Avalon River Cruises

Grand France Reviews

8 Grand France reviews from past travellers that booked with Global Journeys.
4.75
AVG. RATING 4.75 / 5
8 Reviews
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Wondeful French Adventure 7 , QLD, Australia, Sep 2017
We have just returned from a month in France which included Avalon's Grand France cruise (WLP) from Cote D'Azur starting on 18th September and ending on 3rd October 2017. We had cabin 203 on both ships. We also had the same cruise director for both cruises - Jean-Loup Domart who kept us entertained with his dry wit during his daily briefings and was ...read more very helpful, knowledgeable and patient. The first cruise was on Affinity and Creativity on the second leg. The ships do sail during the night, sometimes only for a short time but sometimes all night. Unfortunately cabin 203 on Affinity had a very annoying sliding glass door rattle which happened to be next to my head. I did let the receptionist know and was told maintenance would come and check it out but they never did. Otherwise, we were very happy with both cabins and ships overall.

I would suggest they should have coffee, tea etc available in the main lounge/bar area rather than at the rear of the ship too. We enjoyed all the included and optional excursions and everything was run smoothly and we were well looked after. The food was delicious but surprisingly we thought it was a little nicer on Affinity. The weather was very king to us and we had warm days and cool nights and mornings - a nice time to be in France. Overall we would highly recommend this cruise especially for first time travellers to France. As usual, Global Journeys handled our booking well and got us a good discount.
Grand France Magic 0 , WA, Australia, Sep 2017
Our Avalon river cruise through France was fantastic from beginning to end. From the fantastic friendly crew for whom nothing was too much trouble, and our super efficient and personable cruise director to the amazing food and fine dining, plentiful drinks and luxurious on board accommodation, everything was even better than I'd imagined. The local ...read more guides at each town along the way shared their extensive knowledge about the town and brought its history to life through interesting and at time humorous anecdotes. The optional extra tours provided even further opportunities to see even more. It was an unbeatable way to see France. I would thorough recommend this holiday and would happy do it all again.
Enjoyable River Cruising   0 , QLD, Australia, Aug 2017
We had previously travelled with Avalon some years ago and, while that tour was very good, we believe that the Avalon network has improved in quality since that time. The rooms are very efficiently designed and even though they are not large (about the size of a standard Paris hotel room - and that's not large) the amount of storage is amazing. The ...read more ships (back to back cruises here) were in excellent condition and kept immaculately. Anybody who has been on a river cruise knows that, by the end of the cruise, you are begging for no more food please! Breakfast, lunch and dinner are varied and of high quality.

The staff on the ships were outstanding - well trained, efficient, welcoming and very friendly. The excursions were OK and starting the tour in Monte Carlo, whilst a bit of a gimmick, was probably worth it for fun value. Although Monte Carlo is more difficult to get to than, say, Nice or Marseilles, it is probably a place most people would avoid. A room on the very front row of the Fairmont Hotel looking out over the billionaires boats and sitting directly over the F1 circuit at the Fairmont Hairpin is a bit of fun.

The on-board entertainment was not a strong feature but it was adequate. In summary, I was impressed by the commitment of Avalon to quality improvement.
Relaxing way to explore France 2 , NSW, Australia, Jul 2017
This was our second Avalon cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The best thing about river cruising is being able to settle into your stateroom and know you can stay there for the whole journey. Both the boats, Avalon Affinity and Avalon Creativity were comfortable and the hotel staff and crews of both provided excellent service. Our cruise director, ...read more Joost Ruitenberg was outstanding: a most engaging manner together with great organisational skills, which made our cruise run very smoothly. He successfully transferred 82 travellers from St Jean to Losne by coach and TGV to Paris, without losing anyone!

The experiences on the cruise were varied with lots of included walks through small towns and villages, as well as optional tours to nearby places. There were so many enjoyable experiences, I cannot name a favourite. We were, however, pleased that we had prebooked all our optional excursions before leaving Australia. Because of this those tours were guaranteed, which meant there were only four people on one tour and five on another. We were the only passengers who had prebooked and as a result, several other tours were cancelled due to insufficient numbers.
16 Day Grand France 5 , WA, Australia, Aug 2016
This was basically two tours. The first section was on the Affinity. We were lucky with the Captain and the Cruise Directory who went to both ships. However on the Affinity we did not enjoy the same service that we enjoyed on a previous Avalon ship. We found the Hotel Manager and the restaurant manager to be not that friendly and not as welcoming ...read more as expected. There was one exceptional staff member called Emile that provided very good service. At one stage the Restaurant manager had told a waitress to not serve alcohol to us after the main meal. This is not what we experience on a previous Avalon ship. Once we mentioned this to the Cruise Director the Hotel Manager and restaurant manager spoke to us an blamed the waitress. We observed other people getting served alcohol after their main meal. Also when they have the Bistro meal I the lounge all the good waiters are servicing in that area and the main dinning room is under staffed. When you have a beer in the dining room it is not as cold as it should be as they pour it into jugs from the bar upstairs and they get warm. I would suggest that they have a tap beer in the dining room area. This was the same at both ships.

The second leg was the Creativity which was a total more enjoyable experience. The Hotel Manager (Vincent) was excellent and he greeted us on all occasion we returned to the ship after and excursion. He and the Captain were wonderful. The Captain also welcomed us on returning to the ship. All the waiters , front desk staff and bar staff on the Creativity were excellent. It was a far better experience on the Creativity than the Affinity. Nancy the Cruise Director was also excellent on both tours. The Monograms extra stay at the Pullman was also very good. Our experience on the Affinity has made us think about another Cruise line and not Avalon in the Future. We have been very good ambassadors for Avalon after our trip on the Expression from Budapest but the Affinity experience may change our minds. We would have no hesitation recommending the Creativity as a fun ship to be on.
Everything was well planned, loved all the tours 2 , Australia, May 2014
I felt that everything was well planned, and the staff were very co-operative. We loved all the tours and the food and wine was excellent.
Thankyou Global Journeys! 0 , Australia, Jun 2013
This river cruise was excellent, great crew great food and great tour director.
Tour group 1 , Australia, Aug 2012
Tony the guide was just wonderful, the riverboat, meals, cabins and services were excellent with Avalon. 30% Australians the rest were from US and Canada which was a good mix. Scenery was not as stunning as the Amsterdam to Budapest river cruising, but very relaxing and great weather.
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