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| Photo by Freeimages.com/Dave Evans |
Avalon Waterways’ new 166-passenger Avalon Passion, is slated to be christened April 13 in Linz, Austria, by Jill Ellis, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Sailing the Danube, it will offer two full decks of 200-square-foot Panorama Suites, featuring wall-to-wall panoramic windows that slide aside to create an open-air balcony. Those wanting “best of the ship” can book Avalon Passion’s 300-square-foot Royal Suite, No. 310 or No. 312 on the Royal Deck, with living room seating, a bedroom area, master bath with two sinks and two balconies.
Also, the new Avalon Imagery II launches this spring; couples seeking romance in Europe should check out the 14-day “Romantic Rhine with Paris and London” itinerary. In Myanmar, Avalon just launched the new 36-passenger Suite Ship, Avalon Myanmar, on the Irrawaddy River; 245-square-foot accommodations feature open-air balconies and beds directly facing the exterior view.
Something different? Belgium’s Meuse River has definitely been “under the radar” for the river cruise industry to date, but that’s changing. Avalon Waterways is adding a new seven-night Belgium itinerary on the Meuse, starting in Amsterdam or Brussels with calls at Ghent, Antwerp, Namur and Maastricht. One northbound highlight is an excursion to Ypres and eastern Flanders’ World War I battlefields. Also unusual, the line’s new “Habsburg History” itinerary operates April 13 from Prague to Budapest; it features Archduke Carlos Felipe von Habsburg, grandson of Austria’s last emperor, as a lecturer.