Avalon Waterways Cruise Updates

[suspaul]

Hi,

just curious how river cruises are progressing on European rivers, especially the Danube.  We have a holiday markets cruise in 7 weeks and yes, I know things can change in the matter of hours regarding water levels so just asking  what’s going on now.  I’ve read so many recent posts regarding Viking having lots of issues, and I do know their ships and draft are different but please, tell me your recent experiences between Prague and Budapest.  We’ll be on the Illumination, really looking forward to it.  Have any cruises on the Danube been cancelled or revised prior to cruisers leaving home?

thanks in advance for sharing any info.

[suspaul]

I’m probably late to the game but this morning in checking into myavalonwaterways.com

I found info regarding slight docking changes for the next few days and thought I’d pass this along.  

 

If you have an upcoming Avalon cruise scheduled and we all know the low water levels are playing havoc with most European river cruises, sign in and go to 

Docking Locations in the gray box to the left of the page,  there are some docking location updates.

 

Like I said, maybe everyone already knows this.

happy travels

[Laura Macky]

I just posted this.  

 

 

[franski]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 10:19 AM, suspaul said:

Hi,

just curious how river cruises are progressing on European rivers, especially the Danube.  We have a holiday markets cruise in 7 weeks and yes, I know things can change in the matter of hours regarding water levels so just asking  what’s going on now.  I’ve read so many recent posts regarding Viking having lots of issues, and I do know their ships and draft are different but please, tell me your recent experiences between Prague and Budapest.  We’ll be on the Illumination, really looking forward to it.  Have any cruises on the Danube been cancelled or revised prior to cruisers leaving home?

thanks in advance for sharing any info.

We were to be on a cruise from Bucharest to Budapest - and it was cancelled about 3 days before we were due to depart.  Although the water levels on that end of the Danube aren't as low as in other spots, our ship (the Illumination) couldn't get to Romania for the start of the cruise. 

We have received a full refund, and a credit towards a future booking.  We already have a booking for next March with Avalon (going to Peru) but cannot use the credit towards that.

 

Fran

[suspaul]

Thanks franski for the heads up.  I’m so sorry your cruise was cancelled tho it may have been a blessing in disguise, now you’ll need to book another cruise with Avalon.  It appears some areas of the Danube are getting a bit or rain so we’ll continue in our holding pattern tho I have made a Plan B if we do get cancelled.

[franski]

48 minutes ago, suspaul said:

Thanks franski for the heads up.  I’m so sorry your cruise was cancelled tho it may have been a blessing in disguise, now you’ll need to book another cruise with Avalon.  It appears some areas of the Danube are getting a bit or rain so we’ll continue in our holding pattern tho I have made a Plan B if we do get cancelled.

This was our 1st cancellation - and was to be our 14th river cruise.  We have cruised most of the rivers in Europe,  so not entirely sure we will use our cruise credit.  But, Avalon does bring out new itineraries on a regular basis - so we have decided to see what is "new" next year when we return from Peru.   I retired last year - so can always do something last minute if a great sale presents itself.

Having a Plan B is a great way to approach.  Whatever happens - enjoy!!

Fran

[suspaul]

Thanks!  Like you, this will be our 14th river cruise also, small world.  It will be our 3rd with Avalon and we too have nearly run out of rivers tho we love the ambiance of  Christmas market trips and continue to visit and revisit.  

 

IF you have an interest,  Avalon does a wonderful trip to Vietnam & Cambodia, small ship, small group,  very nice hotels, amazing sights, just a spectacular trip in all ways.

 

 

[notamermaid]

Perhaps you might find CroisiEurope's itineraries in the Elbe northbound interesting. One is Berlin to Amsterdam, the other incorporates the Oder river. They are both in my German language catalogue so not sure if they offer them with English language cruise director and guides in 2019.

 

notamermaid

 

[franski]

11 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Perhaps you might find CroisiEurope's itineraries in the Elbe northbound interesting. One is Berlin to Amsterdam, the other incorporates the Oder river. They are both in my German language catalogue so not sure if they offer them with English language cruise director and guides in 2019.

 

notamermaid

 

 

I have looked at CroisiEurope - and have considered them.  Bud don't remember seeing the Elbe in our brochure. We did the Elbe with Viking a few years ago - so would need to see if their itinerary is different than what we have seen with Viking.

 

Fran

[franski]

11 hours ago, suspaul said:

Thanks!  Like you, this will be our 14th river cruise also, small world.  It will be our 3rd with Avalon and we too have nearly run out of rivers tho we love the ambiance of  Christmas market trips and continue to visit and revisit.  

 

IF you have an interest,  Avalon does a wonderful trip to Vietnam & Cambodia, small ship, small group,  very nice hotels, amazing sights, just a spectacular trip in all ways.

