Avalon

[pdh]

First on Avalon. Do you know how much laundry is on the boat? 

[G.M.T.]

You could always do it yourself:

 

[amyr]

21 hours ago, pdh said:

First on Avalon. Do you know how much laundry is on the boat? 

I remember it being pretty reasonable, but can't remember specifics, just adding it up and thinking "Oh, that's not bad."  Cheaper than a hotel or Celebrity, which has been my main experience.  They do it in small machines, so it's not as terrifying as sending your clothes off to the giant laundry facility on an ocean ship, where things often come back faded and shrunken.  

 

My husband happily sent all his stuff off and it came back perfect, but I still couldn't let go of my favorite shirts and some hand-washable smalls and did those myself.  They did a good job with my black and gray pants and all of my athletic and sleepwear, which hasn't been the case on large ships.  

[Playtennis]

We are looking into a river cruise in France in 2020.  Does anyone know when Avalon reveals their 2020 cruises?

Thanks.

Keith (from Charleston)

[RNCheryl]

I have the same recollection as amyr:  not as bad as it could have been.  Did undies/bra in the sink, sent tee shirts, blouses, jeans/pants once.  As we had 3 day pre cruise and 3 day post cruise, it helped a great deal.  Everything came back in perfect order.

[Kenster]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:53 AM, Playtennis said:

We are looking into a river cruise in France in 2020.  Does anyone know when Avalon reveals their 2020 cruises?

Thanks.

Keith (from Charleston)

 

2020 is in the website now.

[Playtennis]

I know there is an email address for Avalon when you have a question.  Could someone provide that for me or direct me to the location of it on "MyAvalon"

My most immediate question is: We disembark in Port-Saint-Louis (Marseille).  Does the ship provide a shuttle bus into town or, better yet, to the airport? If so what is the cost of the shuttle?

Thank you.

Keith

[Daisi]

Hi Playtennis.  I have had great success contacting them either through facebook or their contact link which pops up when you open their site.  You can also call them at 800.268.3636.  Of course, this # is off the Canadian site, but they may be able to help you.  If you are dealing with a TA, they could contact them for you as well, ours was great for that. 

[Playtennis]

Daisi

Thank you for your quick response.  That's one thing I really like about CC boards...lots of great help from great folks.

k

[Kenster]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:53 AM, Playtennis said:

We are looking into a river cruise in France in 2020.  Does anyone know when Avalon reveals their 2020 cruises?

Thanks.

Keith (from Charleston)

Avalon has had 2020 cruises in the website for quite a while now.  Avalonwaterways.com

[Kenster]

4 hours ago, Playtennis said:

I know there is an email address for Avalon when you have a question.  Could someone provide that for me or direct me to the location of it on "MyAvalon"

My most immediate question is: We disembark in Port-Saint-Louis (Marseille).  Does the ship provide a shuttle bus into town or, better yet, to the airport? If so what is the cost of the shuttle?

Thank you.

Keith

Keith, you had the opportunity to purchase a transfer when you booked the cruise.  You could call and ask if it's possible to still buy the transfer OR you can simply call a taxi or Uber when you're ready to depart the ship.  Our cruise directors have always offered to book taxis.  Just let him/her know a day or two before the end of the cruise.  He'll want to know your flight time and requested taxi pick up time.  I believe you'll have to book an Uber on your own. 

[kwerb12]

Is anyone on a European Avalon River Cruise now or just returned? The heat being in the 90s now sounds distressing. Is it only hot mid-day? Are the included tours in the AM? 

Our first time river cruising and first time to Europe - going in 3 weeks. Will we be trapped on the boat or is it nice part of the day? I hope we will be able to keep our 7 ft window open part of the time! Thanks!

[mhb1757]

Talked to a friend on the Paris-Normandy Cruise now. Temp in Paris today was 104 ! 

They said it wasn’t too bad in the morning but got pretty awful by afternoon. You can keep your window open all the time if you want, but you might melt!  Lol. 

Extreme heat may pass before you go but you gotta figure it’s going to be hot in August pretty much every where (unless you are headed to the Alps or the Arctic Circle). 

You didn’t say which cruise you were on, but generally included tours leave in the AM and you are back to the ship by lunchtime. There are certainly many exceptions to that plan but assuming you reach the port over night or in the early AM that’s the usual. 

Edited July 23, 2019 by mhb1757

[YoungDubFan]

One suggestion for anyone traveling and dealing with high temperatures - I recommend getting a cool towel. These are available on Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. They are small towels that you soak in cool water, wring out, and snap. They stay cool for up to 6 hours & cool again / reactivate when rewet. I used mine for the first time when I went to Turkey and had temps above 95 degreesF. I don’t travel without them now.

