Cruise was 7 days from New Orleans. Daily stops in river towns like Natchez and Vicksburg were filled with history and wonderful tours of civil war battle fields, Southern mansions, museums and walking tours of historic districts. The daily selection of excursions was varied to accommodate every type of activity and interest. On board lectures and watercolor painting classes were great. Food was fantastic and nightly on board entertainment was varied and high quality. The educational aspects of the trip was the highlight for me. Local guides on the excursions were all extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. American Cruise lines have their own coach buses that follow the cruise route so every day you have quality and comfortable transportation. The tours are 1/2 days so you can do a morning and afternoon tour if you want. The buses return to the ship for lunch. Most days we did 1 tour and then walked the local town the other 1/2 day. I would highly recommend this cruise.