Cruise and Maritime (CMV Signature) River Cruises?

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

I'm looking for any information about the new river cruising branch of the Cruise & Maritime line (CVM Signature?), which, from what I've been told, is leasing a ship for a trial run at river cruising this spring in Europe. The first cruise takes place mid-May.

 

I'm looking into a trip on the "Vienna I", but can't seem to find any kind of reviews of the ship, which I've heard had been used by other lines - including Viking - in previous years, but under different names. Does anyone have any additional information, besides what is on the C&M website?

 

Is anyone booked on a cruise with this line this spring?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Welcome to Cruise Critic ... Sorry no idea ..

Edited May 2, 2014 by we're sailing away....

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

Thanks - not quite new to the boards, but infrequent poster.

 

I did just book a cruise on this line - if nobody else has any info, I guess I'll post when I get back in late June.

 

By the way - if anyone is interested in a good deal on a kind-of-last-minute cruise, there still seems to be availability on their 2-for-1 deal for May/June departures - see:

 

https://us.cruiseandmaritime.com/

 

I just booked a 7-night cruise for 2 for $3000 - seemed like a good deal.

[pacmom]

When reading about tours it seems that most of the tours are optional, but that gives independent travelers an opportunity to tour as they wish.

 

Enjoy your trip, but be careful river cruising can be addictive. Pat

[id est]

When reading about tours it seems that most of the tours are optional...

Yes, looks like only 2 tours per cruise are included. However tours are the most valuable part of any river and ocean cruise.

In fact there are tons of cruise companies with very low prices in Europe. Here is the one for example: http://www.nicko-tours.com/home.html

But most of them charge for everything and only provide cruising.

Edited May 6, 2014 by id est

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

Yes, looks like only 2 tours per cruise are included. However tours are the most valuable part of any river and ocean cruise.

In fact there are tons of cruise companies with very low prices in Europe. Here is the one for example: http://www.nicko-tours.com/home.html

But most of them charge for everything and only provide cruising.

 

That wasn't really a big issue for me - I'm kind of fine with just hopping off the boat, finding the nearest train/bus station and figuring things out from there, so this seemed like a good deal.

 

Do you have a list of any of the other "locals" cruise lines in Europe? It might be a handy thing to know for next time.

[id est]

Try to google it.

Here is one more very affordable: http://www.btrreizen.nl/riviercruises/

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

Try to google it.

Here is one more very affordable: http://www.btrreizen.nl/riviercruises/

 

Thanks for the additional company - I hadn't seen that one.

 

I did try to Google it - and after wading through all the pages of Viking/Uniworld/AMA/Avalon ads/paid link placements, I did find a few more companies, such as

 

http://www.rivercruiseline.co.uk/

http://www.arosacruises.com/

 

but I also know that there are probably more that either don't have a "highly visible" web presence, or that may only be available in a language other than English, or that might only show up prominently while searching from other countries.

[London-Calling]

I too am interested in CMV's Vienna I.

 

Her public rooms look nice in the photos but what's the food and service like?

 

I don't want to pay 5-6 star prices so I don't expect 5-6 star service, but I do want reasonable standards.

[FuelScience]

I believe that this is the ship I sailed on last year when Viking leased it and operated it as the MS Vienna. It used to be the Avalon Tapestry. We found the ship comfortable and well maintained. We did have engine trouble that caused us to run late for most of the trip. We were supposed to arrive in Nuremberg at breakfast time on the final day of the cruise, and we got there at 5:00 p.m.!

 

There's a brief discussion of the ship at

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1773055&highlight=ms+vienna

 

FuelScience (formerly OkieCruiser49)

[London-Calling]

Thanks FuelScience.

 

What were the cabins like? The public rooms?

[FuelScience]

Thanks FuelScience.

 

What were the cabins like? The public rooms?

 

We had a French balcony cabin, and I think that it was 165 sq. ft. or so--much larger than the French balcony cabin we had this year on a Viking longship (135 sq. ft.). The public rooms were on a par with both of the Viking ships we've cruised in the past. The real key to a good cruise will be the staff.

 

FuelScience

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

We really enjoyed our CMV river cruise - "Magical Rhine" on the ship Vienna I. I'm attempting to write a review of the cruise, but the ship and embarkation port aren't listed as options, so I'm waiting for tech support from Cruise Critic, and then will try to put together a full review.

 

In the meantime, if anyone's got any questions about the company or the cruise (Danube/Main/Rhine from Nuremburg to Amstersam), let me know. I realize that the ship we were on won't be available from CMV next year, and it even looks like they're changing a lot of their destinations/ports, but if there _are_ any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

[FuelScience]

Glad you had a good cruise. I'd suggest that you just start a new thread here with your review. If they get things straightened out, you can always post it again there.

 

FuelScience

[Apple_Valley_Greg]

That was Cruise Critic's suggestion as well - they weren't going to mess with putting together a ship page for CMV's Vienna I, so just told me to put the review up somewhere else - I'll start working on it.