Avalon Passion Reviews

Only spent 7 nights on cruise ship, then was told that the cruise could not continue due to low water levels on the Danube and the drought in Europe. I believe that Avalon Waterways would have been aware of this prior to our departure therefore giving us the option to opt out. We were given the option to leave the cruise after 7 days but that would ...read more have been costly for a lot of people and a great inconvenience as we had other airfares and accommodation booked for after the cruise.

We did enjoy the 7 nights of cruising but not happy with the long bus trips used to fulfil the rest of the programme. Avalon did do a wonderful job to put plan B into action but not the holiday we were after. River cruises need to be thoroughly invested before booking as we believe this has happened on a number of occasions, although no mention of this from agents etc. Had no problem booking with Global Journeys, thank you Hannah.

Great holiday. Good dealing with Global Journeys and Juliet was very helpful and catered to all my needs. Everything went smoothly without any problems. Would definitely use Global Journeys for future holidays.

We had a great time, even though there was trouble in the channel with it being blocked by another ship. Avalon overcame the problem by changing us to another one of their ships on the other side of the blockage, so we could continue our trip, if we had gone with a smaller company this would not have been possible. Staff were very good and food was ...read more great, the site seeing was good but I would have preferred to stop longer in some ports.

We had a wonderful experience on board the Illumination. Maria was an amazing cruise director. The staff were all very pleasant and went out of their way to please. One of our group had food allergies and they always met her requirements and in fact always remembered. We would recommend this way to travel to all our friends. We really enjoyed the small ...read more town experiences but the big cities had their points of interest as well. Included sightseeing was always led by excellent guides.

Overall the accommodation was excellent but the Hilton in Prague disappointing due to location, too busy & very noisy due to hotel alterations being done - the noise was such you could not stay in your room during the day. Also the trip to Nuremberg was very disappointing.

This river cruise base cost included many off shore excursions. However, to get maximum value, the extra off shore activities are an extra cost. This needs to be taken into account when working out the total cost of the trip, but does add flexibility. Avalon is clearly trying to be the best company to travel with on the waterways of Europe. This is ...read more our second cruise with this group and we will be booking our next trip with them.

Loved every minute of my river cruise, cabin was great, food & wine were excellent. Enjoyed the variety of excursions and the towns visited. Cruise Director Isabel was wonderful. I am a solo traveller and was made to feel very welcome onboard. Met other solo travellers who hopefully will keep in contact. Would definitely recommend a river cruise ...read more and in particular Avalon. Best holiday of my life!!!!!

We had an absolutely fabulous time cruising through Eastern Europe. The Avalon Passion is the newest ship in the fleet and it is outstanding. Our stateroom was extremely comfortable and luxurious, the staff were very friendly and helpful and the daily tours were very informative and well planned. This is the second time we have booked through Global ...read more Journeys and we will definitely use them again.

We chose Avalon because of our previous wonderful trips and we weren't disappointed. The food was incredible, the service outstanding, and our suite excellent. We visited countries of Europe we hadn't been to before and really enjoyed the experience. The extension was a great trip to end our cruise.

Our booking was arranged by Madeline from Global ...read more Journeys. We found Madeline to be very professional, friendly and extremely helpful.

The "Avalon Passion" is a beautiful and comfortable ship. We were delighted with our cabin, the extremely comfortable bed, and the large ensuite. Storage space was more than adequate. The crew were excellent. We loved their friendliness and appreciated their willingness to meet our every need. Excursions were very good and very efficiently managed ...read more by the cruise director. We purchased several additional tours, and they were all very good value for money. We would love to repeat the cruise some time in the future. However, affordability will always be a factor that we will need to consider.

The Avalon river cruise from the Black Sea to Budapest takes you on a less travelled part of the Danube, giving you a snapshot of life in Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia before getting to Hungary. There is some time spent off the ship to go on bus tours into the countryside. These tours were largely included which was very good, but sometimes it was god ...read more to just relax on the ship. Facilities on board were superb.

The cruise boat was very clean, staff were very pleasant & helpful, food was excellent. I was surprised that almost all of the food & drink one needed was covered in the price - there was little need to spend anything extra except for drinks other than at meals & when I went on shore guided walks or excursions. I was also surprised I was able to see ...read more so much on the walks or excursions.

The downside was having a cabin on the lowest deck without any access to fresh air. Air conditioning was adequate but very drying & caused me to have to drink a lot of water throughout the nights. Global Journeys did an efficient job with bookings.

A wonderful trip Budapest to Bucharest with a side trip to Transylvania. Thoroughly enjoyed all included and additional excursions. A great of guests from various countries, the majority middle aged and older. One error in the cruise documentation was that the Euro would be accepted in all countries visited, this was not the case and we required ...read more local currency in all the countries visited, I'm sure Avalon will rectify this.

