We chose this cruise at the urging of one of my wife's best friends, who had booked the cruise with her husband and wanted our company. Due to a packing mistake, I left my passport at home, and so had to send my wife without me, and the embarkation process went very smoothly for her. Thanks to some quick work on the part of our travel agent, I was able to fly to Europe the next day and joined the cruise boat a day late; the captain of the boat apparently held the boat 2 hours past its normal departure time and waited for my embarkation. The boat and cabin were pristine, and the food was very good. My wife has a lot of food allergies, but she was able to work with our waiter and the chef to get good lunches and dinners (breakfast is a buffet, so among the dozens of choices she was able to find ones that she could have). The service throughout the cruise was outstanding, as were the on-shore tours and excursions. We can't speak to evening entertainment because we rarely availed ourselves of what was offered; we did enjoy the afternoon lectures and slide shows that we attended. The one part of the cruise I was disappointed with was that, with the exception of one lock transit, we were not allowed outside on deck for any other lock transits and very rarely at other times. My wife and her friends were quite taken with the cruise and are already planning another for spring 2019. I found that I didn't care for the cruise experience, so I will continue to make my own individual adventures and not revisit river (or ocean) cruises ever again.