New Ms Poetry/Danube Cruise Review

[shipnc]

Hello everyone.....not knowing where else to post my review, I am copying it into this thread. It's on the long side, but I hope it might provide some insights into river cruising and Avalon Waterways. If you have any questions, my email address is at the end of the article.

 

AVALON WATERWAYS “MS POETRY”

DANUBE RIVER CRUISE – Aug. 23 – Sept. 3

 

WHY THIS CRUISE? After more than 15 large ship cruises, it was time to try something different. In addition to a new experience, this cruise offered the opportunity to spend several days in Prague, and visit new cities that neither I nor my companion Barbara had ever been to.

 

THE ITINERARY. This cruise started with a flight into Prague. We booked air through the company and were able to select from several air itineraries. The connection going over was very good, but the return trip less so. Arranging travel on your own would certainly be an option, and if you can book well in advance, it shouldn’t cost any more than the company arrangements. In Prague, we were put up at the Prague Hilton, which was a first class hotel not too far from the main tourist areas of the city. There was one organized city tour in Prague and several optional ones. The rest of the time you were on your own. After 3 nights & 2 ½ days in Prague, we bussed to Nuremburg, Germany where we embarked aboard MS Poetry. Following a morning tour in Nuremburg, we sailed via the Rhine/Danube Canal to Regensburg, Germany, arriving early the next day. After a day in this picturesque village we sailed overnight to Passau, Germany. At this port, about half the passengers took the optional Salzburg, Austria all day excursion and met the ship at its next port, Linz, Austria. Those who stayed on the ship had a short walking tour of Passau and then sailed on to Linz. After Linz, we visited the abbey at Melk, Austria, sailed through the scenic Wachau Valley to Vienna, Austria and ended up in Budapest, Hungary. After a full day in Hungary, we flew back home the following morning.

 

THE SHIP AND THE LINE. MS Poetry is one of the newer ships in the burgeoning European River Cruise market. Avalon is also a relative newcomer to the market, although Globus, its parent company, has extensive experience in European tour operations. Avalon caters to the North American market and is one of the big players in the US market, the others being Uniworld, Viking River and Grand Circle Tours. We ultimately picked Avalon because the ships were newer, the cabins larger and the line seemed to offer a somewhat more upscale experience.

MS Poetry was built in 2005 and accommodates 176 passengers in all outside rooms. All the rooms measure 172 square feet except for the 3 junior suites which come in at 258 square feet. The only difference between the standard rooms is the deck they’re on and the type of windows they have. The higher (more expensive) decks have floor to ceiling windows while the lower decks (where we were!) have large elliptically shaped windows. Interestingly, on these decks the windows are frequently half under water as the ship takes on ballast to lower its height to enable it to fit under low bridges. While this seems unusual at first, it was really not a problem and resulted in a pleasant gurgling noise at night, similar to sleeping alongside a rapidly moving creek!

 

The rooms were pleasant and comfortable with adequate storage space and the usual features that you would find in a larger ocean going ship. My only complaint about the room was the lack of bathroom toiletries such as shampoo, lotion and soap bars. In their place was the universal soap/shampoo containers hanging in the shower and mounted next to the sink. (Small chips of soap were available but not replenished once used.)

 

Even though all the standard rooms were identical, they were not equally desirable. MS Poetry has very loud bow thrusters to help it maneuver. When the thrusters were used, there was noise and vibration noticeable all the way to the highest deck in the forward part of the ship, which happened to be the lounge. While it was annoying but not really a problem in the lounge, those passengers in category E cabins on the lowest deck forward had their sleep interrupted repeatedly during the night as the ship maneuvered, particularly in the locks. This was not a problem with the Category D cabin which we had, farther aft in the ship.

 

The interior of the ship was attractive and comfortable. There was a small central lobby, a nicely appointed dining room, and a comfortable lounge that served as the bar, entertainment lounge and lecture hall. There were a few books in a corner nook that served as a library/book exchange facility, and a few curio cabinets that made up the ship’s store. The ship has 3 decks and no elevators, but the distances to climb and walk are not great.

 

THE PASSENGERS. The passengers were mostly older, well traveled, upper-middle class. About half were from the United States with the rest coming from England, Australia and various other countries such as the Philippines. I found the other passengers friendly and outgoing with few of the pretensions found occasionally on other upscale cruise lines.

 

THE FOOD. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style. Dinner was served in a single, open seating. Dress for dinner was casual most nights with only one evening, the captain’s farewell dinner, designated as more dressy. Even so, this consisted only of jackets and ties for men and comparable attire for women (whatever that is!). You can definitely leave your tux at home for this cruise.

