We arrived in New York City 5 days prior to the cruise so we could explore the city as we hadn't been back there for almost 15 years. Stayed at Embassy Suites Midtown, great location for walking and taking the subway.

Embarkation was easy and quick. Just dropped off the bags and they had pedi-cabs to take us to the ship around the corner. We had an AC cabin with balcony. Had nice amount of space, and of course small bathroom (no bathrooms are big on ships). Food was excellent with lots of lobster, scallops, shrimp even thought this wasn't a New England cruise.

The entertainment was low key, with local singers, comedians brought on board as we cruised. Service was excellent and crew really tried hard. The "river historian" or whatever the overall guide is called had emergency gall bladder surgery so didn't show up, can't blame her! In mid cruise we had a new guide, Robert who was excellent. Lots of background on the places we were going and very entertaining. Read more