Are You River Cruising This Year?

[Mike Davies]

Please let me know if you are river cruising this year.
Which Line
Which River
Which Month
How many days

Thanks

[Mike Davies]

This is a beautiful part of the world with I believe the only new Amarican ship with French Balconies. Please let me know on your return the likes and dislikes. If you are close try to Visit Valrhona Chocolate at Tain L'Hermitage I visited the Chocolate School while I was there. I was under the impression that all the chocolate they made "contained no fat or calories." Try it and see if you agree!

Gene said:

We are on Avalon on the Rhone in August for 12 days ~ Thanks! Gene and Larry

[Mike Davies]

I did not know that Uniworld has Bikes? are they on all the ships? If so how many?

Dick Davidson said:

UNIWORLD
European Jewels - Budapest (Danube) to Amsterdam (Rhine/Rhein)
Aug/Sep for two weeks of Magnicent everything and then some... Delightful Danube and the Romantic Rhein how can we go wrong..... bring on the Wine and Bikes ! ! !

Dick Davidson

[Catherine]

I have no other river cruise lines for comparison.
Must say I have thoroughly enjoyed Vantage on my three previous cruises...I find Vantage more all-inclusive than other lines I have checked and a better price. Vantage food and boat staff on the two boats I have cruised on were excellent BUT their 'Boston' office staff could be improved...personal opinion.

[Catherine]

Does making reservations this week for next July 14, 2010 count?
I made reservations for Viking's Footsteps of the Cossacks 12 day river cruise. Your review really peaked my curiosity, thank you. I plan to do lots of reading on the Ukraine between now and then.
Catherine

[Larry Simpson]

Mike,

We were on the Avalon Scenery at the end of August, and this was our second Rhone cruise. We love the south of France and created a different itinerary than on our first cruise two years ago on the Uniworld River Royale, so we saw new sights this time around. The two ships are very similar in size and configuration, but our impression was that Avalon is cutting engineering tolerances closer in their newest round of smaller ships. We experienced a heat wave in the south of France on the first three days of our cruise and the second deck cabins and dining room were occasionally uncomfortably warm even with the AC at the maximum according to the crew.

The style on the Scenery was slightly retro and our overall impression was one of measured elegance. Cleanliness and service were both excellent and the food was very good, although again not quite to the level that we experienced on Uniworld two years ago. I don't think a direct comparison is fair due to the challenging economic times being faced by the river cruise lines this season, and perhaps other lines scaled back a little as well. Most of the guides on the shore excursions were very good to excellent. My experience with the Internet connection using the ship's WLAN in our cabin via laptop was very frustrating, but part of that was due to my insisting on connecting while cruising and not wasting shore time on the computer.

A very nice ship and we would sail on her again, but we would avoid the hotter part of the season.

One major draw for this cruise is the opportunity for wine lovers to explore the Cotes du Rhone and Châteauneuf-du-Pape regions of the southern Rhone near Avignon. We took a day off from the Scenery itinerary and spent it with François Marcou of Avignon Wine Tours visiting six different wineries in the region and had a wonderful time. His local knowledge, connections and great sense of humor created a exceptional experience. (The Scenery offered an optional visit to one winery in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.)

Larry

Mike Davies said:

This is a beautiful part of the world with I believe the only new Amarican ship with French Balconies. Please let me know on your return the likes and dislikes. If you are close try to Visit Valrhona Chocolate at Tain L'Hermitage I visited the Chocolate School while I was there. I was under the impression that all the chocolate they made "contained no fat or calories." Try it and see if you agree!
Gene said:

We are on Avalon on the Rhone in August for 12 days ~ Thanks! Gene and Larry

[Mike Davies]

Thanks for the comments.

A great Idea to hire your own guide.


Mike

Larry Simpson said:

Mike,

We were on the Avalon Scenery at the end of August, and this was our second Rhone cruise. We love the south of France and created a different itinerary than on our first cruise two years ago on the Uniworld River Royale, so we saw new sights this time around. The two ships are very similar in size and configuration, but our impression was that Avalon is cutting engineering tolerances closer in their newest round of smaller ships. We experienced a heat wave in the south of France on the first three days of our cruise and the second deck cabins and dining room were occasionally uncomfortably warm even with the AC at the maximum according to the crew.

The style on the Scenery was slightly retro and our overall impression was one of measured elegance. Cleanliness and service were both excellent and the food was very good, although again not quite to the level that we experienced on Uniworld two years ago. I don't think a direct comparison is fair due to the challenging economic times being faced by the river cruise lines this season, and perhaps other lines scaled back a little as well. Most of the guides on the shore excursions were very good to excellent. My experience with the Internet connection using the ship's WLAN in our cabin via laptop was very frustrating, but part of that was due to my insisting on connecting while cruising and not wasting shore time on the computer.

A very nice ship and we would sail on her again, but we would avoid the hotter part of the season.

One major draw for this cruise is the opportunity for wine lovers to explore the Cotes du Rhone and Châteauneuf-du-Pape regions of the southern Rhone near Avignon. We took a day off from the Scenery itinerary and spent it with François Marcou of Avignon Wine Tours visiting six different wineries in the region and had a wonderful time. His local knowledge, connections and great sense of humor created a exceptional experience. (The Scenery offered an optional visit to one winery in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.)

Larry

Mike Davies said:

This is a beautiful part of the world with I believe the only new Amarican ship with French Balconies. Please let me know on your return the likes and dislikes. If you are close try to Visit Valrhona Chocolate at Tain L'Hermitage I visited the Chocolate School while I was there. I was under the impression that all the chocolate they made "contained no fat or calories." Try it and see if you agree!
Gene said:

We are on Avalon on the Rhone in August for 12 days ~ Thanks! Gene and Larry