This was our first River Cruise, though we have done many Ocean Cruises. The ship is very nice, with a cozy feeling. The cabin was great, quite spacious with nice amenities, and the housekeeper keep our room spotless. There are not many lounge areas, just two, but given that this is a River Ship I guess it is to be expected that there are not many areas to hang out. The itinerary was as expected, except that we always sailed at night, and docked in industrial ports, so it really wasn't a scenic cruise at all. Some people had planned to stay onboard in certain ports, but it would have been quite boring for them. There were long shuttle rides to get to the interesting cities and tours. The food was really not as good as we expected. Dinner always started at 7pm, was served very slowly, so we ended up done at around 830 or 9pm, and the food was not that tasty. Soups were always just a broth, desserts were quite tiny, entrees were cheap and not imaginative. We thought the food on River Cruises would be kind of upscale but this was not the case on this Avalon Cruise. In fact a server tried to pass off Corn Syrup as Maple Syrup one morning! This is not the cruise for you if you enjoy good food as part of your trip. Also, there was virtually no entertainment on board. We had been told that regional performers would be brought on each evening but this was not the case at all. It was a nice trip, but not s good as we were expecting.