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Avalon Tapestry II

Avalon Vista

Avalon Tranquility II

Avalon Imagery II

Avalon Expression

Avalon Panorama

Avalon Visionary

Avalon Impression

Avalon Poetry II

Avalon Passion

Avalon Artistry II

Avalon Illumination

Avalon Envision

Avalon Siem Reap

Avalon View

Ganges Voyager

Avalon Saigon

Amazing cruise 

Fanning Island

With a wedding anniversary. For first time we choose a river cruise . This one for the view and sightseeing that the trip offered.

I am very grateful of your outstanding services .since the first moment I felt SO welcome. The people were friendly and ready to inform and help me .

The instructions were clear and very helpful 

The panorama suite máxime  my expectations with a wonderful view and comfortable display .

Food were very well selected , with delicious taste and flavors. My compliments to all the staff who made everything possible to please my taste .

Excursions recommended with a great of cultural knowledge, very informative and amazing view . I closed my eyes and I enjoy the memories of this beautiful Austria / Wachau Valley.. Bratislava excellent town. So rich in history and architecture with amazing Cathedral. And Melk Abbey . I feel SO lucky to visit incredible monastery.

The only regret I have was a short trip.

Next time if I am allow I will love to experience a longer trip . Thank you

Finally we can travel again and we got to take our cancelled 2020 cruise with Avalon, down the Danube. Overall we were very satisfied with the beautiful boat and cabins. Housekeeping was also excellent, keeping the room clean. Also the bar service was very good and included beer and wine. The cruise director was top notch and kept us well informed and handled all problems very effectively. Most of the tour guides were also very good, although they had persistent technical issues with the headsets provided so you could hear the tour guides.  I would say the biggest challenge was the dining room. Service was slow and the food was OK, but lacked much in the way of flavors. I heard from other passengers that Avalon, like so many employers, was struggling to get new staff post-covid and had challenges, though I don't know if that was accurate. The destinations were all very good with the nighttime sail out of Budapest and also cruising along the Wachau Valley in Austria to be the highlights.

Beautiful Boat, Excellent Cruise Director, But Dining Challenges

This was our second cruise on Avalon, the first was on the Rhine in September, 2017.  I want to emphasize that the part of the cruise that could be controlled by Avalon was exceptional, Avalon will continue to be our first choice for river cruises.  Cabin, dining and service were all exemplary! The hotels in Prague and Budapest were superb!  Valentin, the cruise director, was personable, helpful and hilarious.

The disappointing part of this experience was caused by the water level on the Danube.  The itinerary had us transferring by bus from Prague to Nuremberg with an included excursion in Old Town Nuremberg.  Due to the low water level we boarded at a different port and missed Nuremberg.  Thus began a three day effort to get back on schedule.  We spent a lot of time being bused to different excursions, so much so that it very much felt like a coach tour of Eastern Europe instead of a Danube cruise.  We did visit some extraordinary towns, Passau, Salzburg, Vienna, Melk and others.  Finally, the river was closed again in Budapest and we had to be bused from Slovakia.

Avalon did their best to ameliorate the inconvenience of "busing":

 - All passengers were treated to a concert in Vienna.  This was supposed to have been an optional excursion.  Passengers who had paid in advance for this concert received a refund.

-  When we were bused to an included excursion we were provided cash for lunch since we would not be able to eat on the ship.  

-  When we were bused to Budapest, the last stop on the cruise, we were given the option of returning to the ship after the excursion or checking into the hotel a night early at Avalon's expense.   

- Finally, Avalon provided a substantial partial refund of fare to compensate for the inconvenience.  

I was very satisfied with the cruise and Avalon's efforts to satisfy us.

All that being said, I would book another cruise on the Danube but not that late in the season.  The cities visited were amazing.  And, of course, the Avalon experience was ourstanding.

Avalon wins again, the Danube not so much

We chose Avalon for our first river cruise because of the itinerary, the amenities offered during the cruise and the cabin layout.

The ship was spacious and our cabin was very comfortable.  I especially enjoyed the french balcony that allowed us to breath the fresh air and see the river sites clearly.  

We particularly enjoyed the breakfast and lunch buffets and afternoon tea was a treat.  Our wait staff were wonderful!  We laughed so much during our meals!  

We were so happy to find two other like-minded couples to share our experience, so our expectation of getting to know people from other countries was definitely met!

