Why I still think Avalon Waterways has the best cabins in river cruising
Editor's Note
It's all about the view.
As I write this, I am propped up in bed on Avalon Waterways' new Avalon Alegria, marveling at the stunning landscape passing by just a few feet beyond my toes.
The 102-passenger river vessel is sailing up Portugal's famously lovely Douro Valley, and I'm being treated to an ever-moving scene of rolling hills, vineyards and centuries-old towns.
It's a view I wouldn't have if I were lounging in bed on most other river ships in Europe — at least, if I had my back to the headboard.
Unlike on Avalon Alegria, the beds in cabins on most river ships in Europe face sideways to an interior wall. It's unusual for cabins on river ships in Europe to be configured so that the beds face the view.
It's a little thing that makes all the difference.
As I've written about several times over the years at other publications, Avalon Waterways has my favorite river cruise cabins in Europe, in large part because the beds are configured to face the view in most of them.
It's not just the view-facing beds in Avalon cabins that win my adoration. It's the use of an almost complete wall of glass along the view-side of many Avalon rooms to frame the passing scenery.
Related: Why a Douro River cruise may be the ultimate friends group getaway
While not every cabin on Avalon vessels in Europe is configured this way, a large portion are. Avalon calls these view-facing cabins with walls of glass Panorama Suites, and they can make up roughly 80% of the cabins on many of the line's vessels.
It's been a key differentiator for Avalon since the cabins began rolling out in 2011. That was the year Avalon unveiled its first Suite Ship, as the line calls vessels with such cabins. The line now operates 16 such vessels in Europe and Asia.
Glass walls instead of balconies
One of the big differences between the Panorama Suites on Avalon's Suite Ships and the cabins on the river ships of some competitors is that they don't have balconies. That allows the entire wall facing the outside to be turned into one big glass panel.
On most Avalon ships, these glass panels measure an astounding 11 feet wide.
What's more, the glass wall can slide open sideways to create a 7-foot-wide opening for fresh air. (Don't worry; you won't fall out when it's open. There is a secondary glass wall that rises up partway with a railing at its top to create a safety barrier.)
Related: 9 best river cruises in Europe
As I am seeing on Avalon Alegria and have seen when sailing many other Avalon vessels, the Panorama Suites typically have small seating areas next to the walls of glass. When the glass wall is slid open, you have the feeling of being on a balcony even though it's not a balcony, as you can sit in the seating area at the edge of the now-open wall.
It's an "open-air" balcony, as Avalon calls it.
It's the highlight feature of a cabin type that is perfect in just about every way. At 200 square feet, Panorama Suites are larger than most standard cabins on European river ships. They're modern and stylish, too. They have comfy beds and elegant bathrooms with spacious showers.
Adding balconies to cabins on river ships isn't easy. The narrowness of the locks on European rivers means that river ships must be built to be very narrow — too narrow to have cabins that are both spacious enough to be comfortable and have balconies at their ends.
Still, many river lines design their river ships with balconies attached to cabins despite such limitations, as they believe it's what customers want. They do it by stealing space away from the interior parts of cabins.
The result is often cabins that have balconies but feel tight on the inside.
In designing its Panorama Suites on river ships without balconies but with stellar views through walls of glass, Avalon has bucked the trend in river cruise cabin design — and in just the right way.
Cabins with balconies are all the rage in cruising, of course, and cruisers think that's what they want. But when you're river cruising, what really matters is the view. You want to see the scenery of the river bank as it rolls by, preferably from the comfort of your bed.
On that count, Avalon's Panorama Suites, with their view-facing beds and walls of glass, have delivered mightily since they first began debuting in 2011.
TPG's Gene Sloan is reporting live this week from a preview sailing aboard Avalon Alegria, Avalon Waterways' first vessel on Portugal's Douro River. Visit his author's page at TPG for all his dispatches.
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