What a marvelous experience we enjoyed! From the accommodations and staff, to the food and land tours, every detail was carefully orchestrated to allow all passengers to have the greatest trip possible.
The benefit of river cruises is the smaller number of passengers, allowing people to actually interact and to get to know one another. By the end of the trip, we felt as though we had made friends with a number of people and have had contact with them since returning home.
The crew members were amazing! They went out of their way to make certain every passenger had the perfect trip. It was the "little" gestures that made it an exceptional trip. When it was unseasonably cold for one land trip, we walk back onboard to crew members waiting at the door, greeting us with hot drinks. Another day, after being out all day on a land tour, they greeted us with warm hand towels to freshen our face and hands.
We thought the room was designed to make every single inch practical and very useful. Our ship was brand new, and a few quirks had not been worked out, but nothing that dampened our enjoyment. Our North Sea crossing was exceptionally rough, and water came in through our balcony doors and went all across the room. I'm not sure anything but Mother Nature was to blame, and it didn't ruin our trip in any way. The captain did an exceptional job that night. He is to be highly commended!