Avalon or Scenic - If things go wrong which cruise line is best to deal with?

[dengary]

I'm planning a river cruise on the Danube and after many hours of research I'm conflicted. I like Avalon for their cabins and "no white gloves" approach. But I like Scenic for the "all inclusive" aspect as that covers tips and gratuities (something I don't like having to deal with). However, I have read a lot on-line about Scenic's lack of assistance and poor communication when things go wrong, ie river levels and changes to itinerary, etc. There has been a lot of extreme weather events recently and this obviously effects river levels. I would be interested to hear from people who have cruised with either or both lines when things haven't gone well. What were your experiences with either cruise line.TIA

[reeves35]

Many of the river cruise lines selling to Australia are on a gratuities included basis meaning there are no unexpected upcharges once onboard.  This includes Scenic (inc Emerald) and APT (inc Travelmarvel).  Of course, it remains optional if you want to personally tip and onboard staff, coach drivers etc. 

 

We were onboard a Travelmarvel cruise last year that was disrupted due to water levels meaning we had to change ships at Nuremberg and be bussed to Passau.  The disruption was handled very well with lots of communication from the cruise director.  As we moved to an identical ship, we packed up in the morning and by evening you could have been mistaken for thinking you were still on the same ship.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I would add to @reeves35 that if APT's dates don't work, you could look at AMA.  They used to be partners, and AMA is one of the highly rated US-based river cruise lines.

[gnome12]

Avalon allows you to pre-pay gratuities so you wouldn’t need to deal with them on board. 

[Canal archive]

I suppose we could have led a charmed life with Scenic over the at least ten times we’ve cruised with them but we’ve only come across ‘challenges’ a few times with them, sorted no problem we’ve even had one advance for something we’d not even realised had happened. I suppose their most challenging we’ve had was their very first Seine cruise, supposed to be ready to leave Paris on one day and I won’t tell you the full story although interesting the Gem was not ready to leave so. Taken straight to a very, very nice hotel, explanation reception, excellent dinner actually on the river. Left the next day staff appeared completely unflustered but we later discovered they had worked their little cotton socks off to get things up and running. We arrived home to a rather nice contribution to a further cruise or a cash refund if we required. Now that was a few years ago and may not happen again but when, at the time a fairly new river cruiser it made a lasting impression.

[YoungDubFan]

I can highly recommend Avalon for dealing well with issues. I did a Seine Paris to Normandy RT in May 2016 when there were record floods. A significant portion of the trip was impacted but Avalon handled it very well. We were one of the few ships that actually sailed that week as our Captain noticed the river rising & moved the boat outside of Paris to get past some low bridges. Avalon transported all of us to the new embarkation point. Our CD was wonderful about providing updates at least 2X / day as to changes in the itinerary. Some cites were skipped on the way out due to flooding  but Avalon replaced these with other stop. We were able to hit most on the return. On the return, the boat couldn’t sail past Rouen due to high water. Avalon bused us to Paris, put us up at a 5* hotel less than 10 min from L’Arc de Triomphe. We were given cash for lunches & received a nice cash refund before returning home. 

 

Because Avalon is part of Globus, they have contracts at a lot of hotels & were able to take advantage of this to make some adjustments. 

[Daisi]

We did the Danube last Sept. with Avalon. The third day onboard, they announced after our excursion that there was a low water problem. While we were out, the CD, Captain and Avalon had figured out exactly how to handle things. They added an extra stop at Engelhartszell, with included tours. They changed the optional tours to Cesky Krumlov and Salzburg to be "included" and open for everyone. Those of us who had paid for the excursions were credited back (I had my money back on my CC before we even took the tour). Then, because we could only go as far as Passau (we were to go to Nuremberg), we were bussed to Regensburg for a full day excursion (not quite a full day, but extended to cover for the bus ride). They had coupons for the sausage meal at the Sausage Kitchen which included a beer or drink. They also gave us 60.00 Euros each for lunch (which I don't think anyone really used, the sausages were more than enough). 

 

Since it was our final stop, we had our Captain's dinner the night before, and for those who were supposed to leave from Nuremberg packed up and they went from Regensburg to Nuremberg and put up in a hotel with dinner. They also had transfers to the airport and or train, however they were leaving. The rest of us had one more night onboard, as we were to be bussed to Prague for the rest of our tour.

 

I didn't hear anyone complain about how things were handled, and I think everyone was happy with the arrangements. I was disappointed in missing Nuremberg, however, that just means we have to do another cruise. 🙂

 

[dengary]

Hi All,

Thank you for your input. It's been most helpful. reeves35 I read your cruise report on Travelmarvel and considered them also. But I've decided to book an Avalon cruise after reading YoungDubFan's reply and Daisi's has made me feel even better about my decision. 

Denise 🤩