Poetry II River Cruises Reviews

We found Avalon Waterways to be an excellent experience. The rooms were good sized and well appointed. The food was outstanding and the staff went above our expectations to make the trip comfortable and enjoyable.

The tour was very good organized! Staff, meals, logistics were amazing.

We enjoyed the river cruise very much. The food was excellent, the staterooms were very nice, and the excursions were well-run.

Pairing lunch and dinner wines with the city/area we were in would enhance the experience. The cruise directors, Jean and Tony were outstanding. Very professional and always coordinating so there were no unpleasant experiences.

Wonderful tour directors . So accommodating and personable.

It was my second trip with Avalon, everything was great as it was for the Daube cruise. Highly recommend them.

Trip was GREAT! WEre somewhat disappointed that high speed train from Arle to AIX was cancelled ( did not happen).

I would have liked a better description of the land tours. For instance -Eat your way around Paris should have stated it was a walking tour.

Reasoning related to my rating on price - is associated to the cruise and how Avalone handled the last cruise of the season and closing the boat- with not having or refilling standard items, for example the last two days shampoos and soap were not refilled - lucky us we brought our own. No cocktail napkins - the staff had to pass appetizers and apologize for not having any napkins, the final dinner menu was not up to par with the rest of the week- I had the vegetarian dish pasta with cheese and broccoli Au gratin- basic Macaroni and Cheese for dinner and there was one floret of broccoli. If Avalone does not want guests on the boat on the last day of the cruise they should transfer guests to hotels sooner- our entire group would have preferred to go to Cannes one day earlier and pay for our own dinner.

We did two Avalon River cruises back to back that was actually listed as one program. After one week on Avalon's Poetry II we traveled via high speed train to Avalon's Tapestry II and did another week on a different cruise. Avalon did a great job coordinating all aspects of both weeks and the transfer itself between boats. The itineraries for both weeks were interesting and informative.

Hi Helga, I wanted to let you know about our travel experiences while they are still fresh in our minds. The cruise was wonderful! The cruse director (Gusta) did an outstanding job. She had everything well arranged and we couldn't have asked for a better planner. The scenery was great, the meals were wonderful, and the daily provided tours were very well staffed with really good leaders. There were two items that fell short of our expectations. This was the first time that we purchased the travel package including air travel. I probably will not ever do this again. We did it in part because Pat and I were covering the expenses for our four additional family members and the cost to round trip looked good. In actual fact it was more expensive that we had expected because we purchased reserve seating for all four legs of the round trip, which then greatly increased the cost (more than 25% additional cost). Even more troubling was the very poor scheduling of the flights, which included a five plus hour layover in Montreal on both the going and returning flights. This made for a 24 hour day of flying. A second disappointment was our stay in Paris at the Hotel du Collectionneur which was rated as five star, but did not come close to meeting five star. Luggage for one family member's room and for our room was not delivered to the correct rooms. Instead we received someone else's luggage. The female Avalon representative did not seem at all concerned and after an hour and a half of waiting we returned to the Avalon desk and fortunately met the individual who had our luggage and we had their luggage (no help from Avalon). One of our rooms had unit dose coffee, but no coffee maker. That same room did not have hot water for a shower. The location of the hotel was also a problem in that there were very limited restaurants (especially on Sunday) within walking distance from the hotel and eating at the hotel was far more expensive than we were prepared for. On our first night at the hotel a very loud late night party took place in the courtyard of the hotel. The party lasted until 3:00 or 4:00 am. Neither of the Avalon representatives were helpful and both appear noticeable bored by their assignment which was totally opposite to the welcoming representatives in Nice and Cannes. Overall the travel experience was wonderful and we will be in contract with you soon about travels in 2019. Thanks you, Tom & Pat 

The 2018 Avalon Rhone Cruise Tour with stops in Monaco and Paris which we took in early May 2018 was outstanding, on par (maybe even a little better) than the Rhine Cruise we also took through Avalon in fall 2016. I especially enjoyed the scheduled tours of Avignon, Lyon, and Vivenne, and clearly the optional tour of Versailles was phenomenal, on par with an Italy land tour we had previously taken with Insight that included a 3-hour tour of the Vatican. The Poetry II Cruise Ship was great (outstanding food, beverages, and the rooms were efficient and very clean), and the crew was very competent and pleasant. Spent time with both the Ship Hotel director and the cruise director and really enjoyed getting to see how professional they both were - very customer focused.

The Intercontinental Carlton Hotel in Cannes was very nice, but the air conditioning was not working for the hotel. Our room was on the backside of the hotel with strong afternoon sun and jack-hammer work being done outside until 7pm. No facilities for free coffee/tea in the room. The breakfast buffet and sea-side room were great! The Avalon cabin was very well arranged and pleasing.

My second river cruise with Avalon and I loved this one as much as the first.

Avalon is well organized and the staff is exceptional. The guides were knowledgable and helpful.

The river cruise consultant was exceptionally helpful in putting out vacation trip together. Would certainly recommend her to others and use her as an agent again. 

We had a great trip. All went off without a hitch! I had never taken a tour like this and we didn't know what to expect. We were very pleasantly surprised. Avalon Waterways was superb!

Agent was great as was Avalon Waterways! Can't wait till our next trip!

The ships staff were one of the best I have ever seen.

everything was great - river cruise was excellent Thank you