 

 

 

I have considered  Vietnam & Cambodia, but the heat & humidity is a bit of a worry.  We are travelling to Peru in late March, so the temperatures should be manageable.  And, the boat on the Amazon is air conditioned which provides a bit of reassurance that I will be able to manage.  Peru will be our 4th with Avalon.   Sailing the Amazon is a bucket list item for me...

 

Fran

[suspaul]

Fran, we live in Texas, hate the heat so I understand your concerns.  We went mid January and Hanoi was cool, probably in the 60’s but once we left Hanoi it was warmer.  And you’re right, it was warm and humid, several daily showers were the way to go but the hotels were very nice with good AC as was the river cruise portion on the Siem Reap, AC cabins, lounge and dining areas.  It was such a great experience and we’re looking to return in February 2020 with a different company and doing northern Vietnam.  

 

Enjoy visiting and cruising the Amazon.

[gnome12]

I generally hate the heat. For me, 25 celsius (77 Fahrenheit) is already hot. However, I wanted to do something different, so I did Vietnam and Cambodia last November with AMA. The only place I found the heat unbearable was at the end of our trip in Ho Chi Minh City. We were bused in from My Tho (in the Mekong Delta). There were 4 buses, and only ours was doing the post-cruise extension with AMA and they wanted to clear the other buses out of the way before we arrived at the hotel. They took us on a bit of a tour, some by bus and some on foot and it was really unpleasant, with a hot sun beating down. It was only the 2 days in HCMC where I really felt the heat.

 

The AMA ship did have a small pool, which I used once; I think that it was the day we crossed the border from Cambodia into Vietnam. We had to wait anchored off-shore while all the paperwork was dealt with, so no cooling breeze from the motion. The water was lovely.

[franski]

6 hours ago, suspaul said:

Fran, we live in Texas, hate the heat so I understand your concerns.  We went mid January and Hanoi was cool, probably in the 60’s but once we left Hanoi it was warmer.  And you’re right, it was warm and humid, several daily showers were the way to go but the hotels were very nice with good AC as was the river cruise portion on the Siem Reap, AC cabins, lounge and dining areas.  It was such a great experience and we’re looking to return in February 2020 with a different company and doing northern Vietnam.  

 

Enjoy visiting and cruising the Amazon.

 

Thanks - good to know... Who did you travel with originally - and who are you planning to go with in 2020?  We would most likely not be doing this until 2020, so we have some time to research.

 

Fran

[franski]

6 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I generally hate the heat. For me, 25 celsius (77 Fahrenheit) is already hot. However, I wanted to do something different, so I did Vietnam and Cambodia last November with AMA. The only place I found the heat unbearable was at the end of our trip in Ho Chi Minh City. We were bused in from My Tho (in the Mekong Delta). There were 4 buses, and only ours was doing the post-cruise extension with AMA and they wanted to clear the other buses out of the way before we arrived at the hotel. They took us on a bit of a tour, some by bus and some on foot and it was really unpleasant, with a hot sun beating down. It was only the 2 days in HCMC where I really felt the heat.

 

The AMA ship did have a small pool, which I used once; I think that it was the day we crossed the border from Cambodia into Vietnam. We had to wait anchored off-shore while all the paperwork was dealt with, so no cooling breeze from the motion. The water was lovely.

 

I am OK until it hits over 30C.  But, can handle a bit hotter if I have somewhere with AC to cool off if things become unbearable.  I have hit some pretty unseasonable weather in my travels (32+ C in April on our previous Bucharest to Budapest cruise) - but manage to cope as long as I can find some respite for a short time.  Thanks for your comments - will start researching for a Vietnam/Cambodia tour looking at the times that you and Suspaul have suggested.

 

Fran

[suspaul]

20 minutes ago, franski said:

 

Thanks - good to know... Who did you travel with originally - and who are you planning to go with in 2020?  We would most likely not be doing this until 2020, so we have some time to research.

 

Fran

Our first trip was with Avalon Waterways, it was excellent, small group, there are only 18 cabins on the Siem Reap river boat, we weren’t full and I think there were 32 for the cruise portion and 28 for the land travel.  I’d highly recommend them.  Our next trip will be with Pandaw, our preference is Halong Bay and the Red River.  

[SuzieQK]

Yesterday was my first day in Budapest, today we were supposed to start our cruise on Avalon’s Panorama. Instead we are checking out of our pre-cruise hotel and sent to another hotel Aquaworld for two nights, then being Bussed to Vienna. The plan is to board hopefully our ship in Vienna and start our cruise. We meet with the Avalon rep at 10am this morning for more information. The Danube in Budapest is very low. Rain is expected today and tomorrow. Staying positive!!

