Avalon Waterways Anmeldelser 

Avalon on the Rhine and Mosul was our first River Cruise. It simply was an amazing experience for both of us. The staff from All departments were simply the Best. Avalon was simply more than we could have ever dreamed of and we are looking forward to our next cruise.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Dino

Rick and Camille

Great staff, food and excursions

Everything was well planned, followed schedules & alot of little extra things along the way. Food was delicious. Happy hour & passed appetizers were so good. Staff very helpful & friendly.

Everything about river cruising is great. The things I saw, The peaceful cruise through the countryside. This was my third and I still get excited thinking of the next one I will do.

Our first river cruise, sailing on the Avalon Panorama on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel in November 2024. FWIW, we favored booking on Avalon because it was recommended by a fellow member of a Globus bus tour two years before.

My overall impression of our room and shared areas was tasteful understated elegance, in contrast to interior photos of some other "luxury" ships that looked a bit gaudy to me. The entire experience including booking, communications, and airport transfer was flawless. We had the most numerous "panorama" rooms, allowing an excellent view out of the floor-to-ceiling sliding windows. Having the bed at an angle to the room afforded a good view too, as well as freeing up space in the room. The storage cabinet gave plenty of room so we didn't have to "live out our suitcases".

Ship dinners were astoundingly good. Five course featured meals offered a wonderful variety, often offering local specialties. This fussy eater also appreciated a few consistent alternate choices, but even I only chose those a few times. Service was fast , efficient, and friendly. I don't know much about wines, but the offered (free) wine pairings enhanced the meals.

The most important part of a river cruise though are the tours at the daily stops. Here Avalon exceeded my expectations with multiple tour options offered at most stops. Some of these were extra cost but having the variety to choose from made them worth it. All the tour guides were knowledgable and flexible. I had walking limitations due to a foot problem, so I was especially grateful that most big walking tours broke into multiple groups with one group usually designated for shorter and slower walks. The cruise director was also quite helpful and patient to help us chose between tours. Out of all the tours and options, only one optional part of our tour of Amsterdam was a disappointment for our sub-group finishing at a "diamond factory".

Overall I can enthusiastically recommend Avalon for anyone considering a river cruise.

We cruised the Nile on the MS Farah. We were greeted by a tour rep when we first arrived at the airport, who helped us with our luggage as well as going thru customs. We had someone with us at all times during the entire trip. The tours were excellent. Our Egyptologist Hassan was informative and passionate about everything we saw. We had an armed police officer with us during the Cairo excursions and always felt safe and comfortable. Food on the boat was scrumptious and the rooms were spacious and clean. Note: Avalon does not own the MS Farah but we would still highly recommend this trip!

Great crew, comfortable room, best food and services

We just finished the Magnificent Europe trip on Avalon and it was amazing. Truly a trip to remember. Everything was great, the staff was incredibly attentive, the excursions where done with local guides that where incredible knowledgable and friendly. The food was delicious and tailored to the local cuisine. My wife has Celiac and they would go out of their way to make sure she had Gluten Free bread, and plenty to eat. The ship was very comfortable and clean and relaxed. The other passengers became our friends and had lots of laughs and good times. Strongly recommend Avalon if you are looking for a well run ship with great staff making for a truly amazing vacation.

This was my first trip to Europe and my first cruise. I could not have asked for, or wanted anything better....all around. The crew (from housekeeping to food service and the behind the scenes crew were all exemplary). The trip was beautiful. as was the ship. I want to do it again as soon as possible. Our panaramic room was top notch. The food was top notch. The tours were top notch. Nothing to add than to BOOK YOUR CRUISE WITH AVALON TRANQILITY II.

We took Avalon’s Danube Balkan cruise from Serbia to Bulgaria and Romania on the Avalon Passion starting September 6, 2024.

Avalon needs to pay for a docking slip away from the Belgrade bar area. Passengers and crew of the Avalon Passion were kept awake until 3:00 AM by thumping bass notes and shrieking vocals for the local clubbing crowd. We did not join in (other than being wide awake in our beds!). Smarten up Avalon.

