The cruise itself was awesome. I was the second-youngest onboard at 52 but I fit right in. Loved the staff, the food. The itinerary was jam-packed.
The downside of this trip is as follows:
Avalon seemed to book all 120 passengers from all over the globe on milk-run flights with stopovers and connecting flights to Paris taking as long as 10 hours. They changed our flight in Canada at the last minute from direct to a connecting flight in Montreal. As we sat on the tarmac at Pearson Int'l, I saw an Air France plane and wondered why we hadn't been booked on a direct flight. While on the flight from Montreal to CDG airport we were given dinner and then awoken at 5:30 am and given a slice of banana bread. That was the last meal for more than 10 hours. Quite disappointing and extremely unacceptable.
The boat is wonderful. Great design and excellent use of small space. The crew are all professional, friendly and more than willing to assist. The itinerary was jam packed.