Avalon crew was very good and we enjoyed ourselves. Lake Como was wonderful and Amsterdam was very good. I wish we had more time in Amsterdam. But the cruise was not as scenic as advertised or as the one we took on the Danube. The excursions were okay but not great. compared to other tours we have taken this one was good, but the others were much better. But I want to be clear that the Avalon people were great. There was nothing lacking in their performance.

Avalon panorama was exceptional in every way possible. Professional staff incredible food tours were excellent. Customer service was above and beyond highly recommend the Rhine cruise !!!

Tour guides had years of experience, and were at ease with travelers questions, weather iilnterruptions, etc.

This was our second Avalon cruise and we recommend them to everyone!

Overall, the trip was very good, but not quite as excellent as I expected it to be. Far less time in towns that I had hoped and the boat had to dock too far away in several to make it practical to Come and go as we would have liked to. The most significant comment was that the dinner staff was significantly overwhelmed, even with a cruise only about 2/3 3/4 full. Serving was significantly delayed, my wife could hardly ever get her soft drink refilled and frankly the food itself was Better than normal cruise food but not by much considering the price difference. My biggest complaint however came from an event that occurred before we ever left the country. Going through check-in and security At the airport, my Covid vaccination card was lost. We called Avalon to confirm that a photo of the card would be acceptable, and they said it was not. We must have the original card. Not a photocopy, not a photo, not a State Health Dept Record. Only the CDC Covid card. We were almost to the point of cancelling the trip! We tried calling our travel agent but she never called back. We got ahold of another rep at Affordable who spent a hour on the phone with Avalon. He eventually got A clear answer, that a photo was acceptable. We also managed to get an original card fedex'd overnight just in case. Problem solved, but it was several hours of hell Trying to get this taken care of while we sat in the DFW airport. As it turned out, the cruise staff never asked for any evidence, card, photo, or otherwise. Talk about crossed signals.

Wonderful river cruise on the Rhine. Superb crew and service. Excellent food. Excellent tours.

Phil.... is THE REASON I took this trip and had a marvelous time! HE is THE ONLY help I need from now on in booking trips ANYWHERE! 

This was our first trip on a river boat. The Avalon staff was exceptional! We were treated like kings and queens.

Very well organized - from the arrival to departure there was never an issue. Everything was clearly explained daily. Basel to Amsterdam is the better direction to travel.

Avalon was not at the airport to transfer us to the hotel in Lucerne Switzerland. We took a train and a taxi at our expense. Viking and other river cruise organizations were there to greet their passengers and offer free transport to Lucerne. Some of the guided walking tours were very brief, at least one tour guide did not know the area very well and avoided answering questions. Other guides were very good and spent sufficient time answering questions. There was too little time spent ashore mingling with local people. The breakfast and lunch buffets on ship were good (not excellent), and the evening gourmet meal was someones experiment at being a chef. All meat were cooked rare or medium rare, regardless of what was ordered. I declined three evening meals.and substituted ice cream. Servers were excellent as were housekeeping personnel. On-board entertainment was good, with one evening offering a professional violinist who was excellent. One evening offered a modern music group who geared their music to the younger set, while everyone on the cruise was elderly--not a good combination.. The Amsterdam waterways cruise was short (10AM-11:30AM) with some of the time spent at a Diamond cutting facility and on a bus. The Avalon cruise did not include transportation from the ship to the airport (90 Euros). Europe is EXPENSIVE with an average meal for one of 42 Euros ($52.20) or museums average of 28 Euros ($35.00 each ticket), or a glass of tap water @ 3 Euros ($3.50). Plan accordingly.

Our suite on the ship was very hot during the day. The optional tour'Czech Dinner &Folklore show' was terrible.The food, drinks and the show was worst I have ever seen Cancellation of the visit to Nuremberg was very disappointing because that was one of the highlights of the tour.

Through no fault of anyone, the Danube River was low and we were unable to cruise out of Nuremburg - had to bus to Passau. Therefore, we missed an excursion. At the end of the trip, we were unable to cruise past Vienna, therefore missing another excursion and had to be bussed to Budapest. All were disappointed, but as I stated, it was no ones fault.

This river cruise exceeded expectations. It was A+ from start to finish. The ship room size was excellent, the crew was awesome, and the food was very good and varied.Our local guide experts provded a bonus level of expertise, were witty and interesting. Gusta was an excellent tour director, keeping everything on time, providing tips and insights to various places we were visiting. Our waitress in the dining room was Elena and she was always pleasant, on task and provided a very good level of service for our meals.

Avalon was fabulous..

Our Avalon cruise was an absolutely wonderful and unforgettable experience, and a dream vacation. Our cruise director Bart was outstanding and enhanced our cruise experience. We enjoyed the laid back atmosphere onboard, and the beautiful scenic cruising itinerary and interesting ports. All included tours and excursions were well organized with knowledgeable and great tour guides. The crew provided excellent services. We were however disappointed with the dinner menus, with regards quality of food and preparation. Breakfast and lunches were good. We also would have liked more flexibile times or buffet options for dinners at overnight ports,

We enjoyed the Danube Tour, but preferred the previous Avalon tour in France. This tour focused more on cities whereas the France tour from Nice to Paris stopped at smaller towns.