[Andee]

We were on an Avalon Danube cruise June 20-July 3.

Included tours were in the morning unless the port stop was only in the afternoon. 

It was miserably hot for about half of the days. We often elected to return to the ship for lunch so we could get cool before venturing out on our own.

It definitely had an impact on our sightseeing. 

We bought a neck thing called "cool downz" at a craft fair in Taos. Didn't help a bit.

[Daisi]

On 7/21/2019 at 12:43 PM, kwerb12 said:

Is anyone on a European Avalon River Cruise now or just returned? The heat being in the 90s now sounds distressing. Is it only hot mid-day? Are the included tours in the AM? 

Our first time river cruising and first time to Europe - going in 3 weeks. Will we be trapped on the boat or is it nice part of the day? I hope we will be able to keep our 7 ft window open part of the time! Thanks!

 

Just a warning about opening your window in the hot temps...the air is automaticly programmed to turn off with the window open, so you may heat your room up.  That was the only problem we had with our cruise, the switch(?) that was set off when the window opened didn't close and we couldn't cool our room down...5 minute repair job and a very happy maintenance guy as he liked having easy things to fix!  We loved haveing the window open while we were getting ready in the morning or for dinner...on the 2nd deck you can almost touch the swans!

[Kenster]

Re: keeping the balcony doors open.  Beware of bugs!  When you pass through a lock, especially at night, the bugs are overwhelming.  Millions of gnat size and larger.  Very hard to get them all out of your cabin.  (Don't ask me how I know.)  So, yes... I love to have the sliding glass walls open, temperature permitting.  But don't leave them open when you're not in the cabin, especially going through a lock with you cabin lights on!

[Playtennis]

First time river cruisers.

We are booked on the Grand France Tour, 2-16 June next year. Cupala questions...

    * When do they show the excursions that are offered.  I'm imagining that it will be after we pay-in-full.  There are a few stops where we will probably look at doing our own tour and would like to book as far in advance as possible.

   * I understand that there are two docking piers in Paris.  We will be taking a train from the Dordogne Valley arriving in Paris about 3PM on the 2nd.  Can we taxi straight to the dock (will we know which one before hand?) or would it be best to stop at the gathering place and let them settle us to the boat?

Thank you

Keith

[Daisi]

Hi Keith.

If I remember correctly, you can pre-book your excursions (and put in for the included ones that may have multiple options) about 6 months in advance...we sailed in May, and I'm pretty sure I had everything booked by Dec. the year before.

 

You don' t "officially" get the docking position until about a week or so before you cruise, primarily because it's the harbour masters who set where the ships dock, not the cruise companies.  If you are lucky enough to find someone knowledgeable about the Paris docks, they may have a link to the docking facilities / bookings and you can get a pretty good idea as to where you will be.  I had one for Amsterdam, and also have a link for the Budapest docks, however I just use them as guides, as there could always be last minute changes.  Avalon will mail you or your travel agent the paperwork (unless you chose paperless, then it will be available on the MyAvalon site) to provide you with better details as well as phone #'s for the ship etc.  

 

I would suggest checking out your MyAvalon site,  you can make sure all info required is completed.  Good luck with the tour, if we get to do a 3rd on, it will be the Grand France, so would love to see what you think of it.

[mhb1757]

The MyAvalon website will have the exact docking location posted complete with gps coordinates as soon as the docking location is confirmed (usually 7-10 days before departure) but you can double check day of to make sure. I don’t know what time the departure from the meeting point will be for your specific cruise but I think it’s likely to be before you would get there from a 3pm train. Regardless, you could certainly go straight to the ship on your own at that time of day. If it’s closer and you have time to get to the hotel where they meet you could go there but personally I’d just go straight to the ship. It will save a stop and a bus ride. 

[Playtennis]

Well, with the lack of entries here (last one November 2019) it's apparent that river cruising t'ain't happening' right now...or the near future.

We've gone through the process of cancelling the May 2020 Grand France Cruise and used the money (and FCC) to book the same cruise next May.  As most cruisers, the entire process was a nail biter but got completed in about 4 months.

Our sailing next year is from June 8th to the 22nd and we are just as excited about this one as the 'erased' one from this year.  Prefacing the cruise is a week in Paris (get to spend a a day at Roland Garros - a bucket list' item!!), and a week in the Dordogne River Valley.  

The cruise is selling out and now has only 8 rooms (suites) left!  Diane and I look forward to meeting our fellow travelers.

We are fortunate that one of the guys I play tennis with is a retired HS French teacher who loves to vacation in France (No wonder! He can speak and understand the language!!)  In addition to the info that he has given us about Paris et al, he recommended that we read Peter Mayle's books about France.  Those books are wonderfully written and not only informative but entertaining.  If you are inclined, start with his first book, A Year in Provence.  You'll be hooked!  