We also appreciated our cruise director who was wonderful at guiding us and responsive during stressful times.

Evening entertainment was mixed, some of the evenings were more enjoyable than others, which is to be expected.  

The ports and shore excursions met our expectations of learning a bit more about the different countries and their regions.  

All in all, an enjoyable experience that we will recommend to others and repeat!

Budapest to Amsterdam

We choose this cruise to be able to see as much as possible while in Europe. Everyone on the ship was very accommodating to all types of passengers. I think we all would agree that we were very fortunate to have an awesome cruise director, Danielle. But it doesn’t stop there, from housekeeping to dining room staff to bartenders I mean everyone was great. The ship is in tiptop shape and the rooms are roomy enough with fantastic views. As we did cruise three different rivers we had an opportunity to see other cruise lines along the way and personally we are super glad that we chose Avalon not only from the ships appearance but also from the number of people on board seemed to be less than others. Onboard entertainment was varied and our cruise director did a great job of bringing in special guest. The on shore excursions were mostly good sometimes tour guides would spend a little bit too much time with history but that is to be expected. Oh and did I mention the castles!

Europe!

La Palma

This wasn't our first river cruise.  We did the Rhine last year.  Both vacations were amazing, but the Rhine wasn't as popular/crowded (fewer ships).

The Danube was high due to recent rainfall and bridge clearance was an issue.  Avalon did a great job of working around difficult conditions.  

The quality of the shore excursions depend, in large part, on the local guides.  Many of the guides were entertaining and knowledgeable but not all of them.

1. The food selection and preparation was excellent, but the dining room is noisy, particularly at dinner time.  It's much easier to hear conversations from the center (bench) side of the tables.

2. We really enjoyed having time to explore Prague on our own.  I think we over scheduled our time with guided tours throughout the trip.  Some time to explore on your own ought to be welcomed.  I think bus tours (e.g. Vienna) are worthless.  A video on the TV would give you the same information and sense of the place.

3.  Our guides for Prague were wonderful.  Anna (classic) and Christian(Secrets of Prague) were outstanding.

4.  The excursion to Terezin was outstanding.  Don't miss it!

5.  Our guide to Nuremberg was not wonderful (I'm being very kind).  I regret wasting the time on the old city and missing the rally ground.  On our last excursion of the cruise, I found evaluation/feedback forms for the guides.  Be advised they exist and use them!

6. Regensburg is a delight.  It wasn't bombed during WWII and it's old and beautiful... dating back to Roman times.  Our guide was excellent and the city is beautiful.  Enjoy!

7. We mostly missed Passau because of the high water (delays for bridge clearance issues).  We had only an hour or so at Passau before we had to sail on.  Most of the day was spent in Salzburg which was strikingly beautiful as was all of Austria.

8.  The Melk Abbey and gardens are beautiful.  Be forewarned that no photographs are allowed in the abbey.  The Wachau Valley is spectacular.  Bring a serious zoom (400mm) lens to photograph the vineyards, castles and churches.

9.  Vienna is beautiful.  The Royal Waltz Concert is not to be missed.  It was amazing.  However, the guided city tour is pretty weak.  Too much of the tour is bussed.  We did the food tour which was fun.

10. Budapest.  Almost all of the city tour is bussed- covering both Buda and Pest.  Only a few minutes are free for walking.  It's the worst of the lot. (Traffic is heavy and the journey was slow.) The view from the castle is the best part of the city tour.  We took the "Bites of Budapest" food tour in the afternoon.  It was a significantly better exposure to the city.

We traveled with friends and between the four of us we experienced eleven faulty receivers which meant we missed much of several tours.  The guides ran out of spare receivers for walkers a few times.  This was an ongoing and persistent problem with many passengers.

All in all, it was a great (if not perfect) tour!

I would do it again, but the rain and high water created a high density of tourists in the cities.  I had the feeling the +90% of the pedestrians were riverboat tourists....

Prague to Budapest

This was our first river cruise, though we've been on a number of ocean cruises, including the Star Clipper and Aranui.  Our cruise director was very good, the ship was very good, and our stateroom was very good, though the view of the river from the bed was 50% blocked by a wall (we opted for state room 312, the Royal Suite, and found this aspect of it very disappointing).

