I have recently returned from a four-night stay in Budapest, attending the CLIA river view conference. I was lucky enough to tour 10 different river ships.
We flew from London Heathrow with British airways and I was very impressed with how easy and quick check in was. From there we boarded the Avalon envision in Budapest, my first time on a river cruise and It didn’t disappoint. The staff were amazing from the moment we stepped on board and the ship felt like comfortable luxury. We were able to grab a quick cocktail at the bar(I recommend the mojitos) then it was off to bed ready for a busy day to follow.
I was lucky enough to stay in a Panorama suite with wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows that open into a Juliet balcony. The bed was positioned facing the window and this really stood out for me. Waking up to see a new city every day from the comfort of your bed.. amazing. Another thing that stood out for me on board Avalon envision was the food. Starting with breakfast, there was so much to choose from. Pastries, to a fry up, to yogurts, fruit and cereal. There was even a chef making omelettes and eggs to order. We were totally spoilt for choice. Of course I had to sample a bit of everything.
Onto dinner, wow. Five courses of pure heaven, I started off with the chef’s salad. If only I could make a salad taste like that, I’d have it every day for lunch. I had beef for the main, which was amazing and for dessert we had mini-Hungarian puddings to try. You also had the option of red, white or rose to accompany your meal, my glass was never left empty as the service was second to none. They had choices of non-alcoholic wines and soft drinks too.
After our meal, Avalon arranged for a Hungarian band to come aboard. This was another highlight of the trip for me as everyone danced the night away to the greatest hits played by the band.
I must say the beds were very comfortable and made it very hard to get up in the morning. However, we had more ships to visit so couldn’t stay in bed all day. We viewed the Amaverde ship where they greeted us with red roses, this was a lovely touch! They also had a rooftop pool which looked amazing in the sun.
APT’s new Vega ship really stood out to me. Being a 4 star ship I didn’t expect as much as some of the others, but the interior was designed amazingly! They even had an Irish bar and the back of the ship with sky sports playing which is a great touch for any sports fans.
Our final night was spent onboard the scenic amber. The cabins on this ship were amazing and ours even came with a butler. Marek was so helpful with things like Wi-Fi passwords and helping with our luggage. The food onboard was incredible, and I had such a lovely evening on board.
My overall experience in this beautiful city and onboard the ships on the Danube were second to none and I would recommend it to everyone.
