Avalon Waterways

River Cruises – We have been on 2 cruises (Rhine & Rhone Revealed 2019 and Zurich to Vienna) and both were well organised with excellent tour directors. Rooms were very good and the was food excellent. Excellent and entertaining local tour guides. Drinks with meals were included featuring local wines. The food/drink waiting staff and room cleaners were friendly & efficient. We enjoyed dancing on board with a local musician every night. Show details

Poor to deal with when things go wrong – Had the trip gone according to plan I have no doubt I would be giving Avalon five stars. The five days we cruised, out of fifteen booked, was exceptional. Whilst Avalon cannot be blamed for poor water conditions, they can be blamed for failing to inform us in time to cancel the trip, on failing to offer reasonable compensation, and on… Read more

exceptionally poor communications from their customer service area.

In short:

We cruised for 5 days out of the advertised 15.

We cruised through part of one country, rather than the advertised five countries.

We were put up in hotels for six nights. Meals, where provided by the hotel at all, were ordinary, at best.

We spent many hours being driven point to point on buses, requiring early morning starts and much packing and repacking. We saw very little in the way of scenery outside of the five days of cruising, spending most of the time on motorways.

We have been offered compensation of approximately 20% of the total cruise-only cost (nothing for the cost of airfares).

When challenged, Avalon just says it is their policy. My requests for a review by a more senior representative seems to have been ignored.

Whilst other cruise companies have suffered similar problems, most seem to be able to transfer passengers relatively small distances to another ship. I suspect this is because most have more ships available.

By all means use Avalon if you can be certain the river conditions will allow one continuous journey - the ship was great, as were the staff on the ship. However where there is any likelihood of problems, it appears Avalon is least likely to be able to minimise the disruption and will not offer fair and reasonable compensation.

This is the way to see Europe – Last year and earlier this year we went on three Ocean cruises and they were good but when we went back to river cruising this year on Avalons new ship Illumination it was like coming home. 150 passengers 50 crew nothing to do but leave your bags in spacious staerooms with 100% river views at the end of your bed, plus lounge and coffee table for… Read more

relaxing and watching the river go by.

To be honest, a good cruise director helps and Nancy was one of the best, especially when we lost the last day of our cruise due to drought conditions and low river levels. Everything was taken care of, an additional tour was added to our Bucharest schedule PLUS a cash rebate to compensate us for the lost cruising time.

The other key factor is that it was easy to mix with the other passengers and the food was ongoing all day and night. A great cruise and while it was as much as 40+ every day, the aircon on board kept us in relax mode.

Trip of a Lifetime – I was lucky enough to travel on the Avalon Expression in October 2013 and all I can say is it was a wonderful trip. The friendliness from both Captains, our Tour Director, Chef Michael and his team of expert serving staff, Food Manager Peter and his attention to Special Diet Passengers, Ivo for his cheeriness and expertise and the behind the… Read more

scenes cabin staff. They all provided a background for making new friends, enjoying the leisure time and for any problems that may come up. Our tours were expertly planned and if something came up in any of the countries we visited involving cancellations, well then, something else was provided. I left the Expression feeling very much richer for my experience and I thank you all....Yvonne De Marchi

The best cruise I have ever been on – We boarded in Amsterdam in Mid July and from the momenet we stepped on board the crew treated us as special. Everything went like clockwork, the meals were varied and delicious, the on board entertainment varied from local groups to a resident vocalist/musician the cost of drinks very reasonable but mostly free with our meals. The land based… Read more

guides in general excellent and the views spectacular.

Our cabin was small but comfortable and air conditioning good but we spent little time there. 90% of the guests were aussie or enzedders. There was a gym at no charge to help us work off excessive use of the kitchen and all in all we spent very little money as almost everything was provided as part of the deal.

We were s happy with Avalon that we have already booked for another cruise next year, this time a different river system. Once we paid the tariff our additional epxenses were minimaland tips were included. We couldn't fault it at all.