Waltzing Up the Blue Danube
We spent seven nights aboard Avalon Waterway’s Tranquility II, river cruising from Budapest, Hungary to Vilsofen, Germany with Eric’s parents. This was a classified as an Active and Discovery cruise with Avalon, and it was our first experience on a river cruise. Would we do a river cruise again? What did we think about Avalon? Follow along for all of the details!
Selecting our River Cruise Itinerary
We actually booked this cruise way back in March 2024, long before we decided to become nomads. But once that decision was made, we were easily able to work our broader schedule around this trip. We did a lot of research on different cruise lines and itineraries. There are a few major routes to chose from: The Rhine, The Rhone , The Duoro (Portugal), and the Danube (could be anything from Bucharest to Passau) as well as many smaller ones. Since Eric and I had already seen some of the Rhine when visiting our friends in Germany, and we hadn’t been to Hungary or Austria before, we settled on the Danube. We knew from both a budget and duration standpoint, we’d want something around the 7-8 day length. Once we knew what river we wanted to cruise on, we started comparing the cruise lines and specific itineraries.
We primarily compared three different cruise operators: Viking, Avalon, and AMA and then also different itineraries. When you research, many sources will tell you that as Americans, for your first cruise, Viking is the way to go. But as we started researching, Avalon really stood out to us for a few reasons.
The Active and Discovery itineraries. Because we had different age ranges and mobility ranges in our group, we wanted to make sure that there were excursions available that would suit all of our interests. On the Active and Discovery line, there are 2-3 included excursion options in each port. Active excursions included things like hiking, canoeing/kayaking, and bicycling. The Discovery itineraries included things like classic walking tours of cities, museums, or churches. It also included cultural options like visits to farms, wine tasting, or cooking classes. We knew we could find options in every port that would interest all of us!
Included excursions. As mentioned, there are 2-3 excursions at each port stop that are included in your cruise price. On other cruise lines it appeared that there could only be one traditional walking tour included and anything else was on top of your cruise price. Many of those excursions seemed to be in the $75-$100 range per person. While our total price might have been higher on Avalon, we felt less nickle and dimed. There were also other optional excursions that could be added on for an additional expense in Vienna. Many passengers chose those, but we did not.
Cabins. We chose a Panorama Suite on Avalon. Instead of a balcony, like on other cruise lines, our bed faced a window with a wall of sliding glass doors. All cruise ships are the same width because of the need to navigate the locks on the river. That means that a room with a balcony has a smaller room size to account for the outdoor space. On Avalon, we had the same view as if we’d have a balcony, but had more usable square footage in the room.
Smaller Group Sizes on Excursions. On our Avalon excursions, they would break us up into groups of 20 per guide. Our biking excursions were often even smaller. That was a great size to be able to hear and interact with the guide. We didn’t know this when booking, but as we were on excursions we’d come across groups from other ships. Those groups were 30-40 people. When navigating a crowded city center, that group size is simply too large to be enjoyable in our opinion.
The Ship: Avalon Tranquility II
We had no idea what the ship would look like! But we found it to be the perfect size. Large enough that you could find a quiet corner to read, but small enough that you could get from one end to the other quickly. There were 120 passengers on our cruise. We found that to be a great size. We got to know many people over the course of the week, and it was great to connect with them in the evenings to hear about their day.
Our room was comfortable with a generous sized bathroom compared to ocean cruises! The bedding was very comfortable, and our suitcases fit easily under the bed to get them out of the way. We had closets that could hold all of our clothes for the week. Depending on the port, we sometimes had another ship docked next to us overnight, so we did learn to keep the curtains closed!
Our room was on the third floor in the middle of the corridor. We found that to be a perfect location to access both of the lounges and the dining room.
There were several common areas of the ship. At the back of the ship on the third floor was the Sun Lounge. There was a coffee machine and snacks there available all day. We enjoyed sitting back here early mornings for that first cup of coffee. At the front of the ship on the second floor was the Panorama Lounge. This is where a casual buffet lunch and dinner was served, the evening happy hour was, and where the nightly entertainment was. It had seating capacity for everyone on board. Of course we enjoyed the daily happy hour (free wine, beer, and the cocktail of the day) before heading to dinner each night!
On the top deck there was plenty of seating to soak up the sun. There were lounge chairs, tables, a giant chess board, and even a small hot tub.
We enjoyed sitting up here while cruising from one port to another in the afternoons as well as watching the ship navigate the many locks on the river.
Excursions on Avalon Active & Discovery on the Danube
We were very pleased with the excursions we chose! We had a blend of Active and Discovery days, which suited us well. Here’s a list of what we did.
Hiking in Visegrad, Hungary: We hiked to the top of a hill (about 800m over 2 miles) to a castle and overlook the Danube Bend. Of all of our excursions, this was probably our least favorite. Because of low water, the ship had to dock about 30 minutes away from our destination, which meant we had to factor a bus ride into the time alotment. The guides didn’t do a great job managing time, and we ended up taking a bus back down instead of hiking down. The hike was also more challenging than advertised. While Eric and I were fine, many of our fellow passengers had a difficult time on the uphill hike. The views at the top were great though!
Bike Ride in Vienna: We went on a 3 hour bike ride through the city center of Vienna. We really enjoyed this! The city has bike lanes throughout and is flat! So it was easy to navigate and see the sights on two wheels!
Early Morning Breakfast and Art Museum in Vienna: We did an early morning walking tour of Vienna and stopped in a local cafe for a traditional Viennese breakfast. We then went to the Fine Arts museum. We had the afternoon free, so Eric and I chose to go explore the city on our own, then met up with his parents for schnitzel at a historic restaurant in the city. We loved Vienna!
