MS Excellence Rhone / ms Excellence Queen

[BarneyCat]

Hi

 

First time river cruiser, and appear to have broken every rule I've found on this forum - about four weeks ago we booked a two week river cruise that leaves this Saturday!

 

We're flying from the UK to Marseilles and joining the ms Excellence Rhone in Arles. A week later, having cruised our way up to Switzerland, we get driven to Basel and meet the ms Excellence Queen for a week travelling up to Amsterdam.

 

We got a great price,good flight times and a class A balcony room on the upper deck so all sounds good so far. I'm really looking forward to the trip and it sounds like we'll be seeing lots of places and lots of castles, which will keep my other half happy!

 

I'm hoping for some feedback, some suggestions, some experiences from those who've travelled on these boats, or any more general advice for us. We're relatively young for the river cruising scene at 32, but have done more than a dozen ocean cruises including ones where we were the youngest by a long way. We like good food, good wine, seeing new places and getting plenty of time to relax and watch the world go by.

 

Have we made a horrible mistake? What can we expect? Why is there so little information online about these boats?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Barneycat

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here's what we've got on Cruise Critic about them:

MS Excellence Queen:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1058

MS Excellence Rhone:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1059

Travelmarvel cruise line:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=197

[BarneyCat]

Thanks for the links, but they seem to be the only online record of the boats except the "testimonials" on the Travelmarvel website, of which I'm naturally sceptical. I was hoping for some personal thoughts, feedback, reviews.

 

I guess we'll just have see! Flying out tomorrow to meet the first boat in the South of France. Wish us luck!

Edited March 27, 2015 by BarneyCat

[notamermaid]

Hello BarneyCat,

 

as you are now on your way to Arles - amazing place by the way - you might not read this before you come back home. But here goes anyway: both ships are based in Basel. They belong to the Excellence Group and are chartered by the company you are travelling with. Most passengers on most of the cruises are therefore German (at least have been in previous years) and reviews are available in German on various websites. They seem to be mostly favourable. However, as you are travelling on a chartered cruise you might have a different experience as regards crew, fellow passengers, food, excursions, etc.

 

Go with the flow and have fun!

 

notamermaid

[BarneyCat]

Thanks notamermaid and hello from Arles. The boat is only half full, at 72 pax, and most of them are Australian, with maybe ten or twelve Brits.

 

I think I shall have to make sure I write down a review of the journey so there's some record online!

 

Some first impressions from us, in case others find this thread:

 

Free wifi and 10 mb speeds which is good

Room quite small but nice enough. Twin beds pushed together. Bathroom lovely and almost as big as the room itself

Yes you do get boats next to you - 24 hours so far or having an Avalon boat tied to our side

The crew don't speak great english - management obviously do, the waiting staff need repetition and clarity. Last night I ordered pork and received cod.

Gin and tonic an extortionate 7.70€. Large glass of wine just 4€ in comparison

Breakfast served 7-9 and then pastries for later risers 9.30-10.30

When they say the trip is leaving at nine, they mean it. We left out room at 8.58 this morning and were the last on the coach