Kenster

7 hours ago, Judicruise1 said:

First time on a river boat.  We will be on Avalon Vista.   Are the walls in the rooms metal?  Just wondering if I should bring a few magnets like on an ocean cruise. 

What do you use the magnets for?  
 

I can’t imagine a ship being framed with any material other than metal for structural integrity, as well as fire concerns. 

3 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Maybe it's a British booked thing then ?
Please note that tips for your Cruise Director, the ship's crew, local guides and drivers are included in the price of your holiday. If you would like to provide an extra tip, envelopes specifically for this purpose will be left in your stateroom on the day prior to disembarkation, and a designated box in which to deposit the envelopes will be set up at the Reception when you leave the ship.

Interesting. Building gratuities into the cost of the cruise may be targeted to certain markets. 
That makes it convenient for the passenger and ensures that the staff actually gets the gratuities they deserve. 
 

Sounds like a win/win. 

3 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

I believe gratuities are included in the fare on Avalon.

No, that is not correct.  Tips for ships crew and Cruise Director are NOT included.  
 

The only tips that are included are for the local guides (and drivers) for the daily excursions. 

6 minutes ago, ATG said:

In June we are going on our first river cruise and we’re very excited.  It’s the Rhine and Moselle.  I have a couple of questions.

 

How is the internet?  DH is debating bringing his laptop or not.  A neighbor who has been on several river cruises (but not Avalon) said it was slooow.

 

Tipping, how much and how is it handled?  We’re used to ocean cruises where a set amount is added to your account and goes to your credit card at the end.  Do I need cash or will a credit card work?

Rhine and Moselle was our first Avalon eight years ago last month. It was wonderful. 
 

Wifi is great. Plenty fast, though there may be some remote spots where a signal is not available. 
 

Gratuities:  I have not seen what the current suggested tips are.  You will have one amount (per passenger, per day) that is shared by the crew, and one amount for the Cruise Director. 
The Cruise Director is the only Avalon employee on board. Everyone else is an employee of the shipping line which is contracted by Avalon.  
 

You can visit the reception desk on the last full day or two of the cruise and pay the tips with your credit card. Or you can put cash in a provided envelope (one for crew and one for Cruise Director) and drop it on the box in the reception lobby. 
 

We also give a little extra cash, in person, to outstanding wait staff, lounge attendants, etc. 

We tend to settle into the same table every night for dinner, with the same waiter/waitress. They quickly learn, then anticipate our preferences. They make the cruise extra special so we give them a little extra. 
 

It can be daunting to shell out all that money in one chunk at the end of a long cruise! We just consider it part of the cost of the tour. If you want to avoid sticker shock, you can prepay the tips. Just call Avalon. 

17 minutes ago, teachluvbeach said:

Hi all!  Wondering what the smallest time frame is that you've booked prior to sailing? Some time has just opened up for me this summer and a river cruise is something I have always wanted to do.  Avalon looks great!  Is it doable with 4-6 weeks notice or is the planning too overwhelming?

Absolutely. We did it about three weeks out a few years ago. My schedule opened up and we wanted to cruise. We chose a cruise that fit my schedule and flights we could find at late notice. 
It can be done. Go for it! 

1 hour ago, Playtennis said:

Great advice Gnome12!  I hope that we can fill our smaller suitcases...we'll try😊

The challenge that is added on to the river cruise is 2 weeks before the cruise; a week in Paris and another in Dordogne River Valley.

Perhaps you can find an afternoon near the end of your land based holiday to do laundry before arriving at the ship? 
 

We have always done our cruises with a 20 inch carry on each, plus a small tote for odds and ends.  Our upcoming cruise is 16 days, however, so keeping it to one case each becomes more of a challenge.  Even if succeed in cramming everything in there, you have to watch the weight. European carriers, especially, restrict carry on to 40 pounds (I believe) and that’s been enforced on us a couple of times. 
 

We may resort to having laundry done on board ship this time. The expense and convenience may well be worth it.  
 

But that brings up another question. 
 

Has anyone ever done laundry in town while your ship is in port for several hours?  Particularly about halfway between Budapest and Amsterdam?  We’ve done this entire stretch at least once and some sections three times previously, so we won’t be missing anything if we skip a local tour and do laundry. 
Any suggestions? 
 

We have seen crew members take their laundry into town while we are in port. I just can’t remember where. 

8 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Kenster is the dock by the Movenpick Hotel? It is a few years since we were last in Amsterdam and we stayed there (and watched the ships) but the train journey was quick and easy with no stops (15/20mins). We only had carryon then but this time I am bringing one hold case between us 😜

Yes. That’s the spot. I verified it a few days ago. 

