Kenato

We took this cruise a couple of years ago. You can read my review here. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=536622 We did not give much information on the cities and tours but in general we found all the tours included in the cruise to be excellent with very knowledgeable guides. Your best bet is to take the list of tours when you receive it and select the tours that appeal most to you. For example, we selected Cesky Krumlov over Salzburg preferring a small older place to the larger "Sound of Music" City while our friends selected the reverse. We went in late May and the weather ranged from cool to very hot in Budapest. As always, bring clothes that you can wear in layers and wear the number of layers dictated by the day's weather. We had no specific plans for Amsterdam and just walked around and obtained a bit of the atmosphere. The boat cruise with Avalon is very good and gives you a good idea of the layout of Amsterdam. If it is not too late, try and take a couple more days in Budapest. It is a beautiful city with a great deal to see and do. The Parliament Buildings, Castle Hill, Chain Bridge, Fisherman's Bastion, Roch Church and much more.

Whatever you decide to do in the towns and on the boat, I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

Try the Amsterdam House Hotel Eureka. It is a quirky little place right on a canal and very convenient to all the sites. We stayed a night prior to our cruise and found it clean, different and friendly.

Bottom Line

If you think river cruising is too expensive for you, stick to Ocean Cruising or Land Based travel. That way you will not regret the expense and can enjoy your vacation. Those that think it is a reasonable expense, Enjoy yourselves!!!

Our first cruise was 15 day Amsterdam to Budapest with Avalon and we enjoyed both the long cruise and Avalon. The boats are great, nothing like looking out the big open window and watching the world pass by. Food and wine were good and plentiful, service was excellent and excursions were well organized and had great, knowledgeable tour leaders. We would certainly go with Avalon again.

Remember that on River Boats the seating is not fixed. You can sit at a different table every night. If you want to sit at a large table but avoid a dominant couple take your time in getting to the dining room and then you can select the table with the people you would prefer to sit with. We have made great friends sitting at 6 people tables (find 8 too big). Meeting people is part of the fun of cruising I find.

If you search either "surge suppressors" or "surge protectors" or look at any of my thousands of posts on this topic you'll get a full explanation. The reason is that surge protectors are not needed on ships, don't serve any function, and can unless they are of a specific marine design, can become a fire hazard. You can also google "USCG Safety Notice Surge Protectors" for a case study by the USCG of fires caused by surge protectors. But, the short of it is that on ships, the "neutral" wire is not connected to the "ground" wire like in your home, so the semi-conductors in the surge protector can be subjected to "reverse voltage" when a ground occurs anywhere else on the ship. These MOV semi-conductors are not designed for reverse voltages, and they will quickly fail in "thermal overload" which will overheat the power strip and can cause a fire. None of the ship's electronics are protected by surge protectors, as they are not needed. Because of the difference in grounding, even when lightning strikes the ship (and I've been on several when struck), it does not enter the electrical system, but flows through the hull to sea.

While I have discussed this on virtually every deep sea cruise forum here, this is the first time it has come up on the river forum, so its not surprising that it is an unknown topic.

Thanks for this. This is certainly all news to me and of course, all makes perfect sense once you know. I had been thinking that the boat power could be variable depending on engines and thus the need for a surge protector. Have never tried using one and you can be certain I will not in the future Thanks

Definitely would not recommend using any surge protector onboard a ship.

Could you tell us why please? Never realized this could be a problem.

Would not call it more upscale. Dress is casual for dinner with very few wearing jackets and ties or Fancy dresses for women. Shorts are not allowed but capris for women seemed to be ok. Not much additional effort for the "special dinners"

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Just accessed site with no problem. Maybe that is because I am not taking a Viking Cruise!!!

You a bringing back good memories of doing this trip with Avalon last year.

If you are a Sound of Music fan, then Salzburg should be your destination as it was for our friends who really enjoyed it. We opted for Cesky Krumlov. We were not disappointed and found it a charming little town with plenty to see. We were there in early June and did not find it crowded. Some beautiful old buildings and good places to eat. Both are long drives but we found ours very interesting and our driver helped by diverting at times and showing us areas of interest. Good luck with your decision and I am sure you will enjoy either trip.

