This was our first river cruise and ten years since our last trip to France. We arrived in Bordeauex from Paris via the very effcient TGV high speed train on Sunday afternoon. Uniworld does not provide transfers from the train station, but since it was a beautiful day and Google Maps told me it was only two miles to the ship, we decided to walk. We travel light anyway so not a big deal. It ended up being closer to three miles, comment to Uniworld, a lot of passengers arrived by train so transfers from the train stations would be nice. Boarding was simple and after check in a staff member escorted us to our cabin and showed us around. We had been upgraded by Uniworld to a Cat. 2 cabin which has a picture window, it was beautiful and though slightly smaller than a ocean cruise cabin, had plenty of room for us. Although the food both at lunch and dinner on the first day was not that impressive, it improved tremendously once the cruise started and was excellent. Something not in the brochures is a small menu for breakfast that can be ordered in addition to the extensive buffet including pancakes, waffles and Eggs Benedict. The service was incredible on every level, there was no request that was denied. The tour guides were extremely knowledgable on the area and the wines of the region. The open bar is available 24/7 with great cocktails, wine, beer, champagne with many different brands to choose from. The ship was only at 60% capacity which really made it feel like a private yacht.