Avalon Illumination Review

4.0 / 5.0
61 reviews

BRILLIANT CRUISE - Gorgeous Ship, Fantastic Crew

Review for Europe River Cruise on Avalon Illumination
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chanukbair
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Oct 2014

HOLIDAYING overseas with friends in 2013 we decided to put together a small group (total 6 - 3 couples ages 50 - 61) to embark on our much discussed European River Cruise. After a deal of research we chose Avalon Waterways as our Cruise provider and the AVALON ILLUMINATION as our ship. Travelling from our home in Australia to Budapest, we spent a couple of days sightseeing before embarking on our chosen ship. Arriving on board this near new ship, we were immediately impressed with the friendliness of the crew, the cleanliness of the ship and the efficient way our luggage was slipped into our Stateroom where we received a guided tour by our Stateroom Stewardess.

OUR STATEROOM was extremely well appointed, extremely comfortable bed, 5 Star bathroom and amenities, and a full width Balcony Panorama Sliding Window. We found plenty of storage space in the wardrobes, desk drawers, bedside table drawers, numerous electrical power points and WiFi, flat screen TV, refrigerator, and very comfortable chairs, fully adjustable air conditioning. Our Stateroom number 203, on Sapphire Deck (2) was only a few short steps from the Restaurant, the Guest Relations and Cruise Director's office, and the Main Lounge.

Many activities and tours were included in our price, however, there were also numerous optional excursions which we could add, most of these we felt were very reasonably priced. Our "Port Talk" each evening with our Cruise Director painted the picture of the plans for the next day, and usually a day or too after that as well. Our "Cruise Director" was nothing short of brilliant, friendly, approachable, with many years of experience with Avalon/Globus - extremely knowledgeable and spoke 5 languages fluently. All the tours and excursions we undertook ran on time and were well worth the $$, local guides were generally very good with some of them absolutely first class, very friendly and fun to be with.

Cabin Review

Cabin Category 'A' Panorama Suite Stateroom

Our Stateroom, 203, Category 'A' Panorama Suite - Sapphire Deck, was extremely close to all facilities, within a few steps down to the Restaurant, and a few steps up to the Guest Relations & 'Cruise Director's' office, walking through there to the Main Lounge. One of the reasons for choosing Avalon Waterways was that this type of Stateroom has the bed facing the Panorama Balcony windows, so you can sit in bed and watch the world go by. The Panorama windows open almost the full width of the Stateroom to allow brilliant access to the outside while sitting in a comfortable inside. A regulation height railing allows your Stateroom to be almost on the edge of the ship. Extremely good fully adjustable air conditioning, VERY comfortable bed, 5 star fittings and fixtures in the bathroom, with a full size shower & quality amenities. good sized desk, refrigerator, plenty of wardrobe & cupboard space, these Panorama Suites are 200 square feet according to the Cruise Brochure. Very comfortable, light and airy.

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