Avalon River Cruise Reviews

The river cruise was excellent and was a contrast to previous ocean cruises that we have done in the past, as there was just continuous breathtaking scenery all along our journey. The Avalon Luminary ship was very well appointed and even though we had a lower deck cabin, as you only slept there it was not a negative in our overall enjoyment. The pricing ...read more of the Avalon was below its competitors due to only one included tour and availability of free alcohol at dinner only. The included tours were all very good and it would have been difficult to decide whether you wanted to take an alternative tour for the price paid. The policy of only alcohol at dinner is an excellent one and the resultant saving on this and the extra tour options meant extra cash in our pockets. We believe Avalon should use this as a marketing option where people are looking at the tour cost of all the river cruise companies and the savings they can make by going with Avalon.

I travel a great deal and I can honestly say this was the best organised tour I have done. The boat was superb, the food and drink excellent. We appreciated that most tours were included in the price, unlike other cruises / bus tours where the extras add considerably to the cost. Tour guides locally were all very good as were the on board talks. The ...read more whole boat was spotlessly clean. Negatives: Cabin was well appointed but was slightly small and there was no bar fridge in the cabin. Global Journeys staff, namely Yvonne could not have been more helpful and prompt in her responses.

The tour was great, the hotel in Prague was comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful, especially the concierges. Our Tour Guide, Nancy, was extremely efficient, friendly and amazingly fluster-free in spite of all the hassles. She tracked down my missing luggage for me and at the end got us all safely off to our respective destinations in spite ...read more of Bruce Willis filming in Budapest that day and trying to ban all traffic by the river. A big medal for Nancy! The Avalon ship was all it advertised and more, I had a great time. I would just like to say, though, that when the promo says that gratuities are included, there needs to be mention that this does not apply to shore excursions. As an Australian, unused to tipping I found this a bit of surprise.

Our Danube cruise was amazing. We loved the couple of days in Prague which is an amazing city. The ship was extremely comfortable, great food and friendly crew. Our guide, Hans, was very organized and all our tours went very well. Our guided tours of the the places where we stopped were very well run and it was great to get an overview of each place. ...read more We participated in a few of the elective tours and especially loved our folk dinner in Prague and the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg. The scenery along the way was magnificent and to top it all off, Budapest was spectacular with its fabulous parliament house and the Heroes Square. It really was a great tour.

My daughter and I went on an Avalon River Cruise from Prague to Budapest. It was absolutely fabulous. We booked through Global Journeys and everything went very smoothly.

Our cruise was amazing we had the best time and have seen Europe at its best. How wonderful to wake each day to a new town and to explore at your leisure or take the guided tour to visit these magnificent places steeped in so much history. To sample the local cuisine wine and local beer. We had top weather, the crew were amazing and the food delightful. ...read more Our tour director was the best, her skills to help and please us all were to be commended. The bed was so comfortable and the cabin first class. On board entertainment was fun and I must say the cappuccino machine had a good workout when all you wanted to do was relax and of course we couldn't miss the afternoon cake and tea - to die for yum. Most of all we have fond memories of good friendships made on the cruise and will have fond memories of our first but not last cruise.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Rhine & Moselle river cruise with Avalon Waterways during May 2012. The tour was a very positive experience from booking with Global Journeys and travelling with Avalon Waterways. The ships crew and local guides were all very professional, friendly and helpful at all times. The travel schedule was a comfortable pace and on ...read more time. The meals on board were a high standard and accompanied by good wine. The sites and towns along the waterways are unforgettable.

Avalon's river cruise on the 'Panorama' was absolutely wonderful. All included tours were great and there was a good selection of 'optionals' of which we took three rippers. Our extended waistlines are testimony to the delicious cuisine and wine onboard! Though we were on 'snorkel deck', our room provided everything we needed, including a ledge on which ...read more to dry our 'smalls'. The tour director was extraordinary - she delivered her extensive knowledge with a sense of humour, which was a joy to listen to. The Captain is a lovely man, who runs a happy ship. The crew were all terrific and a credit to him. We could not fault this cruise and would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who wants to relax, experience magnificent Europe and be spoilt at the same time.

Avalon Budapest to Bucharest + Extension. Excellent trip. The boat was beautiful, staff excellent, food good. The pace was not relaxed, but the standard of guides was excellent and gave an excellent view of the history of the region. The hand-out sheets were very informative. A little more time between returning from excursions and dinner would have ...read more beeen nicer. The hotels in Budapest and Bucharest were excellent and Avalon had tied in our private booking at the hotel in Budapest with theirs so check-in was seamless. We would travel with Avalon again.

We took a 7 day Rhine River cruise which proved to be above our expectations. The boat was magnificent from the service on board to the cabins which were spacious and clean. It was like we were staying in a 4 star hotel. The on-board staff were great, always smiling, always ready to help and with a good sense of humour. The only thing we missed is having ...read more the captain around at dinner time but I guess someone had to make sure we made it through all the locks safely each night. The one part we did not enjoy was when we were trying to have a rest and were suddenly woken by this voice on the loudspeaker with some anouncement. Unfortunately the button to turn down the volume was not working. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our tour consultant Georgie as she was always efficient and very helpful with any questions or changes we required. I would happily deal with her again if the opportunity arose.

