The brand new Emerald Dawn sparkled with attention from the hard-working and friendly staff. Much more glam and sparkly than what I anticipated. We enjoyed the local entertainment that was brought on board in the evenings (eg. Hungarian dancers from local school, Romanian dancers) and the hilarious show the crew put on the second last evening of the cruise. Although I knew the cruise was likely to be senior citizens, I was disappointed with the number of guests that were of the younger crowd (At 50, I believe I was the second youngest on board).

It was definitely a luxurious method of travel, but the best way to see these countries as the daily excursions were planned to take in the highlights of the area. A few of the excursions were not the original plan, as the water levels of the Danube had become too low, and therefore the excursions were not as interesting as anticipated. However, those are some of the risks of river cruising--nature accommodates no one!!