CarolinaKathy

It was an ACH transfer not a credit card.

On 7/5/2023 at 11:22 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I suspect that the real asset the bidders want is the leases to the two expedition ships.  Such ships aren't lying about waiting to be snapped up, and it's possible the existing leases are at better terms than could be gotten now – it's interesting that most of the rumored bidders already operate expedition cruises, in at least one case with sister ships to these.  It's also possible there is some equity in the river ships, which if they don't want to operate them could be sold to recoup the purchase price.  [Why didn't the Reporter ask these questions?  O Tempora, O Mores!  O Times, O Daily Mirror!  Reporters nowadays are useless...] 

Vantage does not own the River Splendor and it has already been leased by another cruise company.

I was able to get my $1940 final payment AC reversed by my credit union as I requested within the 60 day window. Unfortunately, my nearly $18,000 payment I made last year is not eligible.

We used Avalon for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruse in 2015. Avalon was wonderful and we had a great time. We did a 2 day extension in Budapest that was well worth it. My suggestion is to check some of the reviews and see how the cruise line handles any problems that come up. Most of the time things go as planned but sometimes there are glitches. We had some issues on our cruise and Avalon did an amazing job of keeping us updated, providing optional tours at no charge an compensating us far more than we had expected. we have since taken 2 additional cruises with them

Dear Jim and Pat,

 

We are booked on this trip for 2017 and have some questions. Could you please answer a few?

 

Are there individual safes in the cabins La Perla?

 

How did you handle laundry needs along the way and onboard?

 

If you have any other tips I would love to hear them. Many thanks.

We are thinking of doing this in 2019 so would love to hear how you liked your trip?

We did this cruise last May along with the Paris to Normandy one and loved it. Your photos are bringing back such wonderful memories! We leave next Friday for our 3rd Avalon cruise on the Rhine and Moselle. Can't wait!

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We did Amsterdam to Budapest on Avalon and loved it! We had a wonderful time and thought the staff, food and cabins were great. Last year we combined two cruises in France and loved that as well. We leave in about 10 days for another Avalon cruise on the Rhine and Moselle. Be sure you check them out.

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We have been on 3 Avalon cruises and never had to sign for water. we started with 2 bottles in our cabin which were replenished as needed when the steward was in our cabin in the morning and evening. whenever we got ready to leave for an excursion there was plenty of water by the door as we exited the ship.

We are getting ready to leave on our 3rd Avalon cruise at the beginning of May. We did Amsterdam to Budapest two years ago and with a 2 day extension in Budapest. We really enjoyed it and get as busy as we wanted. Every port has an included excursion and we chose to do several optionals. We met many interesting people both younger and older than us (early 60's). The small size made it easy to get to know most everyone on our ship. There was entertainment though not as varied as on a large ocean cruise ship. This year we are combing a 12 night cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, 2 nights in Zurich and then a 7 day train trip around Switzerland. We want to get the most of our airfare!

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We will be on Tapestry II starting May 14th. Can't wait!

Kathyk13,

Thanks so much for your post about the Versailles tour. I had heard it was crowded in the afternoon so was reluctant to do it with Avalon. It fits in our schedule much better to do it with the group so this is good information.

Our cruise starts May 7th in Arles and we are getting so excited! Then we do the Paris to Normandy cruise afterwards. It seems like we have been waiting such a long time but I know it will be here faster than we think.

We booked our Grand France trip going northbound for May 7th with 2 nights extension. I have been rereading this thread and getting excited all over again! Thanks to all who have shared their experiences, it really helps in making our plans.

One more question..do they seem to be offering a non alcoholic wine with dinner?

We were on the Vista in May 2015. They offered 3 non alcoholic wines at dinner and they were all quite good. I loved having that option since I do not drink.

Thanks all for your help. Looks like it should be pretty easy for us.

We are looking at Avalon's Grand France Northbound cruise only. They do no provide transfers. Is it difficult to take the train from Marseille to Arles and then get to the dock?

We are hoping to do the Grand France trip next spring so I was very happy to find this thread. Everyone has pretty much answered all my remaining questions. We are planning to do it northbound, ending in Paria with a 2 night extension. We did Amesterdam to Budapest this past May and loved Avalon and the entire trip!

We are considering a small ship cruise in the next couple of years. I would be interested in feedback from previous cruisers on their experiences. What lines besides Viking and Oceania cruise the Mediterranean?

I can only speak for Avalon as we did our 1st ever cruise with them in May this year. The ship itself (Vista) more than met our expectations, staff were wonderful and food was good BUT we found management/head-office appalling to deal with when things went wrong after 3 days of our 13 day cruise up the Danube.

I am so sorry about your cruise. We were on the Vista right after your cruise and were a day delayed getting on the boat due to the repairs. We also had to spend our last 2 nights in a hotel due to a damaged rudder. Although disappointed that we had to leave the Vista early we felt Avalon handled things really well with us, keeping us informed and offering more than fair compensation for the issues. We are looking at another Avalon cruise for next year since we loved our cruise and felt Avalon did things well under trying circumstances.

We did our 1st river cruise in May on Avalon and were very pleased. We loved our cabin with the floor to ceiling sliders. We spent several afternoons cruising on our bed that faced the window-it was great to be able to rest and watch the scenery at the same time. Our boat had a couple of issues that could have ruined our trip but Avalon handled them really well. They kept us informed and always compensated us very well for the inconvenience. We found the food very good. We will definitely be using Avalon again.

We started our Amsterdam to BudPest cruise this week on the Avalon Vista. This is the ship that have to have the engine replaced. We were about 30 hours delayed but Avalon has done a great job in keeping us informed and making the best of a difficult situation. We were put up in a great hotel for the night and then took a high speed train to Frankfurt and then a bus to meet up with the Vista in Wurzburg. We missed touring Coloogne but we did some backtracking so we would not miss the Rhine gorge castles. We will be getting monetary compensation as well as additional include excursions to make up for what we have missed. We couldn't be happier that we chose Avalon for our 1st river cruise!

We are going on the 19th and have been looking over the optional tour information, trying to make decisions. Can anyone provide some info on what tours were worth the time and money

And which ones were just ok. We are planning to use our free time in Amsterdam to visit some museums on our own. What about the Wachau dinner in Melk? In Vienna we are trying to decide between the Schonbrunn Palace in the afternoon or the evening concert with the Original Wiener Salon Orchestra. It seems like it would make for a very busy day to try to do both. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.