Avalon Envision - Help me pick a side!

[nikitty]

We will be cruising on the Avalon Envision on July 2 from Budapest to Nuremberg.  I've read many posts about there really not being a better side but I wanted to find out if anyone has taken this itinerary on this particular ship.

 

To me, it looks like the port side would be better as you would be on the side of the cities you're traveling to?

 

Also - we are on the top deck.  Deck 3.  I've never been on a river cruise, but I now for regular cruise lines, I try to book a level with cabins above and below so we don't run into the problem of a noisy public space above or below us.  Does anyone know if being on the top deck for accommodations is noisy with the sun deck above?  I worry that the noise from all the chairs being put out in the morning and being scraped across the floor would be loud.

 

Any other tips for this ship would be appreciated.  It will be our first time doing a river cruise! 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by nikitty

[acwmom]

I haven't been on this ship, but have been on both Avalon and Uniworld ships. The info I list below is generic, but applicable to pretty much all river cruises.

 

First, side doesn't matter. For scenic cruising, you're either going to be on the sun deck, or in the lounge. Otherwise, you miss what you're passing on the opposite side. Second, when you're docked, you may be up against a concrete wall, or another ship. You may be on the same side of the river as the town, or you may be across the river. 

 

With regard to deck. I prefer NOT to stay on the top level. The chairs are pretty much left in place, though they may be collapsed for low bridges. The loudest noises are the rails being put down to go under bridges, and the crew walking around to do so. In addition, check and see where the ship's lights are. If above the top level, that light can seep through the curtains at the top.

 

Since, except for the suites, the cabins on the middle and top level are the same, save some money, and go on the middle level.

 

River cruising is not like ocean cruising at all. You will be very busy. Take a good pair of walking shoes, watch the weather forecast about a week in advance, and prepare accordingly.

 

Have a great trip. For some, river cruising is addictive (me) for others, it ends up being a one-and-done.

 

Robin 

[notamermaid]

Just to add. The Envision is a new ship, to be christened on 7 April. Unless they have done a couple of pre-season sailings (rare, but has happened in the past with other ships) no real paying passenger has been on the ship yet.

 

notamermaid

 

[laverendrye]

I’ll just add one thing to the excellent points made by acwmom. Most river cruises travel at night and are docked during the day.  And of course, unless you decide to stay back on the ship, you’ll be gone most of the day on excursions. The exceptions are for particularly scenic stretches such as the Rhine Gorge and the Wachau Valley and Iron Gates on the Danube. In these cases, you don’t want to be in your cabin but up on the top deck where you can enjoy the scenery on either side. This is true even in the case of the Douro, where all travel is during the day.

 

I really don’t think it matters in the least which side your cabin is on.

[nikitty]

 

5 hours ago, acwmom said:

I haven't been on this ship, but have been on both Avalon and Uniworld ships. The info I list below is generic, but applicable to pretty much all river cruises.

 

First, side doesn't matter. For scenic cruising, you're either going to be on the sun deck, or in the lounge. Otherwise, you miss what you're passing on the opposite side. Second, when you're docked, you may be up against a concrete wall, or another ship. You may be on the same side of the river as the town, or you may be across the river. 

 

With regard to deck. I prefer NOT to stay on the top level. The chairs are pretty much left in place, though they may be collapsed for low bridges. The loudest noises are the rails being put down to go under bridges, and the crew walking around to do so. In addition, check and see where the ship's lights are. If above the top level, that light can seep through the curtains at the top.

 

Since, except for the suites, the cabins on the middle and top level are the same, save some money, and go on the middle level.

 

Thanks for the information!  Unfortunately this sailing is almost sold out and the top level is the only level that has space left.

I'm not sure where the lighting is but the room we have is right beside the Royal Suites (there are only 2) on the ship.  Can you tell me where the lighting is based on this map?

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/deckplans/Avalon-Envision-1014/deck03-5795

 

30 minutes ago, laverendrye said:

I’ll just add one thing to the excellent points made by acwmom. Most river cruises travel at night and are docked during the day.  And of course, unless you decide to stay back on the ship, you’ll be gone most of the day on excursions. The exceptions are for particularly scenic stretches such as the Rhine Gorge and the Wachau Valley and Iron Gates on the Danube. In these cases, you don’t want to be in your cabin but up on the top deck where you can enjoy the scenery on either side. This is true even in the case of the Douro, where all travel is during the day.