There are no plans to change the piano players to DJs. Per Hoffee, the line tested using DJs and the move wasn't popular with guests.

 

That being said, I expect that there might be more iterations. We have a Bulgarian musician on this trip and....well, let's just say that listening to Sweet Home Alabama in a heavy Eastern European accent is entertaining, but not perhaps in the way the line wants. Tonight will be our first night having local performers onboard; I expect the line to look at adding more of those.

Thanks for this information. I know what you mean by the quality of some of the entertainment but I still find it much more preferable to having a DJ. On our trip last year the resident player was very good as were most of the entertainers that were brought on board. Keep that up and improve where possible Avalaon.

Please ask them if the change from piano player to DJ in the lounge will be permanently on all boats. Thanks

This was not our experience on our Avalon cruise. As well as the very good keyboard player who was well supported when he was the evening's entertainment we had a variety of guest artists. Classical music group, zither artist, singer, one man band and of course the crew show were among the entertainment acts we had. All were well supported and enjoyed by all I spoke to.

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If that is happening on all Avalon Cruises, they will not see me again!!

Thanks for all the additional info. Just having a port hole would be a deal breaker for me. I think it's a bit too claustrophobic, plus I like to be able to lie in bed and watch the shoreline go by when I wake up in the morning. :)

If that is what you want to do, Avalon should be on your list. Cabin wide opening windows with the bed positioned so you look out the window rather than at a wall. Rooms are 200 sq ft.

Just interested as to what makes an excursion an active excursion for you?

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Like you we were unsure on our first trip and selected top deck, mid-ship on the Panorama and it was great. That being said, we could have saved a few dollars and gone on the second deck and I am sure would have been just as happy. There have been postings for various lines of noise and vibration at the rear of boats so just to be on the safe side I would select mid-ship or forward. On our sailing, the last six or so cabins on the back of the upper deck were empty, obviously not the prime choice. Hope this helps.

Are you sure you looked at Avalon's Magnificent Europe Cruise, Amsterdam to Budapest or vice-versa? That is a 15 day cruise and does Rhine, Main and Budapest.

Just wondering why you ruled Avalon Waterways out. They are mid-range and appear to offer all that you are looking for.? We did the Rhine, Main, Danube cruise this year and felt Avalon delivered a great experience.

Yes we did the Bistro this year. You get 10 servings, 3 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 3 deserts. Servings are not large but you will not finish hungry. Food is varied and tasty. Some servings are of local foods but all are good. We went twice on our 15 day cruise and servings were different both times and we enjoyed the experience.

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No, a tour of Parliament is not included. We booked a visit from home (advised) and it is definitely worth while. At the end there is a very interesting exhibition.

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You are correct. You can drop your bags off at their hotel anytime during the day and then go sightseeing. Be back at hotel by 3:30pm, check in (2 min), time for soft drink or coffee then orderly boarding on to coaches. 5 min to dock. Greeted by Captain and officers as you board where you are led into lounge and glass of " Champagne". Some introductions and then your steward takes you to your cabin and explains everything. Bags should be there so you can start unpacking before safety drill at 5:00pm. All very fast, civilized and relaxing. Have a great trip. We did.

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I found that more places than I had been led to believe take Euros. Even in the market, stalls took Euros. Rate of Exchange can be a bit high. As stated earlier, you are safer having some Forints available when you can't use your Euros.

Thanks for the great review.

 

For dinner, is there another option if you do not want (too tired, whatever) the 4 course meal?

The only option we had was the Bistro Meal served in the lounge. This was about 10 small plates of appetizers, entrees and deserts that we enjoyed. Quite casual and not a whole pile of food. I believe that when weather and bridge conditions allow, they also will serve a meal on the top deck in a very casual atmosphere. You can still go to the main dining room and only order 1, 2,3 or 4 courses depending upon how you feel. Remember it is all pretty casual.