We like all inclusive cruises. we had many friends and acquaintances recommend scenic, as did our travel agent. you could book your cruise southbound from paris to nice, but the dates worked better for us to go from nice to paris. i can't see why it matters where you start and end. going up river was fine. picking the best dates of the cruise for our group were more important. the trip was wonderful. the two of us went with 4 other friends and we had so much fun together. the entire staff went out of their way to make our cruise very pleasurable. we started in nice arriving three days early. the transfer from le meridien hotel to the docks at tarascon on the rhone river was by bus and was about three hours, but the bus was a first class vehicle and we stopped half way for a lunch break. embarkation and disembarkation were very well handled by the scenic staff. once on the cruise, everyone in our group were blown away by how knowledgable and pleasant every tour guide was. i am sure scenic made sure they had the best of the best. guided tours were so much better than just getting off the boat and wandering around by yourself in our opinions. we went through 12 locks on our trip. the rooms were typical cruise-small, but well appointed - and the balcony had an electric glass window that lowered to give you a nice balcony experience in the warm weather days. we danced many nights to some good live performers. great meals and wines of course. the "special table" dinners were very very good. we finished with three nights in paris on our own before flying home.