Had a wonderful river cruise. Avalon are great. Global Journeys gave us excellent service.

Very good accommodation and excellent food and service on the cruise vessels. Pre booking a couple of nights at the Pullman Hotel gave us time to look around Paris and get over the tiredness of the long flight from Australia. Pick at CDG Airport went very smoothly. Tour director Yvette worked hard to arrange the included and optional tours but should ...read more have had some support. Optional activities were in most cases good value. Overall we both had a most enjoyable cruise, learned a lot about French history from excellent local guides and saw the spectacular French scenery and ancient villages, cities and buildings as we cruised passed in the comfort of MS Avalon Creativity and MS Avalon Scenery. Many thanks for your excellent service.

The tour was excellent & we could find no fault with what was organised, the service on the ship & all of the organising. The only thing we would have liked was maybe the option of seeing the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. As for Georgie at Global Journeys her service was impeccable.

Yvonne's service was very good. We received prompt and professional replies to our inquiries, bookings were handled smoothly and all of the tour information and tickets arrived on time. We enjoyed the cruise; the cruise director & ship's crew were excellent, the ship was very comfortable with well planned cabins; catering was of a high standard; the ...read more cruise length suited our needs. Our only suggestion is that the daily included tours (all very interesting and efficiently run by knowledgeable local tour guides) should commence a little later in the morning eg. 9:30, not 8:15, as on most days we could not have a leisurely breakfast and morning. Overall we had a great time and would certainly consider and recommend Global Journeys and Avalon cruises in the future.

We had an enjoyable trip with every moment packed with things to do. The trips and concerts we went on were fabulous. We particularly enjoyed the peaceful time spent cruising down the river watching the towns and castles going by. The staff were extremely helpful, the food was never-ending and always delicious . Our only concern was the Internet reception, ...read more which was very slow and broke up most of the time. I would certainly recommend you to my friends and would like to do a different trip ourselves.

This is the second time we have done an Avalon River cruise and it certainly was as good, if not better, than the first. Excellent service, great food and good information and land tours. One thing Avalon needs to be aware of is making sure that people realise and understand that these cruises are not disability-friendly. Embarking and diembarking is ...read more often over/through another cruising boat and is pretty nigh impossible for someone in a wheel chair. On several occasions, virtually all the passenges were badly held up by someone in a wheel chair. Whilst we are very sympathetic, it is unfair on the 130 odd people who are being disadvantaged. It should be made clear to anyone booking these cruises that they do not really cater for the seriously diabled. That small thing aside, would recommend to anyone.

This was great experience and met all of our expectations. The support from Yvonne in putting this all together for us was much appreciated and all went to plan.

It was our first cruise and a wonderful introduction to river cruising. The ship, staff and tour director were all first class. We had a fabulous time and met some lovely people. The food was exceptional. We wouldn't hesitate in recommending a river cruise with Avalon to anyone. The tours catered for all age groups and we would certainly recommend Global ...read more Journeys. Yvonne Brooks was very efficient and answered our email queries promptly.

We had a lovely time & really enjoyed the cruise. The Paris and Prague ends were interesting but the highlight was definitely the cruise itself. Our tour operator Jean-Loup was excellent and really made us feel welcome (great sense of humour!) despite cracking the whip to get us out onto the coaches on time. The tours and transfers were all seamlessly ...read more organised apart from a minor misunderstanding in Germany where the guides went to the wrong location and we had to wait for 20 minutes until they turned up. The food was first-class but Michael and I walked so far (Michael also ran on the ship's treadmill) we didn't put on any weight. Jean-Loup allowed Michael to sing 'Die Lorelei' (in German) over the ship's loudspeaker system when we passed Lorelei Rock which he was really chuffed about. We met some nice people and all in all had a ball. Would definitely go with Avalon again. Thank you for arranging the tour for us.

Avalon Waterways could not have conducted the Magnificent Europe cruise any better. MS Panorama, its newest boat, was excellent as were the crew and the cruise director Hendrik. Nothing was too much trouble as they wanted the travellers to have a relaxing holiday. The food was magnificent, but too plentiful and tempting and the chefs always wanted us ...read more to try everything. If I had my time again I would not do the Budapest-Amsterdam trip, although we did it in the right direction. The magnificent scenery expected occurred on only 2 days - on the Rhine from Rudesheim to Cologne - and had we done the reverse trip the last 12 days would be disappointing. From Budapest on the Danube to the Maine River and Canal the trip is rather boring and incessantly interrupted by locks - 68 in all on the trip - although the towns we stopped at were interesting. In addition, because of the locks and low bridges the top deck of the Panorama was closed on many days and because the weather on our trip was more wintery than summery, the top deck was not a good option. The spa on the top deck was not used by anybody during the 14 days of the cruise. I think a trip from Basel to Amsterdam on the Rhine would be the best option.