Avalon Artistry II

Docking at ports along the Main, Rhine and Moselle rivers.  All of the ports were located in small German towns that featured fortified walls with towers, castles, palaces, beer and wine gardens, and small winding cobblestone streets with charming shops and inns.  We added two tours, one to Rothenberg and the other to Luxembourg and we really enjoyed them.  The dining and beverages were great, the common areas are attractive and comfortable  and the suites and crew were impeccable.

We also enjoyed Prague and Paris and the hotels in those cities that were part of the tour package.  I strongly recommend this cruise.       

The stateroom was gorgeous, just like on the photos.  The ship was a nice size, kind of intimate.  On the entire cruise, though, we never had a proper breakfast or lunch.  These were always buffets!  Disappointing.  The dinner service was not relaxed and the servers seemed to be rushed.  We had to repeatedly ask for a second glass of wine at every dinner, instead of the server anticipating our request.  The front desk help seemed a little imposed upon when we addressed them.  Often their answer was "that is not my area to address", instead of taking care of the customer with grace.  The nightly musician was stuck in the past!!  He didn't have one modern song.  It was like bad wedding music.  The excursions were really well organized and we went to lovely places.  The sundeck was nice, but there also should have been beverage service up there, rather than having to walk downstairs to get something.