Avalon question - our first cruise

[DocDave69]

Hi All,

My wife and I are very excited to be cruising on the Danube with Avalon Waterways in May (Budapest to Prague on A Visionary). This is our first cruise of any description; forgive the 'newbie' question. :o

We have just paid for the trip via our travel angent and wondered if we will hear from Avalon before we leave. We are anxious to look at tour options, schedule of sailing, tipping protocol (that might be a question for another thread!), etc.

Thanks in advance,

David

[pacmom]

Welcome to cruise critic!!!! There is a wealth of info here. Avalon will send all your pertinent info to your TA. Have never sailed with Avalon, but on all of ours the daily tours are included. There may be one or two optionals on the entire cruise. Check Avalon's web page for the tipping guidelines. Keep those questions coming. Someone here will be able to help you. Pat

[bobandjo]

We've also booked Avalon, in June, and our t.a. says we'll get a package from them explaining everything about 3 weeks prior to departure. You can also go to the Avalon website and login to "myavalon" top of the page using your booking #.

[Paulinda]

Bobandjo your TA is correct. You will get a package about 3 weeks prior to your sailing. It will have all sorts of information including what tours are included. I belive it also included the optional tours list. If I remember correctly most of the optional tours cost between 30 and 80 Euros per person. Some are worth it and some aren't. It depends on your interests.

 

The packet will also include a recommendation for tipping. The Cruise director will receive one envelope and the crew members will receive another envelope. The envelopes are anonymous so they don't know if you gave one or not.

 

I thought that there is now an option to pre-pay the tips and if I remember correctly pre-paying is much less than paying at the end of the trip. I believe we tipped around $300 US. You may want to budget your tips so you aren't surprised at the end. Recommendations are so much per person per day for both the CD and crew.

 

I'm sure there is a CC thread on this as lots of posters are appalled that you would be tipping crew members/cruise directors. IMO - you will see that the crew does earn the tips you give.

 

Use CC as a source of information before you go. You'll be well informed with all the knowledge that comes from this board.

 

BTW - May is a wonderful time to go. Enjoy

[webfoot]

There is a site called 'MyAvalon' which you can choose how you want the beds configured, put in emergency contact information, choose excursions, and several other things. You will need to set up an account using your email address and a password. Then when you log on, use the Avalon number that your TA will have on your reservation form. Easy to use. I am going to be pick out my excursions on 4/4.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy your cruisr!

 

Pat

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[webfoot]

Yes you can prepay your gratuities but this is done through your TA.

 

 

Pat

 

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[tassietravellers]

Hi David

 

we travelled with Avalon in August from Budapest to Amsterdam, you'll have a fantastic trip, we loved Avalon, food, crew, tours, ship were all great.

 

We had prepaid all of our tips, which was so easy..I think its normal practice for Australians booking with Avalon, but saying that, we still tipped a lovely waitress in the lounge and our very friendly and helpful cabin boy, nothing was ever too much trouble and by the 2nd morning we were Madam Debbie and Mr Christopher :). At the end of the cruise we had 2 vouchers to put in the tipping barrels, one for the CD and the other for the crew.

 

We received our package from Avalon, through our TA, about a month or more before sailing, but this could have been because we were leaving home more than 2 weeks before our cruise. I cant remember if it included the optional tours, I think we were just given a list of them on the first day of our cruise. We only did 2 of them, one to Cesky krumlov, which was such a beautiful place and another for Nuremburg Trials tour, very interesting, think they were around 40-50 euro each, which we thought wasnt too bad.

 

enjoy, Debbie

[bobandjo]

According to a letter from Avalon we can start booking our excursions through Mytravalon March 24 through June 12 for our June 23 departure. Lots of FAQs on Mytravalon that aren't on Avalon's main site.

[Cobbie48]

David, we are taking your cruise in reverse in June. It is our first river cruise too. Please come back and post a trip report

 

Karen

[DocDave69]

Wow! Thanks to all of you for taking the time answering my question. You have all been very helpful.

May I ask one more?

I'd like to use the Myavalon site but don't have a booking number yet. Does that come from my travel agent or from Avalon?

Thanks again everyone. What a great forum!

 

David

[Peacemkr59]

Hi All,

My wife and I are very excited to be cruising on the Danube with Avalon Waterways in May (Budapest to Prague on A Visionary). This is our first cruise of any description; forgive the 'newbie' question. :o

We have just paid for the trip via our travel angent and wondered if we will hear from Avalon before we leave. We are anxious to look at tour options, schedule of sailing, tipping protocol (that might be a question for another thread!), etc.

Thanks in advance,

David

 

David, Just curious what the date of your sailing is. I have friends doing this same cruise on the Visionary in May also!!

[DocDave69]

> Peacemkr59

We leave Budapest May 27.

 

 

David Manuel

[webfoot]

The booking number was on my confirmation from the TA. Check with your TA.

 

Pat

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[cbb]

You know that you can go to the Avalon website and click on your tour and then click on the "file tab" that says "excursions?"

 

There is a list for each port of excursions offered and the price. There is also a more detailed itinerary but sometimes weather and other problems outside of the captain's control can alter slightly the itinerary. We were once held up at a locks for quite some time which decreased our time at the next port.

 

Avalon is excellent and your itinerary is great. I hope you love river cruising as much as we do.

[bobandjo]

Booking # was also on the letter to my t.a. confirming the reservation. I had it the next day after he'd booked it along with several more letters to me from Avalon but through the t.a. Top right hand side under the Avalon logo.

[goose30]

No need to book anything in advance. The river cruises have less than 200 people on board and the cruise director will handle everything for you. Most excursions are included. The cruise director will inform you of any optional tours and accept payment. No fear of getting over booked.

[franski]

Sometimes it is nice to know what is being offered - even if you don't pre-book before you board.

 

If there is something you really want to see along the way, you can find out if it is part of the included excursion, offered as an optional --> or start looking into how you can see if for yourself. If you wait until you are on board, you may not find it as easy to arrange things.

 

Fran

[DocDave69]

Thanks again everyone. I got my booking number and have logged onto MyAvalon. Now we're 'good to go'! (Pun intended)

 

 

David Manuel