amd1234

Thx for all the information on Hotels. Avalon will not release name of Pais pre cruise Hotel until 30 days before departure. We have a Hotel booked probably take a cab to their hotel for departure to ship. We are taking advantage of the two for one with Avalon. The deal is certain dates..we received info on an email from my travel agent. I was so skeptical but the deal is unbelievable we booked last week for Sept 8 departure we have a French balcony an upgrade on our part including airfare for two $6,394.00 amazing ..Last year we cruised with Uniworld absolutely fabulous and paid $4100.00 each without airfare. Just google Avalon deals I am sure you will find it. I am sure if you have already booked they probably won't give you the discount. You never know ! Good luck..

After reading your post I booked the last room at Hotel Albe.. I wanted to stay in the Notre Dame area and I have been on my computer everyday checking Hotels and reviews. It gets tedious. I can cancel up to two days of arrival without penalty. We stayed in the 7th arrondissement area two years ago and this time wanted to stay somewhere different. We are staying only one night. We would like to see Notre Dame and do you have any must sees in this area? Also should we take taxi to Avalon's precruise Hotel or go directly to the pier. Any problem with Avalon letting us use their transfer to the pier? I assume we should notify Avalon.. Thx for info. Enjoy your culinary tour sounds great..

Thx for suggestions on Hotels. The last visit to Paris we stayed near Rue Cler.

Question .. Can you take a taxi to the Avalon's pre cruise Hotel and secure a ride to the ship.? Why wouldn't you go directly to ship?

We are doing a last minute river cruise on Avalon fantastic deal 2 for one leaving Sept 8 Paris, Normandy. We are now scrambling trying to decide where to stay for one night in Paris. Two years ago we stayed three days precruise Hotel Muguet 7th arrondissement .. At that time we visited museums, Effile tower most tourist venues. We will be tired from an overnight flight. We are so excited to be visiting Paris again! What to do for one full day? Maybe just leisurely enjoy Paris but please give me a few recommendations..we thought of booking the Pullman Montpasses Avalon's Hotel precruise accommodation in Paris. Would appreciate suggestions other then this Hotel in. Easy walking area..restaurants etc..:)

Well we were not planning a trip this year but this was a great deal...last year on Uniworld we paid approximate $4300 A piece granted it was all inclusive..(no airfare)..we are paying Sept 8 Pais to Normandy for husband and myself $3.094.00 apiece..this includes taxes and port charges including airfare. :):)the ship,is the Avalon Creativity it's an older ship..this price included an upgrade on our cabin to a French Balcony..:)

We have received a quote on a Paris to Normandy two for one for Sept. 2015.. If we hav read it correctly one person pays full price passenger is free.. It sounds too good to be true! We have cruised only Uniworld but if this price is correct would consider Avalon.. It's aboard the Avalon Creativity. Need a review from past cruisers on this ship.

Thx. I appreciate all the responses..

Go for it it was spectacular.:):):)

We have cruised three River cruises. The last two with Uniworld Castles on the Rhine. Our first cruise was the Danube on AMA and we were very disappointed in the food. Vowed we would never take another A MA cruise. We loved Uniworld especially the all inclusive aspect. Now that we have cruised most itineraries we were interested in the 11 day Paris to Normandy with AMA but apprehensive about whether the food experience on AMA has improved! Need some reviews. Thx.. :)

Thx will look at Vantage.

We were really disappointed in food. Not just us lots of people complained. I sent letter when I returned to AMA bottom line I was told maybe expectations were too high. No apologies..We were very pleased with the entire Uniworld package .thx.

We have taken three River cruises AMA our first 2010 disappointed in food switched to Uniworld 2013' 2014.. We are in the process of researching the Douro River 2016. Different views on this itinerary. The ships are leased so I have concerns regarding quality of service, food etc. We are doing a cost comparison and we like AMA itinerary versus Uniworld. Not sure if I could have hubby cruise with AMA. There has been a huge following on this forum for AMA. Uniworld is more expensive ..any recommendations would be appreciated..

I am addicted to your review. Especially like all the details. We were on our last River Cruise this past June and I enjoy reading this forum. I am in river cruise withdrawal no plans as yet. We have cruised two Uniworld cruises but are open to other River cruise companies.. Look forward to reading the rest of your review..:)

We usually take 200 euros. We charge everything saving the euros for coffee shops and street shopping. ATM most places easy access. :)

We arrived at our Hotel about 9:30 our room was ready and was upgraded to a Jr. suite. Do not nap go for a walk stop have lunch keep yourself busy. Have an early dinner and we went to bed about 8:30..

Also post scrip how to be overwhelmed and tired! We had a post cruise two days in Lucerne with Uniworld. We were bused to Lucerne(early about 10 am)and informed we would be checking in to Hotel at 5 0'oclock.we were taken on a walking tour two hrs and it was so warm walkng in the heat not fun. An hour would be enough. We had a brief lunch and another hour for a cruise on the lake... On our survey to Uniworld we informed it was too much planned for transition day.

I vote for Uniworld ... All inclusive.

Look forward to your review. Have a great trip..

We are past cruisers with Uniworld and we had a laundry perk. We each had a free bag of laundry. On the SS Antoinette they had a laundry room with washer dryer also iron and ironing board. We have also sent out laundry on past cruises and it wasn't that expensive but nice to have clean clothes for our post cruise few days..

I made a mistake the Amsterdam Forum is on Trip Advisor not Cruise Critic

We just returned in June Uniworld Castles on The Rhine. Loved the entire experience especially the itinerary. We stayed precruise in Amsterdam planned on our own. Please go to cruise critics Amsterdam forum a wealth of information. I booked the Hotel Schiller through Priceline $100 dollars (3 nights)great deal and we were upgraded to a Jr. Suite. We also stayed post cruise two days Lucerne absolutely beautiful you would love it. Very quaint not a huge big city. We booked this through Uniworld a bit expensive but the transfers and guide for two days were included. I will gladly answer any questions.

We have completed two fabulous River Cruises with Uniworld. We were considering Douro but after reading reviews on CC we are very apprehensive about this itinerary. Our first River Cruise was the Danube with AMA and the cruise was great the food just terrible. We are not foodies and we were so disappointed. The food on Uniworld is wonderful. One night we had the the Chef sit (AMA)at our table with our other table mates and express our displeasure with the food. When I returned I wrote a letter to AMA expressing how disappointed we were with our dining experience. He wrote a reply in essence he didn't have any complaints about the food and maybe our expectations were too high..so we won't be cruising again with AMA. We have friends that love AMA and from this forum people give them high marks..Maybe things have changed but we will stick with Uniworld..

We have taken two Uniworld River Cruises and the Douro was on our agenda for a future cruise. Well we a really rethinking this itinerary and probably will eliminate it from our bucket list..

We just retuned from our third River Cruise so I will give you some info on what to wear. On a regular cruise ship we sailed the Med people dressed more formal River cruises more casual. I did bring a casual dress which I wore the last night of the cruise. For some reason people dress for the last night. I wore my black slacks twice with a nice top chunky jewelry . Hubby brought two Tommy Bahama shirts with nice pair of slacks. No need for a jacket but some men did wear sports jackets. No one cares just be comfortable..have a wonderful time you will:):) love it..

Thanks so much for the info..

Our friends are leaving next month on a Vantage river cruise and we were having a discussion about Vantage being all inclusive . Is this correct?