We chose this cruise because we wanted to visit Charleston, Savannah, Hilton Head and other southern islands on a small ship. There were only 89 passengers! A bonus was that we learned a lot about US history related to the Civil War that we never learned in school!

We started in Charleston and I recommend spending an additional night there to explore this beautiful, historic city before the cruise. Beaufort, South Carolina was really charming as well ( the location for the filming of Forest Gump). Other shore excursions included tours of civil war plantations, a slave praise house, historic homes and city landmarks. The local tour guides were great. Along the intra coastal waterways (which I never knew existed) we saw many bird species, Atlantic bottle nose dolphins, wild horses, and a few alligators too. I wish we had a bit more time in Hilton Head so we could have played a round of golf at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Our cabin was nice, the staff was consistently good and we especially enjoyed the open seating at all the meals. The nightly cocktail reception and dining was casual. Afterwards there was evening entertainment in the lounge. Read more