Just back from Avalon Panorama

[webfoot]

Avalon is really good at follow-ups. Two years ago when we were ready to leave for our trip, our 'package' had not yet arrived. They sent us a pdf with all of the information that we needed, sent a special booklet to our CD, and had flowers delivered to our stateroom. We have no hesitation about traveling with Avalon again!

[BPCruiser]

BPCruiser, thanks for posting that and now I really do think the issue with the food is directly related to the chef on Panorama.

 

I have no doubt the server with the attitude is the same person as she is certainly not the level of staff we have experienced in the past with Avalon. My husband said that perhaps this was her last cruise and that is why she was so consistently rude. Perhaps they are not renewing her contract, which IMO they should not as she does not represent them well.

 

I agree that Peter is very good and we resolved the wine issue by staying far away from tables that were in her station. We also avoided her in the bar. On such a small ship it is not always easy as dining tables are not assigned and sometimes one cannot avoid sitting in a particular section. We learned to stay on the side of the dining room with Johny and Alexandra and did not have a problem after night 2.

 

Stefan is a magician in the kitchen. We did a galley tour with him and were amazed at what he and his staff were able to produce in such tight quarters. And he was also quite the showman during the crew show.:)

 

Yes, I truly do hope to see Stefan on a future Avalon Cruise. If Avalon is monitoring these Boards, I hope they realize what an asset he is to their company. His food dishes rivaled some of the best we have eaten in many fine restaurants anywhere! And yes, he was the star of the Crew Talent show! As far as the female server in the Dining Room, we never saw her in the Bar. She had short blonde hair, wore glasses and had a heavy eastern european accent, rarely smiled or interacted with the table guest and always seemed nervous, flustered and rushing. She even dropped her serving tray one night with plates as she was re-entering the galley, you can imagine the noise! She just did not fit the bill of the rest of the always friendly, smiling, relaxed and interactive Dining Room servers....hence the attitude about the wine being served after the entrees were on the table. It was amazing how her attitude changed after we asked to speak to the Restaurant Manager, Peter. If she is the same one you had, she does not deserve to have her contract renewed. Not a good representative of the type of employee Avalon uses. It was always a pleasure to enter the Dining Room and see Peter's smiling face there to greet us and sometimes even serve us soup at the Lunch Buffet. Always the Professional Restaurant Manager with a smile making sure all went well:)

[caviargal]

Yes, I truly do hope to see Stefan on a future Avalon Cruise. If Avalon is monitoring these Boards, I hope they realize what an asset he is to their company. His food dishes rivaled some of the best we have eaten in many fine restaurants anywhere! And yes, he was the star of the Crew Talent show! As far as the female server in the Dining Room, we never saw her in the Bar. She had short blonde hair, wore glasses and had a heavy eastern european accent, rarely smiled or interacted with the table guest and always seemed nervous, flustered and rushing. She even dropped her serving tray one night with plates as she was re-entering the galley, you can imagine the noise! She just did not fit the bill of the rest of the always friendly, smiling, relaxed and interactive Dining Room servers....hence the attitude about the wine being served after the entrees were on the table. It was amazing how her attitude changed after we asked to speak to the Restaurant Manager, Peter. If she is the same one you had, she does not deserve to have her contract renewed. Not a good representative of the type of employee Avalon uses. It was always a pleasure to enter the Dining Room and see Peter's smiling face there to greet us and sometimes even serve us soup at the Lunch Buffet. Always the Professional Restaurant Manager with a smile making sure all went well:)

 

Actually, I remember the blonde as well but the server we had issues with was named Eva and had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. She also sported some seriously painted on eyebrows. Between those and her personality, she soon earned an appropriate nickname not suitable to post on a message board. :)

 

I agree that the food put out by Stefan and his staff rivaled many fine dining restaurants we have been to. Since we had him on both Affinity and Luminary, the bar was set very high and so were our expectations. He also has a personality as big as he is tall.