River view beds? NOT! Avalon publicizes their beds face the window view, but that view is often into another river boat docked alongside! I am not in bed during the day when sailing or on an excursion so cannot enjoy the scenic view then. At night it is dark, or we are again alongside another ship. That said, the bed was comfy.

When I first entered my cabin 217 there was a yellow tack cloth on the counter. Well, at least it indicated cleaning had been done. Avalon’s bathroom has no exhaust fan and needs one. After a hot shower or with damp towels, the room smells musty. Fix this.

Avalon also needs to fix their electrical outlets to provide dual voltage 120/240 and North Americans well as European plugs like other cruise lines do. Most of Avalon’s customers are Americans. Yet they seem oblivious to this fact. Rather than hand out adapters, re-wire your ships.

The dining room was very noisy at dinner (7-9 PM). So, everybody spoke louder and soon everybody was shouting at each other. I went at 8:30 PM and it was much quieter. Some sound absorbing panels are needed in the ceiling. The food was mostly bland North American dishes. Why not have one menu of “favorite foods” and one menu of “local specialties” at dinner? Give us a better taste of the area we are in! At the breakfast buffet, the sweet rolls were hard, and the croissants were not fresh. The muesli and fresh fruits were good.

Water was low in the Danube during our cruise but we made it through although the gangplank to the jetty at included port stops was very steep. Really exercised the thigh muscles! By the end of our cruise there was heavy rain and the Danube then flooded in many places.

Avalon grouped two land excursions from one port stop at Golubec fort and made passengers choose between sailing thru the cliffs before the Iron Gate or taking the Lipinski Vir land tour and join the ship later. Do not make passengers choose! Stay docked in the morning at Golubec for the Lepinski Vir and other land excursions and only proceed in the afternoon with everybody back on board. Otherwise, we miss the riverside cliffs if we take your land excursions, or we miss the land excursions if we stay on board for the sailing. Give us both by staying docked at Golubec until mid-afternoon.

The cruise director was more interested in hiking and biking than local cultural activities like history, music, literature, etc. presentations in the lounge or on land. He presided over onboard cornhole and karaoke competitions. He was not helpful for the included transfers from the Intercontinental hotel in Bucharest to the airport. In fact, he was not present at all. He had his own outgoing flight. In the event of a problem his advice was to call Avalon. Not helpful.

Avalon’s “happy travel planners” have no concept of airport transit times when they assign “valid connections” off a screen. We were given 70 minutes to run from Toronto terminal 1 to terminal 3, get to ground level, take a bus, drive thru a tunnel then across a field to a lone building far from the main terminal to catch our LOT (Polish Airlines) flight 042. Reverse procedure on our delayed return flight from Warsaw because customs, baggage and transfers are all back in the main terminal. A real screw up.

We have just done our first river cruise with Avalon from Budapest to Bucharest. From the very first moment we stepped on board we were afforded a level of service that was exceptional. The food was outstanding, the level of communication regarding where we were going and what was on offer for guests was terrific. We loved that everything was included. Our cruise director Melinda was knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour. We would definitely recommend Avalon Waterways

We just completed our first Avalon river cruise. Everything was EXCELLENT. The staff, (Sorin, Vali, Romi, Julian, & Nuri stand out the most to us), could not have been better. The food was great. The room was great. Could not have been better.

A beautiful boat, excellent food, although it would have been nice to experienced some international flavours eg:
Japanese, Indian etc, however I could not fault the presentation and flavours of the food that was served.
The tours we went on were very good, knowledgeable, guides and fun to be with.
However a high percentage of the staff were very biased toward the American travellers and were always friendly helpful towards them, this could not be said about their attitude towards the UK travellers, on several occasion I experienced positive rudeness.
I am not a demanding person and always try to be as understanding as I can to people that are serving me. On our final day we had a long wait for our taxi and were kindly given the use of the lounge and lunch. Having waited some 30 minutes for a glass of sparking water, I went and waited at the bar whilst an American traveler was served. Much laughter was exchanged with this passenger and once served, the barman turned his back on me. When he was ready he turned, rolled his eyes and said
" Yeh what do you want"!!!..... one glass of slightly flat spring water was delivered with a thump on the bar and he turned away.
I know I had done nothing to offend this employee and had I not experienced and seen the same thing happened to others I would have thought is was a one off, however I felt uncomfortable most of the week with similar behaviour.
It's a shame, but if the preference is for the American travellers that fine by me, but I won't be travelling again with Avalon.

