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Avalon Waterways

River Cruises

Amsterdam

Basel

Budapest

Frankfurt

Paris

Prague

Passau

Europe - All

Europe - River Cruise

Europe River

Rhine River

Germany

Europe - British Isles & Western

Netherlands

France

Switzerland

France River

Austria

Danube River

Germany River

Slovakia

Thames River

Seine River

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Mediterranean

Belgium

Czech Republic

Excellent

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Average

Poor

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

Wonderful Time

Fanning Island

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 filling out all the details for passport travel purposes.  Cruise itself was excellent which included the staff, cruise director, cleanliness of the ship, food, excursions etc.  The only disappointing part was the river was too low for the cruise ships to sail from Budapest to Vienna. They put us on a bus and we still completed all the excursions and the overall process was done very well. Taking a river cruise is so much better than a bus tour. I highly recommend it.

First Time On a River Cruise

I traveled with my mother and this was my first ever river cruise experience. We had such a lovely time. The crew was absolutely amazing. we really enjoyed meeting and speaking with them as they were all so nice and helpful. The housekeepers were fantastic and kept the rooms looking great. We enjoyed all the waiters/waitresses at meal times. They were very attentive and answered any and every question. 

In particular, Kasiet was our housekeeper. She was so lovely and easy to talk to. We really liked her. Samet was also our waiter for most meals and was so funny. He was so great! Our cruise director, Bram was also so kind and funny! Fantastic cruise director!!!

Overall, the ship was beautiful and the service was great. Wonderful views, great food, and kind staff. Would highly recommend to all of my friends and family looking to do a river cruise! Thank you so much :)

This was our first river cruise vacation and after this cruise it will not be our last. It was more than I expected. Everyone was friendly, helpful and cheerful. The food was spectacular but not wasteful, we were given just enough with a variety. Every day was different and exciting. The entertainment at night was entertaining and just enough time. Every day at 4:00 was coffee and desserts..which were dreamy. At 5 or 5:30 it was cocktail hour with wonderful drinks and dinner was a 7:00 with wonderful food. Even though we visited a number of cities the cruise was restful and not rushed. I’m already planning out next trip. Not only was the trip great but we meet some really great people.  We exchanged information and hopefully will be staying in touch. You will not regret taking this trip. Truly an amazing vacation, I highly recommend taking a trip like this.

Best ever the cruise was restful.

Jost Van Dyke

We chose this cruise because it featured both the Rhine Valley and the Moselle river and was for 11 days.  We included a 2 day extension in Basel where we have friends, so it was an ideal itinerary.  Both rivers are extremely scenic and we had some lovely stops including Trier, Cochem, Strasbourg, Bernkastel, Koblenz, Spayer etc.  Most sightseeing tours, which were of a good quality, were included as part of the Avalon package.  We cannot fault the Avalon staff who were friendly, efficient and very accomplished at their work.  The cruise director, in particular, Maria, was efficient, friendly and charming and made everything run smoothly.  And, although we saw little of them, the captain and nautical crew worked extremely hard ensuring our voyage was without any issues.  Overall we were extremely happy with the voyage.  The evening menu and drinks "package" was excellent.  Our only slight issue was that lunch time buffet food was rather lukewarm, but this was a minor fault.  Luckily for us the ship was not full, so in terms of space and service, I think we were rather spoilt.  This is the second time we have travelled with Avalon and I would certainly recommend them from what I have experienced.  Although we organised our own hotel in Basel, Avalon sorted out flights back to the UK for our extended visit and this was a great help.

Relaxing voyage, beautiful scenery and wonderful crew

We had an absolutely great time on our Avalon Riverboat Cruise! Everyone, every single staff member on the Tranquillity II (June 21-28) was amazing! Their customer service was impeccable, sincere and timely! Will definitely be booking again! We would highly recommend Avalon Waterways to our friends and family. We went from Amsterdam to Middleburg to Ghent to Brussels to Antwerp to Rotterdam and then returning back to Amsterdam. Loved Middleburg, Brussels and Antwerp. I liked Rotterdam. We visited Ghent on the last day of their music festival; it was gross. The city was just starting clean up when we arrived, honestly, the Ghent Graffiti Tour should not be an option during the festival. We walked nearly a mile from our bus before the tour even began, and then it was through the festival grounds which, like I said, was disgusting. But after getting through that, we did see some pretty nice areas. The Graffiti Tour could easily be an hour and a half instead of 3 hours. On to Amsterdam. I was disappointed in Amsterdam. Not nearly as clean as the other cities we’d been to (except Ghent, but the non festival areas were clean). Overall, this itinerary was good…..not great. I will do another riverboat cruise with Avalon again, but I’ll do way better at investigating each port stop! I’d definitely not bring young kids on a riverboat cruise as they would bore quickly. But it’s an outstanding atmosphere for a couple or a small group of friends to do together for some touring and relaxation.

Not quite what they sell. The upgrade to the full slider window for an extra $1500 (base for a solo fee was $6000) for 7 nights was pretty much worthless. For 5 nights we were parked 3 deep with other ships, so you could not keep your curtain open unless you wanted the other boat to see you.

