YoungDubFan

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. I really appreciate it. There are lots of great ideas here.

I will be in Casablanca next June  on a Fri. from 7am - 8pm. I’ll be traveling with my 79 year old mother. I’m doing early planning and trying to determine what the highlights of Casablanca are. We normally like to DIY but I’m wondering if we should take a ship’s tour that day. If we DIY, what are the top 3 things to do? Is there a Medina or an old town that we can walk through? Any suggestions are appreciated. 

I will be visiting Cartagena next June and will be in port from 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. I will be traveling with my 79 year old mom. We should have access to a shuttle from the port to the center of town. We normally like to walk around and do an overview. I would love to know what are the top 3 things to see. Thanks for any suggestions. 

I’ll be visiting next June and we will be in port from 7am - 6pm. I’m interested in doing the port DIY and would love some suggestions on what to do. I should have access to a shuttle from the port to the center of town. I will be traveling with my 79 year old mother. We normally like to just walk around but would love to know what the top 3 things to see are.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I have done the romantic Rhine & Paris to Normandy with Avalon. I really enjoyed both trips. I posted extensive trip reports on both if you want to read. I would recommend either.

I didn’t get any vaccines either. I drank bottled water, rarely used ice, & avoided fresh salads. I didn’t have any problems. I also used bottled water to brush my teeth.

i ended up doing this itinerary solo in May 2016 when my mom got sick the day of departure & couldn’t join me. I wrote an extensive trip report on it. Just search this forum for “Paris to Normandy, Felicity” Feel free to ask any questions. I had no problem meeting people, joining others for meals, etc.

My understanding is that Avalon cancelled all Myanmar cruises due to lack of interest. The 2018 sailings have not been full & 2019 bookings were even slower. Some have speculated that the political unrest & treatment of the Rohyinga (sp?) people have contributed to the lack of interest.

I’ll try to answer.

1. It depends - there are not as many price reductions on river cruises as with ocean cruises. I have been successful getting a price reduction but my travel agent does a lot of business with the Avalon family of businesses.

2. There are significantly less cabins on a river cruise so there may not be any options for an upgrade.

3. I can’t help with this.

4. You can bring alcohol on board to drink in your cabin. There may be a corkage fee to drink it elsewhere on board.

5. I have a travel agent I’ve used for years so I can’t comment.

Hope this helps.

We also stayed at the Movenpick Zurich Airport, the Avalon hotel for our cruise. There was a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel and a train station right in front of the hotel. It was easy to take the train into old town Zurich for sightseeing, probably a 20 min. ride. We also took the Mt. Pilates / Lucern trip with a transfer to the ship. It was a great day & a nice way to meet some of our fellow passengers before embarking. You will really enjoy this trip. I wrote a fairly detailed review/ trip report of our cruise, which you can find by searching this board.

I have only traveled with Avalon (twice) & not Viking so can’t compare. I can comment about how both lines handled issues with high water /flooding on my Paris to Normandy Cruise one Avalon in May 2016. Our captain was very proactive & moved the ship before we embarked. We had a slightly bus ride to the ship but we sailed. Many companies’ ships were stuck in Paris & didn’t sail. Some of there’s turned into bus trips. Towards the end of our cruise, flooding was worse & ships were held at Rouen. Avalon bused us to Paris & put us in a 5 Star hotel for 2 nights, gave us per deim money for lunch & a significant refund. Viking elected to use the ship in Rouen as a hotel & bused passengers to Paris for a day trip, over 5 hours on the bus in total. Avalon is part of the company that owns Cosmos, Monograms &Globus so has lots of contracts with hotels to use in case of high or low water. I know on some itineraries Viking can have passengers swap ships to go around low or high water spots but this is not possible on every itinerary.

Everyone has different things that are important to them so if you are curious I

Don’t think trying another line is a bad thing. It will either confirm your preference for Viking or will give you another line to look at.