Well, speak as you find. I see many poor reviews of Avalon Waterways, but I have to say we have just returned from an Avalon river cruise on the Romantic Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel on Avalon Illumination and it was absolutely fabulous. Our Panorama Suite was roomy and beautifully appointed. Everything from the fresh orchid plant on the dressing table to the comfortable bed reeked quality. The shower room, tiled in marble, was equipped with L'Occitane handwash, body lotion, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. A nice touch was the scent diffuser in a little alcove. At all times the staff ensured the suite was immaculately clean. There are so many things I could say about the Panorama Suite, all good.

As to the food, it was top class, a generous buffet breakfast and a short menu including Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine were on offer every day. There was a buffet lunch in the Restaurant, which included a roast carved to order and the chef preparing a pasta dish fresh throughout the service. Salads, desserts and home made ice creams of the day. Upstairs in the Panorama lounge a lighter lunch was on offer, including a selection of salads, 2 main dishes, cooked vegetables and sandwiches, plus desserts. In the evening once again there was a choice of eating in the main restaurant or the Panorama lounge. The main restaurant offered a 5 course tasting menu with many choices. As with tasting menus each course was not enormous but given the number of courses more than adequate and all exquisitely presented. If none of the daily main courses were to your taste there were alternatives of beef tenderloin, grilled chicken breast, grilled salmon and the side dish of the day, every day.

Free wine (speciality wines of the region with dinner), beer and soft drinks were available during lunch and dinner hours and there was a "Happy hour" between 5.45 and 6.45 every evening. Each evening there was some kind of entertainment after dinner in the Panorama lounge including quizzes, karaoki, a rock band and a classical group.

The staff were absolutely lovely. They looked after us and spoiled us. I have to specially mention here Manuel and Ivan who worked in the Panorama lounge. They worked very hard but never stopped smiling! We also made some lovely cruise friends who we will be keeping in touch with.

As to the Excursions, there was at least one free one every day, sometimes a choice of two or 3, plus often a paid one. We had some excellent free ones including a visit to a mechanical music museum, coffee tasting, wine tasting and a tour of Amsterdam canals etc.

We have travelled all over the world over a period of 50+ years and experienced gourmet food on every continent, plus we are wine afficionados, but this was our first cruise and we were very pleasantly surprised. We will certainly consider another river cruise with Avalon.

My wife and I have just returned from our first River Cruise (Danube Dreams Westbound) operated by Avalon Waterways. This took us from Budapest in Hungary to Vilshofen in Germany via stops in Bratislava, Vienna, Durnstein, Linz and Passau. We had an excellent experience, thanks to Avalon Waterways and all the Avalon Team on board the ‘Avalon View’.

We booked with Avalon, who we hadn’t heard of prior to booking, as a result of a suggestion from Barrhead Travel at the Gyle Edinburgh, who had previously provided us with excellent holiday suggestions. We are both extremely happy that we did.

Every aspect of the cruise, from the Lufthansa flights, the airport transfers, the ship, our cabin, the food, the tours and the local guides, was excellent. Every member of the Avalon team we came into contact with was helpful, friendly and very good at their jobs.

Our en-suite cabin was air conditioned, extremely clean, comfortable and more spacious than we had expected. Soundproofing was very good, although we did sometimes wake up at night as the ship negotiated a lock. There was a full height picture window which slid open if needed and through which we could watch the world go by during the day, although usually we chose to sit on the top floor ‘sky deck’ for this so we could get the sun.

The food, from breakfast, through lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, was all prepared to an extremely high standard and the menus reflected the cuisine of the country we were travelling through. During the eight days we were on the ship, we tried many different dishes, some for the first time, and enjoyed everything we ate (a reflection of the great job done by the Kitchen staff).

Some alcoholic drinks (e. g. house wine) and tea/coffee was included and there was a chilled drinks machine we could use to fill water bottles before the onshore tours. Other alcoholic drinks were charged for, although there was a ‘Happy Hour’ every day and special offers were made on different drinks throughout the week.