[suspaul]

Good luck SuzieQK, 🤞🏼

[SuzieQK]

Today was supposed to be embarkation day, instead we were bussed 30-40 minutes away from the Danube to Aquaworld Resort for two nights. We are left on our own to find lunch and afternoon activities. We are told that we are free to use the water park facilities today, 6 of us from our group wanted to go to the City Market Hall and we had to pay for the taxis out of our own pockets. We have a meeting at 6 tonight with our Avalon rep and dinner will be provided at the hotel. I uploaded the newsletter Avalon handed out to us for the next two days. It rained off and on this morning-yeah!!

[NorthWildwood]

Hi.  This is a general inquiry about Avalon Waterways. We are booked on the August 2019 trip Paris to Normandy.  Has anyone taken this trip?  I am just wondering how much time we actually have in Paris?  We are flexible enough to add pre or post days if necessary.  My goal was to "see" Paris.  

 

Thanks to anyone who responds.  This is my first river cruise. 

[small wonder]

Hi NorthWildwood!  We did this trip with Avalon last May. We arrived in Paris 2 days before the cruise & stayed at the Pullman Montparnasse.  Flights & precruise were booked thru Avalon.  The hotel was very nice, a HOHO bus was within several blocks. We really saw alot on the HOHO.  The last full day of the cruise, you will be docked in Paris & will have a choice of excursions.  We had a wonderful time, service was excellent & tours were informative.  The only thing that could have better was the weather!

[franski]

12 hours ago, NorthWildwood said:

Hi.  This is a general inquiry about Avalon Waterways. We are booked on the August 2019 trip Paris to Normandy.  Has anyone taken this trip?  I am just wondering how much time we actually have in Paris?  We are flexible enough to add pre or post days if necessary.  My goal was to "see" Paris.  

 

Thanks to anyone who responds.  This is my first river cruise. 

Hi there -  We did this last October.  It was actually our 2nd time doing this itinerary (the 1st was with Uniworld). As we had been to Paris a number of times before, we opted not to do their included tour of the city.  Instead, we booked a "Beneath the Eiffel Tour" through Viator.  We walked over to the tower - and went below ground to see how the lifts work (water hydraulics).  When we went up to the 1st level, we actually were able to climb up on top of the Jules Verne restaurant (the guide has keys to the stairs) so not crowded at all.  Our tour ended at that point - so we could have stayed as long as we wanted.  We just bought a sandwich at a stall underneath the tower, and watched the people for awhile before walking back to the boat.

If you have not been to Paris before, I suggest you add some days to the trip - either before or after (or both....)

Enjoy!!

Fran

[suspaul]

I just took a peek (my new obsession) and it looks like avalon Illumination is finally moving from Vienna 

https://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Ships/Avalon-Illumination-I1719314.html

 

and this shows it’s sailing toward Passau, I think

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:330428/mmsi:269057453/imo:0/vessel:AVALON_ILLUMINATION

 

maybe the small amounts of rainfall are helping.

Edited October 28, 2018 by suspaul

[Jaydub99]

Any recent Avalon cruisers on the Rhine? The Avalon ships don't seem to be moving much this last week or so and I'm wondering if they've canceled cruises, changed itineraries or if they are just busing folks between ships. We're on the Tranquility II out of Amsterdam on 24 Nov but it hasn't been north of Strasbourg in over 2 weeks - may be too late to get her up through the gorge now! I don't expect to hear from Avalon with itinerary changes until a few days before we leave. Any recent info/experiences with Avalon on the Rhine would be appreciated.

[Aslangold]

I am sailing on Avalon Basil to Amsterdam on 11/29 and have been trying to find out what to expect.   Working in the travel field myself, I have contacted our agent with specific questions and he has been in touch with Avalon.   Here is their response as to what to expect - I contacted Avalon to get an update. They have been having issues on the Rhine for the past 3 months. It was a lot more in severe back in August due to summer droughts when some sailings had been cancelled. They have had gradual improvements since then. In September and October they have had to do partial transits on the river combined with motorcoach transit and hotels for part of the itinerary. The rain has picked up some in the region recently, though there may be a potential that they might not be doing a full transit depending on how water levels are. Avalon advised they will keep us posted.

 

I hope this is helpful.   I did ask him to contact them to see if we could stay with the boat in port, skip the motor tours and take a train at our expense to where we may want to rejoin the tour - in other words, do we have the option to not tour by motor bus.   I will let you know once I hear back.   Thank you all for your updates. 

[suspaul]

Thanks for the info aslangold, we’re scheduled to cruise the Danube in early December but it’s not looking good as far as I see.  I hope everything works out for your travels.  Anxious to hear what you find out.