A friend did this cruise two years ago and raved about it so I along with 7 friends booked the same cruise for this June 14th cruise from Paris to the Beaches of Normandie. Everything was fabulous on the boat, the cruise director, the entire staff, the food, etc. The only issue was out of Avalon's control. Due to recent rains in and around Paris the Seine was very high and the boat could not get under some of the bridges so our cruise started further up the Seine than scheduled and we missed the last two nights on the boat and were put up in a hotel where we were spread out over a number of floors and the dinners were mediocre at best. No complaints at all about the boat or any of the time spent on it. The crew and food were exceptional. I did not use the fitness area, but heard it was good