 

The food was a mixed story. Breakfasts were fine with a good variety of offerings that would appeal to any taste. Lunches were excellent with good variety and quality. But the evening meals were, frankly, disappointing. It seemed to us that the chef was going for “haut cuisine,” and if this means “small portions of frequently unidentifiable foods garnished with inedible sprouts and grasses,” he succeeded. Unfortunately, as Barbara put it in her post-cruise critique, the food was more show than substance. At dinner, there is a limited choice: usually one of two appetizers and one of two entrees and desserts. No one is going to starve on this cruise, but the portions were really small and not that tasty. For example, for the captain’s dinner I opted for the halibut and it was a total of 2 inches square and about ½ inch thick. I am not advocating the “Joe Bob’s All You Can Eat Buffet” as the standard, but with portions this small, the food had better be great, and it wasn’t.

 

The dining room was also very noisy when everyone was at dinner. The service was generally good but you had the feeling that the servers were rushed to get everyone served. Water refills and seconds on coffee often got overlooked in this rush. On the positive side, complimentary red and white wines were served with dinner each night. Although I had envisioned getting a half glass of wine and that would be it, they did a good job of keeping the wine coming, and the wines were very good. Maybe their philosophy was that if you had enough wine you wouldn’t worry about the lack of food!

 

THE CRUISE EXPERIENCE. This is a port intensive itinerary. The ship was in a different city every day, and one organized tour in each city was included in the fare. There was usually free time after the tours to shop or explore on your own. There were also several optional tours. The tours, contracted with local guides, were generally excellent and well organized. All passengers were assigned to one of 5 busses, identified by color, and you remained with this group for the entire shore excursion series. This proved to be an efficient and easy way to organize the tours, and they all went off without a hitch.

It’s easy on this itinerary to get “cathedral/palace/history” overload. It’s also easy to beat yourself to a pulp trying to maximize your sightseeing in the limited time available. A trip like this is similar to many ocean cruises in that it offers a “sampling” of places that deserve far more time than is available. Unlike most ocean cruises, however, there are no sea days that provide an opportunity to snooze on deck and think about nothing but the dinner choices on the menu. The good news is that there is a block of days at the beginning of the cruise to spend in either Prague or Budapest with an option to spend days after the cruise in the other sight intensive city. Just be sure to bring lots of film or a multi-gigabyte flash card!

TIPPING: Gratuities were handled somewhat differently on this ship. All of the tips were pooled and divided among not only those employees who directly served you but also the “behind the scenes” workers such as the laundry people and even the cooks. Perhaps as a result of this concept, the tipping guidelines were higher than we were used to: 12 Euros or about $16 per day/per person plus an additional 3 euros per day for the cruise director who is not attached full time to the ship. While I never have a problem extending tips for good service, I don’t like the pooling concept, and I particularly don’t like my tips going to workers whose salaries should be paid by wages, not tips.

SECURITY: One refreshing aspect of this cruise that I hadn’t anticipated was the lack of the hyper-paranoid security measures that envelope large ships in the North American market these days. We had ID cards/door keys but never had to show them to get on the ship. There was never a gauntlet of employees meeting you back on board with metal detectors, photo ID machines and bag shakedowns. Interestingly, due to limited dock space in many of the ports, the riverboats would “nest” – tie up to each other. Thus you might have to pass through 1 or 2 other boats to get ashore. On one occasion I decided to explore one of the other ships that was tied up to us and had a nice self guided tour. I was tempted to stop in the bar and charge a drink to a random room, but figured that would be pushing it. There may be people who find comfort in the perceived increased security we find now on most cruise lines, but I found Avalon’s approach most refreshing and a reminder of “the good old days.” Also, if we had had guests or friends who wanted to come aboard for a visit or a drink it would not have been a problem. Try doing that on Carnival!

 

SUMMARY: This was a most enjoyable way to see many interesting cities and sights while enjoying the amenities and convenience of a ship. Avalon was a class operation and confirmed my pre-cruise impression that it was a cut above the others. I really enjoyed the small boat experience. The logistics of everything are so much easier, there are never any lines (except at the dessert buffet tables!), you get to know your fellow travelers and embarkation/disembarkation are non-events. On the downside, these cruises are not inexpensive, particularly compared to “traditional” cruise ships, but there were many amenities included in the price that somewhat compensate. Included shore excursions, complimentary wine with dinner, no photographers and minimal shopping opportunities all made for a reasonable end of cruise bill.

The sights and the cities are the attractions of these cruises, and the ships should be viewed as comfortable vehicles to facilitate sightseeing rather than an entertainment centers themselves, as many of the new mega liners are. With this in mind, and with as much advance research as possible to enable you to absorb the onslaught of information, a river cruise will be a memorable experience. Here are some tips, based on our experience, that anyone contemplating a river cruise might benefit from:

1. Choose an itinerary that has enough days to compensate for jet lag. A 7 day cruise all by itself just isn’t enough time, in my opinion.

2. Pack clothes for warm and cold weather, even in the summer, along with a hooded rain garment. In late August we ran into a stretch of days with rain and temperatures in the lower 50s.

