Avalon cruises 2026–2027: Avalon Waterways ships, rivers and fares

Avalon cruise line at a glance

Avalon Waterways is the company’s full name. People also search for it as Avalon cruises, Avalon cruise line and Avalon Waterways cruises. It is a river cruise line, so none of its European ships sail the open sea.

Owner

The Globus family of brands, a private travel group

Founded

2004

Fleet

15 ships in Europe, 1 on the Mekong, and one each listed for the Nile, the Peruvian Amazon and the Galápagos (October 2026)

Price tier

River, at the upper end. The line's president calls it premium luxury and not all-inclusive

Ship size

About 150 guests on average in Europe. The larger ships carry 166 and the shorter ones 128

Rivers in Europe

Danube, Rhine, Main, Moselle, Rhône, Saône, Seine, Garonne and Douro

Included in the fare

All meals, wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, a nightly happy hour, a choice of excursions, and Wi-Fi on the European ships

Not included

Premium spirits and drinks outside meals and happy hour, spa treatments, laundry and flights. Gratuities depend on where you book

Head offices

Littleton, Colorado, and Lugano, Switzerland

Avalon cruise ships

Avalon calls its vessels Suite Ships. The idea is the same across the European fleet: two full decks of Panorama Suites, each 200 square feet, which Avalon says is 30% larger than the industry standard. Instead of a small step-out balcony, the outer wall is a floor-to-ceiling window that opens, so the whole room works as a balcony. Avalon calls it the Open-Air Balcony.

The European ships come in two lengths. The 443-foot ships carry 166 guests in 83 rooms. The 361-foot ships carry 128 guests in 64 rooms. Avalon Panorama, from 2011, was the first Suite Ship.

• Avalon View and Avalon EnvisionEurope, 166 guests each, in service since 2022 and 2019The two newest of the 443-foot ships. Avalon lists Envision for the Rhine and Holland.
• Avalon Expression, Avalon Vista and Avalon Imagery IIDanube, Main and RhineListed for the Danube, the Main and the Rhine. Imagery II, one of the shorter ships with 128 guests, also sails the Moselle.
• Avalon VisionaryDanube, 128 guestsOne of the 361-foot ships, listed for the Danube.
• Avalon Poetry II and Avalon Tapestry IIFrance, 166 guests eachListed for France. Tapestry II sails the Seine between Paris and Normandy.
• Avalon Artistry IIBordeaux, 128 guestsSails the Garonne and the Dordogne around Bordeaux, a region Avalon added in 2025.
• Avalon AlegriaDouro, 102 guests, 262 feetThe newest ship and the first Suite Ship in Portugal. It has 37 Panorama Suites, 14 deluxe staterooms and a pool on the Sky Deck.
• Avalon Panorama, Illumination, Impression, Passion and Tranquility IIEuropeThe rest of the European fleet. All are Suite Ships, and all but Tranquility II are the longer, 166-guest size.
• Avalon SaigonMekong, 36 guestsAn all-suite ship with 18 Panorama Suites of 245 square feet on two decks, sailing Vietnam and Cambodia.
• MS Farah, Delfin III and MS InfinityNile, Amazon and GalápagosThe ships Avalon lists outside its own named fleet. Delfin III has 22 suites on Peru's Amazon, and MS Infinity carries 20 guests in 10 cabins in the Galápagos.

River assignments come from Avalon’s ship list in October 2026 and can change by season. Guest counts and build years for the European ships come from the fleet table on Wikipedia.

Avalon is growing slowly on purpose. Its president, Pamela Hoffee, told Cruise Industry News in October 2025 that the line plans to add about one or two ships a year. No new ship for 2027 had been named in the sources we could read.

What an Avalon cruise fare includes

Avalon’s own pages describe the suites better than the fare, so this list follows a summary published by The Cruise Web, a cruise seller, and updated in June 2026. Check your own booking before you count on any item.

• Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner, with no fixed seating times.
• Drinks: regional wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, and sparkling wine at breakfast. Coffee and tea are available all day.
• Happy hour: every evening except the first.
• Excursions: a choice in each port, in three styles that Avalon calls Classic, Active and Discovery.
• Gear: bikes, e-bikes and walking sticks to borrow, plus fitness classes.
• Wi-Fi: Starlink Wi-Fi on the European ships. It may differ outside Europe.
• Evening entertainment: a program called Avalon After Dark, which started in 2026.

What costs extra. Premium spirits and cocktails outside meals and happy hour, spa treatments, laundry, flights and private excursions.

