A Different River Cruise - Canal & Company

[Grothj]

I have just returned from a 7-day cruise on the Charlemagne which is owned and operated by Canal & Company. The tour was run by National Geographic which added a lot to the tour program with a professor, escort, etc.

 

I thought I would briefly describe this very different river cruise.

 

The Charlemagne is a very small but beautiful barge that has 15 cabins so there is a maximum of 30 passengers. The crew is 10! Having said that, we had a wonderful time and were very surprised at the space we had.

 

All of the rooms (except the two queen-bedded rooms) are on a lower level that is only reached by stairs. They have twin beds and are small but they have designed them with a lot of storage. We (my Mother and I) had a closet divided into two separate compartments that was more than adequate for our hanging clothes, two shelves, and space for shoes. Under the bed was a large drawer that handled everything else. The bathroom was large for this kind of barge/boat. It had a wonderful shower with both overhead and side shower heads and a glass door. We had twin sinks with lots of storage underneath.

 

The main "living" space was on the main deck and was divided into two sections. The lounge had couches, tables & chairs, tables etc. with enough space for everyone to sit comfortably. When the professor gave his talks, they arranged the space so everyone could see him and his presentations.

 

There is also a sun deck on top but the weather didn't lend itself to using it. There are tables and chairs up there if the weather is good.

 

The dining room was at one end of the room where there were 5 tables with comfortable seating. There was a small alcove where breakfast and lunch buffets were served. There is also a small bar at the front of the lounge. The bar was "cash" and you could get soft drinks and hard liquor if you wanted.

 

With this very small group, meals are fixed - no choice on the menu. Having said that, if you let them know ahead of time about any food problems, they will accomodate you. My Mom doesn't eat fish and can't eat dairy and the chef talked with her every morning to make sure he served her something even when it was completely different from the rest of the meal.

 

The food was excellent. Breakfast was a continental type buffet with fresh pastries and bread, cheese, meat, cereal with all the "fixings". The coffee was good and there was always 2-3 juices as well. Breakfast was served for 1-1.5 hours depending on the days schedule so you could eat when you wanted to.

 

Lunch was 3 salads, always including a green salad, plus a hot dish. The salads were different every day, some examples of the salads, beet, carrot, mushroom, curry, I can't remember all of them! The hot dish varied very day. Some examples - brautwurst, endive with ham, etc. All of them were very good.

 

Dinner was 4 courses, an appetizer/salad, a main dish, a cheese course, and desert. Appetizers ranges from a salad to escargot fixed in a fennel broth that was wonderful. The main dishes ranged from salmon, lamb ragout, steak, chicken, halibut, etc. Only one meal did I not care for the main dish..all others were very good.

 

Wine was included in both lunch and dinner - both red and white served. For both the wine and cheese courses, the staff explained the days choices and that became a highlight of the meal. The wines were varied and all good. The cheese varied and were all good.

 

The chef was french and obviously took pride in his food. He was always out and about when we were aboard talking with the passengers and really was the most visible of the crew. We often wondered who was cooking!

 

Because the barge/boat was so small we went into canals and waterways that are off limits to all other river boats. We saw other riverboats only at two of our stops.

 

The tours we did were a combination of what the barge/boat offers as well as some enhancements because of the National Geographic tour.

 

The passengers were a mix of couples and single women traveling together. There were two mother/daughter couples as well as 2 groups of friends traveling together.

 

This was my first river cruise (we cruise extensively on Regent) and I was very, very pleased.

 

It is a different trip because of its size. Canal & Company has 5 boats with the biggest being 50 passengers all in Europe. I will certainly consider sailing with them again.

 

Jan