Roll Call --- Avalon Artistry --- Magnificent Europe --- April 26, 2008

[webfoot]

I noticed today that this cruise has been sold out and thought it would be a good time to do a roll call. My husband and I are going to be on this trip and, if I recall correctly, 7 couples from Australia are also on the trip. Anyone else joining us?

[webfoot]

Still haven't had any postings of anyone else going with us on this cruise. However, we did receive our travel documents over the week-end. Yea!!! Can't wait!!!

 

Our cruise director is going to be Robert Zieminski ... has anyone else had him on their cruise? If so, anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated.

 

I do hope that there are some 'lurkers' out there that will also be traveling with us on this trip.

 

Thanks!!!

[jimsmith]

Be great to get your feedback when you finish - we are going Oct-Nov finishing in Amsterdam.

regards

Jim

 

jimsmith at internode.on.net

[webfoot]

I'll definitely post a report when I get back .... need to pack a journal ... we are doing a small trip on our own before heading back, so sometimes after May 17th, I'll post it.

 

The date keeps getting closer and closer .... can't wait!!!

[VAGuy]

You are in luck !!! We have had the pleasure of having Robert as cruise director on two cruises with Avalon - on the Danube in 2005 and then on the Rhine in 2006. Robert hails from Warsaw, is young (about 30), and is tall and thin (or at least he was). He has a very good sense of humor and can be quite funny at times. Despite his relative youth, he gets along quite well leading a group of people twice his age. His English is quite good, and he is knowledgeable about the various sights along the way.

 

We were surprised and delighted to have him as our cruise director on the second cruise, and we would not hesitate to travel with him again. He will make your trip very enjoyable.:p

[webfoot]

Thanks so much for the good word about Robert ... he and my husband will get along quite well. My husband is of Polish/Ukranian descent and the last we knew, still has some relatives in Poland. We are getting more and more anxious each day for this trip.

 

In our Avalon package, they gave tipping guidelines for the crew and tour director. Did you tip in USD or Euros? It really doesn't give guidelines which currency to use. Thanks in advance.

 

We used to live in Herndon (from 1978 to 2004) and now have moved a little further south ... I definitely don't miss the traffic ... but do miss the wonderful restaurants and convenient shopping. But the Charlottesville area is getting more of that each day.

[VAGuy]

The crew and cruise director would prefer to receive any gratuity in Euros since that is the coin of the realm where they are and saves them from having to exchange the foreign currency. However, no currency will be refused should you not have Euros available.:rolleyes:

[MSEm]

What are the tipping guidelines for the river vessel staff members. Also any other tipping guidelines?

I will be looking forward to reading your reveiw after your return.

I will traveling on the Avalon Artistry from Budapest to Numenberg and then to Prague. We will arrive in Budapest and join others for the cruisetour on June 20, 2008.

 

Have a wonderful trip.

Emily

[webfoot]

Hi Emily,

The recommendations for tipping are 12 Euros per day per passenger, which is distributed among the ship's staff plus 3 Euros per day per passenger for the Cruise Director. They also recommend tiipping our local guides 1 Euro per tour.

 

We are really getting anxious to go and hope that the weather will be good ... even if it isn't, we will enjoy seeing new scenery.

 

I'll report once we get back and adjusted to being back home.

[webfoot]

Our trip was fabulous. Hats off to Avalon for running a fantastic cruise. We used to go on land tours, but after this experience, I think our next trips will be river cruises!!!

 

Our ship was the Avalon Artistry. It was built in 2004 and refurbished in 2006/2007. The interior was nicely decorated and the outside was kept spotless.

 

There were 151 people on this trip. The majority of the people were from Australia, with 4 from New Zealand, 4 from UK, and the rest of us either from USA or Canada.

 

Our cruise director, Robert Zieminski, was wonderful. He handled all of us very graciously. Nothing seemed to faze him at all.

 

Each day started out with a breakfast that included an omelet/egg station and breads, fresh fruit, yogurts, scrambled eggs, bacon, broiled tomatoes, baked beans, waffles, etc.

 

Some days we had tours in the morning, other days the tours were in the afternoon. We used headsets to be able to hear the local tour guide. One or two days, we had difficulties with them, but most of the time it was good.

 

Lunch each day started with a salad bar, two soups, two main courses, vegetables, breads, cheese, and of course, the dessert bar. The pastry chef had a large variety of items, including two flavors of ice cream.

 

At 4 pm each day, we had ‘cake and coffee’, which consisted of various cakes and cookies and coffee/tea.

