It was the inaugural cruise for the ship after commissioning, with a recently hired Captain from another cruise company, an unfamiliar cruise director (in her introduction, she apologized to all for the rest of the cruise as she is primarily a Rhine river cruise director), and a crew that appeared to be have been assembled hastily from other cruise ships and new employers. What would have been a very promising itinerary resulted into barely average and rather unwelcome surprises on a daily basis on board. The hotel, location, and Budapest itself were wonderful, and It gave us quite an anticipation for the cruise (wished we had stayed there half of the cruise).

Alas, the inexperience cruise staff, an arrogant company Chef (who was assigned to train the cooks and servers during the cruise), and a very young and unaccommodating bar tender forced many of the passengers to find ways to entertain themselves. The local guides salvaged what would have been a regretful experience throughout. I commend the more experience staff members who tried their best, but ended up spending more time training and correcting the mistakes of the younger, new crew members than servicing the needs of their clients. Much like Budapest, the hotel and location in Prague was convenient and service wonderful. We are definitely returning to Budapest and Prague (Bratislava thirdly).

We were quite disappointed and we do not think we got our money's worth. It does not matter how new the ship is, nor the how much bigger the cabin size and better amenities, if the crew and its cruise director are not up to the job, we would prefer an older ship with a more experienced crew. We will give Avalon one more chances by taking a cruise on the ship we had on the Rhine river cruise 5 years ago, the Affinity. Now that was a terrific and very memorable time, with an outstanding Captain and very knowledgeable cruise director who worked closely together for the complete enjoyment of their passengers. And the crew was outstanding and very deserving of the extra gratuities we gave them. All together they made us ignorant of whatever physical shortcomings the ship had.