Gratuities depend on where you book. The Cruise Web lists tips for the cruise director and crew as extra for its customers, and says Avalon sometimes includes them as an offer on select sailings. Avalon’s UK site says gratuities are included. Ask before you pay.

For how this compares with ocean lines, see our all-inclusive cruise guide. Another river line that includes wine and beer with meals, excursions and Wi-Fi is AmaWaterways.

Where Avalon cruises sail in 2026 and 2027

Avalon river cruises in Europe

Europe is most of the business. Avalon sails the Danube, the Rhine, the Main and the Moselle in central Europe, the Rhône, the Saône and the Seine in France, the Garonne around Bordeaux and the Douro in Portugal. The Danube and the Rhine have by far the most departures.

Avalon counts in days. Its listings run from five and six days, such as Danube Symphony between Germany and Hungary, to eight days, such as Burgundy & Provence and Danube Dreams. Nine-night cruises were added in 2025. The Bordeaux cruise can be joined to the Seine, the Rhône and the Rhine to make trips of 14 or 21 nights.

A river cruise and an ocean cruise in Europe are different trips. River ships tie up in or near town centers and can’t reach islands or coastal ports. Our European cruises guide covers the ocean side.

Avalon cruises 2026: Christmas and themed sailings

The 2026 season ends with Christmas cruises on the Rhine and the Danube. Avalon lists them under names like Christmastime in Alsace & Germany and Christmastime on the Danube, at five to seven days. Our Christmas and New Year cruise guide compares them with holiday sailings at sea.

Avalon also sorts its European cruises by interest: wine, beer, culinary, music, history, and Active & Discovery. Burgundy & Provence for Wine Lovers is one example.

The Mekong, the Nile, the Amazon and the Galápagos

Outside Europe, Avalon sells four regions.

• Mekong: Avalon Saigon, with 36 guests, in Vietnam and Cambodia. The line said its Mekong sales for 2025–26 were 76% ahead of the year before.
• Nile: MS Farah in Egypt.
• Amazon: Delfin III in Peru.
• Galápagos: MS Infinity, a 20-guest ship. This one is an ocean trip, not a river.

How Avalon compares with other lines

• Against other river lines: AmaWaterways also carries fewer than 200 guests and includes wine and beer with meals. Avalon’s difference is the room: a 200-square-foot suite on most of the ship. Viking runs a large river fleet alongside its ocean ships.
• Against ocean lines: the smallest ocean ships in our luxury and small-ship ranking start at around 150 guests, which is where Avalon’s ships top out. An ocean ship gives you sea days and more places to eat. A river ship gives you a town almost every day.
• New competition: Celebrity plans its first river sailings on the Rhine and Danube for August 2027.

Avalon cruise prices

Our monthly price snapshot covers ocean sailings, so this page shows no from-price for Avalon. Three checks help when you compare river fares.

• Count what is included. Add drinks with meals, excursions and Wi-Fi to an ocean fare before you compare it with a river fare.
• Ask about gratuities. They can be included, prepaid or left to you, depending on the booking.
• Check the room. A Panorama Suite is 200 square feet. The ships also have deluxe staterooms, so confirm which one a quoted fare is for.

Avalon runs offers on select 2027 cruises, including a waived single supplement on some sailings, so solo travelers should ask what applies to their date.

Avalon cruises FAQ

Is Avalon cruises the same as Avalon Waterways?

Yes. Avalon Waterways is the company’s name. Avalon cruises, Avalon cruise line and Avalon Waterways cruises are the ways people search for it.

Who owns the Avalon cruise line?

The Globus family of brands, a private travel group that also sells escorted tours. Avalon Waterways started in 2004 with one ship, Avalon Artistry. Its head offices are in Littleton, Colorado, and Lugano, Switzerland.

How many Avalon cruise ships are there?

Avalon listed 15 ships in Europe in October 2026, plus Avalon Saigon on the Mekong. It also lists one ship each on the Nile, the Peruvian Amazon and the Galápagos.

Are drinks included on Avalon cruises?

Wine, beer and soft drinks are included with lunch and dinner, there is sparkling wine at breakfast and a happy hour most evenings, and coffee and tea are available all day. Premium spirits and drinks at other times cost extra.

What is a Panorama Suite on Avalon?

It is the main room type on Avalon’s Suite Ships: 200 square feet in Europe, with a floor-to-ceiling window that opens across the outer wall. On Avalon Saigon the suites are 245 square feet.

What is new on Avalon cruises in 2026?

An evening entertainment program called Avalon After Dark started in 2026. The line also added nine-night cruises and a Bordeaux itinerary in 2025, and both continue.