Haysiedaze

On 4/2/2023 at 11:21 AM, floridababa said:

Does anyone know how Avalon is handling the issues Faith maintenance on the locks? I'm reading scenic and Viking are keeping boats by Regensburg and putting people in buses and hotels

I booked 4 cabins on Scenic for their Tulip and Windmills cruise leaving April 10 from Amsterdam. Their ship is stuck in Regensburg and they cancelled the cruise (with a full refund). Luckily Avalaon had 4 cabins on the Impression available for the same dates. So we didn't need to deal with changing airfare and all is good.  It will be our 2nd Avalon Cruise and we enjoyed the first!

If it is on the Opal friends just got off on May 8th and she tested positive for Covid. They are still in Budapest at a hotel. He has now tested positive. I wonder if they had an outbreak with the crew?

I am scheduled on the June 2nd, 4 night precruise in Switzerland and then the Basel to Amsterdam Highlights of the Rhine sailing on the Opal. My wife tested positive Sunday and now I tested positive today. We should be recovered and able to go, I hope Scenic is available.

Yes she had her 1st booster shot. I had my second booster last Friday 😒

16 hours ago, Buckeye 6 said:

Where did you hear this?

From a travel agent and it has been verified by them. The link above has the information.

I have been told final payment dates are being moved because of this issue.

A quick summary of the trip.

• We enjoyed the cruise and the Covid protocals made it less stressful. 
• We were at 247 passengers (around 50% capacity)
• We found the food to be very good but that is subjective.
• The excursions were hit or miss for us. We did 4 premium excursions.
• The LS cabin was very nice and Adam the River Butler was outstanding (we don't usually travel like this but it was very enjoyable).
• We went to all but the last nights shows. We only enjoyed 2 of them as some were just way too loud for us. I can't imagine how those with hearing aids could stand it (Unless they turned them down).
• Our table mates were 93 and 89 years old (we are in our 60's). They are two of the most blessed people in the world. Their energy and vitality put us to shame. They were very enjoyable to dine with.
• The whole crew was friendly and couldn't do enough for us.
• Our waiter in the dining room did offer and did bring us drinks to the table from the bar.
• I got to tour 7 different cabin categories. The B category had some rooms with a tall dresser but others did not. Be careful booking these as those without it had limited storage.
• The ship was kept very clean and they were sanitizing the public areas daily.

Regards, Steve

On 11/16/2021 at 11:24 AM, Frncie said:

Question concerning your LS cabin 517. We were in 519 in September, and our butler was Adam. He had to leave the boat unexpectedly mid-week. We grew very fond of him in just a few short days. Is he back?

He is and he was fantastic!

On the Queen now. I saw a category B "balcony" with the queen bed a bureau and a closet. There is no storage, our friends are living out of their suitcases. An inside cabin is even smaller. I wouldn't consider anything below an A category unless you plan on spending no time in the cabin.

A quick update.

The crew have been excellent. Friendly and efficient. Our meals have been served in a timely manner. It appears things are smoothing out after the restart of cruises.

There are 247 guests on board. 100% of us tested negative before boarding. No one was turned away.

HOHO busses running and masks are required while on board them.

Only hiccups were involving an pre-cruise excursion and we had low water pressue one night.

More on the excursion later but the enginnering crew ressponded quickly and resolved the issue with our water.

Steve

Arrived in Memphis at 10:00 am. At hotel by 10:30. Room not ready so we left our bags at the hotel and toured Graceland. Back to the hotel at 2:00 room still not ready but they took my cell phone number saying they would call when it was.

Headed to AQV check in. We had a 5:30 Covid Test appointment but hoped they could take us early.

At first they said no but we took a seat nearby. 5 minutes later a rep came out and said we could go check in and be tested. At the same time we got a call our room was ready.

We did the temperature check, showed our vax cards, put our cc on file and had our Covid Test!

We were told our results would be available by 10 pm and would be emailed to us. At 3:32 we got emails saying the results were in. We are both negative and can board tomorrow.

Nice room at the Guest House at Graceland. So far so good.

2 hours ago, LDVinNC said:

Even in normal times, expecting perfection is setting yourself up for failure!  We have always tried to appreciate the experience as a whole.  You will have a fine time, I am sure.

My wife always sets very low expectations for our travels, she always has them exceeded😉

My wife and I  leave Sunday for Memphis. We will be staying at the Guest House at Graceland. Our Covid testing at the hotel is scheduled.

