Kenster

1 hour ago, SnowshoeCat said:

Has anyone here taken advantage of the bikes on board? I'm looking forward to riding along the Moselle and welcome any info. Are the bikes okay? I don't expect anything high end (although that would be a nice surprise), but would like to know what to expect.

The bikes are pretty decent.  In nearly every town, one of the excursions will be a bike tour. Sign up for those well ahead of time as they book up quickly. 
As for using a bike on your own (not in an excursion) you’ll have to check with the Activity Director to see if one is available). I think there are 18 bikes on each ship, plus two E-bikes. 

3 hours ago, cbr663 said:

Tried searching this thread and couldn't find the answer so my apologies if this has been answered previously.  Does Avalon provide guests with refillable water bottles?  If so, are they complimentary or is there a charge?

I think most people bring their own.  On our last cruise-September 2022- there were no loaner or give-away water bottles.  We were prepared and brought our own.  
Of course, it is simple enough to keep a disposable water bottle you bought in a shop and just refill that.  

3 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

When you are drinking your own wine at dinner, you are not drinking theirs – they should be happy to accommodate!

Well, that’s an excellent point! 🙂

3 hours ago, scottie920 said:

Can anyone advise what the current corkage fee is for a bottle of champagne/wine to drink in restaurant or lounge. Thank you.

I’ve never heard or seen a corkage fee mentioned. But the provided wines are so outstanding (and vary every night reflecting the region through which you’re sailing) I don’t know why anyone would want to BYOB. 

There are no low end house wines like Viking serves. 

1 minute ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

It was booked by a TA, and I suspect the flights are a group travel agent booking so can't be changed.

 

I don't mind the evening flight, we can go off and explore Vilshofen a bit, and hopefully grab some lunch onboard (gluten free, so suspect it will be easier on the boat as I don't think there are many suitable places in Vilshofen from the quick look I've done). It's only a couple of hours flight back home, so be nice to make the most of the last day.

The only thing that will be available for lunch on the ship is soup and sandwich in the lounge.  Maybe basic salad stuff.  I know a light lunch is available for early arrivals on boarding day. I assume it would be available to departing passengers who are lingering. 🙂

16 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

We didn't pick the time, it was a package deal we booked (very well priced) so the flights were included and there was no choice on time. The time isn't ideal, but hopefully if we can explore and use the lounge area, then that will be ideal.

 

I’m confident it won’t be an issue with the ship.  You can also talk to the CD about getting an earlier transfer. You might prefer getting through the airport earlier over just sitting around the ship. 

1 hour ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

On the last day, can you stay on the boat until your transfer to the airport comes? We've booked a package including airport transfers and flights. Our flight isn't until nearly 7pm on the last day, so hoping we can make use of the boat until transfer time.

Run it by the reception desk but you should be fine hanging around until early afternoon.  You’ll have to be out of your cabin by 9 AM.  You can sit with your bags in the lounge. Just stay out of the way of the staff and crew and incoming passengers. 
 

But, if I were you, I’d ask to leave the bags with reception and go out and explore a little bit.  Then, depart the ship in plenty of time to travel to the airport and check in. 
 

Curious why you booked a flight so late in the day if you’re just going to kill time on the ship until your transfer time? 

3 hours ago, Daisi said:

upcoming cruise will duplicate some places, but there are different tours we can do and see more things.

We’ve done five Avalons (so far). Except for the Moselle, we have duplicated the Rhine and the Danube rivers a minimum of twice for some sections and three or four times for others. 
We don’t care! We just love river cruising. On our last cruise: Budapest to Amsterdam, we frequently skipped the morning excursions, slept late, had a late breakfast, then went ashore and explored parts of town we hadn’t seen before because it’s not included in the tours. Or we sign up for an excursion that we haven’t done previously. Avalon offers so much variety! 
Sometimes, the ship repositions up (or down) river while everyone is off on excursions. We like to stay on board and relax while we cruise- having the whole ship to ourselves. 
 

There are many cruises that overlap a little with other cruises. That should never deter one from booking it! 
 

Cheers! 

