We took this Danube River Cruise in July as part of a special charter so all comments may not be valid but I think most of them are.

Brendan uses the ms Artistry & ms Poetry from Avalon Waterways for these trips. Each ship carry a maximum of 180 passengers. These ships are virtually identical with the difference being carpet color and the Poetry having 4 larger suites compared to the Artistry having only 2. Regular cabins, while fairly small at about 160 sq ft, were surprisingly pleasant and well appointed. The bathroom is small with only a stall shower that is extremely small. Cabins on the 2nd and 3rd levels all have sliding glass doors for windows which make them feel more spacious. 1st level cabins have picture windows but these cabins cannot be recommended since ½ the window is usually submerged below water. Also, often when the ship is docked (especially at busier ports), it is docked right next to another ship so looking out the window, you’d see directly into a window of the adjacent ship – but this is less bothersome if you are higher up.

The ship basically has 3 public “rooms” (Dining Room, Lounge, Sun Deck). The Dining Room is basically setup with tables for 6. Seating is open (you are not assigned to any specific table). Breakfast and lunch are buffet style and is usually available for 1.5-2 hours. Dinner is sit down and they usually encourage people to eat at the same time. Food is fairly good but not up to the standards of “luxury” lines’ food. At dinner, wine is included. All drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) with the exception of ice water and iced tea are charged. The Sun Deck is a very nice place to sit and view the passing scenery if the weather is nice but there is basically no shade up there. The lounge can be very crowded with somewhat bad sight lines for shows when most of the passengers are there.

The shore excursions were fairly well done (again not quite to luxury lines’ standards) but at a considerably lower cost (perhaps included on non-chartered trips) with the most expensive full day excursion (including 1.5 hour bus ride each way) to Salzburg costing $59 each. Also, unlike large cruises, each docking (with the exception of Vienna) is basically right in the middle of the city/town.

7/14-15/05 Cincinnati – Paris - Prague on Delta/Air France – The usual Business Class flights Transatlantic with a connection in CDG (used the arrivals Business Class lounge for a shower which was hard to find (tucked back in a corner in Terminal 2B).

7/15/05 Prague – Took an airport taxi to the hotel (fixed rate) of approximately $30. Hotel which was part of the River Cruise package was the Hilton, which is a large modern building on the outskirts of the center of the city. Hotel was decent large hotel without much personality with fairly typical European property of an American chain appointments. There was a cocktail reception for the cruise with RSVP staff and the cruise director (a German lady). Dinner was on your own. We decided to have dinner at the hotel because we were tired and the directions to get to the center of the city was very confusing and unclear even though it was literally only about an easy 10 min walk from the Hilton.

7/16/05 Prague – Breakfast buffet in the chaotic restaurant was included prior to a morning tour of Prague on buses which took us up to the Castle area where we spent a couple of hours then back down to the center of the city after which a transfer back to the hotel was available. In the evening we walked back to the center of the city for dinner.

7/17/05 Prague Bus Transfer to Ship in Nuremberg Germany – Breakfast buffet again then we were requested to put the bags out and check out of the room by 10 AM since they needed to clean the room for guests arriving back in Prague from the boat which was rather annoying since the bus transfer was not going to leave until around 1 PM. We checked out around 11 AM and then waited in the lobby for the bus. The 3 busloads of cruise passengers left for the 3.5 hour drive to Nuremberg where we boarded the ship ms Artistry for the cruise on the Danube (Canal at that point – that night and the next morning in particular but throughout the whole cruise we went through quite a few locks).

7/18/05 Regensberg Germany – There was a morning excursion to a hilltop ruin of an abbey that we did not go on since the escort for the transfer to the ship from Prague recommended against it and we wanted to enjoy a more leisurely morning. After lunch we docked at Regensberg where we went on a brief walking excursion in the charming small city.

7/19/05 Passau Germany – Salzburg Austria Excursion – Linz Austria – We docked in Passau Germany fairly early in the morning to board buses for the all-day excursion to Salzburg Austria (1.5 hour bus ride away). This was the only day that we had that had somewhat inclement weather since it rained most of the morning including part of the time in Salzburg. Upon arrival in Salzburg we toured the gardens made famous in Sound of Music across the river from the main part of town. Afterwards, the guide took us on a walking tour of the main part of town (outside of Mozart’s birthplace, the Cathedral, a historical cemetery that had metal markers for graves). Prior to lunch the guide took interested individuals up the tramway to the Castle on top of the hill which overlooks Salzburg (not included in the tour – cost was an extra 6 Euros each person – but well worth the cost). Lunch was on your own. My impression is that Salzburg is such a charming city but has way too many tourists. Mid-afternoon was the bus ride back to the ship (which had moved during the day) now docked in Linz Austria.

