We were on the Avalon Creativity October/16 Paris to Normandy Landing cruise.

The ship was built in 2009 & has a maximum capacity of 138 passengers. It has 3 decks of staterooms, with a sky deck on 4. The lounge/bar, reception, cruise director’s desk & public computer areas are on the entrance deck, between decks 2 & 3 at the front end of the ship. The dining room is also at the front end of the ship, but between decks 1 & 2. The smaller lounge, where the coffee machine & snacks are, is a quiet area, is at the back of the ship on deck 3, next to the hair salon. The small, very small gym with cardio equipment & few light dumbbells is on deck 1, by the stairway up to the dining room, next to our room. The gym does not get used much, except for the rare ocassional use of the treadmill. The room is fairly well insulated, but you will hear a little bit of thumping if you concentrate & listen, but nothing to be alarmed about. The public areas on the ship are clean & generally very well maintained.

In June/16, we had a French balcony stateroom on the Avalon Luminary, but were not in the room as much as we thought we would be, as such, we decided to try an outside cabin this time around. Read more