Romantic Rhine Reviews

Shore excursions very good but maybe need to show different things apart from lots of Cathedrals, although they were quite impressive. Tour guides, tour director and all ship's crew as well as hotel staff were very knowledgeable, professional, polite and helpful. We have never been on a cruise before but if we ever do another one then all I can say ...read more is that your standards will be hard to beat. Must also mention that Yvonne has been very helpful throughout the whole process. We have had a few people ask how it went as they may be considering something similar, we will highly recommend Global Journeys as well as Avalon Cruises.

Overall it was a fantastic cruise and experience. As it was my first cruise, therefore I am not able to compare. However I think there is always room for improvements, such as better storage for suit cases in cabins or that no drinks were served during entertainer performances and events.

Trip very good, what was expected ship & service excellent, shore excursions very well handled & informative guides commentary & knowledge first class. Transfers to & from airports went without hitch additional accommodation good, I was definitely not impressed with the fact documents did not arrive till two days before departure this was stressful ...read more and unprofessional. (MD. Ouch - thanks for your feedback Robert, unfortunately we can only get them to you when we get them from the Operator. I've put processes in place to make sure all our clients are made aware if they are delayed for any reason - luckily this only happens rarely. Glad you enjoyed your holiday, and hope you give us another go!)

I enjoyed the cruise so much I booked a Magnificent Europe cruise for April 2020, unfortunately because of Covid-19 it has been cancelled. I will rebook again.

This was our first river cruise and we utterly enjoyed it. The sitting room close to our cabin complete with 24 hour access to hot drinks - including real cappuccino - was a great bonus! Gwen's need for gluten-free food was met with no fuss and chef even made special cookies for her to have with her coffee in the cabin. Only disappointment was the first ...read more onboard visiting entertainer. The singer was not very good. By contrast, the string trio was amazing! Cruise guide was helpful and knowledgeable in his commentaries. Thank you for a great holiday.

Wonderful, friendly staff who made sure we enjoyed our experience. Waiters/waitresses, cabin cleaning staff/housekeeping were very friendly and considerate. They added a great deal to our experience. Meals and accommodation were excellent. There was nothing we could fault. We had a ball, met some delightful people, and enjoyed the choices on offer. ...read more Thank you.

The trip was most enjoyable and very well planned. We only had 2 areas in which we think significant improvements could be made without much or even any additional cost. There was only minimal opportunity for exercise other than walking on the shore visits. Thus the exercise room was tiny and poorly equipped. Also there were no cycles on board, although ...read more most of the cruise ships we passed had large numbers of bikes for the use of passengers. On the plus side the cruise guide and ship staff cheerfully made arrangements for the 4 of us to rent bikes at one city but they did say that no one had ever asked them to do this before. Without any exercise opportunities the cruise was clearly directed at older people which contrasts with some of the other operators. The city guides employed were not very good and in one case (Heidelberg) rambled on about British royalty links even though not one of our cruise group was from the UK. In contrast we didn't learn all that much about some of the buildings or towns/cities.

The cruise was better than I expected, never having done a river cruise before. Other river cruises are definitely on our agenda. Perhaps some better way of meeting up and getting to the ship for embarkation should be investigated. We arrived at Zurich airport at 1400hrs as per the arrangements, and the representative asked - 'Where have you been?' ...read more I explained to her that we didn't have to be there till 1500? Then we had to wait in the cold for the Movenpick shuttle to arrive after 3 buses we departed to the hotel. Although we received our tickets earlier than stated due to my work commitments and travel plans, a number a fellow travelers complained in general as to the very short time between when they received their tickets and the actual cruise. For example a number of other people had travel plans before and after the cruise. (GJ. Perhaps they should book with us next time :) ) We enjoyed the cruise and will most certainly do another one.

Well, we have been back 2 weeks now and everyone has wanted to catch up with us! We all thoroughly enjoyed the boat cruise - all very happy. We were very happy with your service at Global Journeys, as we received all documentation on time and were fully informed of all details pertaining to the cruise. Avalon cruise people were wonderful and we all ...read more agreed that the food was something else again! Really enjoyed the tours, especially the musical museum! No negative comments at all. Those in the family that went on the river cruise for the first time have decided they would love to go on another. Geoff and I are now looking at using your services again for a trip to Israel next year. Thanks again.

We had a wonderful week on the Avalon Felicity, although we thought the onboard entertainment was weak. I only have one complaint and that is when we did a couple of land excursions and there was not enough time to look at things, one example being the Black Forest. I was most disappointed with that (not having enough time)...a beautiful shop which ...read more couldn't be looked around properly in the time we had. Nevertheless I would recommend Avalon, and hope to do another cruise another year. Georgie at Global Journeys was a great help to us.

