Avalon, Viking or Uniworld?

[arby70]

I think all 3 of these companies offer a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. I have read that the food on the river cruise companies is not very good. They're pretty high priced, so I would expect the food to be pretty good. Any truth to this?

 

Also, I know that Viking and Avalon have excursions in the ports that require no extra charge. I have also read that these excursions take place quite early so that they return in time to get people back to the ship to do paid excursions. Is this how it works or am I getting the wrong idea?

 

Anybody out there that has traveled with all 3 and have a preference? If so, can you tell me why you prefer that line over the other 2?

 

Thanks ahead of time for helping me out here.

[hobse]

arby70,

 

I'll try and answer a little. We haven't been on Viking but have been on Uniworld (2005) and Avalon (2006).

 

Food: You know it is always subjective, some like meat/potatoes and some gourmet. From our experience, we preferred the food on Uniworld. It was overall better quality, taste and choice of items. While some things on Avalons menu were good, we were a bit disappointed in much of it.

 

Excursions: It didn't seem to work that way to us. If they did plan it that way we didn't notice. River trips seem to be fairly port intensive. On Uniworld we didn't have any optional excursions, and I think there were five options on Avalon. I think most tours and time in town are mostly based on necessary cruising times and to maximize the time. But most tours do begin fairly early.

 

Do a search on my previous posts and you'll see some comments. Any questions, please ask.

[paul929207]

We have only been on Uniworld (2003), so I can't compare them.

 

The food was good, but not outstanding. I always found plenty to eat.

 

In 21 days on the boat from Bucharest to Amsterdam, we were offered 4 optional excursions. All the rest were included. Some were morning tours, but usually we sailed those afternoons. Like hobse, I never got the feeling they were rushing us off early to get us back so we could pay for another excursion.

[nvphyl]

We have been on only one river cruise. That was with Viking, Amsterdam to Vienna, in May of this year. Loved everything from start to finish. We thought the food had plenty of variety & was very good. They had maybe 3 or 4 optional tours for anyone interested. We enjoyed the regular tours & didn't feel rushed or encouraged to take the optional ones. We plan to do another cruise in the Spring & that will most likely be with Viking.

I'm sure you'll enjoy any trip you choose.:)

[orchestrapal]

Take a look at Vantage.. They have the newest River Boats and get consistently high praise for food, cabins and service. We are trying the River Discovery- Amsterdam to Budapest in October '08. If you can swing the cost the jr.suites and owners suite look like real cabins with space not to bump into one another.

[raf411]

Hi Arby70,

We took a Viking cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Antwerp, Belgium in April of this year on the Viking Sun and totally loved it! Service was OUTSTANDING, food was excellent and lots of variey, and servings weren't huge which suited us fine! Most times, they were more than we could eat anyway. More than enough but not huge like you get in some places. We casually mentioned to the chef there not being onions for the make your own salads and voila, from that point forward, there were chopped onions for salads and even in the morning to go with the meat, including lox and vegetables served at breakfast! Couldn't ask for better service than that!

 

A full "travelog" is posted on our website: tomandruth.us under "Rhine Cruise" if you'd like to take a peek!!

 

Totally agree with "nvphyl's" post! The price may sound expensive, however, it does include tours every day you're in port. And at the time we booked our cruise, it included trip insurance!

 

We were fortunate to have been in Amsterdam in April as Keukenhof Gardens was open (it's only open ~2 months / year) and one of 3 optional tours they offered on the trip was to Keukenhof in the afternoon after an included morning tour to Rijksmuseum. Yes, we'd had lunch back on board.

 

The one day we took a tour that bridged the lunch hour, lunch was included in the tour.

 

Highly recommend Viking even though we've not taken trips on the other 2 you mentioned.

 

Ruth

[Grumpy7]

We were on Viking Danube to Budapest summer of 06.

I think your request may be difficult because if travelers like a line, they usually will stay with it.

The food was good, all excursions were covered except one optional to a castle in the afternoon and a concert in Vienna one evening. The tours left in the morning and then finished in time to do some things on your own after.

There were no other optional tours. No pressure, no nothing.

Just an enjoyable week plus 3 days prior in Prague. Same thing in Prague with pre-cruise tour. They were in the morning, then you had free time in the afternnon.

A real class operation.

 

We are booked on Hong Kong and China with them for next Summer.

Also there, everything included.

 

The people we met on the river cruises had already been all over and were well traveled and didn't demand good service, food etc. They expected a certain level and got it. We were all glad that we weren't nickeled and dimed with other tours and extras.

We booked before a certain time and got a special airfare.

 

With China, we booked before a certain date a received a certain amount off.

They run different discounts different times.

[cmthomas]

Look at it this way...if the satisfaction scale on river cruises is 1-100 you will find that just about all of the lines catering to the North American business will rank between 97-99.9. That means that the worst of the lot is still pretty darned good!

 

It says something about the industry when you find that many people develop a loyalty after only one cruise so they never get to see the competition and could care less as they are satisfied.

 

Our resident expert, Steamboats, has repeatedly said that the way to chose a river cruise is first, select the itinerary (especially towns that you really want to see), then consider the amenities: such things as the age of the boat, if they serve free wine with meals and how many "optional at extra cost" excursions they offer, then lastly the price.

 

When we first started traveling internationally some 37 years ago a wise person told me an adage that has served us well over the years, "You will remember the trip long after you forget how much you paid for it!" So true.

 

Clarence:)

[drlee]

We have done Avalon (Bucharest to Prague via Nurenburg) and Viking (Paris to Normandy. Both trips were exceptional, but I would give Avalon the nod for the better trip for the following reasons:

 

1. Avalon includes wine with dinner.....and Viking's wines/corkage fees are way too high. You can certainly buy local wine cheaper than is available on board ship (in the case of Viking), but Avalon's wine was plentiful and very good regional wine.

 

2. Service was comperable for the two lines, but the cruise staff on Viking was not nearly as knowledgeable nor helpful as on Avalon. Sure, it could just be the particular trip we were on, but Viking offered no lectures, and the daily "port talk" was no more than what you could find on your written itinerary.

 

3. The food on Viking was good, but the food on Avalon was exeptional.

 

Neither of these two lines would give you a bad cruise. And, river cruising is such fun anyway, it would be tough to spoil any trip. We just felt that you get better "for the money" on Avalon...although it's a little higher cost.