We were heading over to Spain for a wedding and wanted to see a bit of Europe while we were there. We started looking at river cruises because they seemed to offer the best variety of tours and excursions. We travelled from Budapest to Amsterdam. Embarking and disembarking was seamless. We didn't have any great expectations but were blown away with the professionalism of the crew and staff on board as well as the guides provided for the various tours who were really passionate about their jobs and keen to share their knowledge. Our room was on the top deck beside the salon which was great as it meant we had ready access to the lounge bar and deck at the back of the boat. The room was spacious and immaculate; the bed and pillows were luxurious and really comfortable. We loved the fact that we could open our doors and lay on the bed and watch the world float by as we cruised along although only managed to do this a couple of times. The staff couldn't do enough for us, they were exceptionally polite and helpful nothing was too much trouble. Each day our room was made up, including at night time (when the log fire was put on the TV) and the bed turned down. Laundry was washed, dried, pressed and returned promptly on the same day. The food was delicious especially the soups which were to die for. The waiting staff were always pleasant and went out of their way to ensure we had a good time. The ship was immaculate the only complaint we had was a terrible smell that lingered around the back of the boat we think it had something to do with the toilets. We absolutely loved the trip and will definitely look at doing another one soon. Well done Avalon!