Our family of six, four young adults in their twenties and my husband and I (fifty-somethings), all had a great time on our cruise! There was a wide range of activities, enough to please everyone and keep us all busy (maybe too busy at times...we had to take some breaks!). The food was outstanding, with many choices at every meal. The dining room staff was professional, yet also comfortable and familiar for our family. The shore excursions were great...each day we thought that the next day couldn't possibly get any better, but it did each day. We loved having the bikes available, to just take off when we had spare time and explore on our own. We really liked the headsets that we used on excursions. They were easy to use, worked well, and allowed us to hear the very informative tour guides.

I do have one suggestion. We arrived in the departure city around 10 am and got to the boat about 11AM. We were exhausted from our flights and just wanted a place to rest. Unfortunately our cabins were not ready until 3 PM. We literally slept (uncomfortably) in the ship's lounge as we waited for them to prepare our cabins. I wonder if there isn't a way for Avalon to plan better for this, giving those of us who had traveled immediately before our arrival (as opposed to those who may have spent the previous night in a hotel in the departure city) access to our cabins more quickly. Since our air travel was arranged through Avalon, this might be possible and it would have made our first day more pleasant.