Comparision Survey

My wife and I are looking at a Danube Cruise in summer/fall 2005 but were wondering which line is the best. I inderstand Peter Deillman has won awards from Conde Nast but how are the rest? I have read the posts regarding Avalon/Amadeus, but there is a real lack of reviews. Inquiring minds want to know.

Don't go by the lack of review on Avalon. They are new. I was on the inaugural of the Artistry, and it is FANTASTIC. I feel fortunate to have had that experience, and I have recommended it to others. They have the same feeling. I was on the Artistry, and I have many friends booked for the August 11th Danube cruise. No, I am not a travel agent--just a very satisfied, finicky traveler. Would love to have you join us. You wouldn't regret it. I know you don't know me, but we travel a lot, and I am sold.

We did a cruise on Deilmannin 2001 and one with Vantage in 2002. I would heartily recommend Vantage as far as being much less costly. If you are interested, e-mail me at highlandpark@mindspring.com and I will send you both trip stories.

The bottom line was it cost us less for a 14 day cruise on Vantage than a 7 day one on delimann.

I have always heard that Peter Dielhman was not only expensive it also catered to a German cliental with announcements and spoken language on the ship. We took GCT's River Melody this past summer from Amsterdam to Vienna and I don't for the life of me see what the other lines offer that is so much better for the money they charge. We paid approximately $10,000.00 for a 14 day cruise in a balcony cabin (in other words "top drawer"). I highly recommend a balcony if available (most of the ships we saw (Diehlman, Vantage, Viking etc.) do not have balconies). The reason for the balcony is so you can sit outside and enjoy the views. Most of the bridges are very low so the "sky deck" is usually closed due to them having to lower the pilot house to clear the bridges. That $10,000.00 included round trip air for two and remember most of the shore excursions are already included in the price.

I would highly recommend a river boat trip to anyone, however, but be careful of the cobblestone streets in town-they wreak havoc on your knees.

It all depends on what you want. Deilmann offers a more international experience than some of the other lines do. That's good for travelers who want to feel that they're in Europe when they're on the boat (not just when they're on shore), but other passengers may prefer an "Americans-only" experience that's more like a group tour.

My wife and I took the Viking River Cruise on the Yangtze and we just came back a month ago.

We enjoyed our Viking experience so much that we signed up for the "Romantic Danube" cruise in May with pre-cruise in Budapest and post-cruise in Prague.

The Viking people really took exceptional care of us in China. Hope that they will keep up their standards on our forth-coming Danube trip.

Can hardly wait till May! .

We too are looking at a river cruise (amsterdam to budapest) ... there seems to be a number of cruise lines out there. Help??? How do we find which ships do this route? Every time I get on the computer another line seems to pop up on these boards. We would like daily tours and wine with dinner included (good food) if possible.

Mrs Captain and hisself returned last week from a Uniworld cruise on the River Duchess from Amsterdam to Vienna. We thought the food, service and ship were excellent. Guess you could pay more and get a bit more "glitz," but we're very satisfied that we received excellent value for our $$$. All in all, we rate our trip as "fantastic!" Don't know anyone onboard who didn't thouroughly enjoy themselves.

Best wishes,

Captain George

We took our first river cruise on the Viking Spirit in late August - Vienna to Amsterdam. We booked last minute and the Budapest cruise was not available. Our expectations were exceeded in every manner on this trip. The ship, accommodations, food, service, staff and tours were excellent. All sightseeing was included, however they offered two optional programs in Vienna which included a Mozart/Strauss concert at Augsburg Palace and an afternoon trip to Schonbrunn. Half of the passengers were from US and the rest from UK and a couple from Canada and Australia. We truly enjoyed having the mix of passengers aboard. I understand this was somewhat unusual. Most of the passengers were first time river-cruisers and planned to go again.

We thought the food was excellent. We were so pleased that we booked a trip to China for April with them. We will definitely travel back to Europe with them.

Our previous travel cruise experience has been with Radisson, Crystal, Holland America and A & K.

If you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at mwarrick2@comcast.net

Pat

We considered Deilmann but are booked on Amadeus' Artistry - the smoking throughout the Deilmann ships was a big factor in our deciding against them.

Amadeus/Avalon is no-smoking except for a part of the outdoor top deck.

Last August we took our first (and not the last) European river cruise. We checked out several cruise lines and ended up with Amadeus Waterways. We just completed a 12 days "Legendary Danube" cruise aboard the MS Symphony. The tour started in Prague and ended in Budapest. Everything was great. The hotels in Prague and Budapest were outstanding and the Ms Symphony surpassed our highest expectations. The crew was extremely friendly and knowlegable and the food was fantastic --- especially the sumtuous breakfast buffet. Amadeus Waterway's state-side office was very helpful. The same cruise program is sold by various tour operators. We found UET on the web --- http://*****amade1.html --- and booked with them since UET offered the cruise at the best price. We saved substancially with them and our booking was handled very professionally. One thing we found out was important: to book early to get a cabin of your choice and also a better price.

tban

We considered Deilmann but are booked on Amadeus' Artistry - the smoking throughout the Deilmann ships was a big factor in our deciding against them.

Amadeus/Avalon is no-smoking except for a part of the outdoor top deck.

Deilmann doesn't allow smoking throughout the ships. There's no smoking in the dining room, for example.

I cruised on Deilmann's CASANOVA earlier this month, and I was aware of cigarette smoke only once: when I inadvertently sat in the smoking section of the lounge. (I'm a nonsmoker, and smoke does annoy me since I hardly ever encounter it at home, but it really wasn't a problem on the Deilmann ship, which obviously had a first-rate ventilation system and an extremely high standard of housekeeping.)