Avalon River Vessel Questions??

[MSEm]

I am scheduled to travel on the Avalon Artisitry the end of June 08. I have several questions about the amenities on the vessels.

1. Hair Dryer? Are there hair dryers in the cabins, if so where and power?

2. Bottled water in cabin or for the tours?

3. Bathrobes in the cabins?

 

Thanks for the help and any other good "Secret" info on the Avalon vessels.

Emily

[cruisetraveler44]

We returned two weeks ago fro the Artistry and they do have hair dryers in the cabins, they use the 220 volts and the outlet is located on the side of the vanity in the cabin. There is a 110 outlet in the bathroom if you need to recharge your camera batteries or cell phones.

There is bottled water for purchase in the cabins, I don't recall the actual cost, I just thought it was expensive. It was rather chilly while we were on tour so I never got thirsty enough to buy the water. I thought if I was to go again, and I'm hoping we do since we really enjoyed our trip, that I would bring my own personal water bottle and carry that with me on tours. I did see a few people with their own. Water in Europe is on the expensive side about 2.50 to 3.00 Euros per bottle.

We did not have bathrobes in our cabin, we had a room on the second floor with the french sliding doors. Maybe the suites have them but we did not.

The Artistry is really a pretty vessel, I'm sure you will enjoy her. Have fun on your cruise.

[MSEm]

Thanks for the info. I will just plan on using the hair dryer on the vessel. I am glad to know it is not in the bath area.

 

Bottled water. Thanks for the info. I will take at least 3 small bottles. I like to get the small bottle that Delta gives out on flights. Very nice size to carry on tours. I will look for cheaper water in local grocery.

 

Any other hints on Avalon River Vessels?

 

Thanks,

Emily

[traveljunky]

Does anyone who has recently returned from an Avalon trip (we'll be on the Artistry at the end of June)know if internet hookups are available if we bring a laptop. If so, what is the cost? As an alternative, do the Avalon ships have computers available for passenger use so that e-mail can be sent and received?

 

How big are the groups for the included tours? For the optional tours? Do the optional tours fill up quickly or are they readily available?

 

Has anyone taken the Avalon optional Jewish heritage tour or the Terezin tour? Would you recommend them?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

TravelJunky

[YLTraveler]

ESM and Traveljunky - I was curious on what Avalon cruise you are on. We are on the Budapest to Bucharest cruise that starts in Budapest on the 4th of July with the arrival of the tour group in Budapest. We actually embark on the ship on the 5th. Is that the tour you are on or are you one tour earlier?

 

Our cruise among other things is a combined alumni tour with the University of Washington, UCLA, UCSB, and North Carolina and the Naval Academy. We should have a lot of interesting conversations.

 

We are actually leaving the states earlier to do some self touring in Prague and Vienna.

 

As a point of reference, the tour book put out by Avalon says that all electricity is 220 volts. You will need an adapter to use the plugs in the stateroom provided that your device (cell phone/camera charger is dual voltage/frequency). If the device is not dual voltage (i.e., accepts 110 VAC, 60 Hz like most hair curlers), you will need a converter and adapter plug.

 

You should receive the "Hints for Cruise Passengers" with your travel package. You can also call Global and they will send you one. It does have a lot of good reference info.

[MSEm]

I will be on the Avalon Artistry June 20 tour beginning in Budapest and ending in Prague on July 2. We will arrive 2 days early on June 18 and fly from Prague on July 2.

Many people adviced to take extra time in Budapest if possible. We were able to save enought on the air fare to pay of the extra nights in Budapest by arriving early.

Emily

[cruisetraveler44]

I recently returned from Avaolon Artistry Tulip Time cruise and hopefully can answer more of your questions.

On the electicty, the booklet does say to bring a converter in which I did but only used it for the curling iron I brought with me. We found out about the outlet in the bathroom being 110 when we got onboard and were told to only use it for electric shavers, cell phone chargers and camera battery chargers. I used it to charge my phone, the only thing you need to know is the outlet only works when the bathroom light is on so if you charge your batteries at night you must leave the light on but you can keep the door closed so it the light doesn't bother you.