The service provided by Yvonne in arranging the river cruise was excellent and the Avalon River Cruise was fantastic. I can be picky but I was unable to fault the Avalon experience. The accommodation and service was first class, the food was excellent and the whole cruise was very well organised. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Global Journeys or Avalon ...read more to anybody.

Lovely scenic cruise. Really enjoyed the first pre cruise optional to Mt Platimus in Lucerne. Only optional tour that was a bit of a rip off was the German Night as the meal was terrible and other people just walked into town and to the same restaurant sat down and ordered what they wanted and listened to the music (not up to the other optional tour ...read more standards) the rest of the cruise was fantastic. Some of the walking tours were a bit dragged out. We took all of the optional tours and they were good - except the German Night. We had just been on the Essential Britian coach tour prior to this river cruise and the Scottish Evening was much better planned. Thanks Georgie - you did very well organising the 2 tours for us.

Absolutely loved the trip and wished we could stay on the boat forever. The food was to die for and the crew a real delight. The special entertainers were wonderful as was the piano man each night. The tour manager was excellent. Thank you so much for the tour of our life.

Very enjoyable tour and will travel with Avalon again. They are a very professional operator and the food and service was excellent.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The river cruise was much more relaxing than the Mediterranean cruise that we went on a few weeks earlier.

This was the Rhine cruise with Avalon. Overall a very enjoyable week with lots of good food and wine, great accommodation and meeting lots of nice people from various parts of the world. On board crew were excellent, well trained and willing to meet all requirements. The ship was modern and well equipped, stateroom although compact was comfortable and ...read more the bed was just great. Suggest opt for an upper deck with full opening windows/sliding doors. These tours are variously advertised as 7 or 8 days, actually it is 6 days / 7 nights. First day is getting on-board and a welcome dinner, last day is departure after breakfast, so the tour is actually 6 full touring days. The Rhine is a very industrial waterway and is not always picture perfect when com[pared to the Danube cruise. However it is well worth the experience. The included tours / stops were all good with knowledgeable local guides and interesting sights - although often 'too much' detail provided. The last day, in-port in Amsterdam with another ship double parked meant we had to keep curtains and windows closed full time. We restricted ourselves with the option (paid) tours as our past experience (with Globus) and other cruises) had shown these were often overpriced and did not meet description. However on the last day we did do an optional tour in Amsterdam (to Windmill Village - Zaanse Schans) and this turned out to be a total waste of time and money - I suggest Avalon review who they sell for optional tours as this particular facility is very poor, 2nd class tourist destination and fell well short of expectations and the tour description provided. Would we do another tour with Avalon - Yes.

A wonderful experience - 5 star in every regard, we intend to go on a similar river cruise again.

The River Cruise on the ship, The Avalon Visionary, from Basel to Amsterdam 5th to 12th April 2014 was a most enjoyable experience for us. We have travelled by coach and rail and independently, through parts of Europe, and this was our first river cruise. The cruise was so relaxing and perfect in every way that we are now looking forward to travelling ...read more again with Avalon. The ship, the Avalon Visionary, was modern and spacious and offered us all the comforts of home, and our cabin on the top deck was very comfortable and gave us a lovely view of the passing scenery along the Rhine River. The Cruise Director, Hans, was extremely professional and detailed and we were very impressed with his personal organisation and management skills. The daily newsletters and general information on the day's activities were so informative and appreciated by everyone. The Captain and crew and staff were exemplary in their care of us during the tour and made us feel welcome and comfortable. The meals were extremely appetising and beautifully presented in the ship's Restaurant, with a Chef and catering staff personally attending to our individual needs. The tours were well researched and the guides were very informed on the local and general history as they showed us around the beautiful old towns and cities and castles along the Rhine. We also would like to thank Hannah, our Global Journeys Tour Consultant, who was very helpful in attending to our booking and requests. Thank you again for a most enjoyable and memorable tour and holiday.

What an experience, and what a lovely interactive small group on board. Day tours were excellent, although a little too much history - glad there was not an exam at the end! Accommodation on the lower deck was great, as time on board was either upstairs or asleep. Tour director did an excellent job - timings were great. Meals superb. I have recommended ...read more it to friends.

Our river cruise was excellent, much more than our expectations. We were very impressed by the standard on the ship and the standard of the staterooms and bathrooms. The thought that went into the detail hanging space etc. We liked the mix of the organisation and the relaxed atmosphere, we were free to join in everything or just to relax. The food was ...read more outstanding as was the service. We would recommend the holiday to anyone and very much hope to go on another journey with Avalon.