Panorama Suite Ships were launched last year and will make their first French voyages in March 2015
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Avalon Waterways will debut its recently launched Panorama Suite Ships in France in March 2015.
Debuted last March, Avalon Tapestry II will begin service on 28 March with a ‘Paris to Normandy’s Landing Beaches’ cruise. The ship will start in Paris and sail down the Seine to visit sites in Normandy – including the World War II landing beaches – the artist village of Auvers-sur-Oise, Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny and historic Rouen.
Meanwhile Avalon Poetry II, which was christened by World Champion and gold medal Olympian Katherine Grainger CBE last March, will debut in France with a ‘Burgundy & Provence’ cruise on 27 March.
Departing from Arles, the ship will sail on the Rhone to Chalon-sur-Saone and combine a seven-night cruise with an overnight stay at the Fairmont Monte Carlo as well as a two-night stay in Paris. Highlights include guided sightseeing tours in Paris and Lyon, wine tasting in Beaune, visits to the medieval cities of Tournon and Viviers, the fortified city of Avignon and the capital of Arles, the capital of Provence.
Both vessels feature two full decks of Panorama suites with wall-to-wall panoramic windows that open to create ‘open air balconies’. The newbuilds also feature a hairdressers salon, a fitness room, a Club lounge, Panorama lounge, Observation Lounge and dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a Sky Deck with a Jacuzzi and Sky Bistro.
Following the ceremony, both ships embarked on a four-day inaugural river cruise between Cologne, Germany and Amsterdam, Holland. They will then offer a range of itineraries on the Dutch Waterways, Rhine and the Danube rivers.