 

Peter is an excellent dining room manager. My husband actually spoke to the hotel manager, Dan, about the food compared to past cruises. I think the chefs' control what comes from their kitchen though so there is little anyone can do, though our table did offer to step into the kitchen and cook one evening. :D

[stretchcruz]

Obviously, with some of my duplicate posts my "smartphone" is not always smart and doesn 't always show what I posted earlier!!!

 

Caviargal, was your guide in Prague the friend that Jana recommended? If so, I'm glad she/he worked out for you, as we certainly enjoyed Jana immensely.

 

I'm happy that Avalon is addressing this issue (I do notice, caviargal, that your original post was cut back) and I'm sure we can all look forward to very good Avalon cruises in the future!!

[caviargal]

Yes, it was Jana's friend, Andrea, and she was a delight!

 

And yes, I did cut it back a bit.

[stretchcruz]

I'm really glad she worked out, we sure loved Jana! She was a big highlight of our cruise.

[blingbling]

We're happy to respond. Complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks are served throughout dinner. We're looking into caviargal's experience further.

 

I'm so glad Avalon is following this recent failure to meet the cruiser's expectations. I would recommend that future cruisers "like" Avalon Waterways on Facebook and post immediately while you are on the cruise, so insufficiencies can be addressed immediately. Caviargirl has been a great resource throughout her planning, so I am sorry to hear her repeat experience with Avalon was marred.

Karen

[bradycreel]

We're happy to respond. Complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks are served throughout dinner. We're looking into caviargal's experience further.

 

I was on the same cruise and experienced the same practice — wine was not poured after the main course. In fact, it became more difficult to get beverages — water, tea, coffee, etc. — as we moved through the meal.

 

Further, my companions and I found the wine to be subpar and, in some cases, completely unacceptable. After the first night, we brought our own wine to the dining room for each meal and did not consume any house wine. (We were the guests about whom others said, "They just opened another bottle of champagne...." Despite what I was told by the Globus sales agent, we were never offered sparkling wine with dinner.)

 

My full review of the cruise is forthcoming, but I wanted to weigh in on this and to take credit for the pianist caviargirl mentioned — that's Basil from my group. :)

[caviargal]

I was on the same cruise and experienced the same practice — wine was not poured after the main course. In fact, it became more difficult to get beverages — water, tea, coffee, etc. — as we moved through the meal.

 

Further, my companions and I found the wine to be subpar and, in some cases, completely unacceptable. After the first night, we brought our own wine to the dining room for each meal and did not consume any house wine. (We were the guests about whom others said, "They just opened another bottle of champagne...." Despite what I was told by the Globus sales agent, we were never offered sparkling wine with dinner.)

 

My full review of the cruise is forthcoming, but I wanted to weigh in on this and to take credit for the pianist caviargirl mentioned — that's Basil from my group. :)

 

I agree about the quality of the wine. It was certainly not as good as on past cruises. When I saw that they were pouring from 1.5L bottles I knew we were in trouble. :( We brought on wine and champagne from each port as well.

 

Please tell Basil that my husband is the photographer who was taking pictures that evening and will send him the ones he promised as soon as he had time to get them downloaded and edited. We so enjoyed the music that evening!

 

I will be looking forward to your review.:)

[BPCruiser]

Avalon, obviously things went significantly wrong on this specific Panorama cruise as far as the Dining and free - flowing wine for those on this sailing. Many of us who are loyal Avalon supporters from past cruisers as well as travelers considering a new river cruise with Avalon would love to hear what exactly went wrong and what is the problem with the Dining Menu and alcohol policy on the Panorama? We all hope you are monitoring these posts and can give many of us a clear understanding of the situation and what to expect on future sailings with Avalon, if on the Panorama or any of it's new upcoming ships.

 

It is quite obvious that a really good Dining experience as well as good selections of free flowing wines throughout the entire evening Dinner meal is a high priority to many people choosing Avalon or any other river cruise line. If this policy is changing, then Avalon needs to change their advertising in their brochure.

