So long as one doesn't need to correspond with Avalon's US headquarters in Colorado, their cruises are magnificent. My wife and I have cruised with Avalon 3 times, the latest being their Grand France cruise this past summer. We’ve found everything to always be first class: cruise directors, accommodations, crew, service, cuisine, routes, side excursions, ships—even the scenery. We and our friends on board couldn't think of even small things that we didn't like.

But at the end of our last two cruises we needed to email Avalon over some relatively minor matters unrelated to the cruises themselves. Even though we went through Avalon's website both times to submit our correspondence, both times we were ignored. When we then wrote a letter to their CEO, he ignored us as well. I've never dealt with an organization before that treated its customers this way. Only when our travel agent insisted on contacting them did they call us proposing a resolution for one of our issues. Now, we think, it's our turn to ignore Avalon. It's sad that such wonderful experiences ended on such sour notes over such small matters!