Having been on another Avalon Cruise (Cambodia/Vietnam) choosing Avalon again was an easy decision. I booked the Rhine cruise for November based on traveling to Europe in the slower season. A couple weeks before the cruise, Avalon emailed to say we were upgraded from deck 2 to deck 3 (the only difference is deck 3 being higher...this is not very important at all and I wouldn't spend more $ to be 1 deck higher). Avalon does such a great job of organizing the tour...everything is so well planned and executed. Most of the excursions are very educational or situated well to the attractions of the area. We loved the excursions in Colmar, the Black Forest, the Jewish tour and so many more...Great job Avalon. The local guides they use are great. The boat itself is beautiful and very well kept. Our room was very comfortable with the floor to ceiling windows. The attendants were great and always kept the room immaculate. The bathrooms are very large for a boat. Here is an area in which they excel over their competition...food. The food was always very good and that's hard to do for 100 people (but easier than 4,000 on a mega ship). There is very limited entertainment on the boat...but that was OK with us. Overall a great trip and we met a lot of very fun and interesting people.