Live (more or less) from the Avalon Artistry II: Paris to Amsterdam

[FuelScience]

I'll try to post in several installments here. Starting with a description of precruise, flight to Paris, etc. First:

 

Pre-Cruise

Arrangements

For this trip we worked through a travel agent who arranged things for all four of us traveling—two from Nashville and two from Dallas. The cruise is our 5th (following 3 Viking trips and 1 Vantage cruise), and the first for BIL and SIL. The Avalon web site was particularly helpful in that it showed actual flight options for the trip rather than just stating a single price with no information on airlines or connections. We made arrangements in May for a cruise beginning on August 30, and there were plenty of options for air travel with the different pricing shown on the Avalon web site.

 

So when we were ready to book with Avalon, we’d already picked out flights for our travel agent to select for us. We were able to route through DFW so that we could meet up with our Texas siblings there and fly to Paris together. Later our agent was able to find us an earlier flight from our US return connecting airport (Philadelphia) to Nashville, saving us from 3-4 hours of sitting in the airport.

 

Another nice feature of the Avalon web site is the easy ability to see how crowded the ship will be. One can easily go through the process to book the cruise on line after you’re already booked and see deck plans showing unreserved cabins. So I could check every few days and see how many cabins were still open (11 out of 64 two weeks out). The “My eMaterials” section of the MyAvalon site also has downloadable travel guides for the countries you’ll be visiting and the rivers you’ll be sailing. The “My Excursions” page describes optional excursions and allows one to prebook them, although one can also book after embarking on the ship.

 

Avalon ticketed our flights shortly after we booked them so we were able to go online and upgrade seats with the airline (American).

 

Our cruise e-materials were available for download between 5 and 6 weeks before departure, and the actual materials arrived via FedEx a few days later.

 

Cruise Materials

Our FedEx package contained:

 

• Two cloth/plastic packets with magnetic closures to hold materials
  
• Booklets describing the cruise for each of us (same as the downloads)
  
• Two luggage tags
  
• Four yellow paper luggage tags to be used when luggage is transported from Paris to the ship
  
• Two “Hints for Cruise Passengers” booklets
  

 

I was a little surprised that we didn’t get name tags. Although they tend not to get used by most people, they’re a nice option—especially for absent minded folks like me who can’t remember the names of the people we ate dinner with when they show up the next morning for breakfast. As Avalon cruisers will know, the luggage tags are a big metal piece with an Avalon “A” stamped into it, along with a plastic piece to write your name on. I prefer the simpler design where I can just stick a business card in, but to each his own.

[FuelScience]

Nashville to Paris

In preparation for the trip, I forced DW to do earlier bedtimes the week before leaving, so that by Sunday night, we were going to bed around 6:00 p.m. and rising at 2:00 a.m. The plan is to have already shifted 3-4 time zones before leaving so that the jet lag adjustment on our travel day isn’t as bad. We’ve done it twice now, and it works. The only problem is that after waking at 2:00 a.m. on travel day, what do you do while waiting for your 11:35 flight. Well, if you’re like us, you head for the airport early and see if you can score an earlier flight (9:35 for us). Of course, this lengthened out wait at DFW, but it’s not a terrible airport

 

So we did get the earlier flight and met up with our siblings in DFW around lunch time. Due to thunderstorms earlier in the day, our flight to Paris was delayed by about 40 minutes, and we ended up landing about 30 minutes late (around 10:00 a.m. Paris time). We were in the back of the plane (row 41—seats highly recommended on seatguru.com), but it emptied out quickly. We got through passport control in about 5 minutes and exited to find our Avalon rep. He wasn’t there at first, but showed up within 5 minutes. Another couple said that they’d waited longer.

 

We had a 5-10 minute walk to the bus where we met two buses—one for Avalon’s Seine cruise and ours for the Moselle/Rhine cruise. The full sized bus set out for our hotel with 8 passengers on board. When we arrived, we were greeted by the cruise director, Hendrik. He gave us a quick run-down of planned activities. Our afternoon is free, and there’s an information meeting downstairs at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Nikki, Avalon’s Paris rep, came over with room keys for us and porters brought our bags up to the room (their tips are included in our Avalon prepaid gratuities). The Hotel du Collectionneur is a large business hotel located near the Arc deTriomphe and the Courcelles Metro stop. We got a nice room on the top floor with a small balcony looking down on the Rue de Courcelles.

