Loved the Rhine and Moselle

Avalon Luminary Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 79

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Avalon Luminary

12 Night The Rhine & Moselle Northbound (Zurich To Amsterdam)

Sail date: August 18, 2016

Ship: Avalon Luminary

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 225

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Overall, we loved the cruise. The Avalon ship and its practices could use some improvement, however. Lectures could only be heard from top deck or the lounge, but not in your cabin. On days where morning and afternoon tours were scheduled, we barely had time to get back, eat and rush out again. Dinner options weren't great, tho food presentation was good. The dining room was stifling hot on several dates when temps got into the 90's. There was only one pillow option--too soft for me. Cabin was quite cozy--only one chair. Our bed faced aft, so not good viewing from the bed. Needed more tour options in Cologne, as it was Sunday, the included tour was less than 90 minutes and we were there all day. Aside from seeing the cathedral, we were bored. Most of the tours were quite good.  I would choose a different cruise company next time--we liked Uniworld overall much better, but they didnt offer the same itinerary....

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The cabin was cozy (difficult to get around). would have liked more drawer storage and a firm pillow option. The bed itself was very comfortable. We only had one chair, so no opportunity to both sit by the slider as we cruised. Our bed faced rear, so didnt enjoy trying to watch the world go by! The bathroom was tiny, but had great storage!

Ship tip

Be aware there are bikes on board that can be used in most every stop--there are wonderful bike paths all along the rivers. The crew did not make that clear. My husband looked into it because our prior ship had them and he used them many times. It really added to his enjoyment of the cruise!!

Ports of call

Amsterdam, Netherlands

5 out of 5

Hoorn, Netherlands

3 out of 5

Kinderdijk, Netherlands

3 out of 5

Cologne, Germany

1 out of 5
Ship only offered a short walking tour. Find other things to see and do as you are there all day. Town is not as quaint as most other towns.

Koblenz, Germany

5 out of 5

Trier, Germany

5 out of 5

LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG

5 out of 5
Do the city tour--it is a beautiful, unique city. We loved it!! One of our favorites.

Bernkastel, Germany

5 out of 5

CRUISE RHINE GORGE

5 out of 5

Rudesheim, Germany

3 out of 5

Mainz (Heidelberg), Germany

5 out of 5
Did the guttenburg museum/walking tour in am and afternoon tour of heidelburg. Enjoyed both. Take advantage of the tours. The ship itself is a place to sleep and eat--i would hate to spend hours on the ship while in port--it just isnt that comfortable!

Strasbourg, France

5 out of 5

Breisach Am Rhine, Germany Did not visit port

We did the tour to colmar, france, which was very nice. My husband did the bike tour and really enjoyed that.....

Basel, Switzerland

3 out of 5
We left ship, went to train station andbooked a train to Lucerne, only an hour away. It was expensive, but beautiful!! Glad we sampled switzerland at the end.
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1 Comment

WeCruiseToo    8 years ago

We love river cruising; thank you so much for the review!