We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Seine. Although the Neptune is an older ship which has to show its age and without the "flash" of newer vessels -- we had traveled on a sister ship four years ago so we new what to expect. However, in some ways, I liked the smaller size of the Neptune. The public areas easily accommodated the passengers without crowding. There were more smaller, round dining tables that facilitated conversations compared with the long, rectangular tables on some of the newer, large ships. Some of the reviews complained about delays in dining service. I am amazed at those comments -- we had lovely meals with never a problem of delays, and we never noticed anyone else having difficulties.

The tour itself was great. All the stops along the Seine were interesting, including Monet's house and garden at Giverny, Rouen and, of course, the day excursion to the D-Day beaches in Normandy. Of note, there were very few optional excursions at an additional cost -- the standard tours were all you needed.

Of special note, we greatly enjoyed our program director Lionel. He was informative while being very entertaining by injecting his great sense of humor into a pleasurable trip.