deilmann cruise
 

has anyone taken a cruise on the Mozart, Vienna to Vienna?

I haven't (and I doubt I ever will as I have absoultely no desire to river-cruise).

That said, I have been following the Deilmann shipping company closely and it appears they are doing an admirably good job. It is a family owned enterprise based in the small Baltic port of Neustadt in Germany that is being run by the two daughters of founder Peter Deilmann. They once started with daycruises to Denmark in the Baltic Sea taking advantage of tax-free privileges. Once the common market put a stop to the practice they were well prepared and built their first cruise ship (4*star MS Berlin), which they just sold by last year.

They take some pride in operating all of their ships under the German flag, unlike other cruise companies that will register their ships in other countries in order to facilitate lower wage payments for their personnel. They operate quite a number of river cruise ships throughout Europe and also manage the 5* MS Deutschland for sea-going cruises. The latter regularly stars in the German TV-series "Das Traumschiff", a German version of "Love Boat".

I would expect the standard of the ship (MS Mozart) to be pretty high. I would guess that the average age of travellers aboard is pretty high, too. So I guess you'd have to figure if you are willing to spend your time predominantly in the company of elders (not that there's anything wrong with that). I also think that they cater predominantly to the German speaking market. I seem to recall to have read that they'd like to welcome more international customers, but I am not sure whether they have reached that goal already. So having some command of the German language might make things a bit easier for you.

I don't know if this helps - and I also want to point out that this bit of information is based pretty much on my observations of German media regarding the cruises. Thus I cannot exactly guarantee for its correctness. I hope others here might join in.

I've been looking into Deilmann because they have a Potsdam to Prague cruise we're interested in. (They seem to be the only one of the river cruisers with this itinerary.) They always rate high in the Conde Nast surveys and all other ratings I've found have been excellent. Languages on board are German and English. They are more expensive than other river lines but the facilities look superb. They have an office in the US in Virgina.

PS to hsv......Never thought I'd have an interest in a river cruise either (and my husband is kicking and screaming all the way)... but we DO get older and have physical limitations and sometimes this is the only way to get where we want to go!

We have taken the Deilman river cruise on the Rhone and it was superb. In the past, we have also taken ocean cruises with ships as big as some of the Royal Caribs and smaller, 300pass. ships).They just are "different kettle of fish", and both are enjoyable.,

The Deilman boat (ship?) "Cesanne" was very comfortable, the crew (hotel and dining room)was excellent as was the food. The tours were well planned and the guides were very knowledgeable.

About 2/3 of the passengers were German. All announcement on board were in German and English. The Cesanne had assigtned table seating. The English speaking passengers could ask to be seated with other English speakers. Our table company was a British couple, very pleasant and interesting. For the tours, there were busses for German and for English speaking passengers. Since our bus was always half-empty, we usually had some Germans with sufficicient language knowledge on board, which made the tour much more interesting.

We can highly recommend river cruising. While the cabins are not as large than on most ocean-going ships,they are very comfortable and efficient, as are the public rooms. With only about 100 -130 passengers, there is never a crowd. We spent most of out time on the top deck, enjoying "the world go by". Overnight we docked in the middle of towns - often rafting onto other river cruisers - so that after dinner we usually walked into town.

There was some evening entertainment, nothing lavish, but fun.

We have booked another river cruise with UNIWORLD this fall, on the Duoro River in Portugal. It had some very favorable reviews even before the company launched its newest vessel in 2005.

treplow - How welcoming do you think the cruises would be to kids?

I am interested in a river cruise (for lots of reasons). Our boys are 12 and 14, very well-travelled, and (IMHO) very well-behaved - especially for boys!

Because we live overseas, we have often been in the postion of them being the only kids in a hotel or resort. But we've been on our own then - not with a tour. They are quite comfortable talking to other adults and entertain themselves quite easily (especially if there is a pool table around!).

Do you think one of these cruises would work for us?

On our Deilman cruise on the Rhone,they discouraged kids. And I kind of agree with them. We took our grandkids on a Royal Carib cruise, and the size of ship, variety of activities plus their youth programs offered were perfect for them. On a river cruise, there are no places for them to have "the run of the boat"

We took the MV MOZART cruise from Passau to Budapest (stopped in Vienna) and back to Passau in October 2000. The ship was great. Rooms were very comfortable. The staff was mostly Hungarian and had fun with the tourists.

We have done about 7 ocean cruises and 3 river cruises. I think I enjoy the rivers more than the ocean for relaxing. No rough seas to worry about and the boat goes at a slower pace.

I do not think the boys would enjoy this type of trip. There are no things set up for kids to do. Adults enjoy the pace but I think the kids would be bored.

Treplow and Traveldawg -

Thanks for the feedback...I will have to think about this for a bit.

My kids did great several years ago on the Nile River and Lake Nasser cruises (they were the only kids), so I don't think a lack of activity would be a problem. As long as their i-pods are charged and they have a good book...life is grand! They are long past the age for youth programs, so that isn't an issue either.

But I don't want to put the kids in a situation where most of the adults on board don't want/expect to be around young teens. That's not fair for anyone....everyone deserves to be relaxed.

On second thought, I think you better check with Deilmann. My wife thinks that they actually had a "no children" policy.

Well....that would settle things, wouldn't it???? I'll check into it. There are, after all, other river cruises!!! Thanks!