One night we left at midnight... you could see the river edge then... but, we were asleep.  The first night, we left early and the window was fantastic, almost full moon and were cruising and it was beautiful, peaceful with the water going by ... worth $1500???? no

The blue danbue river edge on this cruise is NOT exciting, water is dirty. Maybe passed 1 castle... few towns, could not see much but trees/grass. They got the 1 great photo and it's on the advertisement. 

The food is buffet styles with sauces...... Lots of sauces. Salads were good, fresh.... meat all pretty mussy and not with much flavor. We ate out every meal we could. Local food at the stops were EXCELLENT!!!  They have a happy hour before dinner... so plenty of free drinks are flowing and they are generous.

One night they had a guy and guitar that was really good. He come on the boat after dinner.... went thru a few locks with us and literally jumped off at the last lock. He played for a few hours and it was fun.

We arrived at Vienna on a Sunday 4pm ... everything is closed on Sundays. We found a great resturant, tho. Monday with 2 tours.... left no extra time to shop and off we went. So 2  days in Vienna is not what you get.  You have to cab into town in Vienna, ~E20

Wi-fi sucks!!!!!...... even if you pay for it. They should upgrade to satallite, but they have not.

Side trip to Salzburg was really nice. Beautiful town

A/C in cabin was great.  You sweated eating dinner and in the entertainment area.

Last 2 stops ?? and Nuremburg were 20min+ cab ride from the boat.  Plus, the river was low and we have to pack up on day 5 and move to a new boat... which wasn't nearly as nice as the old boat .... and then the last 2 stops were not by a town... it sucked.

The staff was incredible. Very nice and worked very hard. The hot tub was cool which was nice since it was incredibly hot. 

The fruit at tea time was fresh.  The people we meet, fantastic.

They left my friends luggage (1 of the 2) behind in Nuremburg. We found out 2 hours later on our way to Prague. Little stress but they sent a cab to get it and bring it to the hotel. Very nice, no hassle and as it should of been.

Not sure I'd do it again. I typically do all my trips on my own. stay a place 4 days and then train to the next town. Get the feel of the country/people.

I added Budapest and Prague... both of those cities are fantastic. The free tours they offer with these stops are, you, on a bus taking photos thru glass. There was a 1 hour stop in Buda.  So... if you want to do these places, I'd book myself and do 3 days each. The hotels, Intercontiental Budapest and Marriott Prague were really nice accomdations! I wish I would of done the thermal baths in Budapest.

Not quite the hype

Avalon was amazing! All of the staff from housekeeping to our cruise director were personal, and got to know us. The kitchen staff took extra time to meet special dietary needs of 2 members of our traveling group. We can not possibly describe how delicious our meals were, all of them! We loved that we got to try local cuisine right in board our ship. Our cruise director Tony was so incredibly fun! All of our excursion guides were knowledgeable and friendly. We learned so much on our excursions and did both some of the included and some of the extra. The extras were absolutely worth the money! We LOVED this cruise! Highly recommend it to anyone out there thinking of giving it a go! We have done the big cruise ships and didn’t really love those, this is the only way anyone should cruise! Avalon went above and beyond throughout our trip and it was fantastic!

Beyond Amazing

I wanted a more intimate cruise. The thought of going on a ship with 4000 other people gives me the creeps. We were able to connect with and get to know people from around the world including the ships crew. The crew was lovely by the way. One of the wait staff was a wonderful young woman from Ukraine who we bonded with almost immediately. The service was superb and we felt like we were pampered. I was able to go on several bicycle rides to help me burn off some of the excess calories that I was taking in. Overall, there was plenty to see and do on our ten day adventure and I would love to go again. One of my best memories is being able to hear the birds singing in the trees on the banks of the river after sunset singing themselves to sleep as the ship silently cruised by. I was very impressed with the WIFI hot spots that we could put in a pocket and take off the boat so that we would always be able to make a call or text even if we didn't technically have phone service. The only reason that I gave the fitness and activities section of the review four stars was that some of the bicycles were desperately in need of service but there were enough of them that we could find one that would work satisfactorily.

This was my first cruise and I loved it.

This was our first river cruise, we chose Avalon, because of their windows and views, we have came across a lot of other boats during this river cruise, and all of them had very little windows so very little views. I am looking forward to numerous trips with Avalon all over the world. Staff was spectacular. Food was the best I’ve ever had, I have nothing bad to say about Avalon can’t wait to go on the next one. 

We were treated like a king and a queen. I have the upmost respect for every employee on this boat. Everybody goes out of their way to make sure that you have everything that you need. If you have dietary restrictions, they will accommodate you for that. If you have forgotten some thing, they probably have it here for you. I’m just sad that I waited so long to do my first river cruise can’t wait to do my next.

Trip of a lifetime

We chose this cruise because it covered many of the places in Europe that we wanted to see.  It is also great that our hotel room traveled with us from place to place.   The Tour guides were all excellent and so knowledgeable. Some of them pointed out things they thought the other tour guides might not mention.  There was always a great selection of food for Breakfast, lunch and Dinner.  The servers were attentive and fun to have around.   We sat at the same table for our evening meal and go to know our server and that made the evening better.  Every night we had a port talk about the events for the next day.   After dinner we frequently had entertainment ranging from Karaoke to local talent coming on board to play music or sing songs.

Everyone on board was friendly and smiling.  If there were any questions or concerns the staff was ready to help.

Best way to see Europe

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