Everything was good on the cruise. The guides were good, some excellent. The included excursions were well organized and interesting.

The optional excursion to Weltenberg Abbey was very disappointing and we felt we had wasted our money. The boat was overcrowded, we couldn't hear the commentary, the boat was dangerous as it had only one narrow ...read more exit (apart from jumping overboard) and everything was shut at the Abbey so there was nothing to see.
We enjoyed the extension trip to Transylvania very much although we were disappointed to be rushed through Dracula's castle at a fast rate. That was the main reason for going on the extension.

We had a fantastic river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. It is a great way to travel - so relaxing and somewhere different to see everyday. The staff on board Illumination were just terrific - always smiling and always so helpful. The food and wines were sooo good. We'll definitely be looking at doing other cruises with Avalon.

This was our first River Cruise and we had a really great time. From when we boarded in Budapest until we got off in Amsterdam the time seemed to fly. Every day was eventful and fun with some great included tours and also some alternative ones for which we paid extra. The Cruise director Andrejzs was extremely experienced, professional and well organised ...read more and was always available for advice and gave some great running commentaries as we travelled.

All the guides we had on our excursions were extremely knowledgeable and professional and several were also quite funny and entertaining. We had a couple of lectures onboard about Locks and the EU which were very informative and filled up some spare time while transiting. All the crew from Captain Peter down were courteous and accommodating and went out of their way to be of service. Some of the young crew members even joined us on excursions.

The food and wine was high quality and plentiful! We all put on weight! Service was excellent! The onboard entertainment was very good with several small groups coming on between stops as well as the resident pianist/singer Albert who was extremely good. Our cabin was as expected with a very nice bathroom and the housekeeping was excellent! I think that although the trip seemed relatively expensive , we jammed the maximum adventure into the time available and I am already recommending this trip to friends as a great way to travel. Some of the sights like the Wachau valley probably couldn't be seen as well any other way!

We have travelled with Avalon before and again had another wonderful time. The service, FOOD, accommodation, staff and trip was great. The ship was modern and had everything you needed... including amazing afternoons & suppers! After dinner there was entertainment or you could sit on the top deck and take in the beautiful skies.

It is a very different ...read more trip to say doing the Romantic Rhine, as the scenery isn't as magnificent, but it was like stepping back in time, with some of the places we visited and made you realise how lucky we are. It wasn't an over busy or full on tour each day, so a nice leisurely place. Our Tour Director was fantastic and nothing was a problem.

Our hotels that we stayed in before and after the cruise were great and we found finishing with Budapest was the icing on the cake. We were lucky with having a variety of different ages and nationalities on our trip, so it was a lot of fun. Hannah from Global Journeys made our booking very easy and was a pleasure to deal with. Thanks so much Hannah.

We loved visiting the little medieval towns along the Danube and Rhine Rivers and learning more of their histories and modern lives.

Once again Yvonne and the team at Global have ensured a wonderful holiday experience. Our Avalon river cruise was an excellent way to see Eastern Europe. Initially we though 20 nights may have been too long to spend on a river cruise but we had to be dragged off the boat at the end. Terrific cabin, great food and wonderful staff. The experience was ...read more unforgettable and we would highly recommend both Avalon and Global Journeys. The itinerary was interesting and optional tours good value. Nancy, our cruise director was exceptional.

Overall the cruise from Budapest to Bucharest with extension to Brasov was enjoyable. Pick up from Budapest to hotel was on time and courteous. Accommodation at Sofitel in Budapest was excellent and breakfast choices excellent. Having to obtain our own lunches and dinners for 2 days was inconvenient. Checkout at 11 am and no program for 4 1/2 hours, ...read more with no accommodation and luggage was extremely inconvenient. Stopover in Cetate with presentation/entertainment by owner was fascinating and locally made product tasting was delicious. Accommodation and breakfast at Athenee Palace Hilton was excellent.

The breakfast, lunches and dinners on the river cruise were good, but lacked variety and missing local food fare, basically menus remain unchanged from day to day and any changes were minor. Chef's presentations were average. fish selections poor- overcooked and not very tasty.

Crew on board were helpful but some not very friendly and warm. The cruise director provided scant information on the tours and had to be coerced to provide basic information i.e. duration, ease of walking, lunch options etc. Entertainment on board was boring particularly detailed historical facts on the countries were were visiting. Musical performance only 1 presented and very amateurish. Shore tours covered mainly palaces, fortresses, museums, castles, the excursion to Pecs was the best tour. Most tours involved walking over uneven surfaces and steep hills especially for seniors and over 60's, as a result we had to forgo some tours. Global journeys could improve on their customer service. (GJ: Ouch)