Avalon Waterways - Things You Need To Know Before European River Cruising With Them!
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- In this video you will discover the five things Avalon Waterways does the same as other European river cruise lines, and the seven things that are different about Avalon Waterways. If you are considering going on a river cruise in Europe you have a choice of many lines, so how can you make sure you go on the right one? In this video Gary Bembridge, cruise expert and author, reviews Avalon Waterways and explains what is very much the same and what makes them unique. This should help you decide of they are the right line for your European river cruise.
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Every week Tips For Travellers shares videos to help you make the most of your precious travel time and money on both land and at sea. First-hand travel inspiration, advice and tips based on the over 20 years I have been travelling every month.
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Once you said Globus, I’m sold. I’ve toured with them in the past. Always wonderful.
I really like how detailed, fair and honest you are in regards to ins and outs and comparison of the River cruises or all cruises in general. I am impressed on how much improvement Avalon has put into their accommodation and the amount of well designed Panorama rooms. In addition, the high quality of the toiletries they offer, gourmet food and all inclusivines of their packages ❤❤❤❤❤ Thank you
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 to larger staterooms and definitely MAJOR 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 to not being child friendly!
We really appreciate your tips and to be perfectly honest, this video clip has very much convinced us into doing a river cruise with Avalon Waterways. Rooms that are 30% bigger with massive windows and a cruise that is adult focussed to name a few, were decisive factors in choosing Avalon. Thank you again!
I’ve been on 3 Avalon cruises & Love them! The bed facing the French balcony is a huge deal for us ❤️ The food & customer service are excellent. I can’t wait to book another Avalon Cruise
Great review, very informative and helpful!
Extremely helpful. Thank you! 🙂
I love river cruising and you’ve persuaded me to try Avalon!!!!!
Very useful and confirms our choice for our upcoming Rhone cruise. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing.
Just signed up for our 4th Avalon cruise. I find your assessment spot on! Excellent work!
I am going on the Avalon cruise at the end of June, First river cruise , I am so exited.
You're a big help! Thank you.
My friend and I just booked an Avalon cruise for this coming May and your video really showed that we made the right choice! I've never been on any kind of cruise and look forward to starting in Amsterdam and cruising through Belgium. I love all of your videos!
We’ve been on an Avalon cruise and will be leaving on another in less than a month. We loved it and found the tours wonderful and the food even better!
Great Vlog, we will be traveling with Avalon in September 18. Good to have an independent review. Looking forward to the trip from Australia.
Thanks! Great to hear you found it helpful. Hope you have a fabulous trip!
I would love this line and the cruises....they seem so relaxing and slow. I love that...thanks for the post. Happy Thanksgiving....
+Wayne Harris I am sure you would. They are actually quite hectic as they cram a lot in but great fun!
Avalon Cruises. Just got back after 2 weeks on the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. 200% recommend them . Bring on the Danube next. Great crew great company great food. Great room with excellent views.
REally appreciate your fair reviews and assessments. Much appreciated the fact that this line is hyper aware of food allergies as my nephew has an extreme peanut allergy. It's always a concern for us. Cheers
Thanks for the comments and feedback. Much appreciate you taking the time! Allergies is a big issue and good (as you say) to see lines taking care over these
Brilliant overview. Just booked a last minute trip with Avalon and found this review useful. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
I LOVE Avalon we have done 3 river cruises and they are great
+Travels With Bruce I agree . I had a great time and found them very welcoming and great service
Sounds great Gary. We are planning a 2021 river cruise now and Avalon seem to tick all the boxes.
One of your best, Gary.
Thanks :-)
Avalon is by far one of the best travel experiences you'll ever have, period!
Thanks Gary for a great overview of Avalon, answered many of my questions. We are looking at river cruise options for end of year and comparing. How big of a group are the included excursions?
I've been researching the river cruises and was still not quite sure which one to choose--this video clinched the deal for me --AVALON! The beds facing the window was the biggest draw and glad to hear about the diversity and age of the passengers on Avalon! Thank you, TFT.
Great to hear! I hope you have a fabulous cruise
Just returned from Avalon cruise. Best vacation ever, can’t wait to go back. I found the review to be very accurate.
My husband and I are late 40's. Did you find that age range well represented. I enjoy traveling and meeting people with varied age ranges as well.
@@merricuse9751 Have you tried this cruise experience yet? We are early 50’s looking to book for next year
Amazing review
Glad you think so!
Have you cruised with Scenic? They cover almost all the things you mentioned plus more such a premium drinks anytime not only with meals, Butler service, laundry service and there was usually 3 excursions each day to choose from. On our particular cruise, airfare and all transfers were included.
Took an Avalon active Danube cruise in Sept 2018. We thought it was wonderful. This video provides great truthful information in line with our experiences. We will be takung a Rhine cruise in 2020 on Avalon.