 

So we were in our rooms by 12:15. After a brief rest and clean up we left the hotel on foot looking for lunch. There’s no shortage of restaurants in Paris, and we wound up at Brasserie La Lorraine. It was pricey, but we figured that once we got on the ship, we’ll be finished paying for meals.

 

After lunch we walked on over to the Arc and then back down the Champs-Elysees and looked at all the high end (very high end) shops up and down the Champs-Elysees. We also walked down Avenue George V. I like to check out the Lamborghinis and Ferraris in front of the Prince de Galles and Four Seasons George V hotels. They tend to have Kuwaiti and Qatari plates.

 

We got back to the hotel a little before 5:00 and I took a quick nap before our meeting at 6:00. Our cruise director Hendrik conducted the meeting. He’ll be with us all week. He’s a real veteran. I found lots of favorable comments about him on cruisecritic.com going back to 2005. Folks at the meeting were very friendly, and significantly younger than the people we’ve sailed with on previous river cruises. Although the ship holds 128 passengers, we’ll sail with 80 people. I talked briefly with Hendrik, and he believes that Viking’s massive addition of river ships has resulted in many more beds than there are cruisers to fill them.

 

We were full from lunch, so we skipped dinner. As I write this, it’s 7:30 p.m., DW is “sawing logs.” It’s about time for me to join her.

[FuelScience]

Paris Day 2

We slept VERY well last night. DW was up early, and I made it up in time to meet BIL & SIL in the restaurant around 7:00 a.m. The buffet breakfast was great and it filled us up for the morning. Since this was siblings’ first visit to Paris, they took the included bus tour which took them around the city with stops at the Hotel Invalides (which houses Napolean’s tomb) and the Trocadero overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

 

DW and I wanted to do the Musee d’Orsay. It was a nice cool morning, so we took a leisurely walk down to the Seine, and then along the river to the d’Orsay. We enjoyed the museum. It’s a converted train station. There’s lots of great art with some of the best stuff hidden away way up on the fifth floor. We will confess that our nerd sides kicked in when we saw a van Gogh painting that had played a big role in a Dr. Who episode!

 

This afternoon, the others on a tour to Versailles. I went by myself to the Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart) which is a church on top of a hill in the Montmartre area of Paris.

 

I took the subway to Montmartre and then spent one more ticket to take the funicular up the hill to the Sacré Cœur. It’s a beautiful basilica. I couldn’t take photos inside, but it was interesting and different from the gothic churches one sees in most of Europe. After spending some time in the church I walked down the hill and walked around Montmartre and relaxed in a park for a while before heading back to the hotel.

 

From DW:

We really enjoyed our tour of Versailles. I knew it would be beautiful, and it did not disappoint. There were several “WOW” moments especially in the Hall of Mirrors. What was more interesting to me was the information about Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. As kings they kept the nobles close in apartments there at Versailles where they were essentially prisoners. They had nice homes but were required to live in 3 and 4 room apartments there and were at the beck and call of the king. It really didn’t sound like a very privileged existence at all. But, I guess, better than the poor. Our bus got back to the hotel after 5 this afternoon.

 

We finished the day sitting on the balcony outside our hotel room, listening to the traffic and watching the sun set. Very nice. Well, maybe the traffic noise isn’t all that pleasant, but it is Paris

[Daisi]

Sounds as if you are off for a great trip. Hoping the weather holds, and you have a fantastic time.

[FuelScience]

Well really just Trier. We’ve done Luxembourg tours before and opted for an afternoon of sailing on the Moselle. We also chose the Roman Tour of Trier rather than the general tour. Our guide had studied archaeology, and gave us a good description of the sites. It was mostly a bus and walking tour with the addition of a nice tour of the Imperial Baths. He also gave us a good overview of the Romans in Trier on the 30 minute bus ride from Grevenmacher to Trier.

