A friend that is a travel agent alerted my husband and me to a deal. Boy are we glad we took it! This was our first time cruising and because of the ship size and helpful staff it was really easy to find everything and get questions answered. The food was mouth watering! There was always choice at every meal and quality ingredients were used. It enhanced the travel experience by incorporating the wine, beers, breads and other food items from the local places we were visiting. Your glass was never empty, as the servers were very attentive. The live entertainment that was brought on board was very good. However, I must say the DJ that was in the lounge during happy hour, did not play a variety of music and many songs were repeated night after night. The quality of his sound system was great though. The wine and beer tastings were educational and fun. A wine master did tastings and a wine pairing meal that was to die for. The beer brewers did a presentation in lederhosen! How fun was that! I cannot even put into words, the beauty of the cities/towns we visited. A Very romantic backdrop! The chosen stops gave us the flavor of the countries. We never felt rushed, just the perfect pace. The guides really gave us in depth information and land transport went smoothly. We definitely would cruise with Avalon again to another destination.