Avalon Romantic Rhine Cruise

[marieelizabeth]

Six of us will be going on a river cruise for the first time next July. If you have been on an Avalon cruise, please let us know your impressions. How did the ship, staterooms and staff measure up? Did you enjoy the tours, or was traveling in a large group, and sometimes on a coach, a pain? We can foresee pros and cons. Also, what was the average age group? We are 58 - 61. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

[webfoot]

My husband and I took an Avalon cruise earlier this year and we loved it. We were on the Artistry, which is the oldest of their ships, but it has been nicely redecorated.

 

The rooms are spacious. The staff was great!!! We had 151 people on our cruise, which didn't seem like too many. Our tour was by water with no land/hotel times. We were able to walk to many of the downtown areas for our tours. Those times that we had to be bussed, the busses arrived promptly and very close to where the ship docked.

 

We were pleased with the meals. Breakfast and lunch are buffet-style while dinner is sit-down with your choice of three entrees (plus two standard choices in case you don't like the entrees -- for our trip it was salmon and chicken). One of the entrees is vegetarian. There is also a choice of two or three appetizers, two soups, and two or three desserts. The pastry chef on our ship was fabulous. Thank goodness for the walking to work off all of the wonderful pastries.

 

I am 60 and my husband is 66. I think that the ages of you and your group will do well on this cruise. There were some on the cruise that were in their 80's as well as one or two persons in their 20's/30's.

 

Please let me know if I can answer any additional questions for you.

 

Enjoy!!!

[Aussieflyer]

We were on the Tapestry from Amsterdam to Basel last Sept/October and had a good time. Some of the walking tours we did were excellent but at other places we went off on our own and met the guides back ready to get on the bus (or just walked back to the ship where it was close). The only real issues we had were a) the mad rush for dinner as we were a full ship and there were only just enough seats for every one at dinner, so if you were late you could find it hard to find spare seats and b) the inadequate space for the lunch buffet and the bottlenecks caused.

Cabin was fine, plenty of space under the bed for the cases, the quality of the food was OK, the itinerary was generally interesting (though it was a long drive to the Black Forest to see and buy some clocks and visit an outdoor museum). I found the tour director to be a little overbearing but most thought he was excellent, so just me I think.

We met some great people and saw places we would not otherwise go to.

[gas]

We were on the Poetry, and never had the experience of bottlenecks at lunch or lack of seating at dinner. Most passengers were 60+, a few younger, but it was fun to meet everyone. We did all city tours and went off on our own in the atfernoons. The staff was great and eager to help. We were pleased with the food, and of course, the wine. Just relax and have a great time.

[Aussieflyer]

You will love the cruise - with 6 of you it will be a ball! The staff were excellent and notwithstanding the issues I mentioned before (and you may not have them at all), the cruise provides a wonderful experience. Like gas we found most cruisers to be 60+ (though some in their 50s like us and a few much younger including a honeymooning couple), mostly from the US with a few Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders. We loved the time on the river just looking out at the passing world, either in the cabin or in the bar. It was a little cool up on the sun deck when we were there.

Enjoy.

[marieelizabeth]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Never having been on a river cruise previously, your input is appreciated.