Avalon 101: Top 5 Tips

by Bethany Explores June 2, 2024

Welcome to Avalon 101 – a beginner’s guide to all things Avalon! Follow along as Bethany Explores her top 5 tips for an Avalon River Cruise.

I am getting ready to embark on my sixth Avalon River Cruise: Active & Discovery on the Lower Danube. This series documents my experiences before and during the cruise. This post explores my top 5 tips for smooth sailing on an Avalon River Cruise. If you are new to river cruising in general, or are new to the Avalon family, welcome aboard!

Smooth sailing on my *Romantic Rhine* cruise

Tip #1: Add a few days pre-cruise

My best tip for an Avalon River Cruise: add a few days at the embarkation port prior to the cruise. You can book a pre-cruise add-on (if available) directly with Avalon or book your own accommodations. I have done it both ways, and both work very well. There are a few benefits to adding a few days pre-cruise, as outlined below:

Alleviate unexpected flight delays or other transportation issues

These days, unexpected delays can pop up at any point in your journey, for any number of reasons. Building in a couple days of cushion can alleviate any issues and ensure you make the cruise on time. Plus, knowing you have some extra time can alleviate at least some of the stress that comes from travel!

A few weather-related flight delays en route to Prague didn’t faze me!

Allow time to recover from jet lag

Extra days pre-cruise also allows time to get over any jet lag you may experience. I have met people on every one of my prior cruises who flew in on the day of embarkation. Every one of them was definitely struggling (not only that first afternoon/evening, but for another day or so into the cruise). Giving yourself extra days before the cruise gives your body time to adjust to the new time zone and work off any jet lag.

Pro tip: the best way I have found to combat jet lag is to keep going for as long as you can that first day your flight arrives (and spending time outside, in the fresh air and sunshine, is best!). Try to be as active as you can that first day. Try to go to bed as close as possible to your ‘regular’ bedtime to give your body clock a quick reset.

Shaking off jet lag by walking through beautiful Het Begijnhof in Amsterdam, before my *Tulip Time for Beer Enthusiasts* cruise

Enjoy time in the embarkation port

Tacking on extra days before the cruise starts also ensures you can spend some time in the embarkation port. There is nothing worse than starting a cruise in an amazing location but not being able to actually see any of it!

Exploring Angkor Wat in Siem Reap before my *Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong River* cruise

Tip #2: Try new things

An Avalon River Cruise is an amazing opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and try some new things. Excursions and dining are two great examples of ways to try some different things on your cruise.

Avalon offers a wonderful assortment of included and optional excursions on each of their itineraries. Excursions are available as either Active, Discover, or Classic. All itineraries offer several choices of included excursion. The special interest “Active & Discovery” itineraries have an even wider choice available. While it may be tempting to stick with what is familiar, I encourage you to try something new. You never know when you may find a new passion!

Can you canoe? I can now – after an excursion on my *Active & Discovery on the Danube* cruise!

Another way to get out of your comfort zone is to try new things during meals on board. One thing (of many!) that I love about Avalon is their focus on fresh, local food. Look for the ‘local specialty’ designation on menus to find these gems. It always adds a bit more to a meal when you are enjoying something that is unique or special to the area in which you are sailing. The chefs often leave the ship while docked in port to shop for and purchase fresh, local produce as well.

Local specialty of Lebkuchen Parfait (gingerbread parfait with rhubarb compote) while sailing through Germany on my *Christmastime in Alsace and Germany* cruise

Tip #3: Mix and mingle

Avalon River Cruises are a great way to meet others. With a small passenger count and quiet, intimate settings on the ship, it is very easy to mix and mingle with others on the cruise. Excursions are also an excellent way to meet others. As a solo traveler, I love how easy it is to strike up a conversation and meet many wonderful people on the cruise. In fact, I have very good friends that I met on my earlier Avalon cruises that I am still actively in touch with.

But I encourage even those who are not traveling solo to mix and mingle with others. It can be easy to just stick with your travel partner or small group for the cruise but try branching out and eating with others or taking different excursions than the rest of your travel group. Open seating for all meals makes it easy to turn your small group of two to a large group of new friends instantly. Also, the many wonderful excursion choices means that there is something for everyone, and you are not stuck with all having to do the same thing.

A lively dinner with new-found friends on my *Tulip Time for Beer Enthusiasts* cruise

Tip #4: Find time to relax and recharge

With so many wonderful things to see and excursions to take, an Avalon cruise can be very busy for you. While I always encourage everyone to see and do as much as possible, I also highly recommend making time for yourself to relax and recharge along the way. This can mean a quiet afternoon in your Panorama Suite or the Club Lounge. But also, I have found myself skipping an excursion or two when I simply want (or need!) some time to myself. When relaxing, I love putting my electronics away and simply being present. Pausing to actually soak in and enjoy the gorgeous surroundings, and reflecting on the wonderful memories I am making, is an important part of traveling for me.

Skipping the morning excursion to relax in Mainz on my *Christmastime in Alsace and Germany* cruise

Tip #5: Don’t stress it!

My final tip for a successful Avalon River Cruise is to simply not stress out about too much. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with all of the planning before the cruise. If this is your first river cruise, you likely have a lot of questions about a lot of things. My best advice is to confirm things that are important to you but let most of it go.

I am a Project Manager, so planning (and planning contingencies for everything that could possibly go wrong!) is what I do best. But I have learned along the way Avalon will take impeccable care of you before, during, and after the cruise. So, trust that you will get all of the information you need, when you need it. If unplanned things pop up along the way, Avalon will also do a wonderful job of taking care of everything and ensuring your cruise is as phenomenal as possible.

Low water levels shifted plans a bit on my *Active & Discovery on the Danube* cruise – we could only sail as far as Komarno, Slovakia and dock there an extra night before being bussed into Budapest

Conclusion

Over the past several years and several cruises, I have discovered these top tips to help make any cruise with Avalon as amazing as possible. The bottom line is that Avalon does everything possible to ensure you have nothing but smooth sailing with them.