7/20/05 Melk Austria – the Wachau – Durnstein Austria – The morning stop was in Melk Austria with an excursion up to Melk Abbey. The abbey is quite spectacular and sits on top of a hill overlooking the town. Melk Abbey probably could be done on your own but since the excursion cost was quite low, having a guide was beneficial. Midday was sailing down the Danube through a region known as the Wachau, which is known for their vineyards and orchards. Afternoon stop was in the village of Durnstein with an excursion of brief walk around the village and a wine tasting. Again, Durnstein is easily done on your own especially if you weren’t interested in the wine tasting. After this brief stop, we sailed on to Vienna with a very late evening arrival. In Vienna, we docked in an area reserved for riverboats which is probably about a 20 min walk to the center of the city which can also be reached via Subway (nearest stop is about 5 min walk from the dock) at a nominal cost and 3 subway stops away.

7/21/05 Vienna Austria – The morning excursion was a bus ride around in Ring where many of Vienna’s highlights are located followed by a walking tour around St Stephen’s Cathedral and the heart of the city. We took a tour of the Vienna State Opera afterwards with the Opera House’s tour group which was very interesting and well worth the nominal cost. We had a light lunch at Demel’s, perhaps Vienna’s most famous coffeehouse with fabulous cakes and amazing hot chocolate. Demel’s is located near St Stephen’s Square and also near the Hofburg Palace. In the afternoon, we went to see Freud’s Vienna home (before he emigrated to London). This evening, we had dinner with two other couples from the ship at one of Vienna’s grand restaurants, Drei Hussar, which was very good but was quite expensive and took way too long.

7/22/05 Vienna Austria – This morning, we took an excursion out to Schonbrunn Palace and the Belvedere Palace area. In the afternoon, we went to the Kunst Historiche Museum, art museum for the art acquired by the various Habsburg family members in their empire. In the evening, we went to a musical performance in the Kur Salon (where Johann Strauss had numerous performances) that the cruise director had arranged outside of the excursion program. It was interesting but was crowded with tourists and the performance quality was mediocre. I’m not sure that I would really recommend this especially for the cost of 45 Euros.

7/23/05 Bratislava Slovakia – We took the city excursion which included a stop at the Soviet war memorial, the Castle, walking tour of the charming city. We had lunch with a group of people from the ship at a local restaurant. This stop was a pleasant surprise as we were expecting a totally dreary city. In the afternoon, we paid for the excursions and other extras (concert in Vienna) with the cruise director. She spent all afternoon doing this, somehow this was very poorly organized and left a lot of room for error since it was very manually done.

7/24/05 Budapest Hungary – Disembarkation was this morning. There was an optional city tour (again organized as an extra from the program by the cruise director) that included a drive around the city, a stop at the monuments to past monarchs of Hungary, and up to the Castle on the Buda side of the city. Afterwards, we were dropped off at our hotel, the Sofitel Atrium. The Sofitel is a modern hotel well located very near the foot of the Chain Bridge and adjacent to a pedestrian mall area on the Pest side. Room was very nice. Our post-cruise rate was fairly reasonable at $210. We had planned on trying out the Four Seasons but took this post-cruise hotel figuring it would be easier logistically. The Four Seasons is virtually next door. Some people from the ship had the post-cruise hotel at the Hilton in the Castle area of Buda. I think that the Pest side has much more to do within walking distance. That evening, we had dinner with a group (the people that we kind of socialized with during the cruise) at a local restaurant that was very reasonably priced with good food (don’t remember the name since we didn’t arrange it).

7/25/05 Budapest – Paris – Cincinnati – Very early morning departure from the hotel at 5 AM via cab which was reserved and paid for in the hotel (strongly recommended). Again the usual flights with the exception that the Air France ticket counter in Budapest could not find the Electronic ticket number of our segment from Paris to Cincinnati (not sure what the problem was since they could find the Budapest – Paris segment – and miles had already been taken for the Transatlantic upgrade). Fortunately, I had the ticket receipt so they just converted it to a paper ticket. In the future, I think we’re going to try to connect in Amsterdam rather than Paris since the Paris airport is an absolute nightmare for connections.

