Avalon Tapestry - Romantic Rhine 2008 - First Timer Questions

[vb527]

Hi,

 

I'm looking at booking the Basel-Amsterdam cruise in 09/08 and have been reading a few threads about Avalon Tapestry. But I still have a few questions and hoping someone will be able to help me out.

 

1. I read that River Cruises are different to Ocean Cruises - that they don't have 24 hour food/alcohol service available. Does this apply across all river cruises or just certain cruise operators/ships?

2. What is Avalon's policy with passengers bringing alcohol/food item into the cabin for snacking/drinks?

3. How's Avalon with catering for food allergies? My husband can't have anything containing prawns or crabs.

4. Are we free to explore each port by ourselves or do we have to stick to the organised tour? Otherwise, how much free time do we have in each port?

5. What is the chance of having lunch/dinner at the docking town instead of cruise food?

6. What is the difference between the cabins at the back of the ship compare to the front? I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend a bit more and get the cabin at the front (Between Cat B or A). What made you choose one over the other?

 

Has anyone been on the Rhine cruise (Basel - Amsterdam) with either Viking Sun or Trafalgar River Ambassador? What are they like compare to Avalon Tapestry? I'm having a difficult time trying to decide whether to definitely go with Avalon or choose either Viking or Trafalgar instead.

 

As this will be the first time we are travelling to Europe, we want to maximise our visit there. Plus we want to be able to enjoy our first cruise.

 

Thank you all in advance.

[magmorr75219]

We took a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest on the Avalon Poetry this past May. I can't speak specifically about the cruise you're looking at, but I can give you some general info on Avalon. This is our only river cruise, so I don't have info on any of the other lines.

 

While Avalon does not have 24 hour food service, my husband and I never went hungry. There was ample food available at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they had an afternoon tea. Usually, they had fruit, coffee, tea, and water available all day/night. The bar is open for an ample amount of time.

 

We did buy some food in one of the ports, but we weren't able to eat it, since we got enough food. The crew did not care. I think people did the same with alcohol, but we didn't. They do have a mini-fridge like hotels (for a fee, of course). We took stuff out of the fridge to store our cheese, and they didn't have an issue with that. We didn't eat or drink anything from the fridge.

 

I think you should be able to find daily choices without shellfish. I don't eat seafood, and I didn't have any issues. I think that most of the seafood we were served was actual fish, not of the shrimp/crab/lobster variety.

 

On our tours, we had time to wander freely after the tour. Some of the towns are close enough to the docking location to come and go as you please. Most days, we took the tours, although sometimes we didn't. They don't generally care too much. As long as you're back on the boat in time. :)

 

I'm not sure about the cabins....I'd find some other threads about the Tapestry for an answer to that question.

[hobse]

vb527,

 

I'll try to answer some of your questions, we took this cruise last year.

 

1. I'm not positive, but I believe this is true of most all river cruises. It is an entirely different experience than an ocean cruise. You get breakfast, lunch, dinner with acceptable portion size for most but not what you might see on a mega ocean liner, and usually an afternoon coffee with cake on Avalon. The Tapestry had ice cream bars you could buy. Coffee, tea is always available. Wine is free at dinner, otherwise drinks are bought at the bar. When we cruised with Uniworld it was pretty much the same except there were always nuts, fruit, or cookies around the ship.

2. No problem at all bringing food and beverages on board to consume in your cabin. This commonly occurred.

3. Don't know.

4. Yes, you can explore all on your own. You do not have to go on any of the organized tours if you don't want to. We almost always walk around on our own and see what we want. On this particular cruise we did the canal tours with the group but that was it. Just remember to find out when you have to be back to the ship or bus. If you search for my post on 4/10/07, I summarized an itinerary for this trip.

5. If the itinerary stays similar to ours, there will be some nights staying over or departing late, but going into town will depend on docking location.

6. Not sure about location, only that I'm pretty sure all the cabins look the same/are the same size, except for the jr. suites.

 

Hope this helps some.

[letsgo39]

Hi,

 

I'm looking at booking the Basel-Amsterdam cruise in 09/08 and have been reading a few threads about Avalon Tapestry. But I still have a few questions and hoping someone will be able to help me out.

 

1. I read that River Cruises are different to Ocean Cruises - that they don't have 24 hour food/alcohol service available. Does this apply across all river cruises or just certain cruise operators/ships?

 

A. Well I don't know about all river cruise ships but I can tell you we were on the Avalon Tranquility in July for 2 weeks and I could not have possibly eaten MORE food then was provided.No, there was not a midnight buffet but the bar remained open as long as someone wanted to be in the lounge. The meals were fantastic. Breakfast and lunch are buffets and dinner is sit down. Wine is included with dinner. In addition there is tea,coffe,water available free 24-7. There is an afternoon tea provided at around 4 pm with lovely cakes served and coffee and tea.Everybody just chuckled about the abundent food. I promise you will not be hungry.