[jeffkauf]

I am posting this specifically for the eyes of the Avalon rep that interacts with this board. My wife and I are considering taking our first European River cruise. We have taken over 70 cruise ship vacations and sail mostly with Silversea and Crystal. Partly on the basis of what we have read on the CC River Cruising boards we have decided NOT TO SAIL with Avalon. No need to disuade me. As I said, reps from the vaious lines, if for no other reason but based on my decision, should NEVER underestimate the power and influence of reviews found here. Thank you.

[caviargal]

My wife and I are considering taking our first European River cruise. We have taken over 70 cruise ship vacations and sail mostly with Silversea and Crystal. .

 

With your cruising history, Tauck would be a better fit IMO as it will offer a more luxurious experience, more in line with Silversea and Crystal. Or consider Premicon Queen if an international guest list appeals.

[pingpong1]

Are the complimentary (or otherwise) "sparkling wines" just offered/served at breakfast time with only "flat" wines served at dinner? It sounds like Caviargirl and her friends really know how to party! I'm sorry I haven't been on any cruises with her.... yet! :)

[pingpong1]

Apologies!....."Caviargal".....

[caviargal]

Are the complimentary (or otherwise) "sparkling wines" just offered/served at breakfast time with only "flat" wines served at dinner? It sounds like Caviargirl and her friends really know how to party! I'm sorry I haven't been on any cruises with her.... yet! :)

 

We do like to have a good time and generally travel with or meet similarly minded people.:D

 

There is only non sparkling wine at dinner in my experience.

[jeffkauf]

With your cruising history, Tauck would be a better fit IMO as it will offer a more luxurious experience, more in line with Silversea and Crystal. Or consider Premicon Queen if an international guest list appeals.

 

Thank you for your suggestion. The ship (Premicon Queen) is clearly plus ultra, however it does not offer the Amsterdam/Budapest itinerary we are looking for. The boat is (or will be) part of a German river cruise line called TUI which clearly caters to German guests. I will look into Tauck, and AMA seems like it may be a good fit.

[Island Cruiser]

We are booked Tauck Budapest/Amsterdam departing 10/9. We booked AMA initially but switched to Tauck in response to AMA's quality problems in Russia. We booked October in the hope of seeing some fall colors. We also like jacket weather. We have a suite booked on the Tauck cruise and have very high expectations.

[caviargal]

Thank you for your suggestion. The ship (Premicon Queen) is clearly plus ultra, however it does not offer the Amsterdam/Budapest itinerary we are looking for. The boat is (or will be) part of a German river cruise line called TUI which clearly caters to German guests. I will look into Tauck, and AMA seems like it may be a good fit.

 

I know that Premicon Queen has very limited itineraries and a mostly European clientele - it looks lovely though and has always intrigued me.

 

We totally enjoyed our very recent AMA cruise and felt that there was a lot of attention to detail in every aspect of the experience. Food was very good to excellent and the wines quite nice as well. We liked the choice of tours (walking and biking as well as activity level) and some of the special events they had for us in port.

 

The friends we were with on AMA in November really enjoyed the experience as well and we are all booked for this year on their brand new ship, the AmaCerto, which looks really lovely.

[Ozjohnno]

Thank you for your suggestion. The ship (Premicon Queen) is clearly plus ultra, however it does not offer the Amsterdam/Budapest itinerary we are looking for. The boat is (or will be) part of a German river cruise line called TUI which clearly caters to German guests. I will look into Tauck, and AMA seems like it may be a good fit.

 

We cruised with Tauck last September from Amsterdam to Budapest and if you're looking for an all inclusive tour, with a maximum of 118 passengers, a cruise director and three additional Tauck tour directors to oversee all the excursions plus the included dinner and concert in Vienna that will astound you then I suggest Tauck is for you. I have a review on our trip which I'm sure you can find using the search function if you so desire.

