Chicago Tribune river cruise article

[whogo]

Today's Sunday Chicago Tribune has a number of good cruise articles. Free registration is required. http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/

 

A cruise on the MV Heidelberg is detailed in the following:

"Europe through the back port

This is about an Amsterdam-to-Amsterdam river cruise, which sounds like the boat didn't go anywhere or maybe just changed neighborhoods".

[WIT]

Just read the article in this morning's Trib. Great picture of gritty buildings with flowers along Leie River in Ghent.

 

Having cruised only on Amadeus, I was glad for the description of the Peter Deilmann cruise. The boat sounds about the same size as the Amadagio which was 365' and 120 passengers. Differences I found noteworthy were:

 

The Amadagio almost always stopped next to the walkable, historic part of the town visited.

 

The boat also moved while most passengers were touring nearby then we bussed to meet the boat.

 

No onboard MD or salon.

 

Nightly entertainers from the locality.

 

Multi-screen LCD on desk functioned as an audio-video entertainment center, internet console, bow camera viewer and message center.

 

Similarities would be near gourmet quality meals, only one seating,

gym with sauna, piano entertainment in lounge, comfortable rooms, and upscale bathrooms with an unforgetable shower. I would like to try Dielmann's to compare.

[steamboats]

Nice article!

 

WIT, I wouldn´t say that food is one of the similarities. Food on the Amadagio is very good and did exceed my expectations, but food on the Deilmann ships is really 5 star (6 to 9 courses) and service is just perfect. We had 10 chefs on the MS Mozart.

 

The entertainment system on the Amadagio is unique and excellent.

 

We had some very good local entertainers each night on the Deilmann´s Mozart last spring.

 

As for the port stops decribed in the article: Brussels has some canals which - as far as I know - are not navigable for river cruise ships (just for local excursion boats). So they need to bus passengers for that city. On the Danube river we always docked in the center of the town (Vienna is a bit remote but a subway stop is only 5 min away; BTW there´s another cruise ship stop in Vienna called Nussdorf, that´s a real remote location!!). I haven´t been to the region decribed in the article except Brussels and Ghent (but not by cruise ship). I´m sure every cruise ship would stop in the center of the towns if possible. There might not be a docking location close to the town´s center or the river/canal is not running close enough to the center of the towns. Moving the boat while passengers are touring is a must on every longer cruise like Amsterdam - Budapest. Otherwise you won´t be able to do this cruise within 2 weeks.

 

This cruise can be compared to the Lower Mississippi river, New Orleans roundtrip, country is more or less flat and lots of oil and chemical industries. An Amsterdam roundtrip wouldn´t be on top of my wishlist for a scenic cruise. It´s a nice itinerary to see some great towns. For more scenic cruises to the Middle Rhine valley or the Danube river.

 

steamboats

[whogo]

I am glad you two read the article, although I guess WIT did not need the link. I posted the link on the HAL board and got no response. I hope that registration was not too much of a nuisance.