Jewels of Central Europe Reviews

Loved the ship, extremely clean, excellent service, can't praise the staff enough. We felt as if we were VIP's and indeed we were treated as VIP. Very much like a floating 5 star hotel. Hotels we stayed in before and after we joined cruise were 5 star as well. Very relaxing, although during part of the trip we encountered a lock master's strike, we ...read more still were able to see and experience lots, in fact as we had to detour a bit, we actually saw more. The tour director was excellent, he made sure we were always kept up to date, he endeavoured to make sure we saw it all and more, he was also relaxed we didn't feel pressured to do anything we didn't want to and his suggestions were excellent. The food was first class, and plenty of it, we never had a repeat evening meal in the 19 day cruise, a couple of the lunches were similar. Would definitely recommend Avalon Waterways and would consider a future river cruise.

From Budapest to Paris was faultless. We enjoyed every moment and met some great people along the way including our tour hostess Danielle. Service left nothing to be desired, the tours were all very well co-ordinated and the individual guides did a great job and showed good knowledge of their areas with some entertaining personalities as well. Chef's ...read more were to be congratulated and the food was varied and of excellent quality. There were only two negatives. One was that the ever popular coffee machine decided to strike halfway throughout the trip so we all went into withdrawal. Maybe they could carry a spare? The second was that we flew Cathay Pacific as booked by Global Journeys and had good flights but in future would ensure that there were no extra stops or deviations as Cairns via Brisbane to Hong Kong added an undesirable extra 3 or 4 hrs both ways. If we had known, we would have looked at other options with flights as some do go direct even if it meant greater cost or traveling on a different day. Overall though, I would use both Avalon and Global Journeys again as we had very good experiences in my dealings with both. Thanks Georgie for expertly organizing a wonderful holiday for us.

Our cruise was amazing we had the best time and have seen Europe at its best. How wonderful to wake each day to a new town and to explore at your leisure or take the guided tour to visit these magnificent places steeped in so much history. To sample the local cuisine wine and local beer. We had top weather, the crew were amazing and the food delightful. ...read more Our tour director was the best, her skills to help and please us all were to be commended. The bed was so comfortable and the cabin first class. On board entertainment was fun and I must say the cappuccino machine had a good workout when all you wanted to do was relax and of course we couldn't miss the afternoon cake and tea - to die for yum. Most of all we have fond memories of good friendships made on the cruise and will have fond memories of our first but not last cruise.