Wine Tasting in Krems: We were in the heart of the wine growing region of Austria and went to a local Co-Op that produces most of the wines there. It was one of the best tours we’ve ever done of a winery/distillery/brewery. Great marketing, and high quality wines. It was the beginning of harvest season, so it was fun to see the local farmers delivering their grapes to the Co-Op!
Bike Ride on the Danube to an organic farm: We did another bike ride along the Danube and toured a local family’s organic fruit and vegetable farm. It was fascinating to see how small family farms can thrive in this modern age. And we had perfect weather for a bike ride!
Tour of a Trappist Monastery: The highlight of the trip for Eric. We visited one of the last few Trappist monasteries remaining in the world and did a beer tasting. Sadly, the last monk can no longer oversee the beer production, so while what we tasted was bottled when it could still be called Trappist, it will be considered just Abbey beer going forward since there are no longer any monks joining the order. And then there were nine….
Eating and Drinking Our Way Up the Danube
As can be expected, we ate WAY too much on the cruise! The food was great. We enjoyed that each day’s menu was geared to the culture of our location. So we had Hungarian food the first night, Austrian food the second night, etc. Wines and beers were sourced from the local region as well. It was another great opportunity to experience local culture!
Breakfast each day was a buffet, including an egg station, and you could also order eggs benedict and french toast or waffles off a menu. Breakfast was served from 7-9, but with excursions starting around 8-9 each day, we usually got there right at 7. And you could have a mimosa if you wanted!
Lunch was also a buffet, with a daily salad bar, several cooked dishes, a carving station, and a soup station. It was served from 12-1:30. You could also order hamburgers, cheese burgers, or chicken sandwiches from the menu. Lunch included beer and wine as well as sodas.
Dinner was seated, with 3 choices each of a salad, soup, entree, and dessert. And if you wanted to double up or skip a course, you could! You could also order a steak, baked chicken, or salmon any night. Dinner included beer and wine, as well as sodas. Every night they would celebrate birthdays that were happening on the ship, including Rita’s on our last night! Dinner was typically from 7-9pm.
There was always the option to eat in the Panorama Lounge for lunch and dinner as well, with a more limited version of the main dining room options, served buffet style. This was a great way to have a quicker, lighter option for lunch or dinner.
We loved all of our meals, but definitely left the ship feeling like we didn’t need to eat again for several days!
Service onboard Avalon Tranquility II
We definitely felt this was a 5 star luxury experience. The service was exceptional. Our rooms were cleaned twice a day and were spotless. The service in the dining rooms was attentive and friendly. There is no assigned seating, but we tended to gravitate towards tables with our favorite staff. The wine and beer was plentiful and served with a smile. Plates were cleared quickly between courses. The Cruise Director gave a talk every evening during Happy Hour to inform us what to expect the next day. All in all, we felt very taken care of and spoiled!
Other Details of the Cruise
We enjoyed the casual luxury provided on the cruise. Nothing ever felt stuffy or fancy, but it was certainly a first class experience for us!
What to Wear on an Avalon River Cruise
I’m not sure if was because of our Active and Discovery itinerary or if this is standard for river cruises, but casual clothing during the day was definitely the way to go! Most people were in athleisure wear during the day. Shorts, tennis shoes, skorts, joggers, etc were the way to go. Dinner was a bit of a choose your own adventure. We chose to dress “resort casual” most nights. Eric wore slacks and golf shirt or button down. I wore casual skirts or dresses most nights. One night was the Gala night, where people dressed up a bit more. But unlike ocean cruises, it was pretty low key. No need to bring fancy clothes or cocktail attire!
Demographics Onboard
Our ship was 99% North Americans! There was a pretty equal mix of Canadians and Americans. We only met one couple from outside North America, and they were from New Zealand. Eric and I were likely the second youngest couple onboard. And we made fast friends with the youngest couple! Ages onboard ranged from late 40s to early 80s, with the average probably being 65-70. Most people onboard were retired. Many people traveled in groups for 4-8 and many were there to celebrate special occassions like birthdays or anniversaries! Most people we talked with were on their first river cruise, but were experienced global travelers.
Logistics
Another area where we weren’t sure of what to expect was the boarding and deboarding processes. But it was super easy, and much more simple than ocean cruises!
We had to be out of our Airbnb in Budapest by 10am with our luggage so we headed straight to the boat. We were able to board right away and leave our luggage with them. Our room wasn’t ready until around 2pm, but they served lunch to everyone starting at noon which was great! After a long lunch, we headed to our room to unpack and settle in!
Each day when we headed out on an excursion, we simply had to tap our room key to get off the boat. Any time we were at port we could come and go as we pleased. One morning Eric and I walked around the small city where we had docked over night on our own.
On our last day, we had train tickets already purchased from Vilsofen Germany to Munich. Unfortunately, our ship wasn’t able to get to Vilshofen the day before, so Avalon took us by bus directly to the Vilshofen train station.
Based on our very unscientific research of asking people, it appears that about half the passengers purchased their flights through Avalon, and bought the pre cruise stays in Budapest and the post cruise extension to Prague. In Budapest, they stayed at the Intercontinental, and had several included excursions the days before the cruise. Those who went on the post cruise extension were taken by bus and had two days with excursions in Prague. This is something we may consider if we do a cruise again!
Wrap Up
Overall, we all had a fabulous experience on our first river cruise! We really enjoyed all aspects: the ship, the service, the food, and the excursions. It exceeded our expectations and was a first class experience. For Eric and I specifically, we think it may be something we’d do again in our 60s, as that feels like the perfect age to do another river cruise.
We’d highly recommend Avalon and the Active and Discovery itineraries!