Avalon Scenery Review

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Avalon Grand France: pleasant crusing marred by noisy dining rooms

Review for France Cruise on Avalon Scenery
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Mike8134
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2013

We chose the Avalon "Grand France" cruise, which is a somewhat misleading term for a combination of two discrete cruises which are also sold separately. The first goes north on the Seine to Rouen on the Creativity, with bus excursions to the Normandy beaches, then back to Paris with stops at smaller cities along the way. The second heads south from Beaune on the Saone and Rhone Rivers to Arles on Creativity's sister ship, the Scenery. It end with a bus trip to Monte Carlo at the end for one night and an option to spend two nights Provence after that. Most of us went to Monte Carlo, then flew home from the nearby Nice airport.

The combination occupied two days of our trip on buses, one between ships on our return to Paris from Normandy, and the other from Arles to Monte Carlo for what amounted to only a few hours in that fabled but claustrophobic principality. Having already been to Paris and Normandy before this trip, we probably should have eliminated the northern cruise on the Seine and taken the southern cruise with the extension to Provence. Given Avalon's premium prices, this would have been a better use of our vacation time.

Unfortunately, while the itineraries were interesting and the side excursions were generally worthwhile, we can't recommend either of these ships.

Cabin Review

Tight but well-designed

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