 

Happy hour had most drinks at a reduced price. During happy hour and after dinner, Laszlo entertained us with piano music for listening and dancing.

 

Each evening, there was a menu selection plus itinerary on our beds. The menu selection was to give the chef an idea of how much of each entrée/soup/salad/dessert that needed to be prepared.

 

Dinner each evening was a sit down meal with four courses, including wine (usually wine of the region we were visiting).

 

Several optional tours were offered. In Amsterdam, there were tours to see Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and the flower gardens. There was a new optional trip offered to Bonn, which several folks took. Other optional trips included Nuremberg Trial Sites, Weltenburg Abbey and Danube Gorge, Salzburg and the Sound of Music, Cesky Krumlov, Schoenbrunn Palace, Royal Waltz Concert, and Light Tour of Budapest. My husband took Nuremberg Trial Sites trip and enjoyed it. We took the Weltenburg Abbey and Cesky Krumov trips, and both of them were great. We got good feedback on the other trips from those who went.

 

Our room was spacious. We had a room on the second level with the floor to ceiling sliding doors. After talking to those who had rooms in the ‘fish bowl’ (lowest level), I am glad we made this selection. The rooms were nicely designed with lots of storage. In fact, after unloading our suitcases (which fit nicely under the bed), we still had some shelf space left. The bathrooms were nicely configured. There was plenty of space with a medicine cabinet and under sink storage. The shower was enclosed with glass, and was a good size.

 

The lounge was a good size with lots of windows to see out. The sun deck was open quite often. We had lectures up there several times. Yes, the sun deck had to be closed when we went through areas with low bridges, but we were pleased with how much the sun deck was open.

 

We had entertainment several nights. We had a string concert with classical, a cookie lady presenting how to prepare the best vanilla cookies, another concert of show tunes, lectures on the European Union, lectures on locks and how they work, etc.

 

As a note, we had several on the trip who had trouble getting around. Robert arranged some special transportation for them so that they could enjoy the sites like the rest of us.

 

If there is anything that I haven’t covered that you would like to hear, please let me know.

 

Jet lag is almost over … the laundry is done … now it is time to dream of our next river cruise.

[CRUZERNUT]

Thanks so much for your excellent report. We are doing the Artistry on Oct 1 from Bucharest to Prague and can't wait. I have just a few questions.

About finances: I understand you can charge everything on the boat and pay with a credit card..correct? True for tips like the $12/day for crew and $3 for cruise director? Were you able to use credit cards for expenses ashore such as food and drink and souveniers? Assume you tip tour guides...just on optional tours or on boat operated as well? How about access to ATM's....Other than Euros what other local currency did you need?

Could you cash Amer Exp travel checks on board Artistry? in Euros?

Finally....We heard they only allow 30" suitcases and 11" handbags. That doesn't provide much room for an October trip. Were the 50 lb airline requirement suitcases in evidence? and did they fit underbeds and would a normal US carry-on bag w/wheels be acceptable too?

Sorry to ask so many questions..but you seem very well informed and I will appreciate your answers as will others reading this thread.

Thanks so very much.

HAL from Florida

[webfoot]

Yes, you can charge everything on board and then pay for it with a credit card. When you check in, they record your credit card number. At the end, you can either pay with cash or keep it on the credit card (which is what we did).

 

Tips can also be charged to the credit card. Tips for the crew can be paid at the desk while tips for the cruise director can be charged to a credit card that he/she will run through for you.

 

We were able to use our credit cards in all of the ports that we visited. The front desk does not act like a bank and cannot change travelers checks ... in fact, Avalon states in their travel documents that travelers checks are getting harder and harder to use in Europe. They recommend using an ATM (and making sure you have let your bank know where all you will be traveling). We used our ATM in almost every country, and it worked fine.

 

The Slovakia and Hungary have their own currencies, but they were happy to take Euros ...

 

As for the weight of luggage, our airline (United) was quite strict about weighing everything before we left the states ... we each also had a carry-on and they did weigh that also. I guess that they have a weight limit on carry-on bags, too. Our 30" bags fit under the bed with room to spare. You will like all of the built-in storage in the room.

 

We went for a total of 3 weeks (2 weeks on the cruise and then 1 week of independent travel) and we survived with about 45 lbs of luggage each. Of course, the pants that we were wearing on our return trip wanted to stand up by themselves after we took them off :D . We took clothes that we could layer.

 

Well, let me know if you need any other information ... we certainly enjoyed our trip and are sure that you will, too.

[CRUZERNUT]

Thanks Pat..your info was very helpful

HAL