First time cruiser, age 31. Went with my wife, also 31. We're very active and fit and tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. I had never been to Europe before and my wife had a conference in France the following week, so we decided to start in Venice, get on the cruise ship, and finish in France.

The ship was a decent size. I hear there are bigger, newer ships in the fleet, but I was quite satisfied with this one. Pool areas were lovely, although often crowded and people liked to reserve lounge chairs for hours with their towels. The Solarium was a great alternative on bad weather days and had a very "zen" feeling about it, and spa music playing over the speakers. Plenty of entertainment venues, and we were never lacking for things to do.

Food was excellent. We stuck to the Windjammer for breakfast and the Edelweiss (reserved seating) for dinners, and usually did lunch out in the port. I love breakfast buffets so I had no problems whatsoever with the Windjammer, although I see many reviews saying the buffet is horrible and the lines are terrible. Didn't notice any of that here. For dinner, we were lucky to get a table with another similar-aged couple, and the food was spectacular. Didn't try any of the specialty restaurants, for a few reasons: 1) we were hounded to try them every single day on the cruise by roaming salespeople, 2) we enjoyed the company of our Edelweiss table more than sitting alone, and 3) the Edelweiss food was great, and had the benefit of being included in our cruise fare. Read more