Keith

[Daisi]

HI Keith,

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise, we are eagerly looking forward to our (hopeful) cruise in May.  You don't say if you have cruised with Avalon before, so not sure if you have seen the following thread.  It's a bit long, but lots of info, and maybe some for your cruise. 

 

 

 

Let's hope we are all successful for cruising next year,

 

 

[Playtennis]

Hi Daisi,

This is our first river cruise and we look forward to seeing how it fits with our likes & dislikes. Diane & I do like ocean cruises but don't consider ourselves rabid fans of just that type of travel to foreign places.

For most vacations we are DIYers tending to go on private tours and wander the streets amongst the locals.  That said, I eat up the wonderful blogs that are on CC and have gleaned much information that have made our trips much more interesting.  I have been tracking Fuelscience's blog...thanks

Keith

[Daisi]

Hi Keith,

 

River & Ocean cruises are totally different.  While I haven't taken an Ocean cruise, we did the Rhine 2 years ago and loved it.  

 

Although you do DIY on the ocean cruise, may I suggest (unless you have been to the areas on the river cruise) you take advantage of the included tours and possibly the extras as well.  Avalon has great guides, possibly because they are part of the Globus network and so have 3 companies that do local touring.  They will usually have at least 2 or 3 groups going out for each tour, so numbers are smaller.  We always went with the slow walkers, gave me lots of time to take pics, and we found that because the pace was slower, the guide walked and talked, instead of ushering you to one spot, giving a talk about what was around you, then off to the next.  I can't stand for long periods so this also worked out better for us.  We went on the extra tours as well as the extras, as we wanted to pack as much in as we could.

 

This brings me to the next important point about the differences...on a river cruise entertainment is normally limited to a piano player.  They will bring in the occasional quartet or trio, we had a carver come on board to do a demonstration one night, and sometimes other quieter entertainment.  Our keyboardist was great, played a wide variety of music nicely in the background so you could sit and chat with new friends easily.  Mind you, with dinner often ending around 8:30 or 9:00, after an early and busy start to the day, we would often do a round on the top deck and go to our room to check up on e-mail, and post pictures of the day so family at home could see them.

 

We found the food great, I grew up with German Swiss family and my DH is from the Netherlands, so food on board was what we call "comfort food".  We enjoyed the European breakfasts (had some American friends we met who raved over the waffles, but we never tried them), and also the buffet for lunch was great - could fill up on salads & a bit of the heavier foods, but you didn't feel overfull as you chose what to eat.  I think the only thing I tried that I wasn't fond of was the Chilled Watermelon Soup...just not to my taste.  Dinners were proper 4 course meals with apps, soup, mains and desert.  Our servers made it so easy to try whatever we wanted and not worry about  not liking something.  It makes you much more adventurous, as I sure wouldn't go to a restaurant and spend $40.00 on a meal I may not enjoy.  One night, my husband ordered something for desert and I ordered a different dish.  When mine was brought, he thought it looked good...next thing we knew, our server was setting one down in front of him!  With Covid now, I'm not sure how things will work out as Avalon hasn't had anything on their site to say any changes...and since they aren't sailing until Oct now....well maybe they are trying to work out how to keep on providing such an enjoyable experience.  

 

I will warn you...they serve 4:00 "tea".  It's great when you are on the boat in the afternoon, but we figured that it was much better to be out on tour...those cakes are dangerous!  With all we ate, we didn't gain any excess pounds, probably due to all the walking we did, and since most of the buffets we did, it was more fruit & salad that we ate.  Several nights my desert was the cheese plate, as I am very fussy over my deserts.

 

We are hoping to do the Danube in May, and really hoping that things run smoothly.  I hope your cruise is as enjoyable also, they may be much more than what you would pay for an ocean cruise, but I figure they are worth every penny.  We started planning our Danube cruise on the plane home from the Rhine..... we liked it that much.  We always do our own trips, this was the first one we went on that was "taken out of our hands" so to speak.  We did the pre + post days on our own, and enjoyed them, but you know, for once, it was really nice just to let someone else do the work.  This time, we are letting Avalon handle the pre & post, however there is lots of free time that I have been researching as to what we can do...... so much to see, so little time.... 🙂

 

[texasmomoftwo]

Hi all.  Daisi may have answered my question.  We are contemplating booking Avalon.  Paris to Normandy.  But I need to verify what I think is correct before I deposit. The classic, active, and adventure options I see on the cruise planner, those are INCLUDED in my cruise fare, yes?  Since I have not deposited just trying to understand what is included and what is not for budget reasons  Thanks