 

I really don’t think it matters in the least which side your cabin is on.

 

Does it make sense to get one of the "basement" cabins?  I think cruisers call them the Aquarium cabins?  I really like the idea of the floor to ceiling windows but I really don't want to hear a lot of noise from above if I can help it.

 

We are Celebrity castaways.  We normally sail with this line and love it but thought we'd try something different.  😃 

(ps - we are from Ontario too!) 

 

 

 

[acwmom]

The panorama suites on Avalon are very nice. If you've never had one, and booked Aquarium, you'd never know the difference. The noise depends on the itinerary and bridges and water level. We've had rooms with picture windows, but never the aquarium class cabins. However, I don't know that it would bother me, as we shower and sleep in our cabin, and are out and about the rest of the time.

 

I tried to find pictures of an Avalon suite ship at night, with its lights on, and couldn't. On our Uniworld cruise last spring, the rope lighting (green) ran right above our door/window. The deck plan isn't going to show them.  I'll see if I can find any night pics from our Avalon cruise.

 

Robin

[notamermaid]

Here is a shipspotter photo of the Avalon Vista: http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1715298

 

The baby Avalon Envision is signalling, ready to go on her journeys, and is currently moored in Amsterdam: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:5798166/mmsi:269057660/imo:0/vessel:AVALON_ENVISION

 

Nobody has taken a photo of her yet and uploaded it!

 

I hope the proud godmother and Avalon will post some photos of the christening.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[nikitty]

On 3/7/2019 at 9:08 AM, acwmom said:

With regard to deck. I prefer NOT to stay on the top level. The chairs are pretty much left in place, though they may be collapsed for low bridges. The loudest noises are the rails being put down to go under bridges, and the crew walking around to do so. In addition, check and see where the ship's lights are. If above the top level, that light can seep through the curtains at the top.

 

 

 

Hi again acwmom - I tried to message you but I can't write messages for some reason.  Anyway, would you (or anyone) be able to tell me where the lights are on this deck?  We are staying near midship on the 3rd floor.  Right beside the royal suites.

I have been reading about how the top floor is not great for joggers in the morning (and who knows about late at night either) but we don't have much in the way of options. 

 

Our travel agent says these rooms are soundproofed so it won't be a problem but I don't know if they are just saying that. 

 

[acwmom]

2 hours ago, nikitty said:

 

 

Hi again acwmom - I tried to message you but I can't write messages for some reason.  Anyway, would you (or anyone) be able to tell me where the lights are on this deck?  We are staying near midship on the 3rd floor.  Right beside the royal suites.

I have been reading about how the top floor is not great for joggers in the morning (and who knows about late at night either) but we don't have much in the way of options. 

 

Our travel agent says these rooms are soundproofed so it won't be a problem but I don't know if they are just saying that. 

 

I don't know if Avalon (or other cruise lines, for that matter) have the rope lighting that Uniworld does. I'm sure they have some lighting for night sailing. Perhaps a more frequent Avalon passenger has a nighttime picture. You will hear sound from the top deck, but joggers usually aren't the problem, the rail drops are.  River cruising really is quite tiring, and most people retire fairly early.

 

Robin

 

 

[nikitty]

Thanks for that info.  The ship is almost sold out so it's the top floor or the bottom.  My mom really doesn't want to be without a view so I have a feeling that we will have to just deal with the noise.  We are night owls and go to bed quite late but it sounds like a lot of the tours start early anyway so we are going to need a vacation after our vacation. 

 

If anyone else has done a Avalon river cruise and can address the noise level on the 3rd level or anything else that I wouldn't think to ask, please let me know.  We have to book this cruise by Monday or Tuesday I believe - and the deposit is non-refundable. 

 

 

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, nikitty said:

Thanks for that info.  The ship is almost sold out so it's the top floor or the bottom.  My mom really doesn't want to be without a view so I have a feeling that we will have to just deal with the noise.  We are night owls and go to bed quite late but it sounds like a lot of the tours start early anyway so we are going to need a vacation after our vacation. 

