This was our first time taking a cruse so we wanted to avoid all the hustle of a large cruise ship and too many people. We chose the Avalon waterways cruise because it was an American based company and easy to work with. We did book through Vacations to Go and received a discount. Overall, between Avalon and Vacations to Go, everything was covered in the overall process of booking the cruise and ...
This river cruise was our 5th with Avalon and we have never been disappointed. The ship was really nice and the cabin comfortable and well appointed. We love that the entire side of the cabin facing the river was all glass so that you get a full view of the scenery as you sail along, and that the bed faces the window. The bathroom, while small (as expected), was quite workable and beautifully ...
Budapest to Amsterdam but we had to switch to the Opal in Nuremberg from the Emerald Sky due to low water. This was the first time the Scenic company had made such a switch upgrading the cruise. The Opal is a higher end ship compared to the Emerald Sky. More luxurious with larger rooms, a higher number of crew and different dining options. Our cruise director Dawn worked hard to arrange and ...
Went with friends but little did we know it should have been called the Grand Bus Tour! Also take note about the Free Air Fare. We optioned for the Premium Economy Seats and paid 3 months in advance but guess what. We got bumped and Viking is now refusing to take any calls. Had to switch boats out in a cow pasture the mooring spots aren’t what you see in the commercials. More of a field or an ...
Overall we had an ok time, but I would never do this again. Maybe with a different company but our lovely 25th anniversary River cruise turned into ugly docking situations and bus rides. Not worth the price.
Initially, I did thorough research and knew low water levels may be a problem so I purchased the very high priced trip insurance that allows you to cancel for any reason. Unfortunately ...
We had a great time, we met interesting people both on the cruise and on the excursions. The guides made time for questions, added interest with personal stories and experiences. Yes, the communist era, made some disappointing architecture and left behind people full of life striking out to make a better country. After a full day of events, the vessel was a great welcome and the staff helped ...
We recently completed a 15-day river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam on Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, and, well, some good and some bad. As to the bad, it likely put us off Scenic enough that we won’t cruise with them again.
This was not our first cruise, but it was our first river cruise. Realizing that river cruising differed from ocean cruising I watched a lot of videos, so got a pretty ...
We were initially searching for a Danube river cruise company (our dream vacation for over a decade) that did not present any unnecessary obstacles such as vaccination cards, etc...(Kudos to Avalon for trusting its travelers to be responsible and in preserving their privacy!)
We finally settled on Avalon based on weeks of research and reading reviews.
Where do I start?
The ship: ...
My wife and I are seasoned ocean cruisers but this was our first river cruise. I really wasn’t sure if I would like being on a much smaller ship on a river. I read lots of the reviews before the cruise and convinced myself that this was going to be good. I was right. Everything they said would happen did. The plane landed in Budapest and sure enough we were met and transferred to the ship with no ...
An opportunity arose to go back to travel from Budapest to Amsterdam. We did it in the reverse with Avalon (2018) which we enjoyed. We thought we might see it differently. We did not expect to miss cities and towns altogether, due to low water levels we missed 2 nights in Budapest and 1 night in Regensburg. The general concensus was they should have put us up in a hotel (9 couples) for the 2 ...