We are thinking of taking the Romantic Rhine River Cruise starting with Amsterdam and ending in Switzerland and 3 days in Lake Como in Northern Italy in mid to late April 2020...anyone else going then...hope the weather is good. We have gone on Avalon (Burgundy & Provence -Northbound) once before and loved it.
cdmthomas we are thinking of the same thing in Sept. Haven’t finalized yet but our agent assures us she can get a great trip!
We cruised on AmaMagna and it was spectacular
Thanks!
Thanks so much! Much appreciated !
Proud to be Avalon crew
Thank you
You are so good at what you do! I wish I had found your company long ago. Do you have any impressions on Avalon compared to Vantage Cruise lines? Additionally, we are taking the Vantage cruise of Germany over Christmastime. I would be interested to hear your thoughts about Christmas holiday cruises.
We would love to try a river cruise! Very surprised how spacious the river cruises are! I would have assumed a smaller boat wouldn't have all those amenities! We will do one of these one day!!!
+bobo and chichi agree! They are more spacious they you expect and also as it is docked a lot never feels cramped
This cruise line sounds like one i would enjoy. First and foremost is the "healthy food" being vegan I feel confident i wont starve ! I also like the theme cruises, very diverse and exciting. English speaking staff can be a bonus, not missing out on important details because you dont speak the language. Thanx for the review it was really helpful
Thanks ! Great to hear you found the review helpful. From what you say it does sound like it could be for you !
Wow ❤
any reviews about emerald, tauck, other cruise lines, and how about railbookers, vacations by rail, other train tours escorted and independent packages. ?
Gary thank you very much for such great videos and excellent content. We are in the process of booking with Avalon based on your videos.
One quick question; how long are average port stays?
Great to hear👍🏻 stops vary and can be as short as a few hours to full day or even overnight in places like Vienna and Budapest
I'm sticking with Viking. We've done a half dozed ocean and river cruses with them. We've actually encountered crew who recognized us.
Adult focused? I prefer Viking’s no one under 18. We found Avalon to be very good, but for us the bed facing the window was not a plus. And the large window opening was a downer after enjoying Viking’s spacious veranda. Food was excellent on both.
We are booked for the Avalon cruise in France Burgundy & Provence (southbound) cruise. We are not in the "floor to ceiling" room since there was a $3000 upcharge so we opted for their standard room. Should we try to upgrade or stick with the standard room? We figured we would not be in our room too much and can always go upstairs if we wanted a more panoramic view. Do you have any thoughts? We are active 60 year olds so I hate that we are now considered "older travelers." We can run circles around most people half our age!!! Thanks for your great video! We are spending 2 days in Lyon and hired a "tours by local" for a more in depth tour. Hopefully a good idea on our part.
Thanks a lot! Such a complete review! So I've a question. How does it cost (approximately) a all-incl river cruise like Avalon Waterways experience?
+HermyTP Thanks ! It varies a lot based on time of year etc but probably averages between £1500 and £2000 so about $2000 to $2500
We were on two Avalon river cruises and are debating which river will be our next cruise on 2025 I will always be an Avalon fan.
We go next week
hello, when on tour will it be possible to chose the language to listen to the guide? Thank You...I like Your videos:)
I booked for the end of October, am I gonna freeze that time of year? If so what clothing should I bring?
HI Gary: How does the food on Avalon compare to Ama? What deck is best to book on Avalon, we are looking at the Panorama staterooms. Thanks!
do you review any museums, concert venues, palaces, churches , ruins, gardens, whether they are worth time, and cost of admission?
Are there winter European river cruises, and are they cheaper than other seasons cruises?
Single supplement for solo traveler?
Really love your videos - they are better than all the rest.
Awesome!! Thanks. Great to hear 😀
On selected trips, they offer no-single-supplement for a maximum of 8 cabins per trip. Check their website for details -- the selected trips are at different times depending on which route you're considering.
Any info on the Mekong boats?
What do you think based on what they do the same and different to other river cruising lines? Would you like to cruise on Avalon, and why?
Yes! Of course, I would like to! The pros are listed in the comment above. But really can’t compare with other cruising experiences. As of now: Zero experiences. Gary: do they have poetry translating themed cruises?.. Or activities of that sort?
+Petr Frizen not seen any poetry themed cruises but with them becoming so popular there has to be. Themecruisefinder.com will list them if and when there are!
Let us hope, there are some.
This cruise line was new to me. Thanks for the info. I am going to check this company out. I enjoy your tips.
Great! I really enjoyed Avalon and their ships. Worth checking out !
As a celiac the fact they accommodate for dietary allergies is great news.
Have been on 4 ocean cruises with Viking and I would rate Avalon as equal in quality to Viking but slightly cheaper. We just been on a Danube cruise and the food and service were excellent.
Hello from NY. I am going on the Danube river cruise with Avalon this coming October. I never asked if the company picks you up at the airport or do you have to figure out how to get to the dock? Thanks for your comments
Thanks Gary, this has helped me in deciding which brand to cruise with for our Christmastime cruise. In your opinion is there a perfect Christmas itinerary out there? By this I mean a good balance with Christmas markets and other sightseeing as well?
