My husband and I gave our travel agent an impossible list of criteria for a special vacation to celebrate our 20th anniversary. (We are both in our 70s but very active and fit.) Chip suggested Uniworld’s SS Joie de Vivre… lots of activity and history for my husband, lots of glamour and luxury for me, excellent food and service for us both. I was delighted to go to Paris (my husband not so sure), and even the un-history person in me was thrilled to visit the Normandy beaches where my father landed on D-Day.

Uniworld met us at the airport and delivered us to the Hotel du Louvre for our pre-trip extension. The local guide, lovely Marie-Line, met us, treated us to a cocktail, and explained the next day. The planned excursion was a walking tour, which was so very entertaining (there were only five of us!) and then a visit to the Paris Opera House, which is the inspiration for Phantom of the Opera. She accompanied us and set us up with the technology, and it was a fabulous tour. She then gave us so many ideas for other sites that we ended up walking 16,000 steps that day! We finished our day with dinner in the Hotel du Louvre bar, which is a breathtakingly gorgeous room with a stained glass ceiling.

Uniworld provided a huge coach to take us to the ship, and we fell in love with her right away. But since we boarded early, they provided a separate boat tour to the Eiffel Tower. The scenery was beautiful, but the local sightseeing boat was just average. Read more