Avalon Waterways Suite Ship Review
Published Tuesday, August 6th 2019 - Updated Tuesday, August 6th 2019What could be more relaxing than sailing down a river? Doing it in a beautiful Panorama suite.
Avalon Waterways’ claim to fame is its Suite Ships’ Panorama Suites. Beds are angled toward floor-to-ceiling windows that slide to the side to become an open-air balcony. It’s a simple but brilliant configuration. Guests do not even have to get out of bed to watch the beautiful scenery glide by. All Avalon's new Europe fleet offer these Panorama Suites.
This layout affords more usable cabin space overall, especially in the bathroom. Showers are larger than average and there’s plenty of room surrounding the toilet and sink. His-and-hers towels, colored dark and light, are easy to tell apart, and L’Occitane toiletries are supplied.
Meanwhile, in the area at the foot of the bed is a sofa and a chair with a height-adjustable table. There is also a useable desk area with chair and the storage and closet space is more than adequate.
Avalon also differentiates the brand by allowing guests to travel in their own way, customized to their tastes with Avalon Classic, Discovery and Active shore experiences. Classic focuses on local history and culture tours. Discovery is more interactive with hands on experiences such as a cooking class. For those who are looking for more physically challenging experiences, the Active offers more energetic experiences like bike tours. Additionally, adventure hosts are now available to accompany guests on leisurely strolls as well as activities requiring bicycles, walking sticks and even picnic blankets.
Wellness is now seen in the dining room with the Avalon Fresh healthy options. However daily there is afternoon coffee and cakes served in the lounge for those with w sweet tooth. The dining rooms are luxurious but Avalon does not enforce a specific dress code. Flex Dining removes rigid dining times and changes the Panorama Bistro menu daily. Onboard Avalon, it’s all about feeling welcome and being comfortable.
Beginning in 2020, YourWay will allow guests to customize their vacation further by packaging cruise tours even further with an Avalon land extension, a Monograms vacation package or a Globus escorted tour. This is very exciting as Monograms and Globus are sister brands to Avalon and they bring many decades or regional expertise and already have a foundation of local hosts in all itineraries. Also new in 2020 will be shorter river cruise itineraries. Guests can combine a three night sampler river cruise with several nights on land with Monograms for example.
Avalon is also making advances to keep up with the technology demands of today. The AvalonGo mobile app shows the daily schedule, destination maps and a list of on shore points of interest. Directions are GPS-enabled and do not require a data connection. Wi-Fi is available at no additional cost to all guests onboard although there are brief times on the river when service may be limited.
We sailed the Avalon Envision in May 2019. Please enjoy our still photo video of the ship.
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