Do you have wheel chairs on board ?
How much movement do you feel of the ship? I suffer from fairly bad travel sickness so while I would love to go on a cruise, the thought of being stuck on a rocking (disconbobulating !) ship for several days has put me off.
There is no movement on a river cruise boat so ideal if you suffer badly from motion sickness. It is perfect!
Thanks! That is great news.
I don’t think river cruises are for me, would be brilliant to have excursions and WiFi included though!
+Emma Cruises I don’t think they would be ideal for you. They are pretty regimented and so not for everyone but a lot of travellers would love them
Completely agree! Still like to learn about these things and I obviously wouldn't say no to a river cruise... but I'm not looking to book one anytime soon :)
+Emma Cruises hopefully U by Uniworld will invite you as you and followers are in the target for their cruises!
@@EmmaCruises I believe you've been on a river cruise by now and thoroughly enjoyed it. 😊😊😊
@@happytraveller2122 Yesss, been on a couple. Had a great time :D
I love their panoramic suites. My wife speaks only french so avalon is probably not for us.
Wi-Fi is included! Vegan vegetarian dishes!!! Gary: they have Jewish heritage themed cruises?
+Petr Frizen yes they have some
Metzuyan! Id est.: superb, great!
Worked for Globus in the late 80s/early 90s. Top notch. Avalon not a part of Globus at the time.
Are you allowed to take alcohol onboard these river boats ..... such as duty free
Wondering about solo prices. I’m a single, very active 72 year old and Avalon is certainly one I would consider…definitely NOT Viking. Sadly, the majority of my female friends either refuse to travel without their husbands or cannot afford a river cruise.
The boat we are taking from Avalon does NOT have bikes
River Cruises are very expensive. Keep to TUI Cruises for me :)
They are pretty costly as they tend to include lots of things like excursions. But agree they are not low cost cruising!! I need to try TUI as a lot of people talk highly of them
Just to let you know I have subcribed as I find the info you give is very valuable.
Awesome thanks!!!
Right, healthy eating and hiking, biking are NOT for me. I do like a specialized cruise focusing on European desserts.
Debating between a Europe Avalon river cruise vs Carnival Caribbean cruise. Never been on either, what do you prefer a river or ocean cruise?
they are soooo wildly different
JoziGal yeah, I understand that.
@@Imprisoned1995 Carnival will be a younger crowd. The one i went on a heavy party vibe lol. from what i can tell Avalons are far from a party so its defos up to what vibe youre looking for :)
JoziGal Thanks, that gives me a better idea.
Do all of the rooms have those giant windows? Or just the more expensive rooms?
The ones on the lower deck do not as part of those rooms are under the waterline so just have higher up windows and so are lower price
all those on the upper two levels
@@tipsfortravellers Can you walk out on balcony or just stay in room
How about gay solo traveler?
+George Zhou that is fine but like all solo travellers there is the single occupancy surcharge most of the time so is expensive. Though they often have no surcharge promotions on selected cruises so important to go on those
On selected trips they offer no-single-supplement for up to 8 cabins per voyage. Availability is at different times depending on which route you're considering. Check their website for details.
I've been on avalon waterways last year for the Danube river cruise and I have to tell is full of old people and the food is very bad, like really bad, I tried to take everything that was not cooked by themselves, anything fresh was a good shot, because they don't even know how to do tasty pasta. Despite the efforts that they put (entry, 1, 2, plates, dessert) this was all a waste of time, food from the countries was way better... I don't know if it was because old people cannot eat salty or whatever, or because cruises are full of american (and british) and they don't have a taste for food (aka: they could eat anything and call it tasty), but really, it was pitiful the effort they put for nothing.
We come from France, I have italian origins, we DO know what food is, and the importance of it. I would take 3 stars off 5 of that trip only for that. Eat, pray and love.
For info, we are on our 30ths (27th and 32th), and this was a ship full of ...mature people. We used it to stop on the cities we wanted, and travel by night, but this is the last time I take a cruise, is not interesting, you don't get to know the real restaurants from the city, people, stay out night, etc, you have to onboard every night, not being able to spend the night as you want (because the ship goes without you). And again food.
Next time we will travel by train to visit other cities, or more simply, rent a car to explore freely the cities we want, and stay in airbnb or hotels, with real food on the streets!
I'm impressed and interested, but I wonder how safe traditional European venues are after the influx of, well, sorry, masses of primitives from the 3rd world. I visited Italy a few years ago and was disgusted. Is there a classical Europe left to visit? Is one even allowed to ask?
The influx you're worried about is a worldwide phenomenon. France has had to cope with the "influx" of North American tourists for decades. Italy is just as overrun by North Americans. There's no avoiding us Americans and Canadians -- wherever you go, we're there.
We are headed to the Christmas Cruise and this was very helpful. I know my friends will enjoy and I forwarded them the video.