[keenmolly]

We are a party of 4 booked Budapest to Amsterdam April 25 on the Panorama we will be monitoring this thread and expect that Avalon will publish here how they have solved this problem of unacceptable food portions and quality along with quantity and quality of wine .

We booked this cruise based on promotional brochures from Avalon and also feed back from previous Avalon passengers if no assurance can be made by Avalon re this problem we will be forced to cancel.

[keenmolly]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=94824

Just read this review and we are starting to worry about the people we have booked with

Please someone from Avalon reassure us that this is not going to be the trend

[goose30]

While I value your opinion. I think your review is somewhat harsh. Low water levels on European rivers are nothing new. You should have checked yourself and cancelled if you thought your trip would have been affected and not to your liking.

 

I don't understand your issue with Vienna. Did the trip not end at your final destination? 259 euros for Vienna is not overly expensive. Why the extra 100 euros?

[nordski]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=94824

Just read this review and we are starting to worry about the people we have booked with

Please someone from Avalon reassure us that this is not going to be the trend

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think the entire review was coloured by the unfortunate and luckily rare (to this point) extreme drought that severely affected the rivers in the fall of 2011. For example, at the beginning of the cruise gathering in the lounge before having access to the staterooms is common practice. Can't speak to whether people were "herded like cattle".

 

As goose30 points out, river levels both high and low can have an impact, and all cruise lines seem to have stuggled with the unusual challenges this past season.

 

For peace of mind, you might consider "cancel for any reaon" insurance to cover these eventualities. However, to this point, river cruises have not been as seriously affected as they were last fall. In most cases they provide a wonderful experience.

[caviargal]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think the entire review was coloured by the unfortunate and luckily rare (to this point) extreme drought that severely affected the rivers in the fall of 2011. For example, at the beginning of the cruise gathering in the lounge before having access to the staterooms is common practice. Can't speak to whether people were "herded like cattle".

 

As goose30 points out, river levels both high and low can have an impact, and all cruise lines seem to have stuggled with the unusual challenges this past season.

 

For peace of mind, you might consider "cancel for any reaon" insurance to cover these eventualities. However, to this point, river cruises have not been as seriously affected as they were last fall. In most cases they provide a wonderful experience.

 

I agree that this review is more about the overall affect of the drought situation than the ship since they were only aboard for 2 days.

 

While we were disappointed in Panorama, it was because of actual issues experienced on the cruise and not a situation created by mother nature.

[pingpong1]

I seemed to have "missed something here"? I just went back to the original post from Caviargal on Page 1 and have read the entire thread again. Her original post was actually pretty complimentary of Avalon and the condition of the new ship - Panaroma. She praised the amenities, the staff, the staterooms and the overall appearace. I didn't see any mention in her post about water levels or problems in Vienna. Did I miss something?

 

The main point of her review was that based upon her past (positive) experience/s with Avalon, she felt that the overall quality of food and wine served on this particular cruise/ship had greatly deteriorated below the level she had previously encountered and had come to expect from Avalon. Several of the first follow-on posts (including mine) stayed on this same theme and were wondering if this marked a general "trend" across Avalon's fleet, or whether it was a "once-only" regretable occurence. We expressed the hope that Avalon was going to investigate and quickly correct. I think we've all been waiting for some reply and reassurance from Avalon. This was not something that just happened to one cruiser. Presumably, all the guests were being served the same food and wine.

 

We all hope that what Caviargal experienced in the "wine and food" department on that particular ship and on that particular cruise would not be repeated on other cruises and ships in the fleet. We are looking to Avalon for some reassurance that we made the "right choice" in our cruise selection/s and that they are committed (for the sake of their customer base) to maintaining their own past-stated level of excellence in the food and wine department. Nobody is blaming them for things beyond their control (like water levels) . It seems that Goose30 and Nordski's posts started to move the orginal thread in a different direction. Do I have this all wrong? Regards to all.