Italian River Cruises

[wgsieg]

I am considering an Italian River Cruise next year and have looked at Peter Deilman's Cruises. Does anyone have any comments about the company and whether they would recommend this as a way to see Italy?

 

thanks,

 

Wayne

[goeurope]

I haven't taken an Italian river cruise, but I've heard that the towns you visit along the way are mostly some distance by bus from the mooring places. (Unlike a cruise on, say, the Rhone or the Danube, where the boat moors in the heart of town.) On the positive side, the Venetian Lagoon is a fascinating place, and it must be fun to cruise through it in a river boad.

 

BTW, when I was in Venice in March, I saw Uniworld's VENEZIA moored in a channel off the island of Torcello with reeds all around. You can view a photo at:

 

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/images/plan_v_torcello_ms_venezia_at_anchor_offshore_p1040294.jpg

 

Uniworld has two ships on the Venice/Po run this year; an article with ship photos is at:

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-river-cruises.htm

 

One big difference between Deilmann and Uniworld is that Deilmann serves an international audience (I believe it's about 40% American) while Uniworld caters to the U.S./Canadian crowd. Also, I believe that Deilmann charges separately for shore excursions while Uniworld includes them in the price. If I were choosing between the two, I'd probably go with Deilmann for the more "European" experience, but some people are happier with ships where only one language (English) is spoken and the atmosphere is more U.S.-centric.