We got this cruise only a week prior to departure because our Viking cruise on the Elba was cancelled because of low water. Consequently, we ended up on the bottom level (floor 1), where there was no wi-fi; luckily my cellphone was able to track 4G/LTE signals most of the journey. We have been on several river cruises by other lines and this was at the top in dining and service. The cabin was spotless and the cabin bed makeup was more than twice a day and the bathroom seemed to be constantly in order.

The breakfast was wonderful; with a very large selection...including both British curly and American crisp style bacon (the only cruise we've been on that offered both). The scrambled eggs were superb and my wife loved the custom omelets. Dinners were more formal, but very good. It was our first cruise that offered frog legs or lobster (although not the Boston variety). Wine and beer were available at no charge throughout the day; both in dining and in the lounge.

In general, the excursions were quite good, except for the exceptionally crowded Monet gardens. The radios for the excursions were very big and relatively heavy, with volume that never seemed to be high enough. Sure, the devices had internal maps and pictures, but we didn't find them very useful. Most of the cruises we've been on had lightweight, pocketable excursion radios, with more comfortable earpieces. Other than that nit, we found the ship and the crew among the best river cruises we've been on.