moonriver54

See you there!!

We're on the 30 September departure from Basel.

AMEN! Fully understand! This allowed me to NOT disturb my wife who wanted to sleep further,,.yet I got to get up and do what I normally do at home. I got a chuckle at the number of people in the Club Lounge quietly doing the same thing. LOL! Avalon totally GETS THIS. Nicely done!

The ship's crew literally RAN ashore to grab our bags as we arrived at the Avalon Envision to depart on our "Danube Dreams" 8-day trip from Vilshofen to Budapest last month. We arrived about lunch time...and we were invited to dine in the Panorama Lounge while awaiting our two rooms (two couples traveling together). We didn't even wait an hour before the front desk staff had us checked-in and comfortably settled in our rooms. We were VERY impressed with the amount of luggage storage space under both sides of the bed which would easily accommodate a couple of LARGE bags. Something I really appreciated during our recent cruise was the ship's spacious 24/7 Club Lounge located astern on the Royal Deck. I'm an early riser and enjoyed getting up and having a quiet cup of (EXCELLENT) fresh coffee while catching up on the news using the ship's FAST WiFi and my iPad, taking advantage of the spectacular early morning view. I've attached a few photos of the Club Lounge below. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Avalon Waterways is a CLASS ACT!! They were just excellent from start to finish!! We can hardly wait for our Rhine River cruise from Basel to Amsterdam aboard the Avalon Vista in late September!!

Beautifully done! We returned from our first river cruise in May. Wish we'd had this excellent list!! And yes...American Airlines lost my luggage. Like clockwork. Got it to me about 18 hours later in our hotel and fortunately prior to our river cruise departure. Lesson learned: BRING A SMALL CARRY-ON for your "camping backup" must-have items. Thank you for posting.

We stayed in Munich the night before our Avalon "Danube Dreams" departure from Vilshofen, and took the 2-hour DB train ride from Munich Central Station to Vilshofen late morning the day of our departure. I did look at Trip Advisor and there appeared to be a few nice places to stay in Vilshofen if you'd prefer to do that.

My wife and I recently returned from our Avalon "Danube Dreams" river cruise from Vilshofen, Germany to Budapest, Hungary aboard the Avalon Envision. Our sailing date way 09 MAY 2023. This was our first river cruise and I cannot begin to tell you how much we truly enjoyed the entire experience. Although it rained almost every day...we were fully prepared with our umbrellas and hiking shoes...so the foul weather was no issue! Avalon Waterways is a SUPERB operation, from top to bottom. The Avalon Envision was SPOTLESS...like new. Our Panorama stateroom was utterly COMFORTABLE...toasty...like a home on the river. And the ship's crew was truly OUTSTANDING...just THE BEST! They took such great care of us. The food was 5-STAR...all of it...breakfast, lunch and dinner. I usually only eat twice a day...however I made an exception here!! I just couldn't pass it up. It was just SO GOOD! We were SO pleased with our Avalon Waterways experience that we booked a fall cruise on the Rhine upon returning home. Yes...THAT'S how much we enjoyed our river cruise aboard Avalon! FWIW...my wife and I are not affiliated with Avalon in any way, not travel agents, not YouTubers, but instead...simply retirees looking for an enjoyable travel experience. And we darned sure found it here!

My wife is concerned about shoes to bring on our Avalon "Danube Dreams" 7-day river cruise from Vilshofen to Budapest on 09 MAY given our luggage limitations. Do we need hiking shoes, or is something more casual acceptable for daily excursions? We plan to bring a standard carry-on roller each. Also...is a MAY Danube river cruise too early to be wearing shorts during daytime excursions? Is laundry service aboard an Avalon ship a reasonable option? Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! We're all ears. Thank you.

Speaking of locks...can anybody tell me if there are locks on the Danube between Vilshofen and Budapest? Looking at Google Maps...Schleuse Jochenstein and Melk Locks??

Thanks very much for responding. That's very reassuring!

I'm wondering if anybody can please provide some experience regarding "low-water-level" river cruises with Avalon on the Danube given the extremely mild European winter, low snow pack runoff and the associated difficulties this might create during the 2023 river cruise season? If an Avalon river cruise ship is unable to navigate certain sections of the river, how does the cruise proceed? Thank you!

