All Your Needs Attended to on Train, Ship While Seeing Europe

We are cruising along the Rhine River past fairy-tale castles, haunting ruins, villages of half-timbered houses and rows of vineyards marching over steep hillsides; it’s like a tantalizing mix of Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle and “The Sound of Music.” Here and there are campgrounds beside the river and sunbathers wave cheerfully as we pass. It’s only past 10 a.m., but the sun is already hot, and the bar waiter struggles up the outdoor stairs to the top deck with the first of many tray loads of cold beer he’ll deliver this morning.

Our fellow passengers on the Deutschland are mostly German and British, with a sprinkling of Americans, Austrians, Swiss, French, Italians, Russians, Romanians, South Africans, Mauritians, Portuguese and Spanish. Menus and announcements come in German, English and French. Guided tours and tour buses are divided into German/Spanish and French/English, and we notice that the Russian family always hops aboard the French/English bus, where their shy, serious 12-year-old daughter in blond braids whispers translations to her parents. Since all our excursions are included in the basic fare, attendance is usually high. We take city tours of Dusseldorf, Cologne, Heidelberg in Germany and Strasbourg in France, and go wine tasting along the Moselle River in clean, air-conditioned buses that never seem crowded.

Our boarding in Amsterdam was one of the easiest we’ve ever done. We got off the Thalys high-speed train at Centraal Station, went out the back door and walked a few minutes along the sidewalk by the river rolling our luggage behind us to the spot where the Deutschland was moored. Although our cabin was not yet ready--we were an hour early for boarding time--we were welcomed into the lounge.

We found the Eurostar and Thalys as fast or faster than air connections between cities, since the trains travel from mid-city to mid-city, and much more comfortable, because we could get up and walk around whenever we wished. Pairing surface train travel with river vessel travel in Europe let us see much more of the scenery as well.

Our six-day Rhine cruise aboard KD Rhine’s Deutschland is the heart of a 12-day package called “European Panorama,” which also includes a two-night stay in London with a city tour, a transfer to the high-speed Eurostar “Chunnel” train to Paris, two nights in Paris with a Seine River sightseeing cruise, and Amsterdam, where we boarded the boat. The fare includes breakfasts in each city hotel, and daily shore excursions, beer, house wine and soft drinks, plus sparkling wine at breakfast and the captain’s welcome board champagne party. When we disembark in Basel, Switzerland, a transfer to Zurich is included, so we can fly home or tour Europe.

Departure dates for the 12-day package are July 17 and 26; Aug. 4, 13, 22 and 31; Sept. 9, 18 and 27; and Oct. 6. You can also book only the Rhine cruise between Amsterdam and Basel, at prices starting at $1,015 per person, double occupancy. Depending on the date, departures can be made from either city. Prices begin at $2,695 per person, double occupancy. Air fare between the U.S. and Europe is not included.

The Deutschland carries 182 passengers in 92 cabins, most of them, like ours, at the water line. We have a pair of windows, one of which can be opened at the top, but we were cautioned not to open the window when the boat is in motion. Cabins have two lower beds, one of them a sofa bed, the other a Pullman berth that fits into the wall during the day. Storage space is adequate if not generous; what we lack is enough drawer space. There is also an armchair, a small table, a telephone, and built-in shelving. A color TV set picks up local channels, CNN in English, and plays feature films in various languages. A bowl of fresh fruit is replenished frequently.

The washbasin is in the cabin, as in European budget hotels, and the small, step-down bathroom has an easy-to-operate shower and toilet. Our eastern European attendant fetches our laundry and returns it, pressed, the same day, with a bright smile and a sizable bill.

The food is fairly rich and served in lavish portions; we find the copious salad bar enough for lunch, although there are always soups and two main dishes offered each day. (One day the choice was between a baked potato lashed with sour cream and bacon or a veal piccata Milanese with plenty of cheese and tomato sauce.) Self-service continental breakfasts are laid out each morning, along with chilled bottles of German sparkling wine and juices, and we can order eggs, bacon and pancakes. Dinners began with appetizers, soup and salad, a choice of two or three main dishes (all beef is from Argentina) and a dessert, followed by fruit and cheese.

The staff is mostly Eastern European and so very serious we can’t joke with them or they get confused. Our cruise director was a handsome Romanian who speaks German, French and English, none of them perfectly, in his announcements and presentations. We find his French and German easy to understand because he never links words but pronounces each one separately and distinctly.

We find the best part of each day to be when we sit in one of the lounge chairs by the railing (some of them are shady and some sunny) with a picture map of the river so we can identify each one of the more than three dozen historic castles and castle ruins on the banks of the Rhine. No other river in Europe has such dramatic scenery surrounding its castles, churches and medieval town gates.

For a free color brochure and more information, contact a travel agent or KD River Cruises of Europe at (800) 346-6525 or www.rivercruises.com. To preview the Rhine cruise at home, order a VHS format video for $12 shipping and handling fees via the toll-free number above and ask for “Romance of the Rhine.”

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Shirley Slater and Harry Basch travel as guests of the cruise lines. Cruise Views appears twice a month.