We heard about the cruise from friends that were booked on it so that was our incentive for considering it. Our main reason for booking the cruise was the itinerary and some of the shore excursions. Although having traveled extensively, we had never been on a cruise of any sort so we thought this might be a good time to try one. As we found out, an enjoyable advantage of cruising is not having to pack and unpack as you move to the next destination.

We stopped in Paris for a couple of days before continuing to Lisbon. We also had a couple of days in Lisbon prior to embarkation. We arranged these things independently, trying to maximize our time in Europe and to avoid any possible travel snafus that would interfere with the cruise.

Highlights of this cruise included a shore excursion to Santiago de Compostela; Bilbao, Spain and the Guggenheim; docking right in Bordeaux with easy access to everything; the shore excursion in Saint Malo to Le Mont Saint-Michel, the Normandy Landings outside of Honfleur, and cruising up the Thames River - under the Tower Bridge and docking next to the Belfast battleship in the city center - Awesome experience! Read more