The above post got me to wondering.  We had already booked transfers on both ends before I remembered that the AMS CENTRAAL train station was basically across the street from the docks (based on two previous cruises.) 

Have any of you taken the train to the Amsterdam airport? How was it? 
I just suggested to another member that they do this but I have no experience with the train. 
It would be a lot cheaper IF it’s not too much hassle schlepping bags.  We normally do our cruises with a carry on suitcase and a small tote each. Not sure if that’ll be possible this time with a sixteen day cruise. (At least winter gear won’t be necessary in early September.)

I wonder what the chances are of getting a refund on our transfers? 

2 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

It will depend on the ship itself, but boarding for the new cruise can start right after lunch, so you'd no doubt have to vacate your cabin by 8 or 9am.  It might be possible to leave your luggage in one of the public rooms and come back to get it after a walk.  That would be arranged on the ship itself if it's even possible.  I'd not advise that, better to store securely at the train station.

We’ve always had VERY early departures to catch our flight but it seems that everyone had to be off ship by 10:00 at the latest.  Don’t know about special arrangements. 
 

I would stash your bags at the station, go for a walk, then take the train to the airport.  It’ll be a lot cheaper than Avalon’s $45 per person transfer, though the car may be less hassle. 

We will be ending our cruise in Amsterdam and taking the train to Paris.  
 

Does anyone have an idea which station would be closest to the docks?  Centraal Station or Schiphol airport? 
 

Seems like there’s a big station very near the docks we used on two previous cruises.  If that’s Centraal, I’ll try to cancel our end of cruise airport transfer. 
 

thank you. 

On 5/4/2022 at 8:33 PM, jsn55 said:

 

Grand France has been on my radar since we started doing Avalon eight years ago.  Just haven’t made it yet.   Maybe next year we will make that one Avalon #6! 

On 4/30/2022 at 10:20 AM, hmcrn said:

Hi everyone!  Question for you - How much time should we plan to get from the gate to baggage claim in ZRH?  Not sure how long customs is taking, and don't want to miss the van.  Thanks!

I’ve landed at ZRH several times. I don’t recall it ever taking a very long time to clear immigration.  Customs is nothing at all for non residents. Just walk through the green door. No line at all. Of course, we always travel with carry-on bags only, so that speeds things up a little. 

Don’t worry about missing the transfer.  Avalon’s agent will be monitoring your flight arrival.  Just don’t dawdle. But if you do miss your van, there’ll be another.  We’ve transferred on a bus, van, and even a private Mercedes sedan. 

Just booked Budapest to Amsterdam 9/3/22 sailing. Very excited. It happened so quickly.  
We met a wonderful Canadian couple on a Zurich to Vienna cruise three years ago and have visited with them twice since.  Two days ago, she contacted us saying they were booking this cruise and wanted us to join them. I’ve been pining to get back on the rivers since our last cruise in 2019.  
So… we jumped right in and booked it! 
 

This will be our fifth Avalon in eight years.  We’ve covered virtually all of this cruise at least two, if not three, times previously.  We don’t care. We just love being on the river, meeting great people. Sometimes, when we’ve been in a port before, we skip the morning tour, sleep late, and just do our own thing, walking around on our own.  We especially love that. 
 

Our friends are of like mind in that they don’t feel like we have to be joined at the hip all day, every day.  We will do our own things during the day and meet up at the evening briefing and have dinner together.  (There may be wine involved!) 

So looking forward to this! It’s been too long! 
 

Now, we just need to stay healthy and start worrying about the river levels.  We’ve never had a problem with the river, even when other lines’ cruises were turned into bus tours using the ships as anchored hotels.  We sailed into Vienna four years ago and were told by cruisers on another ship that we were the first ship to arrive in almost three days!  Gotta love those shallow draft Avalon ships. 
people on Viking were telling stories of being transferred to THREE different ships because the Viking ships could not go down the river very far. 
 

Enough rambling!   Cheers! 

15 minutes ago, cccult said:

How exciting! Hope you have a great trip. The app is now working for us, though still no luggage tags. I’m guessing they will just have them when we board. 

 What type of name tags is everyone worried about?  You bring your own bags on board and take them to your cabin yourself. There’s no need for a paper tag on which to write your name and cabin number.  

If you’re talking about a fancy ID tag for your bag, we have always received ours in the mail shortly before the cruise, but it serves no real purpose for the cruise itself. 

1 hour ago, macaroni said:

Basel…

It varies. They may not know until very shortly before boarding. They will e-mail you where to meet the ship.  
If you bought a transfer, the driver will know. 

42 minutes ago, Playtennis said:

Kenster,

Thanks for your VERY prompt reply with a good explanation.  Today is (was) the day we can book excursions and, of course, not available.

Keith

Keith, I totally understand the frustration.  
 

