we have been on several ocean cruises and was told by a couple that had been on thirty or more cruises that the river cruise experience was excellent. We quickly learned that they were correct. The ship is smaller therefore you get to meet more of the passengers on a regular basis. The cabin met all of our needs providing the elbow room that a six foot seven inch man would need. The excursions were interesting and provided a great deal of information and history that I did not recall. The meals were very good and the staff were excellent making every attempt to make us enjoy our cruise.. The negatives were no fitness center and the ship store was quite limited making it difficult to spend all of our shipboard credits. We feel that another cruise is in our future we were hoping that they could provide a cruise on the Mississippi River in the United States.