Although I have been on several ocean cruises, this was my first river cruise, and we were thrilled with every single aspect of the trip. When we told our travel agent we wanted to visit the Netherlands in tulip season, our travel agent suggested AmaWaterways, and it turned out to be the perfect choice. Because the river boats are much smaller than the ocean-going cruise ships -- 150 passengers and 49 crew members -- we felt well-cared for on every aspect of the trip.

On our first night we were greeted with a glass of champagne and a long-stemmed red rose, and the individual attention continued throughout our journey. The spacious cabins offer plenty of closet space and an unusually large and comfortable bathroom. The large dining room is set up with booths and small tables that create a relaxing atmosphere for diners to enjoy truly excellent meals. Breakfast is buffet style, and lunch and dinner are served by very attentive waiters. At the dinner hour the sommelier provides a choice of wines chosen to complement the creatively planned and gorgeously-presented food.

The off-shore excursions are included in the price of the cruise and they are all planned for several different levels of active participation. Passengers can choose between gentle, regular or more-active walking tours or biking expeditions at nearly every port. This makes for smaller groups on each excursion, which means you are not always straining to get a view of whatever you are supposed to see. And each participant is given a quiet-vox listening device connected to the guide's microphone making it easy to hear the the commentary. Because 2017/2018 was a harsher than usual winter, we were concerned that the tulips might not be blooming when we were there. We had no reason to worry, however. A few days before we embarked, we were blessed with warmer than usual temperatures and by the time we got to the Keukenhoff Gardens -- highlight of the trip -- the flowers were spectacular. Read more