Avalon excursions - how frequently are they cancelled?

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I’m heading out on Avalon’s 15 night Magnificent Rivers of Europe in about 3 weeks. Have booked all of our tours, including some supplemental ($) ones. I’m curious whether there is a minimum participation for these to operate or they would cancel, or does Avalon guarantee all tours to operate regardless of number of guests participating?

[KathyK13]

I have been on 4 Avalon cruises and never had any excursions canceled.  Even ones that weren't full.  I imagine it could happen if there was an issue with the excursion provider or there are high/low water issues, but I think it's unlikely.  Have an amazing trip!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

@KathyK13 thanks for the reassurance. I feel fairly confident that the optional tours to Salzburg and Rothenberg are fair likely to have high participation, but I wonder about some others we booked. Hopefully, barring water level issues, all will go smoothly. 

[Daisi]

We've been on some included tours of only 5 people. I like to go on the gentle walker group so I can take pictures at will. I find that the guides are great at walking *and* talking, so you see everything the other groups do, but you aren't marched past a whole batch of interesting things to stop in an out of the way spot so the guide can tell you about what you saw and what to look for while walking to the next spot. I may lose some shopping time after, but since I'm not a shopper, that's no big loss. 

[YoungDubFan]

I’ve done 3 Avalon cruises and the only time excursions were cancelled were on my Seine cruise in May 2016. There was record flooding so adjustments were made to the itinerary. My optional excursion to Versailles was cancelled but I think that was the only one that was cancelled out of the 3 cruises. 

[ljandgb]

We did a Danube excursion with just 3 people.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

So, from everything I am reading it sounds like whether included or supplemental ($) that the tours only cancel if there are outside factors preventing them from doing so like weather, river levels prompting itinerary change, etc.

[Daisi]

@AtlantaCruiser72, that's my experience, and when we had one of ours cancelled because of low water, the money was back on my CC the next day. I also cancelled one excursion while cruising and also received the money quickly. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

My biggest concern was really a dinner & folkloric show we booked in Prague on the pre-cruise extension potentially being cancelled by Avalon due to low bookings.  Would assume they reserve a set # of slots at a publicly available dinner/show and have to release unsold seats at some point.  When we booked it said 166 seats open and now it says 164 which would mean only we have booked this for now. 

 

There are a few other supplemental tours we booked but I feel those are more likely to book up if not pre-trip once folks are onboard.