3. Leave the formal clothes at home and pack good walking shoes.

4. Do as much research as possible on your destinations before the trip. You will still be overwhelmed with all you see, but at least you’ll have a fighting chance to absorb some details, and you’ll know how to prioritize your sightseeing..

5. Keep a daily log of places visited and impressions. Then when you sort your pictures after the trip, you’ll have a reasonable chance of identifying which St. Peter’s or St. Steven’s Cathedral you’re looking at.

6. Don’t be afraid to use local transportation – subways, trams, buses and trains. Most big cities of Europe, including Prague, Vienna and Budapest, have good public transportation that is convenient and cheap. Stories abound about pickpockets, but with reasonable precautions, public transport is no more risky than in the U.S.

7. Use ATM/debit cards for all your cash conversions. We found this to be the cheapest and most convenient way. (We did have a problem in Budapest where you have to do some higher math to figure out how many dollars in local currency you are requesting when the exchange rate is 200 Forints for 1 dollar. Fortunately, we punched the button that gave us $40, not $400.)

8. Learn at least the following expressions in the local language: hello, goodbye, thank you, please, how much, where is the nearest bathroom, beer. In Prague, this is not easy (except beer).

8. Never pass up an opportunity to use the bathroom. You never know if you’ll find another. Also, keep a number of small local coins available for the inevitable bathroom fees.

Any questions? Please feel free to drop me a note at ship@vnet.net

[steamboats]

shipnc,

 

Thanks a lot for sharing this great review!

 

Maybe one explanation regarding tips: As far as I understood many jobs in the US have low basic wages and people mainly depend on the tips. Basic wages in Europe are comparably higher and the part covered through tips (especially for servers, maids and all other staff which is in direct contact with a customer) is much less than in the US. Anyway cruise companies handle this matter different. We had personalized tips on the Delta Queen Steamboat Company boats in the US but also pooled tips on the Empress of the North. Deilmann has personalized tips and a box for additional tips which are pooled. On the Empress of the North several folks had more than one job. Working as a porter in the morning you were able to see the same person as bartender at night. So I assume that a pooled tip is more fair in this situation.

 

steamboats

[mcintyre9454]

Shipnc,

 

Thanks for the great review. I really enjoyed reading it. A question....I have been getting different answers to this question, and since you were there, I'm sure you can give me an accurate answer. How long was the trip from Prague to Nuremberg? Thanks!

[shipnc]

The quick answer to this question is 3 1/2 to 4 hours. HOWEVER, we were scheduled to leave the hotel in Prague at 1 p.m. but the busses we were to take were late bringing in passengers who were on the reverse itinerary. It seems that since the locks on the canal are one way, it is possible to experience delays, and that is what happened. So, we actually left about 2:30 p.m. Then, we encountered a major accident on the autobahn in Germany that required us to detour through the countryside. The detour was actually very scenic as we passed through idyllic German countryside and picturesque villages, but it did slow us down further. So we actually arrived at the ship after 8. It made for a long day, but they held dinner for us and made the best of it.

[mcintyre9454]

Shipnc,

 

Good to hear...3 1/2-4 hours is what I figured. Sorry to hear about your problems getting to Nuremburg. BUT....if you HAD to go on a detour....at least it was a scenic one! Was the bus a comfortable one? Were there bathrooms onboard......did they play a movie or anything? Sorry to inundate you with questions. Thanks in advance.

[Heintje]

Thanks for the reply. I assume that you had Hans as a Cruise Director?

Just a quick reflection on the tipping situation. As already mentioned by Steamboats, pooled tips are to take care of every-one on board of the ships, including people like the dishwashers, who are very important, but aren't very often seen by the guests. The staff in the restaurants know that they can improve their (meager) income by doing a good job. If you appreciate that, you can always give them something extra. It is the staff that you don't see, that works just as hard (if not harder) that also should receive some appreciation.

If the cruise companies would pay the salaries that you think would be fair, the cruise price would be considderably higher. If any cruise company would start such an adventure, most of the guests would opt for the cruise lines with lower prices, (because of the lower salaries). The cost of the cruise is for the majority of guests the deciding factor on which cruiseline to take. On top of that you would not/could not show your appreciation on a job well done. With a higher salary and no financial bonus for a job well done, why would the staff try to excell......?

Thanks again for your reflection on the cruise.

Heintje

[shipnc]

for heintje - yes, Hans was our cruise director. Absolutely outstanding. And I reluctantly agree with your comments about tips and pricing. I keep saying that I would pay more upfront for a cruise with tips included, but I haven't put my money where my mouth is - yet!

 

for mcintyre 9454 - all the buses we were on, including the Prague/Nuremberg one were very nice with bathrooms - airline style and size. We had a nice young lady as our hostess, and beer and soft drinks were available. We did have a movie....but it was in German! The unexpected bonus of our extra time on the bus was getting to know the others in our "color" group with whom we would tour the rest of the week.