52 minutes ago, randyjoan said:

Hi, all, we are multiple ocean cruisers and land-tour veterans wanting  to take our first river cruise this summer for our 50th anniversary. Could we get some opinions on Avalon vs Viking? Folks we know love and swear by Viking. Avalon appears a bit more pricey, but the cabins look larger. The Avalon  agent we spoke with  called Viking "the Wal-Mart of river cruises". True? What does that make Avalon? 

  The cruises we are considering are Vikings Belgium and Holland and Avalon's Basel to Amsterdam. Thoughts, anyone? 

Consider the fact that Viking crams 196 people on the exact same size ship that Avalon maxes at 164. How do they do that? Obviously the cabins have to be much smaller.  Avalon’s standard Cabins are 200 square feet. Viking’s largest non suite cabin is about 170 square feet. Many are around 139 sf.  Even Avalons basic cabins are 179sf, larger than Viking’s fancy “Veranda” cabins. 
Avalon’s standard 200sf “Panorama” cabins have an entire wall of glass facing the river that opens up to a French Balcony. And the beds face the river! Viking beds face the wall. 

Now, consider how thirty two extra passengers affect the public spaces of the Viking ship? Crowded lounge. Crowded dining room! 
 

Avalon serves wonderful gourmet meals.  The wines are top notch and change nightly, reflecting the regions through which you’re sailing. Viking serves the same old “Red or White” generic house wines every night, UNLESS you buy a premium drink package. Now imagine the awkwardness at dinner each night when you’re stuck with the same house wine while your dinner table companions are enjoying premium wines. 
 

Most days, Avalon offers three choices of included excursions, and great choices of optionals. 
 

Think about all of that before you sign up for Walmart… I mean… Viking. 
 

Cheers! 

28 minutes ago, bjay3 said:

Haven't  been on here since  2017 when we did our last Avalon Danube cruise so trying to catch up on all the great Info.  We are doing the Amsterdam to Como Rhine cruise in May, interestingly on the same ship Panorama  and even the same cabin. Looking for any suggestions or input for this trip. Really love the cabins on Avalon and the food was always great.

So your cruise is actually AMS to Basel. 
Not sure of this exact itinerary. We’ve been through that stretch three times as part of longer cruises.  
I hope you have an evening in Cologne.  If so, get off the ship after dinner and walk back into town. Walk around the center/cathedral area. Find a little pub and enjoy the wonderful local beer: Kölsch!  
 

We really enjoyed the optional day excursion into the Black Forest. That’ll probably be on your last day before sailing into Basel. 
 

Have a great time! 

31 minutes ago, Daisi said:

 

We can easily leave the cookies...it's making sure we are no where near the ship when 4:00 afternoon tea is served. DH has a bit of a sweet tooth, and I'll admit to enjoying the odd sweet as well. 🙂

 

I pretty much stick with a half sandwich and a cup of tea at Afternoon Tea. But it’s a struggle. 🙂

4 hours ago, martinitime1 said:

Thank you Kenster for the info, we would usually do any needed mid-trip laundry in the machines on the ship but not an option on these boats, any other tidbits of info for us newbies to the Avalon world?

Join the “I Love Avalon Waterways” Facebook group. It’s very active and you can learn a great deal about Avalon in general and your cruise in particular. There are also many YouTubes about Avalon cruises, ship tours. Etc. 

7 minutes ago, martinitime1 said:

Hello all, this will be our first river cruise Amsterdam to Paris on Imagery II. We are Princess folks usually but have a question about luggage and laundry. How is luggage handled to get from hotel to ship? Do we just shlep it ourselves or does Avalon somehow transfer to ship? Second, how is laundry handled on the ship? We will definitely need laundry services on the boat.

 

Thanks for any info, Chris

 

If you booked the pre cruise hotel through Avalon, it includes transfer to the ship. They will handle one large suitcase per person. You’re suppose to handle your carry-ons yourself.  You’ll be able to store roll-aboard size carry-ons in the baggage bay of the motorcoach, if they use one. Otherwise, the van driver will store it. 
Once at the ship, a crew member(s)  usually will out front to take your bags.  If you’re early and your cabin is not ready, they will tag the bags and deliver it to your cabin when it’s ready. They may, or may not offer to handle your carry-ons.  Avalon/Globus policy for porterage is one bag per person. 
 