If all goes well we will be sailing on Monday on the American Queen. We have lowered our expectations from when we originally were scheduled to sail March of 2020, based on what we have read. Yet we look forward to our first cruise since June 2019 (Avalon Tapestry II, Paris to Normandy). We are in an LS cabin (517).

The service we have been getting at finer restaurants here in NH for the past 6 months hasn't been good as many can't find experianced help. We won't be surprised by it on the cruise. 

I will try to update this post as we travel down the Mississippi with some updated observations during the week. Questions are welcome and I will get to them as time permits.

Regards, Steve

6 hours ago, Frncie said:

On our September cruise there were less than 300 passengers. Full capacity is something like 450. It’s probably just as well that there are fewer passengers, considering all the staffing and retention problems they have experienced lately. 

Thank you.

For anyone that has sailed recently on the American Queen was it sailing at full capacity?

Thanks

Very well done review.

It is encouraging. We are due to sail Nov 8th. Glad there will be a couple months worth of sailings before then. Hopefully somone will post a review.

12 minutes ago, Haysiedaze said:

My understanding is you can still use ALLIANZ but if AQSC defaults you are not covered for your loss.

As with any insurance question though check directly with the insurance company.

Trying to make this a little clearer. Again contact Allianz to get the information.

With Allianz you cannot purchase the policy if you want to be covered for Supplier Default.  However, you are still able to purchase a policy for all other covered reasons such as trip interruption, covered medical emergencies, lost or delayed baggage.

1 hour ago, adstz said:

 

Does that mean we can't use Allianz insurance to cover a trip that includes AQSC?

My understanding is you can still use ALLIANZ but if AQSC defaults you are not covered for your loss.

As with any insurance question though check directly with the insurance company.

Just found out that American Queen Steamboat has just been removed from the Allianz Covered Suppliers list as of 8/28/20.  Allianz won't cover if they default. Also removed were Crystal and WIndstar.

Sure makes one wonder about their financial health.

Thanks for sharing. I walked onto the GEM (by accident)  in June when it was rafted next to our Avalon ship.

Very nice. Now booked on Scenic Basel to Amsterdam next June (with 4 days precruise in Switzerland). Loved reading about your experience on Scenic and very excited to see what it is all about next year.

Thank you.

Two more things that stuck out on this cruise.

We chose to go to Monet's Garden. Avalon had us there in time to be the first ones into the grounds (not by accident). When we got to the reflecting pools there was nobody there yet but us. 30 minutes later it was packed. We got great photo ops.

We were headed back to Monet's House as Ama Waterways excursion was just headed over to the pools.

We also chose to book the Palace of Versailles. Our tour director told us to make sure we had some extra patience with us because of the crowds. Wow we wish we hadn't gone. It was packed in the palace to the point you couldn't enjoy it. Below is the famous Hall of Mirrors.

On the June 10th, 2019 75th Anniversary of D-Day Rememberance Cruise on the Tapestry II Avalon held a special ceremony for our ship at the American Cemetary in Normandy that was one of the most memorable experiances I have had in my travels. They kept saying we needed to be at the monument at 2:30 for a ceremony. We assumed it was a daily occurance there. Well at 2:30 a speaker from the cemetary gave a short talk. He then asked us to turn and face the Crosses and Stars of David. They then played the Star-Spangled Banner, we were told we could sing or stand in silence I lost it. They then asked us to face the monument while Taps was played. Two of the guests from our ship were asked to lay a wreath at the foot of the monument.

Then they asked for a moment of silence. Wow that was special, thank you Avalon. By the way this is not typical but rather had to do with the Rememberence Cruise.

On 6/16/2019 at 2:32 PM, jsn55 said:

We're booked on this cruise in 2020.  Can someone tell me the general area where Tapestry will be docked in Paris?  

Avalon docks at one of three locations., Port Grenelle (nearest to the Eiffel Tower), Port de Javel or Quai du President Rosevelt.

On our June 2019 cruise they used Port Grenelle. The picture is of the Sun Deck taken from the bridge right next to Port Grenelle 

We had a wonderful cruise and really enjoyed the excursions.

Thanks for the review. we are sailing on the Meraviglia March 2018.

Unlike suites on other ships... the Cat SI on the Pride is shown configured with a Queen master bed, not a King.

Queen beds are double frames that can be split into twins upon request. (king beds cannot...)

Thank you!