First off, I should start off by saying the Avalon cruises are meant for pensioners - typically older retired folks. Similar to Topdeck, the cruise was made up of people primarily from Australia and New Zealand (though we had a fair amount of Canadians on this one as well). So already, this isn't necessarily an accurate representation of the average experience since I'm in my early twenties. Either way, I still had a pretty great time. In the beginning of the cruise I was pretty bored - I'm used to seeing as much as I can in a short period of time, and planning every single part of my trips (like last summer). It was very unnatural for me to be on a boat with everything already planned. I was pretty restless to begin with, and I was visiting the gym multiple times per day. Then I started getting used to relaxing and doing nothing, and before long I was having a grand ol' time.
The Boat
The Illumination is pretty new (2014), and it was really nice. In more than one instance we were docked up against another boat which we had to walk through to get to the port. This gave us a chance to check out the other ships which were most definitely dated compared to the Illumination....I'd say our ship was definitely better than the other ones we saw. There were three floors in the ship - the bottom floor had a fitness room, the formal dining room as well as staterooms. The main floor had the main lounge and bar and state rooms on the other side, and the third floor had more state rooms, a hair dresser and another lounge. Above that was the sky deck which could be accessed from the main floor and third floor lounge where the captain and crew were situated as well as a hot tub, a whole bunch of seating, and a giant chess game. The entire boat had fantastic wifi which only faltered once (and we were warned ahead of time) while entering a very very big lock. You can probably find better photos on the website, but to get an idea:
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The staterooms were really comfortable; my sister and I were given single beds shoved together with separate bedding (hallelujah!!!!) and we always had plenty of space. The windows were fantastic giving us the option to see the view without going to the sky deck (yayyy laziness), plus there were TONS of movies available on TV so we were pretty happy xD.
The Schedule/Program
The program for this cruise was well thought out and accommodated everyone. Quite literally. After our first guided walking tour, the tour manager noticed that some individuals were having a trickier time keeping up, so she created a "gentle walkers" group for those who wanted a more leisurely tour.
The schedule was dependent on when we arrived at the port. On days where we arrived in the morning we would have breakfast, have a guided tour either walking or by bus (we would be bused into the city if the port was far), we'd come back to the ship for a buffet lunch, and we would either set sail in the afternoon, or have free time/an optional tour in the afternoon. There would be cake and coffee at around 4pm, followed by a port talk to go over the next day's itinerary, then dinner and some form of entertainment (usually a music performance).
If our arrival was planned for the afternoon, we would usually have a later breakfast, followed by scenic commentary along the river, or perhaps a lecture. Once we arrived in the city we would have a guided tour and free time with the option of going back to the boat for cake.
For this particular cruise, the first half of the trip was much more leisurely than the second half. The first week or so had planned activities in the afternoon and long stretches of sailing which meant we could sleep in and lounge around. The second half of the trip focused on big cities where we would spend the whole day on planned activities with much earlier wake up times. Staying on the boat was always an option, and having the opportunity to tour with a local guide was a great way to see the cities.
Food and staff
The food. I can't. We literally had six course meals. And they were GREAT. Even the buffet style meals were fantastic. They literally fed us every 4 hours with cake in the afternoon! The head chef was Hungarian, so our meals were very authentic and.....ughh SO GOOD.
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The staff were so nice! Well, okay, EVERYONE was really nice. But on such a small cruise, you get to know everyone personally, and everyone was so incredibly nice! The cleaning staff were fantastic, super efficient and really kind. The kitchen staff knew us so well, they would switch the cutlery on the table as I was sitting down (left handed eating habits) and put the napkin on our laps. The tour manager was especially fantastic. She was very accommodating and kind - she knew all the tips and tricks to traveling in Europe, and really made it that much better!
And that's it! That's my take on Avalon cruise we went on this summer - the average 17-22 year old might find it boring. But my sister and I really enjoyed the chance to actually relax, and be forced to do almost nothing for two weeks :)
-M