Laundry: there is a laundry service available.  It’s a little pricey but reasonable for the convenience.  We always do carry-on only and had never used the laundry service until last year’s 16 day Budapest to Amsterdam. 
There are laundry bags and tickets in the closet.  Fill out the form, put the clothes in the bag, and leave it on the bed. They’ll take it during the evening turn down service and it will be returned the next day. You can save some money, if you wish, by washing out smalls in the bathroom sink. There is a retractable clothes line in the shower. 
have a great time. We are ready to book Avalon cruise #6! 

2 hours ago, moonriver54 said:

Looks like Nuremberg, Germany.  The Avalon Illumination is the replacement vessel...issued for the 03 SEP "The Legendary Danube" departure.

 

 

Nuremberg is the origination port. I wonder where the actual high water conditions are.  Seems unlikely to be anywhere in the canal. 

1 hour ago, moonriver54 said:

We're departing on our Avalon Rhine river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in about a month.  We received our updated travel packet from Avalon...like clockwork...yesterday.  Simply out of curiosity I looked at some of the upcoming departure "Docking Locations" on MyAvalon.  Looks like there are some HIGH-WATER issues on the Danube...and a few changed ship and changed departure locations because of it???

Did it say where the high water was?  The Danube is a very long river.  
 

Just a few days ago they were doing low water swaps around Passau, which is a perennial low spot. 

Always need to have a little local change.  Kind of a hassle having to get many currencies. We found mist places in Budapest took Euros but we’ve never been farther east than that. 

1 hour ago, AliceS said:

So, I’m OK with a checked bag, a carry on and tote?   I need the carry on for personal items and a few things in the event that the checked bag is lost.     

Shouldn’t be an issue for Avalon though you’ll be expected to handle the carry-on and tote yourself as porterage is (officially) for one bag only. 

Should be okay on the airline as long as your purse is in the tote bag and not a third carry on item. This assumes you're not among the last to board a full flight and they run out of space in the overhead bins, in which case you’ll have to gate check your larger carry on and stow the tote under the seat in front of you. 

But not all the 110m ships are “IIs.”

Visionary, for example. 

[ usually Viking; others keep sailing much longer – especially AMA to my knowledge.  I don't know where Avalon fits in there.]

My experience with five Avalon cruises (three of which were under low water concerns) is that Avalon may be the last line to stop sailing in low water.  Example: 2018.  The river from Passau to Vienna was lined with cruise ships, unable to sail, and being used as hotels while their pax were forced on bus trip for  hours every day.  But we sailed on through. When we got to Vienna, ships were rafting three deep and lined up along the docks. The pax on the Viking ship we rafted with were shocked to see us. We were the first ship to come into Vienna in three days.  
 

“… not to worry.”  That’s what they said last year! 🙂

I understand the difference in draft between freighters/barges and riverboats.  But I also am pretty sure that the freighters get priority if the waters get low enough to really cause disruptions. 
Just something to keep an eye on.  

https://gcaptain.com/summer-just-started-but-the-rhine-river-is-already-starting-to-dry-up/

35 minutes ago, Rebel54 said:

Yes, that's where the advance planning bug gets me.  I want a Royal cabin on this trip so I didn't want to wait until they were all filled up.  Hopeful that it will all be wonderful.

 

Any cabin on Avalon is wonderful.  The Royal suites are very special.  You’ll have an amazing experience.  

The experience is probably very similar. The canal boat is much larger. 

17 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

Thanks, I'd already bookmarked this site, but our late August sail date is not yet available.

It wouldn’t matter anyway.  The ship won’t have its assignment until a day or two before docking.  Avalon will notify you of its location. Shortly before the cruise: like 48 hours. 

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

Avalon Amsterdam Docking Locations- 

We are arriving at Amsterdam Centraal from Paris on the Thalys

 

There are SIX possible Amsterdam docks with the most out-of-the-way being Coenhaven Westerhofd SB (AMCO), which seems to be reachable only by taxi. Has anyone sailed from there and if so, how did you get there?

 

Two are on De Ruijterkade and are just 4 minutes walk from Amsterdam Centraal- fingers X'd. Veemkade, Javakade, and Westerdoksdijk seem doable by tram and a walk, but perhaps a taxi would be better? Any thoughts on these locations?

 

Thanks!

The three times we have been in AMS, our Avalon ship was docked very near the Movenpick hotel and an easy walk from the Centraal station.