I believe you can take the train direct from Vilshofen to the Munich station, or vice versa. No need to switch trains. About a two-hour trip with First and Second Class seating. My wife and I are on the 09 MAY 2023 departure from Vilshofen aboard Avalon Envision. https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?ld=4313&country=GBR&protocol=https:&seqnr=1&ident=5d.02005413.1678731175&rt=1&OK#hfsseq2|5d.02005413.1678731175

Thank you. Nothing like hearing conditions from a local source. Here's to hoping for some winter snowfall and spring rains!

I found this Reuters article on European snowpack and river water levels this morning. Sounds like perhaps another dry summer??? https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/europes-mild-weather-reprieve-this-winter-may-come-bite-by-summer-2023-01-11/

Thank you! I thought it was me...I spent about an hour today looking on the Avalon Waterways web site and searched through our Avalon Travel Packet and couldn't find any guidance regarding tipping. I appreciate your efforts!

Thank you very much. That was exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated.

Having not been on a cruise before, and after reading some river cruises include tipping in their all-inclusive price and some do not...and as I understand it Avalon Waterways does not...can somebody please explain the tipping process aboard Avalon so we don't step on any toes by tipping ungenerously or improperly? When to tip, how much to tip and perhaps other kind gestures for the crew??

Well...I think we're getting there. After booking with Avalon for their 09 MAY "Danube Dreams" trip from Deggendorf to Budapest (Eastbound), I made reservations at the Hotel Metropol in Munich preceding the trip, and at the Prestige Hotel in Budapest at the conclusion of the trip. Both hotel reservations were made through Expedia. I'm going to contact each hotel via e-mail to confirm my Expedia confirmation. Is there any way to determine how full a specific Avalon river cruise is booked? We're spending one night in Munich preceding our river cruise, and two nights in Budapest following the cruise. The Hotel Metropol in Munich is within walking distance from the central train station. The Prestige Hotel is located in the Budapest city center. Any suggestions for dining/sightseeing in either/both cities would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much for all the great advice above. We're booked with Avalon and I've been working on hotel reservations in Munich before our cruise, and Budapest after our cruise. I'm going to hold off on train reservations from Munich to Deggendorf until we get much closer to our departure date in case there are any last minute Avalon embarkation location changes. If anybody has information/recommendations regarding travel from hotels in the Budapest city center to the Budapest airport it'd be greatly appreciated. We have an early airline departure out of the Budapest airport and I want to plan for an "uneventful" trip. Again, thanks very much!

Fran...Thank you. When the Prestige Hotel says "Double Bed..." are they US double bed size or something larger?

Fran...thank you and please DO offer hotel and dining suggestions for Budapest! They'd be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you VERY much to everybody above that responded today! All very helpful information and greatly appreciated! After your many comments we're thinking it might be best for a first time river cruise couple to fly in to Munich, spend a night or two there exploring the city, and take the train to Deggendorf to board our Avalon Waterways vessel. And add on a few days at the end of our Danube cruise to explore Budapest before flying home. So...for train planning purposes...what's the earliest reasonable time we should expect to board Avalon Waterways at Deggendorf at the beginning of our trip? Should we book First Class on the train from Munich to Deggendorf? Again...we're all ears open to ALL suggestions. Thanks again!

Good Morning, My wife and I are planning our first river cruise. We're looking at Avalon Waterways and are considering the 8-day Budapest-Deggendorf or Deggendorf-Budapest "Danube Dreams" cruise aboard the Avalon Envision with a Panorama Suite. We're in the initial stages of planning and looking at May 2023 for our trip. We're wondering how one best travels TO/FROM Deggendorf if we're flying FROM/TO the USA? Is Prague the best location to fly in to? If so, how do we get TO/FROM Prague FROM/TO Deggendorf. Bus? Train? We're all ears on any recommendations or web sites that might offer this information. And please feel free to offer ANY recommendations whatsoever regarding this cruise and/or Avalon Waterways since we're so new at this. Avalon Waterways has a 2-day Prague add-on which they offer when traveling either direction, either at the beginning or end of the river cruise portion. We're also considering this. If anybody has thoughts on the Prague add-on we'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Finally...should we have Avalon Waterways plan our air travel between the USA and Europe? Thank you and Happy New Year!! Jim