My criticisms or suggestions would be the following:

1.  While the food selection and preparation was excellent, the dining room was very noisy, particularly at dinner time, and seemed understaffed (the staff including 2 trainees . . . .).  Avalon should consider 2 seatings and better staffing.

2.  The daily bulletin should include the weather forecast for the day ahead.

3.  On the "Tastes of Hungary Dinner & Wine Pairing" the gypsy music was overwhelming loud despite our request that it be softer and the music definitely wasn't gypsy (as the gypsys didn't compose My Fair Lady or The Phantom of the Opera . . . .).  However, the gentlemen doing the wine pairing did a very good job, it was nice that our group had a room to ourselves, and the food was excellent.

4.  Rather than leaving the arrival afternoon in Prague "free time", the city tour ought to have been done then, so that on the final day a full-day tour to the former concentration camp would be available.

5.  The Nuremberg tour to the Hitler sites ought to have allowed far more time at the Documentation Museum.

6.  The Sconbrunn Palace tour in Vienna ought to have allowed much more time at the site.

7.  The City tour of Prague was nothing more than an hour at the Palace and being taken to the Market Square and given free time.  Rather than do that, if we did the trip over again, we'd just buy a hop on/hop off bus ticket - see the same places and many more, for much less.

8.  The last event we did, which was the Czech Dinner & Folklore Show in Prague, was excellent.  The meal, drinks and setting were nice, and the performers 10+.  Their music was authentic music from different areas of the country as it has evolved over the years, and they had an excellent ability to get the group excited and have us participate in the fun.

While this is a review of the cruise portion of the trip, we also had the pre-cruise and post-cruise experiences in Budapest and Prague.  The New York Palace hotel in Budapest was excellent, while the Prague Hilton was so-so.  The included and optional excursions in Budapest were good.  I've already criticized the included City tour in Prague, but the optional excursion to the concentration camp site was very moving (and far too short).

All in all, no serious complaints.

Very good first river cruise

Great cruise with a company that made our trip so memorable.  Cabin was very comfortable and staff was so helpful and friendly. Our ports and excursions were very informative. Since they were in the morning it left us ample time to explore on our own or just lounge on the deck. Extra excursions were very reasonably priced and enjoyable. Our excursion to 2 wineries and wine tastings was the highlight of our day in Budapest. Most included excursions offer a guide for “gentle walkers” that needed a a somewhat slower pace. I would advise to bring some loose clothes because the food was phenomenal, with included wine or beer at lunch and dinner. Our cruise director Tabia was superb and made sure that everything was perfect.  The wait staff in the dining room were friendly and ensured that our meals were to our liking. This was our second Avelon cruise and will not hesitate to take a third with this company.

Danube River Cruise

We traveled with another couple and chose December to experience Christmas Markets. Our vacation started with 3 days in Prague. The local tour guides were excellent. We joined the city tour, Terezin, and the Avalon-sponsored Czech dinner at a local hall. We toured on our own the last full day. We weren't able to embark at Nuremberg as planned because of low water. Instead we traveled to Nuremberg by coach, checked out the Christmas market for a couple hours, and then were bussed to Straubing for embarkation. The following day, the Illumination cruised back to Regensburg. That, and the additional stop at Linz, Austria were the only 2 changes on the entire cruise. We were relieved that low water didn't impact our trip significantly. We enjoyed wonderful local city tours at every port. Every guide was top-notch. The ship was beautiful, clean, and all staff were so friendly and accommodating. Sabine, the cruise director, was amazing! We can't say enough about how well we were treated. We met lots of fellow cruisers and enjoyed social time with them. We will definitely cruise with Avalon again!

Excellent Christmas Market cruise on the Danube

Our cruise down the Danube in December was truly a trip of a lifetime.  The entire staff aboard the Avalon Illumination were amazing.  We received first class treatment in a very relaxed, friendly and professional environment.  The Christmas Markets and all the sites along the way were beautiful.

The Illumination was the prettiest boat on the river and was "decked out" for the holidays.  

The food and wine selections at all meals were wonderful and the lounge/bar was perfect place to unwind and get together with fellow guests after dinner and various times throughout the day.

Sabine, our Cruise Director, was very helpful with suggestions and detailed information about how to navigate each stop along the way when we wanted to go out and explore on our own.

Avalon is a top notch company and we have recommended this cruise line to all of our friends back home.

Thank you, Avalon, for making the beginning of our holiday season so merry and bright!

Trip of a Lifetime

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