Best Luxury Riverboats on the Elbe
Peter Deilmann and Viking River Cruises to Prague, Dresden, & Berlin
Feb 22, 2008
The Elbe River is a distant third to the Rhine and the Danube in terms of luxury riverboat cruises. Many cruise operators that specialize in Rhine and Danube cruises offer no riverboat trips on the Elbe despite routings that can include Prague, Dresden, and Berlin.
- The major players on the Elbe are luxury German riverboat cruise company Peter Deilmann with three boats (Katharina von Bora, Dresden, and Frederic Chopin) and the world’s largest riverboat cruise operator Viking River Cruises with the Schumann.
Boats on the Elbe are generally much smaller with far fewer amenities than those operating on the Rhine and Danube. Cabins are very small – seldom larger than 12 square meter (130 square ft) – but often with foldaway beds to increase space during the day.
- Facilities for children are limited (often non-existent) on all riverboats. However, both Peter Deilmann and Viking are family-friendly riverboat cruise lines when it comes to pricing – special discounts are available to families but these are often not bookable (nor widely advertised) online.
Peter Deilmann – Luxury German Riverboat Operator
Peter Deilmann is famous for its luxurious boats where excellent service and quality food are highly valued. On Peter Deilmann boats, six meals are served daily – breakfast, mid-morning bouillon, lunch, afternoon coffee and cake, dinner, and late night snacks.
Peter Deilmann generally operates three boats on the Elbe:
- MS Katharina von Bora & MS Frederic Chopin
Peter Deilmann’s MS Katharina von Bora and MS Frederic Chopin are sister ships – one named after the wife of Martin Luther and the second after the famous Polish composer. Both can accommodate a maximum of only 79 passengers, which makes for fast boarding. A few single cabins are available, which offers a 40% saving over normal single-passenger supplements.
Both the MS Katharina von Bora and MS Frederic Chopin cruise mostly one-way on one-week cruises from Potsdam near Berlin to Prague, or return. The Frederic Chopin also cruises from Potsdam on the Havel and Oder Rivers to Wroclaw (Breslau) in Poland.
- MS Dresden
Peter Deilmann’s MS Dresden is with a capacity of 110 passengers is one of the larger boats cruising on the Elbe. It mostly cruises the full length of the German Elbe from Hamburg to Dresden (including a U-turn at the Czech border before returning to Dresden). These cruises are one week, one-way.
The MS Dresden is the only regular Elbe River cruise boat with a few full suites as well as a cabin suitable for wheelchair users.
Before reserving a Peter Deilmann cruise, note the following:
- Peter Deilmann often has 50% discounts for children sharing a cabin with adults. Not all on-line reservation services can book this discount so compare or use an experienced travel agent.
- Peter Deilmann cruises are sometimes sold in the international market through General, which may include some shore excursion. All shore excursions are optional when cruises are directly booked through Peter Deilmann.
Viking River Cruises – MS Schumann
Viking River Cruises is the largest operator in the world of riverboat cruises. It has numerous boats on the Rhine and Danube but only the 124-passenger MS Schumann on the Elbe River.
Viking’s MS Schumann generally sails from Magdeburg to Prague, either as a one-week return cruise or as a more relaxed one-week, one-way cruise. The Viking Schumann does not enter the Moldau / Vltava River but anchors in Melnik, at the confluence of the Moldau with the Elbe, from where passengers transfer by bus to Prague.
In international markets, the MS Schumann cruise is generally sold as a 12-day trip from Berlin to Prague. This includes two night-hotel stays each in the German and Czech capitals with bus transfers from Berlin to Magdeburg and Melnik to Prague.
MS Schumann cruises sold in the international market by Viking often include some shore excursions, while cruises booked in Europe and Germany usually do not include any shore excursions at all.
Special discounts are available on Viking River Cruises:
- During 2008, Viking will give 25% discounts to travelers celebrating during the year a wedding anniversary (25, 40, 50, or 60 years) or a birthday dividable by ten.
- Family-friendly deals: one child can accompany adults in some cabins – free up to 3 years and half price from 4 to 12 years.
- In July and Augusts, a child under 12 may accompany an adult for free.
- Not all on-line reservation services can book these discounts – compare or use a traditional travel agent.
The routings of Elbe River cruises allow for visits to some very interesting German and Czech cities such as Prague, Dresden, Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Magdeburg, Potsdam, Berlin, and Hamburg. The Rhine and Danube offer popular alternative riverboat cruises in Germany and Central Europe.
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