janeg

We are planning to take a river cruise next year. Probably the Danube. What are the differences among those listed in my title? Why are they so much cheaper that Tauck, Intrav & Smithsonian? Thank you for your input. (Please do not turn this into a tirade against GCT. You ruined my last thread on this subject, so I never really got an informative answer.)

Budman

Deilmann is another river cruise line. I'm also looking at a Danube river cruise next year and trying to decide on a cruise line.

Grandma

We just returned from a Deilmann cruise on the Seine from Rouan to Paris. Absolutely wonderful experience.
We've also done the GCT cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna which we enjoyed also. The GCT ship was lovely.. Deilmann was lovelier. Food on GCT was very good... Deilmann's won raves from everyone. Also, Deilmann has assigned seating eliminating the rush at the dining room door we experienced on GCT. Passengers were divided between Euopeans and English speaking... so English speaking groups were smaller. Our cabin was huge.... tho I see from the Deilmann brochure that not all river boats have rooms the size we had. TV had access to CNN and CNBC among others. Forget what we had on GCT. For lack of a better word I'd say that Deilmann was more elegant than GCT. Also, since our GCT trip my husband has had health problems and Deilmann had a doctor on board (selling point to me.)
PS However, excursions on Deilmann were extra... as was wine, etc.

Underhill

My Danube Christmas markets cruise with GCT last December was excellent. The quality of the food, the excellence of both the onboard and local guides, and the emphasis on culture and history made for a very pleasant trip--and I don't know how GCT can do it for the price charged.

I really think you need to look at lines charging approximately the same price to get a meaningful comparison. Obviously the more expensive cruises are going to offer something the cheaper ones don't--but whether that's important to you only you can determine.

janeg

"Obviously the more expensive cruises are going to offer something the cheaper ones don't--but whether that's important to you only you can determine."
Yes, but I can't see what, to the extent that they are so much more $$. I had wondered if it was "optional" excursions, better boats, more "experts"....

faith77

Hello,

I took a GCT rivercruise thru Russia last year. This trip included 4 nights on the boat in St Petersburg, 7 nights of cruising, and 4 nights in a hotel in Moscow.

A few reasons why maybe this cruise is a bit cheaper than the others...
We were 200+ passengers on the boat and divided into groups to do the tours. Some of the other riverboats have less people.

Also, not all tours in St Petersburg and Moscow were included. There were quite a few meals not included in Moscow.

All that said I had a wonderful time and thought that this was a great way to do Russia. I will definately take another rivercruise at some point.

Faith

Retired_teacher

I've sailed with Viking in China and Russia and have taken advantage of a last minute 'fill the ship' Inside Passage cruise with Intrav on the Yorktown Clipper before it was sold to Cruise West. I really see very little difference in what was offered by those two companies, other than the fact that we had more menu options at dinner on the Yorktown Clipper. Viking passengers tended to include more folks like me whereas there was a distinct class difference within the passengers on the Intrav cruise. That's not to say that we didn't enjoy each other's company while at sea, but don't expect to exchange holiday greetings with any of those folks post cruise. IMO, the size of the tour group on 'field trips' will be more dependent upon the time of year you sail than it will be on price paid, although Intrav did have three experts onboard ship for our eleven day Inside Passage sail whereas Viking brought in local speakers when we toured a specific area. Long story short, I'd sail with either company again if the price fit my retired teacher's budget.

Underhill

For one thing, room sizes vary. Some ships have beauty salons and laundries; others have internet connections. Whether you want to pay for those extras, and in some cases fees for shore excursions, is what can make a difference. The GCT cruises include port excursions, which can be quite a cost saving, but their ships aren't what I would call fancy--comfortable and pleasant, certainly, but not luxurious. However, the food is excellent, and the tour guides on my cruise were really good.

Retired_teacher

In Russia, all of the riverboats currently in use were designed and built in West Germany prior to unification. They all offer the same set-up with three decks of the same length, two classes of rooms, and a central lobby in the middle of the first passenger deck. That design allows the boats to tie up to a single pier and passengers reach their vessel by walking through the lobby area of the other boats that are tied up perpendicular to each other with only the first ship connected directly to the dock. One must be very aware of their vessel's name and Russian spelling as the lineup order may change while you are ashore.... ie, you may be 5th out when you disembark, but 2nd or 3rd when you return. Except for a few cosmetic differences in appearance, the ships are identical! LOL, I wonder how many tourists end up overnight cruising the Volga on the wrong boat.... it's got to happen occasionally!!!

Long story short, whether you sail with Viking, Uniworld, Trafalgar, etc. your accommodations will be very similar....

Underhill

On my Danube cruise the ships were moored parallel to each other.

Theresa

Quote:

Author: Retired_teacher
Date: 11/02/2006, 08:20 am
In Russia, all of the riverboats currently in use were designed and built in West Germany prior to unification.

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Not sure if this makesk any differences or not but the Amadeus Tolstoy was constructed in Austria.

I am trying it next summer - we will see how it goes.

Marycang

I am looking at 2 Danube River cruises. One on Amadeus and the other w/ Gate 1 travel. Big difference in price. Anybody have any experience with Gate 1?