MS Deutschland Cruise, voyage 264
Norwegian Fjords, Spitzbergen, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Lerwick Shetland Islands. 9 July 2007 to 28 July 2007 Introduction Some two years ago we had the pleasure of traveling on one of Peter Deilmann's river ships, the M.V. Mozart. This was a nine day cruise between Passau in Germany along the Danube as far as Budapest and back to Passau. The Mozart was beautiful, and we would happily sail with her again. When we were considering another ocean cruise, we wondered if Peter Deilmann had any ocean going ships and so we discovered the "Deutschland". We made our initial inquiries regarding a booking via the internet. We contacted Peter Deilmann UK, but they referred us to the Deilmann Office in the USA. They offered us a Category E twin cabin, midships on deck 4, quoted in US dollars, but inclusive of the special incentives for US guests. We then proceeded with the booking through our American Express Platinum travel service in Sydney. We later learned that Deilmann Cruises has appointed "Classic Voyages" as agent in Sydney, Australia; they subsequently issued the tickets. Peter Deilmann Cruises is a German, family owned company and is better known for its fleet of five-star river boats. The Deutschland is well known in Germany in their television broadcasts of their version of "The Love Boat" or " Das Traumschiff. The Deutschland was the dream of the late Peter Deilmann, the founder of the line that bears his name. He had a vision of a cruise ship in the style and tradition of Germany's finest luxury hotels. The ship was built in a German shipyard and accommodates a maximum of 520 guests. She proudly flies the German flag. The ship's company is mainly German. Waiting staff also mainly German or Austrian with a fair number from east European countries. Much of the behind-the-scene work is done by Filipinos. More than a seagoing grand hotel, this ship is almost like a beautiful German home at sea. The ship is decorated in shades of pure white and green and gold highlights, paneled wood, beveled and etched glass mirrors and brass everywhere. There are not many ships where attention to quality in decor matches that of the Deutschland. Everything on board is of the best quality. Both inside and outside there is art and sculpture . The ship has many paintings and sculptures from the Deilmann family's collection: Meissen figurines, busts of German kings, poets and philosophers. We liked the large and nostalgic photographs throughout the ship of former famous German film actors; old scenes of German cities and ocean liners of days bygone.
Do not be mistaken. the Deutschland is a German ship, but it is also very special and unique! So different from the mass market ships of other cruise lines The majority of its passengers are from Germany. Of the 500 or so passengers, only about 20 were from English speaking countries, (USA, Ireland, UK and Australia) with a sprinkling of other Europeans. An informal gathering for English speaking guests was arranged early in the cruise to get to know one and another. The primary language is German. The menus and daily activity sheet were in English and news sheets from U.S.A. and U.K. were delivered to the cabin each morning. All announcements were repeated in English. There are English language television channels available, depending on the ship's location, as well as English spoken films in the theatre. At functions and entertainment there was a translation in English or a translator available. Lectures were repeated in English for non German speakers, even though sometimes only 6 people were present. The waiting staff and other personnel all spoke English. Peter Deilmann arranged special English guided excursions for non German passengers in each port of call, which incidentally were complementary. Of special interest to some of the non German passengers is the provision of a special dialysis ward in the hospital onboard Deutschland. This enabled some English speaking passengers to have their first cruise and a holiday away from home. Travel We flew from Melbourne Australia by way of Dubai to Hamburg. We had booked overnight accommodation at the Maritim Reichshof in Hamburg. The hotel is conveniently located opposite the main railway station and is a pick-up point for passengers leaving on the Deutschland. Deilmann offers transfer from Hamburg to the ship . We arranged for round trip transfers from Hamburg Maritim to the ship. Transfer from our hotel was effortless, our suitcases were collected from our room and placed with other Deutschland