Avalon Waterways Reviews

We absolutely loved our cruise! We were a little nervous about a river cruise when we are used to luxury ocean trips. But this blew us away! The ship, the crew, the food, the included excursions, the views, it couldn’t have been better! We will definitely be back!!

Amazing, amazing, amazing. Everything was beyond 5 star, and then some. From the time we arrived at Amsterdam Airport and were met by a driver to take us to the fabulous hotel, we felt like royalty. Then pickup and taken to the ship. Everything on the ship, the room, the meals and the fabulous staff were 10 star. We had everything booked with our amazing travel agent, Stacey Mckown, our flights, our hotels and all our tours. So everything was simple and set up for us, we just had to show up. All the tour guides were top notch. They were pleasant and very knowledgeable. Our cruise/activities director, Josse was just amazing, working with everyone and being so polite and respectful to some with special needs. I could go on all day about all the fabulous things about this cruise and travel agent. Absolutely no negatives. One of the best things for me was how the room was set up. I laid in bed in the morning with my coffee and watched the river float by. So calming and relaxing.

7 days on the ship we’re amazing. The ship was beautiful, food delicious, and staff fantastic. Great service! The excursion were educational and lovely cities. Our 7days on land was enjoyable. Croatia was stunning.

The entire cruise was fantastic. The ship was beautiful and very clean. All the crew members were helpful and very accommodating . The food was terrific and left nothing to be desired. All the tours were interesting and the guides were very knowledgeable. My favorite tour was the Black Forest. I would love to visit it again and stay there for at least Two weeks. Thank you for a wonderful and memorable time. Evelyn Hoard

Cruise Director Maria was the most valuable resource. Avalon ship was top notch. Only challenge was some of the tour guides got into the weeds too much and minimized our personal visiting time.

A good introduction to the region. Excellent service and guides. I personally would’ve like to go deeper into the history and culture of each stop but there wasn’t time on this cruise.

Our recent Avalon Active and Discovery Cruise (southbound on the Rhone) exceeded our expectations. We chose to visit Paris for the 2 days prior to our cruise. The airport transfer was easy, and our Tour Director Simona met us at 7:30 am at our hotel, the Marriott Opera Ambassador. (Great hotel; excellent location; wonderful full breakfast included.) Many “must sees” close to the hotel, including the Opera House, the Palais Garnier, and the observation deck at the Galleries Lafayette. The Avalon Go phone app was extremely helpful and full of information. I think they should consider including an excursion to Musee d’Orsay or Musee de l’Orangerie, perhaps in the afternoon on the 2nd day in Paris. Simona was just amazing throughout the entire trip. We enjoyed the train ride from Paris to Lyons to embark. Our ship was the Poetry II, which can accommodate about 124, only had about 75 passengers on our trip. It’s a beautiful ship with lots of places to sit and relax, inside or out. (WiFi should be improved for outside areas.) Our stateroom and bathroom were plenty big, with lots of storage options. We had chosen our excursions prior to the trip, but it was very easy to make changes. We enjoyed all of our choices. And our Activities Director, Andrezito, threw in some extra afternoon bike rides. Excursion favorites were the evening tour of Viviers and the hike in Arles. I loved visiting the chocolate factory, while my husband was off on another bike adventure. We had an amazing time and hope to do another Active and Discovery cruise in the future.

A fantastic trip! No complaints! Loved every bit of it!

Everything about this cruise was amazing! The ship was beautifully appointed, the food was terrific, the local guides were so engaging and knowledgeable, and the ship's staff and crew were attentive and helpful. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, green, and bucolic. I greatly appreciated the casualness of the cruise, and the views from almost any floor or location. Truly a trip of a lifetime for me.

The trip was all we had hoped and more. The ship's crew members were untiringly attentive to details. Our cruise director had everything firmly in hand so each excursion happened as planned and we were led by knowledgeable guides who patiently answered questions and tailored the tour to the group's interests and abilities, from providing more detail about a place we were seeing or adjusting the walking speed. On-board lectures and demonstrations were clear, interesting and enriched our experiences of the places we were to visit. Food was outstanding and allergens clearly marked. Overall, a stress-free vacation and we're looking forward to our next adventure on Avalon.

Five stars

Our trip was phenomenal and exceeded our expectations. The staff was incredible, the food delicious, the weather perfect (more luck than anything)! Our favorite stop was Prague, but all of the places we visited had local guides and we felt that we got a lot out of each experience. I highly recommend this cruise with Avalon. Simone was our cruise director and I think she deserves credit for making everything run smoothly. Marcie, our amazing housekeeper, kept our room (including a live orchid) in pristine condition. I cannot wait to take my next cruise with Avalon!

We did not like it that we had no booklet or printed itinerary for the trip. Very poor internet connection on board left us feeling unprepared for 9 days.

Great trip! Staff always accommodating.

Great & interesting trip! Cruise director and local guides were very good. The extra a activities we signed up for were super fun. Accommodations on and off the ship excellent, as was the food. The only thing that was somewhat problematic - what seemed like an extra leg going to Bucharest thru Paris and coming back to Dulles through Amsterdam. It involved a lot more time traveling and waiting at airports, and we had to leave our hotel in Budapest at 3am, thus giving us 24 hours of travel with no sleep.

We had a spectacular trip. The food was good, the staff excellent and the tours were excellent except for one. The one thing that bothered me is that on Sunday almost everything was closed. When we arrived in Lucerne for our 2 days in advance of the cruise it was not so much an issue because we were tired. Had I known, I would have pre booked a trip up Mt Pilatus on Sunday. Instead, we decided we would walk around Old Town, except everything was closed on Sunday except for just a couple of shops. When we were in Dussledorf and everything was closed we had a tour through Avalon. We only went to two of the planned 5 shops because it was Sunday. Avalon does this trip every week... why do you offer an excursion that is not going to be able to go to the preplanned stops. i was extremely disappointed. If I had known, we would have booked the bike tour instead of wasting our time walking into Dusseldorf only to find out that more than 1/2 of the excursion was not going to happen. Otherwise, I would have given the cruise 5 stars. The rooms were terrific, our house cleaning staff were terrific, I think she cleaned our room 3 times a day. The extra music and lunch time grilling planned by our cruise director were lots of fun and we especially enjoyed the private tour of the castle and the guided information as we cruised up the Rhine.

there were no low energy alternatives on the land tours. All tours involved extensive walking, usually over cobblestone roads. Dusseldorf was well paced with stops. Hidelberg was well done but long. Strasbourg was just painfull and not that interesting. service and food on board was great.

We had the vacation of a lifetime! Avalon was much better than we expected!

I am normally not a cruise person, but this trip exceeded all expectations. The staff was amazing. The food was "over the top" and the excursions were perfect for introductions to reach port. Well Done!

Our experience on the Avalon View was first class in every way. The ship was beautiful, the staff wonderfully attentive and the food was delicious. We will definitely book again!