On internet service, we did use Avalon's internet on board the vessel to check our e-mail. I don't know if they have internet service in the cabins since we did not bring a laptop. The charge was 5 Euros for an hour worth of service or I think you can purchase unlimited use for about 15 or 20 Euros. One hour was fine with me since you could carry it through out the cruise. You sign up with the reception and they give you a password to sign in with. Just remember to sign out when your done so your time ends and you don't waste your minutes. The internet room is off the lounge in the front of the ship and only has two computers. The connection was rather slow when you are used to high speed DSL.

On the tours, there was never any problem with being full. The ship holds about 160 people so Avalon uses 4 buses for the tours that you drive to. The buses are listed ABCD and you get on one of the buses on your first tour and thats you bus for the entire trip. On the walking tours your guides are ABCD also so you just go along with your guide based on the bus you were on. There usually isn't a problem with any tours selling out since all tours are essentually made for everyone.

Hope this answers most of your questions. Enjoy your cruise, we certainly enjoyed ours.

[Suzzsin]

We'll be cruising on the Artistry this summer (can't wait!). Do you happen to know how far away the ship is docked from the city center of Nuremburg? Thanks very much.

[traveljunky]

On internet service, we did use Avalon's internet on board the vessel to check our e-mail. I don't know if they have internet service in the cabins since we did not bring a laptop. The charge was 5 Euros for an hour worth of service or I think you can purchase unlimited use for about 15 or 20 Euros.

 

Thanks for the information re internet service. I thought Avalon prices everything in US dollars. Any reason that you know of that this is in euros?

[cruisetraveler44]

I'm not sure why this is but the purchases on board the vessel get charged in Euros. The internet service was in Euros and other purchses like drinks from lounge get charged in Euros. Maybe since the ship is based out of Europe. The only thing that gets charged in US dollars is the optional shore excursions, that gets charged through Globus/Avalon in the states. They have a seperate credit card machine for those charges on board so after you pick out your excursions you meet with the cruise director and either pay cash or credit card seperately for them.

[webfoot]

There was one fellow on our cruise that brought his own laptop and used it in the lounge with wireless with no difficulty ... we just used the onboard computers ... bought 24 hours worth of time for 15 Euros ...

[jkeller527]

The boats are doing a better rate now for internet and have a weekly rate. to be real honest you are so busy that you never have time to check email. there were a couple of internet cafes along the way but few and far between. One thing is to be sure that you take batteries and the small things you think about on board. i needed aspirin and they dont even stock that. And you will be tired to even put a bathrobe on

[rogerdawhip]

Susan L,

I have not cruised on Avalon but the Amadeous and GCT ships dock about 15-20 minutes by bus from the city center. The Rhine-Main-Danube canal is the waterway by Nuremburg.

Roger

[webfoot]

On the Avalon Artistry, we paid 15 Euros for 24 hours of internet ... which was much more time than we needed. However, 1 hour cost 5 Euros ... so purchasing the 24 hours was a good deal.

[NYLady]

We'll be cruising on the Artistry this summer (can't wait!). Do you happen to know how far away the ship is docked from the city center of Nuremburg? Thanks very much.

 

 

Roger is correct. Avalon is also on the Rhine-Main-Danube canal and the ship provides transportation by bus (about 15-20 min) to reach Nuremburg. There were absolutely no facilities I could see - no taxi, no public bus, etc. to make the trip on your own. Those who did the optional war-related tour missed the tour of the castle up on the hill...There is really only time to do one or the other.

[MSEm]

Did you get any feed back from anyone taking the war tour?

Where does it go?

 

Thanks,

Emily

 

PS I will be on the river cruise that begins in Budapest on 20 June and ends in Prague on 2 July. I have been give information that it is the Artistry and also Tranquality. I really don't care as long as it's Budapest to Prague.

