When we go on vacation, we want to see the world, not to sit
by a pool or beach and rest. Maybe that
is why we always need a vacation after our vacation.
To help with the stress of traveling, we prefer to unpack one
time and not have to worry about how we plan to see our destination. Since 1997 we have been on nine cruises and
three river cruises. We all concur:
river cruises are the way to go, mainly because the smaller ships allow easy
access to ports, only hold 125-150 passengers and you are only required to be
back on board minutes before departure.
Many also spend the night in port which allows you to experience the
nightlife of the area, unlike so many large ships that leave port by 5PM. Side trips are included, along with beer and
wine at dinner, so the price, although initially seems more expensive, is
usually much less than a big cruise ship once you include all your excursions,
liquor and shipboard amenities. My tab
upon departure is usually less than $100, whereas I’ve never gotten off a
cruise ship for less than $2,000!
Keep in mind that the river cruises do not usually offer spa
services, workout or gym facilities and on the three we’ve been on the average
age is retired. If you are the party til
dawn type, then you might be the only one in your party. Further, leave the diner jacket at home. Average dress for dinner is ‘casual’ – dress
shirt or collared shirt for men and women wear whatever they like.
One of the draws for river cruising is the experience of
going through a lock, which is a place where boats that are travelling up or
down a river or canal can be raised higher or lower. Many of the river cruises follow tight
schedules, as they must schedule their lock time as much as a year in advance. Sometimes the ship must pass through as many
as 60 locks during a trip.
Although we prefer to travel in late September or early
October after school is back in session and the weather is cooler, this year
our group decided to travel in the spring in order to see the tulips in the
Netherlands and the views of the Rhine River.
In the past, we have traveled on Viking to the South of
France, which to date is one of my favorites, and the following year on the
Danube River. Both were older ships with
outdated rooms, but the food and service was wonderful. Although Viking now has a new fleet of ships,
the big drawback is they demand full payment within 30 days of booking. Paying a full year in advance was an issue,
as we planned this trip in May of 2013.
After some homework, we decided on the Avalon Felicity Basel,
Switzerland to Amsterdam, Holland route leaving on April 27 to May 4, because friends
and associates raved about Avalon. The
price was about equal to Viking, but only required $250 per person down and
final payment 60 days before departure.
We always try to fly in a couple of days in advance to
adjust to the time change and check out the departure city and surrounding
areas. If we leave from the same place,
we usually fly home after disembarkment, but if it is a different place, we
stay a day or two to investigate the unknown.
On this trip we flew to Zurich, Switzerland, easily took an
hour train to Lucerne and stayed two nights at the centrally located
Renaissance Lucerne Hotel. Great hotel
and very economical. On Sunday morning
we took an early morning train to Basel, walked around, had lunch and made our
way to the ship. Another great thing
about river cruises, it only takes minutes to check in and get to your room –
not hours!
Now for the important things – amenities:
Rooms - of the four couples that went, two of us chose rooms
on the bottom deck. Since we only sleep
and change in the room, we don’t have a problem with a port window instead of a
balcony. Our room was very nicely
equipped with a nice sized bathroom for a ship.
We had a full shower with a glass door, not a curtain. Our bed was very comfortable and the closet
and storage was more than ample. The
only drawback was when docked with other boats at busy ports, the diesel fumes
somehow overwhelmed our room. Luckily,
two rooms on our deck were unoccupied and we moved to the opposite side of the
docking ship. Keep this in mind when booking
a room, as extra rooms are not always available. We never had this issue with Viking’s lower
deck.
One of my favorite things was the guest toiletries. They
offered nice size samples of L'OCCITANE Verbena. This lemony scent will always remind me of
our trip.
Our room steward was excellent and could not have been more accommodating.
Dining – Breakfast and lunch usually offer a buffet with the
option of ordering from the menu with open seating for a set time of 2-3
hours. Dinner is one seating at 7PM
which one can order up to five courses from the menu. They make you order your
desert at the same time, which always makes me feel rushed.
