers taking this itinerary...starting in Zurich.

Look forward to hearing from fellow passengers!