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Actually most of the Russian river cruise ships were buildt in the former Democratic Republic of Germany (Eastern Germany) at Elbewerft Boizenburg GmbH. They buildt 28 river cruise ships in four different series between 1983 and 2003. Recently two Russian buildt newbuildts entered service. Putin did order those plus some ocean going vessels to build up a Russian cruise industry. steamboats

@Host Jazzbeau yes, Hurtigruten Expeditions owns 24.9 % of Metropolitan Touring. The Santa Cruz II is completely branded for Hurtigruten Expeditions although it´s of course operated by Metropolitan Touring. It´s a total of 3 itineraries (Western, Northern, Southern Galapagos) which can be combined to a total of 14 nights. The pre/post programs can also added very flexibel. Onboard there are no extra costs except for the shop and drinks which are not part of lunch or dinner. The excursions onboard and our pre cruise program in Quito were really led excellent. We did not expect a German guide but were welcomed at the airport in Quito in German. This went on til we went through security in Guayaquil. The guide there even stayed in line at the check-in counter with us. At the airport in Baltra and Guayaquil we had lounge access. All signs were Hurtigruten (and maybe a small Metropolitan Touring). It´s just that they have a different web app for the ship. BTW, more entries are online and I´m working on the last three ones. The first of those three will go online tomorrow. steamboats

The only way to get the ships out of Russia would have been a transport ship out of St. Petersburg for those on the St. Petersburg - Moscow itinerary. Yes, all the ships are Russian owned except for Viking. Those are Russian buildt as well. steamboats

I´d also suggest to get not more than 100 Euro. I hardly spend any cash money and I hit the ATM maybe every 6 weeks or so to retrieve 200 Euro and I´m living in Germany. But it´s the same for Italy. Tips in restaurants you can add to the check (and usually there is a "coperto" added to your check which covers tips) and pay with card. When you order Euro ask for small bills 20, 10 and 5. No 50, as you may only need it for smaller purchases like a bottle of water at a kiosk or so. steamboats

Civitatours is offering a bus transfer from Largo della Pace to Fiumicino at 9:30 am for 25 Euro pP. Then you only have to take the free shuttle bus from the ship to Largo della Pace. steamboats

We´ve done the Lower and Upper Mississippi by car and by boat (Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen). It is definitely different and I do recommend both. Yes, on the Lower Mississippi the views from the boat are not that exciting as they are on the Upper. But it´s definitely a different perspective from the boat than from the road. steamboats

@cruiselvr04 there are two more companies operating on the Mississippi river (American Queen Voyages and American Cruise Line). Both are running their boats for years now and they don´t ask you to pay the whole cruise fare at the time of the booking. steamboats

Ups, sorry, book a ticket in advance. steamboats

I never would as the ride over to Capri is depending on the weather. With a bumpy sea you don´t want to make that ride! And with even more bad weather the ferry service is disconnected. This can also happen during summer time. So always have a plan B for your stay in Naples. steamboats

I never bought tickets in advance. I went over to the ferry terminal and bought tickets for the next available departure. Sure I had a time table with me to know which might be the next ferry to catch. steamboats

As @pontac said it depends on what you define as luxury. The treatment with a low water situation might not be different as with any other river cruise company. The ship simply can´t go on. If the company has a ship going the opposite route you can swap ships. If not you can´t. Organizing bus transfers and hotels on a very short notice is always a big problem. I read a review complaining about a hotel which was "not up to par" to the standards of the river cruise line. Sorry, but that was the best hotel in that city you could get. Also a luxury river cruise line can´t provide a 7 star hotel when there are only 4 star hotels in that town available. My first Danube river cruise was with Deilmann (long gone). They had some standards of luxury although butlers on river cruise ships were unknown by that time. But we encountered high water and our cruise ended after 23 hours. We were bused from Vienna to Bratislava for a day excursion. We were bussed from Vienna to Budapest for an overnight stay. And they apologized that they weren´t able to get enough rooms in a luxury hotel right on the Danube river but sort of "second row" (it was still one of the best hotels in Budapest). When we returned from Budapest we were greeted back home with Champagne and the kids onboard (our DD and 2 others) got a book as a present (according to the age of the kid!). Really top notch service back then! steamboats

VIVA Two is March 23rd in Düsseldorf. steamboats

Part 4 is covering the travel to Quito, part 5 is covering the Quito city tour which was much more than that. steamboats

Nope... steamboats

The market in Asia is currently still "dead". Wonder was specifically designed for the Asian (Chinese) market. Utopia isn´t. I doubt they will make the same mistake again. steamboats

Part 3 is online showing all details of an Explorer cabin. steamboats

I matured quite a bit since my first river cruise and almost fit into the age frame now 🤣. steamboats

Thanks, Nancy! Part 2 is online now (all about what you have to pay extra - actually not much). steamboats

I was 28 yo on my first river cruise (which was in the US). Our DD was on her first river cruise at the age of 18 months. I was 37 on my first Danube river cruise (and our DD 5). So there´s no "too young" for a river cruise. If you like that laid back feeling and slow cruising and being surrounded by people who are not your age group but can share wonderful stories then you´re definitely not too young for river cruising. steamboats

The first part of my review is online and there are many more to follow. But it will take some time to sort all those more than 3 K photos. The first part is covering the ship itself with a deck by deck review. Sorry, but the text is in German, anyway Google translate (or anything similar) should work pretty well. And there are tons of photos as well. Enjoy! steamboats

Gee, that´s bad to hear! I know about the Hadag ferry 75. But it was a Saturday. So we had to take the S-Bahn and bus. steamboats

Sort of local - meaning I´m German but not from Hamburg - we actually took the suburban train S3 to Veddel, then the bus 256 to Argentinienbrücke and then walked for 10 min. But we did that basically because we wanted to take photos of the ship on the way to the terminal in Steinwerder. Plus it´s a bit tricky to find the bus stop. I haven´t seen any taxis at all. There used to be a shuttle service with small buses to the suburban train station for 2.50 Euro. But you had to book that service in advance. Not sure whether they are still operating that service. They have buildt a ferry landing right next to the cruise terminal but that is only used for special occasions. They never came up with a regular ferry line to that landing out of Landungsbrücken. steamboats

Madeira is a Portuguese island. The flag is Portugal, the port may be Funchal / Madeira. steamboats

We only did a 2 hour boat trip out of the Vieux Port de Marseille to the Calanques National Park but never hiked. The trip was a little bumpy and there was a group of school kids onboard... Let´s say they had plenty of plastic bags available... We didn´t have a problem. steamboats

It´s one area with one access. So they can´t charge for different areas. Especially the steam room, salt room, infrared sauna, ice room, charcoal sauna, experimental showers are all along one aisle with glass doors only (except for the showers which have no doors at all). Fitness center is free anyway except for classes. steamboats