With only a few exceptions, the food on Avalon fell short of
Vikings. On both of Viking’s trips, they
served cuisine of the area and seemed to utilize the local produce. Meals seemed more individualized on
Viking. Avalon meals were heavily salted
and seemed to be mass produced. My
favorite course – desert – was less than impressive. Of the two lines, Vikings cuisine far
exceeded Avalon’s on this trip.
Another drawback on Avalon is they will not reserve tables
for any party. As we were a party of
eight who wanted to dine together, someone had to be in line early to grab one
of only two eight top tables. As this
cruise included several parties of eight or more, this created issues with a
lot of fellow travelers, as we always arrived early enough to get ‘our
table’. There were a couple of carefully
avoided altercations with jealous diners.
It may have been our cruise, but the Avalon restaurant
service seemed ‘rushed’. They were very
understaffed. Our waitress was great,
but seemed to be in charge of half of the room.
With so much to handle, we never received the personalized service which
we had on both Viking trips. The Viking
servers were outstanding – we wanted to take them all home! By the second night they knew what we liked
and how we liked it. Avalon staff simply
didn’t have time to do this.
The lounge service on Avalon equaled the restaurant – they
were too short of staff. Three people to
cover all passengers.
Tours – The tours usually last 1.5 to 3 hours. Ample tour buses and guides pick up
passengers by 8:30/9AM and returned to ship by lunch. Depending on the port, you can lunch on the
ship or stay in town and return at your convenience. Guides are luck of the draw, as you pick your
favorite color listening devise from baskets then find your matching color’s guide
and bus. Usually the tours are very
informative and cover all the bases. We
only bailed from one of the many tours during this trip, as we seem to always
pick the quirky guide or ones that are politically motivated.
Public Rooms – I had no complaints with the design and
furnishing of the ship. The entire
rooftop is covered in lounge chairs under canopies and tables and chairs. There were plenty of places to sit and watch
the scenery or take a nap. The front
main deck featured a large lounge and bar and the next deck below is the dining
room. On the main deck at the rear of
the ship is the lounge which houses the ‘coffee/cappuccino/hot chocolate
machine’. This was probably the most
used piece of equipment on the ship. At
any given time there was a line of passengers making their favorite beverage de
jour. Cabins are situated on the back
two-thirds of the ship on three different levels. All the furniture was contemporary and
comfortable. They could have used a few
extra ‘hand sanitizer’ stations, as half of the ship had the sinus hack and
half of our group caught it by trip end.
Unlike Viking, this Avalon ship offered a small workout room and a
beauty salon.
Stops - We, my husband and I, enjoyed all the stops on this
trip. Usually, as on the Danube River
trip, there is at least one that we could have done without. We were in port every day except Wednesday
morning when we cruised the Rhine Gorge.
Some days we would be in one place in the morning and while having lunch
would cruise to the next. We were able
to experience the nightlife in two different ports which is always a fun
time. In Rüdesheim, Germany we should
have signed up for the additional side trip of dinner at an authentic German
establishment, as there were so many cruise ships in port it was impossible to
get a table.
Our final destination was Amsterdam. During the day we hired our own private guide
for the day and in a comfortable van for eight saw a variety of places that we
wouldn’t have seen otherwise. One of the
extra side trips was a tour of the Red Light District. Again, we should have taken this tour to get
the history and lay of the land - so to speak!
We stayed an additional two days at a boutique hotel, Fusion Suites,
also very centrally located and fabulous, as we were able to rent all the rooms
and had the place to ourselves.
On our
final day, we traveled by public bus to the airport and caught another bus to the
Keukenhof Gardens, as due to timing it was our only chance to see tulips. This year weather allowed the fields to be
cut the week we arrived in Switzerland.
So, to ensure seeing the fields of tulips – be there between April 1 and
20!
The staff and crew on both cruise lines were wonderful. The cruise directors on both lines are the
best I’ve ever encountered. It just
seemed that on this Avalon trip, something was amiss in the food and beverage
department.
In comparison, the only differences between Viking and
Avalon is the trip payment requirements and the food. If money is no option, go with Viking, as it
seems that many Americans put culinary delicacies at the top of their
lists. If food isn't important to you,
by all means, Avalon is a good alternative.
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