Danube Discovery Cruise on MS Little Prince

Friends have suggested a Danube Discovery Cruise on a German riverboat aboard the MS Little Prince (Kleine Prinz). There are 8 departures from the US(airfare from NY is included on Austrian Airlines) and the itinerary sounds good but I can't find any information about the Riverboat. Can anyone tell me anything about it? Has anyone sailed on this line before? Their other vessels are the MS Arion, MS Switzerland and MS Victoria Amazonica. I tried googling but had no luck. It seems that they don't have their own web site and the only information I can find is pretty minimal and is on the sites of some tour groups that use them. Thanks for your help.

See my answers here

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=627359&highlight=prinz

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=442307&highlight=prinz

steamboats

Check out Value World Cruises.com.

The boat looks pretty "BASIC" by American standards.

The rate also seem cheaper than most American river cruise lines.

Friends have suggested a Danube Discovery Cruise on a German riverboat aboard the MS Little Prince (Kleine Prinz). There are 8 departures from the US(airfare from NY is included on Austrian Airlines) and the itinerary sounds good but I can't find any information about the Riverboat. Can anyone tell me anything about it? Has anyone sailed on this line before? Their other vessels are the MS Arion, MS Switzerland and MS Victoria Amazonica. I tried googling but had no luck. It seems that they don't have their own web site and the only information I can find is pretty minimal and is on the sites of some tour groups that use them. Thanks for your help.

We are doing this cruise next June. We have friends who did the same cruise last May, and they were very happy with the trip. The itinerary is much more interesting to us than the other river cruises we have looked at and the price is more reasonable. Our only previous river trip was China/Yangtze River cruise with Viking. I do not have expectations for luxurious accommodations & gourmet dining on this trip but have been told that it is comfortable, clean, you are fed well, and it is very informative. The itinerary is filled with interesting ports and we will be touring most of the time (most of which is included in the cost of the tour). If you want to give me your email, I will be happy to keep you informed as I learn more. Good luck!

Yo-

We are on the June 5th sailing with the Draculas Castle add on at the end of the cruise.

My exploring found a little information on the "Kline Prinz" such as the cabins are 172 square feet with a big window which puts the cabins at about 50% bigger than most others and the owners site rates the ship as four stars..

Have yet to find a review from someone that actually has taken a river cruise on this ship - so it will be pure adventure and faith - then I will write a review when we come back.

If I find anything more - I will post it in this thread.

Happy Cruisin'

Mike

Yo-

 

We are on the June 5th sailing with the Draculas Castle add on at the end of the cruise.

 

 

Mike

Hi Mike,

We are also on the June 5th sailing! & with the Castle at the end. I have 4 friends who did this same cruise (without the Castle) last May and they really enjoyed it. Saw that you just came back from South America -- how was your trip? We are going from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso this month. Who did you book with? We booked thru Smartours. Shirley

Yo John and Shirley-

Happy to see others on this cruise - will look forward to meeting you-

Think that Smartours is the only booking agent in USA (may be wrong - but - have never seen it listed with anyone else)-eh!

Just made final payment-

Happy cruisin'

Mike (and Joan = DW)

Yo John and Shirley-

 

Happy to see others on this cruise - will look forward to meeting you-

 

Think that Smartours is the only booking agent in USA (may be wrong - but - have never seen it listed with anyone else)-eh!

 

Just made final payment-

 

Happy cruisin'

 

Mike (and Joan = DW)

We canceled this tour for this year because of the situation in Serbia. Hope you post a review though as we may do it next year depending upon the political situation in Serbia. My husband is very disappointed as he was really looking forward to this trip. BTW, I have seen the tour listed by 2 other agencies/organizations, but it was much more expensive and did not include everything that we were going to get. I plan to keep Smartours in mind for future touring as they do have good prices, but we did loose our deposit which was unfortunate. Have a great trip! Shirley

John & Shirley,

I´m sorry to hear that you cancelled your trip. Actually I don´t really know why. What "situation in Serbia" are you talking about which might affect tourists?? The declaration of independence by the Kosovo?? Just keep the facts correct: the Danube river is the Northern border of Serbia, the Kosovo is in the South facing Albania. The stops of the cruise in Serbia are Novi Sad and Belgrade. There have been demonstrations in Belgrade against the independence of the Kosovo. But that´s it. There is no general uproar and there is no kind of war. Some Serbs living in the Kosovo have set fire in a border patrol station of the KFOR troups. That´s it since the declaration of independence. No major news since.

And believe me: If there is any risk or danger for tourists no cruise company and especially no cruise company plying on the US market is going to make a shore stop in Serbia. The cruise ships can simply pass by Belgrade or Novi Sad.

There´s definitely no reason to cancel a cruise.

steamboats

We canceled this tour for this year because of the situation in Serbia. Hope you post a review though as we may do it next year depending upon the political situation in Serbia. My husband is very disappointed as he was really looking forward to this trip. BTW, I have seen the tour listed by 2 other agencies/organizations, but it was much more expensive and did not include everything that we were going to get. I plan to keep Smartours in mind for future touring as they do have good prices, but we did loose our deposit which was unfortunate. Have a great trip! Shirley

John & Shirley - Regrettably the US news media use fear to sell their product. You will find reporting much different once outside the US. We were in Belgrade on Amadeus' Black Sea Discovery cruise last October and were well received by local Serbs there. Our Serbian guide noted the destroyed military buildings targeted by NATO during our bus tour of the city, but instead of expressing hostility towards us he was happy that Milosevich was gone.

Steamboats is right.

WIT

There´s definitely no reason to cancel a cruise.

steamboats

Well, there was for me! I have no interest in going to a country that attacks a U.S. embassy! Thank you for your interest in my trip decisions.

John & Shirley - Regrettably the US news media use fear to sell their product. You will find reporting much different once outside the US. We were in Belgrade on Amadeus' Black Sea Discovery cruise last October and were well received by local Serbs there. Our Serbian guide noted the destroyed military buildings targeted by NATO during our bus tour of the city, but instead of expressing hostility towards us he was happy that Milosevich was gone.

 

Steamboats is right.

WIT

It's not just a safety issue with me. BTW, there is a travel advisory about travel to Serbia, and the U.S. did evacuate all non essential individuals last month after the attack on our embassy. I do read news other than US, i.e.;the Financial Times, The Economist & The Guardian. This was a difficult decision for us to make, but I strongly feel that it was the right decision for me at this particular time.

John & Shirley,

The German Embassy was attacked too. And there are safety warnings saying you should avoid larger crowds. Anyway I definitely sure that the cruise companies won´t take any risk. If there´s any risk at all it´s in Belgrade. Novi Sad should be o.k.. The cruise company won´t sent you on a shore tour in Belgrade in case it´s not safe. Anyway you still can opt not to go ashore and stay on the ship.

steamboats

Yo All-

Just got our tickets and are getting ready to leave next week-

Let's have some REAL adventure on this one - I'll write a review when we get back-eh!!

Happy Cruisin'

Mike

(btw - looked up Serbia on google - all is quiet now - glad that we hung in there)

Yo-

Back from the Vienna to Bucharest SmarTours cruise on the m/s Kleiner Prinz - and it was GREAT!!!!

For those that didn't go because of the Serbia problems - there was ABSOLUTELY nothing to suggest that there was any problems whilst we were in Serbia - and a great time was had by all-eh!!!

I posted a review in another thread in this section that you may want to read if you are interested - bottom line - probably the best vacation we have ever had - period!!!!

Happy Cruisin'

Mike