I chose the Thalassa Tours European Western Seaboard cruise because I wanted to improve my understanding of part of EU history; Thalassa Tours chose to partner with Swan Hellenic which turned out to be a great decision. The small size of the ship (max 192 passengers) allowed it to enter some small, “non-standard” ports that larger cruise ships ignore. As my primary goal was shore excursions, I did not miss the lack of water slides, the lack of 24-hour casinos, etc.

The shore excursions were well-planned, and special considerations ensured that mobile passengers were not held back by those passengers that had mobility issues.

On this trip there were absolutely no rude surprises, everything was on schedule, food was great, ship-board restaurant service was great, and the cabins were large enough. The ship rocked a bit from some big waves for a few hours outside of Amsterdam, but from then on, for the next 10 days, the ship was rock-stable.