 

2. What is Avalon's policy with passengers bringing alcohol/food item into the cabin for snacking/drinks?

A. You can bring anything into your cabin to eat or drink that you want.We had soda pop,wine and bourbon and some snacks in our cabin which we were able to enjoy in the cabin and on the sundeck. You cannot bring your own drinks into the lounge of course.

 

3. How's Avalon with catering for food allergies? My husband can't have anything containing prawns or crabs.

 

A.My best friend has the same allergy and made sure the chef was aware of it. You order from a menu that is placed on your bed the night before. You fill out what you want and hand it in the next morning.

 

4. Are we free to explore each port by ourselves or do we have to stick to the organised tour? Otherwise, how much free time do we have in each port?

 

A. DH and I would go with the tour in the morning or just tour on our own. No problem. We often would go out again in the afternoon and explore on our own. At some of the ports you remain docked until late at night so you also have all evening to do as you wish.You always sail all night mostly arriving in port around breakfast the next day. The city tours are usually about 9:30 until lunch time. You can go back to the ship for lunch or stay in town for lunch if you wish. We had plenty of free time on our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise. We never felt rushed at all.

 

5. What is the chance of having lunch/dinner at the docking town instead of cruise food?

 

A. Your free to do whatever you wish. Many times all aboard is about 5 PM and you set sail before dinner.

 

6. What is the difference between the cabins at the back of the ship compare to the front? I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend a bit more and get the cabin at the front (Between Cat B or A). What made you choose one over the other?

A Try to get a cabin in the middle of the ship on either of the upper 2 decks.The bow thrusters in the front of the ship are very noisy when you are docking or going thru the locks and it can also be noisy in the rear of the ship. If your in the middle it is so quiet that many times we couldn't even tell if we were moving. We really enjoyed the sliding glass doors and would often leave them open at night while we slept..

 

Has anyone been on the Rhine cruise (Basel - Amsterdam) with either Viking Sun or Trafalgar River Ambassador? What are they like compare to Avalon Tapestry? I'm having a difficult time trying to decide whether to definitely go with Avalon or choose either Viking or Trafalgar instead.

 

A I don't know about either of those companies but our experience on The Avalon Tranquility was absolutely fantastic. Can't wait to do it again.

 

As this will be the first time we are travelling to Europe, we want to maximise our visit there. Plus we want to be able to enjoy our first cruise.

 

Thank you all in advance.

A Your welcome!!!

[vb527]

Thank you all so much for taking time to answer my questions! It has helped us make our decisions, especially my husband's. We are now in the process of booking our cruise! Managed to secure a cheap deal with our local agent. Going to pay deposit on Saturday to get in the early bird savings. I'm so excited, I can't wait!

[NYLady]

Congratulations.

If you have any specific questions about the individual ports and whether it would be possible to have dinner in town, just ask. I'm sure one of us can help you answer it. Some ports are too far from town...and, if you booked on Tapestry you should kow that it is extra long and, sometimes, docks in different places...

Anyway, you'll have a great time!

[boards]

Sorry if this question has been asked and answered, but are the organized tours included in the cost? What are the additional costs other than air? How does this type of cruise compare cost wise to the traditional cruise?

[NYLady]

Sorry if this question has been asked and answered, but are the organized tours included in the cost? What are the additional costs other than air? How does this type of cruise compare cost wise to the traditional cruise?

 

Most of the organized tours are included in the cost. There are a couple of "optionals"...again, if you would like specific info for the Amsterdam to Basel trip I will be glad to give details.

 

Additional costs - If you book air through them, your transfers will be included but if you handle your own air, transfers will be extra. Machine coffee and tea are available free all day but regular coffee, specialty coffees, wine and all other drinks will be extra all day. (Unlimited house wine is provided free with dinner)

 

I cannot comment on the cost compared with a traditional cruise because I haven't taken my first "traditional cruise". I'm still wondering that myself.

[boards]

Thank you for your reply. Our TA is encouraging us to consider a river cruise for 2009. She knows what we like to do and thinks this is something we would really enjoy. We will no doubt will have some questions as we draw closer to the date.

[CPT Trips]

What is and is not included varies by the provider. It can be "fun" trying to compare apples to apples;)

Most have a number of included tours and several "optional," read extra cost, tours. Some seem to have all the tours included. Of course, no one is forced to go on any excursion.

Most do not include airfare, but some - GCT for one - do.