[MSEm]

Is Decafe coffee available on the River vessel at night?

 

Thanks,

 

Emily

[webfoot]

Yes it is ... it is an 'instant' decaf coffee that can be used with the hot water. It comes in a packet that looks like it might be sugar (long and skinny). I found it was quite good for instant. The coffee machine dispenses regular coffee and hot water. There is always decaf coffee available and on cool mornings (which we had on our trip), some packets of hot chocolate.

[S&B]

Hi MSEm,

We took this cruise from Budapest to Prague two years ago. Our guide that we had in Nuremburg was not good. That was the only disappointment that we had. We stood at the gate of the fairgrounds and were not allowed to enter and walk around. All the other tour groups did enter except us. That area was very important to me as I think it will be to you also. There are some buildings you will pass and be prepared to take pictures quickly.

 

I made some comments about that tour when the comment card was passed out at the end of the tour. I told them that for Americans this was very important, etc. ( I had better not say more).

 

You will love this cruise. We loved Budapest and Prague and walked all over the town. In both cities we were walking until 11:00 at night and always felt safe. The food was wonderful. We tried all kinds of little restaurants. My grandmother was from this area and made apple strudel the old fashioned way and it was my goal to find some strudel like she made and after trying many strudels we only found one place that had the real authentic strudel.

 

Have fun!!

 

S&B

[hockeymadhockey]

Re: water. Whatever you do purchase as little as possible on board ships. Obviously they are trying to make money and will charge much more than average.

 

What we did was to purchase what we needed along all the stops. Mine was diet pepsi or coke and water. Very cheap in the little kiosks around town. My father found every single bakery in every single town and was in heaven. This was a good thing because tea on our ship, Viking Sky, was not very good. It was also fun to get to know the towns and explore on our own.

 

Make sure your cell phone is good for Europe. Calls from the ship are grossly expensive.

[MSEm]

How are the cabins on the Indigo Deck. I know the windows do not open, but can you look out of the windows?

 

Thanks for all the great info and hints about the Avalon River Vessels.

MSEm

[NYLady]

Did you get any feed back from anyone taking the war tour?

Where does it go?

 

Thanks,

Emily

 

PS I will be on the river cruise that begins in Budapest on 20 June and ends in Prague on 2 July. I have been give information that it is the Artistry and also Tranquality. I really don't care as long as it's Budapest to Prague.

 

Our friends took the war tour and they were disappointed. I didn't really get details about what it was they were disappointed about. I think for any war buff it is a must-see but not so much for most of us.

[NYLady]

How are the cabins on the Indigo Deck. I know the windows do not open, but can you look out of the windows?

 

Thanks for all the great info and hints about the Avalon River Vessels.

MSEm

 

 

It is not a deck you want to be on unless you really need to economize. You cannot see well out the window and for much of the trip it is common for murkey water to be half-way up the window. On our ship anyone who could upgrade did so within the first few minutes of boarding.

[MSEm]

Thanks NY,

 

I did not choose the cabin and if given the option I will take an upgrade.

Guess I will spend more time on the Sun deck or a lounge with lots of windows. We are skipping the Salzburg trip as we have spend 1 day there before. By staying with the vessel we will get to see "new" places of us.

 

We leave Tuesday for Budapest.

MSEm

[Aussieflyer]

We did the Amsterdam - Basel trip last year and booked a few of the optional tours as well (through the Cruise Director who doesn't really work for the boat - there was a little tension about who reigned supreme). But, we stayed on the boat for at least one of them - the tours included in the cruise by Avalon always started early (we were leaving the ship about 8am) and we did get a little tired. The walking tours were excellent on the whole, though the bus to the Black Forest had a guide who would not stop talking. We left some of the tours to do our own thing - and met again at the end.The way the itinerary was set, we got busier as the cruise went on.