I’ll be happy to try to answer any particular questions that people may have.

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much for your river cruise review. I guess the first questions that come to my mind are -

How would you rate your overall river cruise experience, excluding the shore excursions provided? Would you do it again? Was your experience comparable in any way to Radisson experiences insofar as service, amenities, etc.? How about entertainment and lectures?

Alan and I have reserved a Seine river cruise with Deilmann, thanks to winning a contest, as you may remember. I am quite eager to know the answers to these questions. I may have more to ask along the way.

Thanks!

Hi Denise,

I would say that the overall experience is a notch below Radisson even though I think it was one of the best River Cruise ships there is. Service I would say is also a notch below. Since the ship is smaller with limited public space, there really isn't much in terms of amenities - there is a jacuzzi and a sauna on deck 2. (Anything else, please ask). I probably can't answer about entertainment since this was a special charter and some of the entertainment was provided by the charter operator. No lectures other than daily port information given by the Cruise Director.

For us, we had a really good time but a lot of it was from the social aspects of the trip and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It might be completely different with the typical River Cruise clientele however, since they are generally considerably older.

We docked next to a Deilmann ship in Vienna and had a chance to walk through the lobby area (this is common practice since there is often not enough dock space) and it seemed more traditional in decor (perhaps a bit more elegant).

I think the one recommendation I would have for you is not to take a cabin on the lowest level of the ship (the sensation of windows that don't open and water sloshing around 1/2 way up is very strange - we only saw it in a open cabin when we first boarded).

Let me know if you have any other particular questions.

Thanks for the fantastic and detailed review, Peter! We've toyed around with the idea of a river cruise in Europe and that itinerary covers a lovely section of the Danube. I just can't get enthused enough to actually book one. I'm more inclined to do a barge where I can bicycle during the day & reboard the barge at night. I learned on our Yantgze cruise I get itchy with all the group tours. Next thing I know .. I'm AWOL.

Give our best to Marc. Cheers, Anne & Gary

Peter, thanks for your review. What was your favorite city? DId you feel you saw more or less than a typical "big ship" cruise?

I really liked Vienna (although I've been there before) otherwise probably Budapest. I think we saw slightly more than on a "big ship" cruise because although it was basically one stop a day, the stops allowed for more exploration since you were right at the city and usually the stop was somewhat longer.

We did a Danube river cruise the other direction (Budapest to the Black Sea and back to Vienna) on Viking cruises last year. I agree with Anne, the daily group tours got to be a little much some days, but the up side is that it was an incredibly good way to see a lot of Eastern Europe--places I would probably never have gotten to otherwise. We stopped several places in Hungary, the various new countries that emerged from the old Yugoslavia (Serbia,Croatia, etc), Slovakia Bulgaria, Romania and ended up in Austria. It was facinating to see how far some of the countries have progressed since they came out from under communism (interestingly, they call it the Socialist regime in most of those countries). Hungary is very modern but Romania has a long way to go--they still do much of their farm work with a pitchfork and scythe. The funniest thing we saw was a young man hauling a wagon full of hay pulled by a team of horses--no motorized vehicles around, but he was talking on a cell phone. Go figure. Anyway, we'd recommend the trip if you are interested in really seeing Eastern Europe--it was fascinating. Viking did a really good job, but I think most of those river lines are similar. One thing we did like is that everyone on the boat we were on was either from Canada, U.S., U.K., Australia or New Zealand. It saved a lot of time not having to hear everything in several different languages.

Peter: Thanks for taking the time to post such a great review!!

Thanks for the info. Any problems with cigarette smoke?

Excellent information. Thanks to all for answering our questions.

We are booked and reserved for June 3-10, 2006 on Peter Deilmann. Just got our confirmation in the mail today. We are located on the upper deck in cabin #1 on the MV Cezanne.

On our ship it was no smoking except for out on the open deck.

I really appreciated and enjoyed reading your review, Peter. Thank you!

Denise - you leave the same day WAVE starts - where is your river cruise?

Thanks for the review, Peter! I've always been interested in European river cruises - good to hear more about them!

Masaki

Paris to Paris, cruising along the Seine, Kathy. We've never visted Paris and plan to spend 3 days prior to the cruise seeing the sights and visiting the museums.

Denise -
That is the one I would want to do too! You and Alan would have a great time.