 

If anyone else has done a Avalon river cruise and can address the noise level on the 3rd level or anything else that I wouldn't think to ask, please let me know.  We have to book this cruise by Monday or Tuesday I believe - and the deposit is non-refundable. 

 

 

It is hard to be a night owl on a river cruise, because, to be honest, there is very little to do if you stay up late (if you aren't too tired to do it anyway).

 

I doubt that the noise is bad; most cruise lines limit using the sundeck too early, and, at least on my cruise, basically they put the rails down for a couple of days and the sundeck is off limits in the stretch that had low bridges.

[FuelScience]

7 hours ago, nikitty said:

f anyone else has done a Avalon river cruise and can address the noise level on the 3rd level or anything else that I wouldn't think to ask, please let me know.  We have to book this cruise by Monday or Tuesday I believe - and the deposit is non-refundable

We've done two Avalon cruises--both on the top deck, and we didn't notice any noise problems.

[laverendrye]

The lower deck cabins are fine as one doesn’t usually spend much time there on a river cruise. It’s nice to have the full sized windows but to my mind not essential. You’ll also save money with them. 

[MagnoliaNC]

I was in Room 305 of the Avalon Illumination in May-June, 2018. I did not notice any noises overhead except one day when I stayed aboard and they were fixing something on the upper deck. It did not last long, sounded like a drill, andI never heatd it again. I imagine anything noisy is done while the passengers are off sightseeing. My trip was Prague to Budapest. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Avalon staff, and the great travelers I met onboard. I was doing the trip as a single and wanted the Panoramic Suite. It was so worth it! I cannot wait to do another trip!

[notamermaid]

Here she is, briefly "caught on camera": ship Avalon Envision.docx

 

I know, one cannot really tell it is her, but I happened to see her approaching Koblenz on marinetraffic.com and took a screenshot of the webcam. As I write she is still docked in Koblenz.

 

notamermaid

 

[nikitty]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Here she is, briefly "caught on camera": ship Avalon Envision.docx

 

I know, one cannot really tell it is her, but I happened to see her approaching Koblenz on marinetraffic.com and took a screenshot of the webcam. As I write she is still docked in Koblenz.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Thank you!  I can't view this photo though! 

[nikitty]

23 hours ago, MagnoliaNC said:

I was in Room 305 of the Avalon Illumination in May-June, 2018. I did not notice any noises overhead except one day when I stayed aboard and they were fixing something on the upper deck. It did not last long, sounded like a drill, andI never heatd it again. I imagine anything noisy is done while the passengers are off sightseeing. My trip was Prague to Budapest. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Avalon staff, and the great travelers I met onboard. I was doing the trip as a single and wanted the Panoramic Suite. It was so worth it! I cannot wait to do another trip!

 

 

 

What a lovely room!  You must have enjoyed yourself immensely!  Thank you for sharing your pics!  I love your choice of nail polish too! 

 

I posted on another thread about this I think it wasn't the right place so asking here....

It seems that after all the research and back and forth that I've done with our travel agent, my mom is now leaning towards canceling our hold on this river cruise.  We have another reservation for a Scandinavia/Russia trip around the same time on the Celebrity Silhouette that we booked back last Fall.  Her reasoning is that it's for 14 nights rather than 8 so we will be able to have more time to just relax. 

 

I have been doing so much research on this cruise my brain has turned to mush.    Having never been on a river tour, I really don't know what we are in store for.  We are used to the hordes of Celebrity passengers and the cattle lines at the buffet - so obviously this will definitely pale in comparison to the pampering we are sure to receive on Avalon.   My mom has limited mobility and needs a wheelchair for embarkation.  Not sure if Avalon is able to handle this request considering the size of the boat.  Does anyone have any thoughts to add on other factors I should consider when making our decision? 

 

 

 

23 hours ago, MagnoliaNC said:

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Hello nikitty,

 

 

here she is. Sorry, made a technical mistake in my previous post.

 

Going upstream, she is pictured at Deutsches Eck, just before where she docked. Coming into the photo from the top is the Moselle flowing into the Rhine. She is currently in Mainz.

 

notamermaid

 

[RichLynn50]

On 3/13/2019 at 7:43 PM, nikitty said:

I love your choice of nail polish too! 

I was going to say the same thing!!