The onshore tours were excellent, very well organized by Avalon and led by very good, knowledgeable and entertaining local guides who communicated with us via a radio based earpiece which made it easy to hear their commentary over any background noise.

Based on the past few days, we have no hesitation in recommending Avalon to anyone thinking of booking a River Cruise holiday.

My husband and I recently took our first river cruise, Romantic Rhine Northbound . We had long thought about taking one of these cruises but we were a little concerned as we had heard from others about their trip with a competition line. Their reviews left a great deal to be desired and made us apprehensive about booking the trip. Our travel agent suggested Avalon as an alternative and could not have been more pleased with the service that we received. The staff could not do enough for us. The trip from beginning to end was perfect. All excursions were well planned with knowledgeable guides. Our cruise director Perla Campailla was the epitome of perfection throughout the trip and she worked diligently to give us the perfect experience from the time we met her in Lucerne, to our reluctant departure in Amsterdam. Captain Peter and his crew were most professional and he was always there on our departures and returns. The room attendant Maria was very polite and professional and our room was always spotless and organized. All the food staff were friendly and attentive to our needs and wants. A special shout-out to our servers Winda and her husband Buhdi who were always cheerful and quick to meet our table’s requirements. There was a tear in our eye on our last day on board and we wish them all well.

A company's character is not determined by how it handles day to day operations, but how it handles a crisis. This company fails miserably when Acts of God happen!
We are on what was supposed to be a Danube River Cruise from Prague to Budapest...we never sailed at all, even though Viking sailed for the last 3 days. Avalon chose to bus us everywhere. They didn't communicate well at all. Information was withheld and our cruise director, Helmut, would turn and walk away from guests if he didn't want to answer questions.
This was my 3rd Globus/Avalon trip but it will be the last. They excel in bus trips but not river trips. They don't know how to handle weather issues.

We just returned last week from this trip. It was so much fun. Our Cruise Director Valentine was great.
The Staff and Crew were excellent.
I loved everything, but thought time was too limited at the two highlight castles. One they took us to, we walked around the outside? If they had said we could go ahead and buy tickets and do our own tour we would have.
Another trip they took us to some park to eat chimney cake. Waste of time. We should have been at the castle and church. When we finally got there we were told we had a half hour. So that meant 15 minutes because we had to walk back to the bus.
Food was good. But, nothing earth shaking. Best eggs Benedicts for breakfast.
I will do it again, but on the Rhine.
Age of guest was a good mix. They had a good way to keep groups together. One was for slow walkers, one was for active hikers, last was for most people. So, we all got along great.
Fun time with fun people.

We are about to take our 5th trip
With Avalon. Everything is always impeccably well done. The staff and crew, the food and the tours are all exceptional. You can’t go wrong booking with Avalon.

We have just disembarked in Basel after cruising with Avalon along the Rhine from Amsterdam which departed on May 4.
What an amazing holiday we have been fortunate enough to experience with Avalon's expertise.
The AVALON VISTA ship was well equipped, modern cabins with sensational hot showers. The attentiveness offered by the house keeping staff was nothing short of exceptional. Our rooms were attended to twice daily and the attention to detail offered by the staff in this department was second to none.
The food variety and quality was outstanding. The wine selection offered with each meal was comprehensive and served in a very generous manner. The food and beverage staff were exceptional. To be greeted each dining experience by such consummate professionals was delightful. All staff were attentive, friendly and efficient. I would like to highlight Samir, Ayesh and George for being so delightful, so genuine and so attentive to our needs. It is very much appreciated. Our cruise was made so much more special by their interaction with us on a daily basis. The bar staff upstairs were hard working and very good at creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Robert and Muriso were incredibly efficient, professional and discrete. They did an amazing job of ensuring anything we needed was taken care of.
I'm not sure that the word 'no' is in the Avalon's staff vocabulary. They just seem to be able to make things happen for their guests.
We are so very grateful for the entire team. We will look forward to rebooking with you all again in the best future.
Regards, Thanks and Best Wishes 👏👏👏
Belinda and Donna from Australia