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@icvjames the crew does speak English as this is their working language. But all announcement except for security announcements are made in German and all activities are in German. Of course you might find guests speaking English but the main reason to chose AIDA (or TUI Cruises) for a German native speaker is that German is the onboard language. Not all Germans do speak English very well. steamboats

O.k., let´s talk about this in April 2024... steamboats

Pretty common with ocean going vessels too. And on the Moscow - St. Petersburg itinerary they have to cross two very large lakes where it can get stormy. steamboats

It depends... Usually there will an amount show up in your check called "coperta" which covers the bread and also is a service charge. In more touristy places like Venice there may be also an automatic service charge on your chekc like in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. So better alway check your check! Nevertheless - even with a service charge on your check - the card machine always gives you the option to add an additional tip. steamboats

Even one of the ATMs onboard should be with Euro and the other one with US Dollar. steamboats

Here´s an article in German about the new build project in Russia. For Moscow - St. Petersburg two ships have been buildt but finished during the pandemic: Peter the Great and Mustai Karim. A third ship was buildt as a paddlewheeler "The Golden Ring" for a more flexible routing. steamboats

Yes, @Coral, I remember that there are some buildt in Austria, I think in Kornneuburg (the shipyard is not active anymore but a museum). steamboats

Gee, I finally finished the last two entries which will go online tomorrow and on Monday. steamboats

No need to worry about Euro for extra trips of the crew members. They are happy with US Dollar as that´s the currency they can send easily back home. Of course - when cruising in the Euro area - they are also happy to get Euro. steamboats

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