 

Construction was begun on these baths but never finished. When work began, Trier was capital of the Gallic component of the Roman Tetrarchy and Constantine was a resident. Somewhere along the way the capital moved and Constantine moved with it. With him gone, there was no support to complete the baths. The complex measured 500 feet by 800 feet and included hot, medium, and cold baths. They’ve been excavated, and most of our tour was underground in the sewer. We were able to see how the baths were heated, drained, and to get a general idea of their layout.

 

Constantine's Basilica (the imperial throne room) was another highlight of Trier. The basilica measures 219 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 108 feet tall. The roof has been replaced, and the building has been modified on one side, but most of the original Roman brick walls are still standing. An evangelical church now meets in the basilica.

 

The tour ended at the Porta Nigra, the only surviving city gate from the Roman era.

 

We got back to the ship around noon and immediately went down to the buffet lunch. The group going to Luxembourg left at 1:30, and the ship set sail around 1:45. We’re sitting in a little lounge on the very front of the ship and watching the river go by! It’s shaded and has chest-high glass in front to block the wind. The chairs are also more comfortable than the deck chairs.

 

The Luxembourg tour will rejoin the ship around 6:00 in Riol, Germany. The main portion of the sun deck is closed. All the railings, sun shades, and deck chairs are folded down flat to get us under the bridges without scraping. The pilot house on top of the ship also lowers.

[FuelScience]

Obviously falling behind on CC. If you're interested, you can check out more up-to-date info AND photos at our blog.

 

fuelscience.blogspot.com

 

FuelScience

[FuelScience]

Still finishing up blog, but for anyone interested, here's a link to the Avalon dailies as a pdf.

 

FuelScience

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/60189370/Cruising/AvalonDailies.PDF

[FuelScience]

Obviously falling behind on CC. If you're interested, you can check out more up-to-date info AND photos at our blog.

 

fuelscience.blogspot.com

 

FuelScience

 

Blog with photos is complete.

 

FuelScience

[tstr]

Great blog FuelScience!!!!!

 

Thanks again for all the great information and taking the time and effort. I will be canceling optional excursion to Zannse Schans and doing it on our own. We found doing on our own better on our last Avalon cruise and you confirmed this still holds true.

 

I feel much more prepared after reading your Blog thanks again!!!

 

One question regarding dining are tables for dinner for 6 (we have 6) like on last cruise we were on? Also did you try the Bistro dining and did they offer many local specialties?

 

Thanks!!!!

[mj_holiday]

Thank you so much for the great blog. It was very informative for both the itinerary and the ship. I have a question about dinner. Is it open seating in that you can go in anytime between a set window of time, or is everyone seated at once?

[FuelScience]

One question regarding dining are tables for dinner for 6 (we have 6) like on last cruise we were on? Also did you try the Bistro dining and did they offer many local specialties?

 

Thanks!!!!

 

There are a lot of tables for six--round and rectangular. We did not try the bistro dining.

 

FuelScience

[FuelScience]

Thank you so much for the great blog. It was very informative for both the itinerary and the ship. I have a question about dinner. Is it open seating in that you can go in anytime between a set window of time, or is everyone seated at once?

 

All meals are open seating. You really need to go in when dinner starts. We were told that if you were more than around 15 minutes late, you might not get your starter or soup.

 

FuelScience

[FuelScience]

Great blog FuelScience!!!!!

 

Thanks again for all the great information and taking the time and effort. I will be canceling optional excursion to Zannse Schans and doing it on our own. We found doing on our own better on our last Avalon cruise and you confirmed this still holds true.

 

If you google "getting to Zaanse Schans" you'll find lots of info. Here's a good site.

 

http://mikestravelguide.com/the-easiest-way-to-get-from-amsterdam-central-station-to-zaanse-schans/

 

FuelScience

[pully8]

enjoyed your blog and pictures too. very informative and we also share you opinion about hendrik a real professional.