STAY: Avalon Waterways Panorama River Cruise

 This STAY post is a bit different. I'm highlighting our stay on a river cruise on Avalon Waterways Panorama. We spent a fun week on the Panorama cruising the Rhine River in the fall of 2024 with a large group of college friends (25 to be exact) and enjoying each others company along with seeing the sites in The Netherlands, Germany and France. Come tour the Panorama with me and see what it's like to cruise with Avalon Waterways!

The Avalon Panorama is 443 feet in length, has a crew of 47, and includes 67 suites and 16 staterooms. There are panoramic windows throughout the ship, complimentary wifi, a fitness center,  a sky deck with whirlpool and a club lounge with complimentary coffee, tea, hot chocolate and snacks throughout the day. 

We stayed in a lower priced ensuite stateroom - instead of a suite - that was in the bottom of the ship. It was very comfortable and included a closet to unpack, tv, desk with makeup mirror and queen size bed. It's not large but we slept very well in the quiet, cave like atmosphere. 

Source: Avalon Waterways

Included in your cruise price is almost all excursions. There is usually one classic excursion such as a city tour, and sometimes a discovery excursion highlighting art, food or culture and possibly an active excursion including hiking or bike riding.  (Most of our excursions were the classic ones as the other two fill up quickly and they don't add extra space whereas they just add more buses for the classic ones.) Our itinerary included: Amsterdam, Cologne, a cruising day on the Rhine, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Colmar and Breisach ending in Basel, Switzerland.

Also included in your cruise fare is all dining. There is a breakfast and lunch buffet and a four course dinner along with room service for all meals. There is afternoon tea available and a happy hour every evening featuring beer, wine, and a cocktail drink of the day. Beer and wine are complimentary with lunch and dinner daily also. You certainly won't go hungry! 

I found the food to be quite delicious and the servings to be perfectly adequate - no ginormous servings or waste to be found. If you were peckish, you could most certainly find a snack or drink until the next meal. And I don't think we ate any meals off the boat!

I truly enjoyed this unique way to see Europe. There was good company, good food, and interesting sites. I was very impressed with Avalon overall and I would love to cruise with them another time. (Save your money, though, as it doesn't come cheap!) Hopefully that will happen!  

A misty morning in France