We’ve done four Avalons and have never had a problem getting any excursion (included or optional) that we wanted. Even some that we waited until we were onboard to book. (Not that I suggest that, especially for the ones you really have your heart set on.) For many excursions, if there’s a big demand, they’ll just add another bus.  A few may be restricted, such as special dinners.  
I reckon you’ll be okay but, like you, I just like to get ‘er done! 
 

Cheers! 

2 minutes ago, Playtennis said:

Has anyone had difficulty getting in to your Avalon account today?  It seems that they are having difficulty.  Here is what they show on the opening page: "We are experiencing systems issues that are affecting the phone line, booking systems and certain Web sites. We are aware and working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. "

I have not even been able to call them. With our upcoming cruise with Avalon I'm getting concerned that their problems are something other than a "system problem".

 It’s pretty self explanatory.  Nothing nefarious going on.
Avalon, being part of the Globus Family, is in a very strong position. Nothing to worry about.  Their system will probably be back up very soon. 
 

If it’s something critical, try contacting them via Messenger on their Facebook page.  They’ve always been very responsive. AND forthcoming.  

On 3-3-3 seating, we would select the center row, aisle seats, and gamble that no one gets the middle seat. Sometimes we luck out, and that’s really nice on an overnight flight. But if someone gets cleared to the middle seat, my bride will usually slide to the middle and let him have the aisle.   Being in the center section at least gives us access to an aisle with crawling over a stranger or having a stranger crawl over us. 
 

The 767 2-3-2 configuration in coach is great if you can get the “2” seats (window/aisle). 

My biggest fear of buying airfare from the tour operator is ending up in the middle seat of five across in the back of the plane.  Often, with tour groups, you can’t even choose a seat. They aren’t assigned to the group until maybe 24 hours out, at which point all you have is left overs.  
It may be different in this case since you don’t have an entire group flying together.  I, too, would like to hear experiences of booking air through Avalon.  Are the fares offered based in Basic Economy seats? 
Every bill we pay, and every purchase we make goes into a mile generating credit card, which gets us Biz Class seats to Europe every year or so.  But I am curious about booking through Avalon. 

If the hotel is part of a pre-Cruise add on, with included activities (city tour/Zurich optionals, etc) it might be considered part of the entire package and, therefore Day One might be your arrival day in Zurich/Basel. In which case, Globus would be correct and they may want you to have your test 72 hours before starting your package, not the cruise.  That makes sense because they want their early arrival participants to be infection free, not just cruise participants. 
 

I am not one to leave anything to chance, however, so I would want Globus/Avalon to be very clear about that. In writing. 

I would also contact the pre-cruise hotel and ask them for suggestions on where you can get the test nearby… just in case.   I’m sure they will have a recommendation. 
 

29 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

What do you mean the cruise operator?

The company operating the cruise: Avalon, Viking, AMA, etc. 

Just like a tour operator: Globus, Colette, Tauck, etc. 

19 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Kenster I’m sorry I do take issue with you there, the hotel and maritime staff and crew are supplied by at least one German company which does not own the boats. I think Glen Moroney will be just a little surprised to find that he suddenly does not own his boats. I will send my Australian friend an email he started in the travel business at the same time as Glen I’m sure he’ll enjoy letting him know in Switzerland. They even own their boat on the Douro which was unusual. 

Thank you for the correction. I guess my point is that the ship’s crew are not Avalon employees whereas the Cruise Director is.  
And that the ships are not owned by the cruise operator, though they are branded Avalon, AMA, Viking, etc. 

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Interesting as far as I know on Scenic the CDs are employed by Scenic and the hotel and maritime staff are contracted although these can be fired by Scenic.

Most likely, the Scenic ships are branded Scenic but not actually owned by Scenic. That’s the way it is with most, if not all, river cruise lines. So, the CD actually works for the operators: Scenic, Avalon, Viking, etc, but everyone else on board works for the ship owner. 

27 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Unlike CDs on ocean cruises, river cruise CDs [at least on AMA] only work one cruise at a time.  They start with the pre-cruise land portion, then the cruise, then the post-cruise land portion – then they collapse and rest until their next contract.  So the tips represent their income over a longer period than it seems.

The CD on Avalon is an actual employee of Avalon/Globus. (All other personnel are employees of the ship line, which is contracted by Avalon.  I know some CDs will do back to back cruises then have a bit of time until their next assignment. Some might do a pre-cruise land extension, but that’s not always the case. 
But yes,  what they make on the cruise should not be extrapolated as making that full time.  It’s not solid, and it IS seasonal. 

Crew tip is about $10-12 a day. 
Recommended CD tip is $3 a day. 
We’ve done four cruises in the past six years and that’s what it’s been.