Avalon Visionary - Amsterdam-Basel

[Squire5000]

We took this cruise last month. Some random thoughts:

 

Transfers/hotels (Movenpick Amsterdam; Movenpick Zurich Airport) booked thru Avalon are the way to go.

 

The Visionary was a beautiful vessel. The room was very comfortable. We were looking forward to using the "balcony" extensively, but that was not to be. Most of the sailing is done at night. If you open the sliding door while in port, you'll be attacked by mosquitos. While viewing the castles along the Rhine, most everyone is up on the top deck.

 

Meals are very structured. Usually an early breakfast, lunch around noon and dinner (plan on 2 hours) around 7:00 PM. Food was very good. Nice touch; unlimited wine at dinner thru the main course.

 

Happy hour lasts an hour, generally before dinner Half price drinks. However, a word of caution. After a day of touring, we went to the bar for a drink. When the bill was presented it was 25E. I asks about happy hour prices and was told the happy hour would be after dinner. Always check.

 

This is not a cruise for the weary. Every port day had tours, some included in the price of the cruise and others at an added cost. Morning tours started around 8:30 AM ending around 11:00 AM with afternoon tours beginning around 1:00 PM after lunch and ending at 5:00 PM. As with anything in life, some of the tours were very good while other were less than very good. It depends on what your interests are.

 

When cruising a river, you're at the mercy of the weather. There were heavy rains in the Alps which caused some flooding on the Rhine which precluded our boat from going under some bridges. To compensate, Avalon set up bus bridges to take us to our original destination, in this case Strasbourg. This was about a 2 hour trip each way. Since we could not get back to the Visionary for lunch, arrangements for a meal were made at a local Strasbourg restaurant that caters to all the river cruise lines. Perhaps the worst meal I've ever had, a view shared by our fellow travelers. But, at least Avalon tried.

 

On the Strasbourg excursions, we left the Visionary around 8:00 AM and got back around 7:30 PM. A long day. To complicate matters, no one, i.e., the bus drivers, the tour guides had a clue as to where and when the boat would arrive. They only had a general idea. I would encourage Avalon to provide for better communication between the boat and the tours so the passengers have a general idea of what's going on. Drivers too.

 

A few final thoughts: Zurich is VERY expensive, e.g., club sandwich $34 US. Travel in both Amsterdam and Zurich is very easy via trams. Both Movenpick hotels are within a very short walk to the trams.

 

The crew of the Visionary, every person, was among the best we have ever sailed with. Although this was our first river cruise, we have over 40 cruises on the bigger ships under our belt to use as a comparison.

 

River cruising is not for everyone. We missed our balcony time, the flexible dining schedule, etc., that we have come to expect on a larger ship. While, at the present time we're not certain we would do another river cruise for at least 2 years (we've got other trips already booked), I'm almost certain that Avalon would be our first choice A class operation.

[nana541]

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

 

 

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[gentlemancruiser]

a very good review.

[Judyrose]

Thanks,

A great review, - we are booked on the Avalon Illumination august 2015 Amsterdam to Budapest.

Comments like yours certainly assist us with our planning!!

Cheers

Judy

[CPT Trips]

Nice review.

I don't recall ever reading of water on the Rhein too high to get under a bridge . . . And just a short time ago the river was so low they found a WWII bomb.

[Squire5000]

Yeah; go figure. The Alps got hammered with rain. When we were in Zurich and Lucerne, the water was very high and very swift.