GREAT CRUISE -WONDERFUL BOAT AND ACCOMMODATIONS ; WISH A FEW LAND TOURS SLIGHTLY LONGER-IE ENOUGH TIME TO STOPIN QUICKLY SEE SAY THE SYNAGOGUE OR THE CATHEDRAL--EXAMPLE BUDAPEST LAND TOUR.

The guides for the most part were excellent some the stops were an added joy. Duration , Bratislovia and Linz were surprisingly wonderful the entertainment was beyond my expectations I had a wonderful trip.to top it off we had exceptional weather

WE probably got what we paid for but I was disappointed that Avalon seemed unable to address the problems they had with service in the dinning room (dinner lasted two hours almost every evening and there was ALWAYS a half and hour to an hour wait between he soup and the entree. Spoke with the maitre 'd the first night and he assured us, it would get better - it really didn't - he blamed new staff - I felt it was HIS job to train them properly or to see that they were well trained - he didn't. Many of their included trips off the ship were quite strenuous and we discovered ways they could have been made easier for some of their older travelers. Several people said they just didn't go because they knew the trips would be too challenging. Our experience with Viking last year was MUCH more positive and as a result, I'd pay the higher fees to go with Viking if I went again.

We enjoyed the Danube cruise enormously. The staff on the Avalon Panorama was fantastic. Our tour guide was great. Unfortunately, the Danube was very high, and we were not able to cruise as far as we were supposed to. The daily changes and uncertainty were handled professionally. My only complaint was that Avalon changed the location of our accommodations in Prague. We were told originally we would be staying in the Old Town. Evidently, some time before we departed, that was changed. We were booked in a hotel not within walking distance of the places we wanted to visit. A shuttle was provided, but it only ran about four times a day, and it took at least 30 minutes to travel from our hotel to town or back. It was not the relaxed, easily-manageable visit we were sold. I do understand that at times changes need to be made, and we had an extraordinary visit, but the fact that we were not informed about the change, nor was it ever explained, made us feel as if we had been somehow duped.

The trip was spectacular. Met all expectations. The only negative comment would be related to the Avalon Rep in Prague due to lack of assistance and presence.

My only criticism of Avalon is that the company does not take into account the dining experience for groups. Dining tables are on a "first come-first-serve" basis. This means rushing to get a table nightly so that 5 couples can eat together, leaving our mportant port talks early to secure a table . A luxury cruise experience should not require one to do this.

I thought our leading tour guide did a terrific job. She started every event, every talk right on time. She said that was part of her German upbringing. She was concerned about every passenger and dealt with one issue we had promptly and professionally. The local tour guides were routinely well informed, personable, and helpful.

Avalon Waterways does a great job. The ships are in very good shape, nicely appointed and offer great itineraries and excursions.

This was a wonderful trip. We are thankful to our agent at Affordable Tours for recommending this Avalon Danube trip. Our cruise director was excellent and humorous. Food and wine was excellent. Staff provided superb service.

This cruise was great and all the details we received about everything was all correct. Thank you.

I talked to a lot of the other passengers and learn that they got a lot of perks that my wife and I did not receive. If I book another trip through Avalon, I will wait until the "last minute" and look for a lower price and perks like free airfare. We also talked to people on other cruise lines and saw that there was a lot of competition for our travel dollars.

Avalon Waterways Panorama was a beautiful ship. The food was great, and the afternoon and evening programs were interesting. The crew director was excellent: he was very knowledgeable and helpful and his talks about the various sights we were visiting were very instructive. His concern for and accessibility to the passengers set the tone for the crew members; they provided uniformly excellent service with a smile. All in all, a wonderful experience!

We would have loved to hear from our cruise director more about the river and the towns we are going to. I felt that he's quite impersonal, doing only what's necessary. We weren't addressed with our names, only by our cabin number. There was no attempt to be friendly with the passenger. On the other hand, the crew was excellent. The food was always nicely presented and very well prepared. The cabins are clean and nicely appointed. I will tour again with Avalon and hopefully with a better cruise director.

Low water levels in the Danube resulted in changes to itinerary. had the opportunity to take a coach tour

The river cruise exceeded our expectations! The vessel and staff were wonderful. The itinerary was all-encompassing and the tours interesting. We had absolutely no complaints about any aspect of the cruise, other than we didn't want to leave the boat. We returned home weary but very happy.

Our river cruise was fabulous. Ship & staff were excellent. Food very good. Tours were excellent. Everything was very organized. Can't wait to go on another Avalon river cruise. The agent at Affordable Tours did a great job for us. I have already recommended him to friends. Thanks for everything.

This was a great trip. excellent job in supplying all details and assistance that "older people" like my wife and I need.