Legendary River Cruises. Inspired Design. Dream Vacation Added To My List.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Avalon Waterways. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'll be honest. I've never really thought much about taking a cruise. What's the point? I figured, since I saw it as just staying in a hotel that happened to be moving -- the cruise ship being the hotel, of course. As nice as the cruise seemed, it was still "stuck in a hotel," eating a lot. (Okay, I liked that last part.)

Then I checked out the Avalon Waterways cruises at www.avalonwaterways.com, and changed my mind.

Avalon Waterways has these river and ocean cruises that have completely changed my mind about the cruise experience. They've got boats that have suites, not tiny cabins -- some suites are big enough to fit 100 people in them at once, and some suites have open-air balconies. Their suites are, on average, 30% larger than other companies'.

They run these boats primarily (as I gather) on river cruises through scenic locations -- so you get to see the constantly-changing sites outside your room: Not just ocean to look at, but architecture and history sliding by while you enjoy the cool air and warm sun in luxury.

Their ships are new, too-- Avalon's developed more ships than any other company IN THE WORLD since 2005, and they've got Open Air Balconies that are better than typical balconies; you've got to see them on the 3D tour they offer on their site to truly understand how different they are, but here's a stat to get you their: the balconies can be enjoyed at any time of day, in ANY weather condition-- making them open 8,760 hours a year (as compared to the miniscule 150 hours a year you can use a regular cruise-ship balcony.)

There are panoramic windows, and it's all the height of luxury. And best of all, they offer more than just river cruises: What got me lured in was their Galapagos island cruises -- the same luxury, with the exotic Galapagos Islands as the destination, with up to 17 days on the Islands and Peru. I was ready to sign up right away, until I remembered that Sweetie took away my credit card privileges.

I was able, though, to Request a free cruise brochure to try to convince Sweetie to sign up - -and with their River Cruise Deals I'll be able to afford it, too.