On Avalon, they took a small group to the Canadian sites as well.

When I traveled solo, I rotated tables almost every night. Of course this sailing only had 50 total passengers & they only had half of the dining room open. When I’ve traveled with my mom, we still try to mix it up but also have dined alone. We just try to go with the flow & see what happens.

It’s too bad Avalon is retiring the non-suite ships. I have sailed on two of them and enjoyed my cruises. These cruises were substantially cheaper than sailings on the suite ships. I was not in the cabin much so didn’t mind the cabin size. On the rare instance for daytime sailing, I prefer to be in the lounge or on the sun deck to have panorama views.

As to coping with jet lag on arrival, I am one of those people who find it very difficult to sleep on the plane. After arriving I try to hit the ground running and walk around / tour the area. I often have a late lunch, early dinner around 4 or so. It is my goal to stay awake until close to 8pm but I don’t always make it. I normally sleep well and then am set for the rest of the trip.

I have taken 2 cruises with Avalon. I tipped those guides who I felt were very good & didn’t tip those I felt we’re poor to average. I would say on my cruises, the minority of passengers tipped guides.

As stated there are many options for river cruising, to meet different budgets. I have done 2 cruises on Avalon & have been very happy with the value, service, food & inclusions. I have saved money by cruising on the older ships vs. the newer “suite ships”. I like that beer & wine are only included at dinner. If I want to drink more, I’m fine with paying extra. Everyone needs to do research & pick the options that work best for them.

I’ve done two cruises with Avalon (Rhine Basel - Amsterdam) & Seine (Paris -Normandy). I’ve posted trip reports for both. I would recommend Avalon. I had great experiences on both trips. Last year I was in France during the record flooding and Avalon was wonderful. They made necessary adjustments to the itinerary including putting us up in a hotel in Paris for the end of the trip.

You can bring wine or alcohol on board to enjoy in your cabin or on the sun deck. If you want to drink in the restaurant, there may be a corkage fee. No need to sneak it on board.

goldengatecruisers- I'm greatly enjoying your posts & photos. I've done 2 river cruises on Avalon & loved them but am sure that Crystal is a few steps above. Please tell Mark that Kelly from Columbus (mom is Mary) says hi. I was lucky enough to cruise the Symphony with Mark & flew to Chicago to see him perform. He is a masterful entertainer & I'm happy to see that he seems to be the inaugural entertainer for the Crystal river ships.

I did this trip last May with Avalon & wrote an extensive trip report on this site. I did not do my air through Avalon but was able to purchase transfers anyways. I did go in a day early to help with jet lag & explore some of Paris. Unfortunately I was there during the floods last year but Avalon was wonderful in how they handled everything.

For Rouen we had an included walking tour & free time. We ended up overnighting because the ship couldn't sail back to Paris. Some went into Rouen after dinner for the light show @ the cathedral & enjoyed it.

I posted an extensive trip report of my cruise with Avalon last year. I did the thatched roof tour & enjoyed it. We were on a bus for a bit but had time to walk around & take pictures. Those who went on the Abbey option had very positive feedback as well.

Avalon, Globus, Monograms & Cosmos are all part of the same company. If you have traveled with any of these companies you qualify for the Journeys programs & get discounts & perks with all companies. I've gotten the discount & fruit trays on land tours as well as cruises.

I think many lines with the exception of Viking waive the single supplement on a select amount of cruises each year. As stated, Uniworld, Avalon, AMA, & Tauck have all done so. Sometimes this is just in relation to the lowest category cabin, but if you contact the lines directly, they may offer it on other cabins. Check on the websites under the deals section to look at options. You can also sign up for email with deals.

Avalon offers an optional excursion to Honfleur. It was a delightful town.

I did not do the Bistro dinner on my cruise because I did not find enough courses that appealed to me. The menu was the same on every night of my cruise. The bartenders had the menu & let me view it before I signed up. Others on my cruise seemed to enjoy it.