Avalon Panorama Reviews

Avalon Panorama was a perfect experience, each day waking up in a new country was so fascinating. The on board experience from the beautiful big window , happy hour, four course meals or optional casual, a place to sit quietly and read or watch the world go by. The room was a good size with a very functional bathroom. The people who made the trip was ...read more the staff , the tour director Simona , our room gentleman Blessing ,every person I interacted with was kind, polite and happy to be there . They made it fun, interesting and a pleasure.

We can't recommend Avalon Waterways cruise enough - it was brilliant from start to finish. The facilities were well maintained, modern and spacious (the bed was extremely comfortable). The staff went out of their way to make you feel welcomed. The excursions were very well run and informative. The food was delicious and plentiful, and the free drinks ...read more were also generous. Entertainment was great. With only 100 guests onboard we felt we were valued guests. Will definitely be returning to do another Avalon cruise.

Being a single passenger, I only booked this Avalon cruise since they sometimes have a few cabins available with no single supplement. I had never been on a river cruise and this one had 106 passengers out of a maximum possible 168. I went for the "dungeon" lower deck with 2 small top of the room windows looking out at river level since it was the ...read more cheapest. Not really a problem as it was only used for sleeping and I was out on excursions every day and one could sit on the viewing decks if necessary.

Having been on over 30 coach tours of Europe, this provided a different experience, with visits to places I had not been to. My personal highlights were Strasbourg, cycling the Dutch countryside, and cruising past the castles one afternoon. The staff were excellent and friendly even though English was not their first language; the food, of course, was superb, and the range of tours at every location was impressive, to the extent that one could repeat the tour but end up seeing different attractions at each venue. There are just a couple of points I wish to make. One, is that the internet signal was variable, and sometimes non-existent. Secondly, the cruise is called 'Romantic Rhine'. For the most part, all one saw on the banks were factories, warehouses, nuclear plants and unkempt river banks. It was only one afternoon when the cruise passed a host of castles. I thank Hannah at GJ for organising the tour for me, and have booked on another Avalon cruise in 2024.

Absolutely brilliant, the cabins were spacious with plenty of storage space to unpack. The staff were amazing, the food was excellent. There were onshore activities that you could participate in or you could just sit back and relax on board. Would recommend to anyone.

We recently took a river cruise on the Danube with Avalon & Global Journeys. Our much needed break away was everything and more we had hoped for. From beginning to end, we enjoyed professional service in every area, from booking with Global Journeys through to the experienced captain and crew on our cruise. Our Cruise Director, Tony was exceptional ...read more and obviously very experienced.

Every detail was attended to above and beyond our expectations. The meals were delicious, with the menu changing daily including local cultural delicacies. There were many 'extras' included in our daily tours and there simply isn't any better way to travel than watching the villages and local landmarks pass before your eyes, sipping on a glass of something special in the warmth of the sunshine as you cruise along the riverways. We can warmly recommend Avalon and Global Journeys river cruises.

Excellent arrangements from Hannah Campbell at Global Journeys, as usual, great to work with. First ship was excellent then changed onto second ship - not as welcoming. Tour director was excellent and all ground tours were very well arranged with great additions for those who were less mobile - which was very much appreciated. Overall a really great ...read more tour - ready to do the next one!

Highlights included the attention to detail and highly organised and well orchestrated operation with multiple opportunities to get off the ship and explore the various cities and towns that we visited. The ship felt spacious and clean and the cabins comfortable (106) and products used in the bathroom of good quality. The Cruise Director was extremely ...read more good and balanced a great sense of humor with meticulous attention to detail and highly effective and organised.

Avalon Waterways 'hardware' lived up to all expectations. The October weather was better than average but we just managed to complete the full cruise as a lack of rain meant the Danube was only just navigable (shallow water) at the Nurenberg end. Food was generally very good though the breakfast and lunch menus were similar daily (but of a good quality). ...read more Shore excursions varied from very interesting and enjoyable to one or two that were a little mundane. Their pricing seemed on the expensive side when compared to the purchase of similar tours in situ. There was plenty of opportunity for own adventures, however. The crew were very helpful, though I think that at the end of the cruise season they may have been a little tired and were a bit reluctant to enter conversation; this may have been to do with language too as I only speak English.

Cities visited on this cruise (Blue Danube Discovery - Budapest to Prague) were well chosen for history, architecture and culinary experiences. Passengers were a good bunch, dominated by North Americans (American cruise line?). Overall I was very pleased to complete this journey which has been a long term objective and I would recommend it. Booking was easy through Global Journeys with one comment that contact seemed to be principally by email following voice message. Direct phone communication may have been easier on one or two occasions (minor comment after a hassle free experience).

Traveled on the Avalon Impression, which was beautiful ship and our room on the Royal Deck was fantastic. The staff were great and had to deal with two incidents involving other boats, which impacted on our cruise, but dealt with those situations efficiently and graciously. Loved the places we visited and the tour guides we were allocated. Spending ...read more time in the Christmas markets in the lead up to Xmas was fantastic: the atmosphere is great and we enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds, which certainly put us in a festive mood. Would recommend this trip.

Our Christmas cruise was wonderful, it was just one amazing Christmas market after another and in between each beautiful village we visited we were spoiled back on board our floating hotel with fabulous food and extremely comfortable rooms and service. The booking process was easy and the service we received from Yvonne was marvellous, we will definitely ...read more use Global Journeys again.

This was the best holiday we have ever had. The Cruise Guide was amazing and made everything hassle free from Day 1. Accommodation & service was excellent and the meals on board were outstanding. Great tour guides were organized at the key tourist stops & we loved walking through the villages exploring in our free time. Our fellow travelers were a ...read more good mix & we developed some good friendships. We would recommend Avalon to anyone who wishes to holiday on the rivers. Global Journeys were so easy to book the holiday through, especially with Michelle White assisting us to follow the process. The Internet booking system is so well set up & responses to each stage were immediate. The hotel bookings, transfers, river cruise & airline bookings all progressed without any problems. Thank you to Michelle at Global Journeys & the Avalon team.