DEILMANN EXPANDS SPECIAL INTEREST PROGRAMS ON 2006 EUROPEAN RIVER SAILINGS


Escorted Cruise Tours, "Discovery Add-Ons", Cezanne Centenary Are Among New Offerings

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2005 -- Following the successful introduction of special interest cruises this year, Peter Deilmann will again offer music, golf, gardens and cycling cruise programs in 2006 and add new hiking theme cruises. Four music cruises on two river ships are scheduled, the first three aboard the Mozart on the Danube, April 2–9, Oct. 1-8 and Oct. 8-15, and the fourth on the Cezanne on the Seine, Sept. 2-9, sailing from Paris to Rouen with visits to Versailles, Giverny and Honfleur.

The Deilmann 2006 river cruise season begins March 18, 2006 and continues through Nov. 11. Six escorted garden cruise tours sailing the Seine, Danube, Dutch-Belgian Canals, Rhine and Rhône will take place in April, June, July and September. Six golf cruise itineraries are planned on the Rhône, Seine, Rhine and Danube on the Princesse de Provence, Cezanne, Heidelberg and Mozart with departures between May 13 and Sept. 17.

Deilmann is offering cycling cruise packages on three of these ships and the Dresden, in place of the Heidelberg. There are 15 departures offering cycling between April 30 and Sept. 17. France is the setting for the new hiking theme cruises with sailings roundtrip from Lyon on the Princesse de Provence on the Rhône in May, June and October.

The cruise line will offer a full complement of 13 cruise tours with more than 100 departures in 2006 on its nine European river ships between April and October. The line is introducing fully escorted tours for the first time with new itineraries that spotlight Holland's commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s death and two others exploring the regions of Bohemia and Normandy.

New independent cruise tours include a “Cézanne Centenary” itinerary in France marking the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth and the “Ultimate Cruise Tour” that combines Lake Como and Venice with the Orient Express train, Paris and a Seine cruise to Honfleur and Giverny. “Discovery Add-ons,” a new concept from Deilmann in independent cruise tours, will add a dimension of flexibility and convenience to pre- and post-tour options allowing travelers to select from a choice of destinations at the beginning and end of a cruise, rather than just one.

Among perennial favorites, the cruise line will offer “European Capitals” with extensions to Prague and Munich aboard the five-star MV Mozart, the “Romance of France”, highlighting the south of France aboard the Princesse de Provence, and the “Elbe Explorer” on the Dresden, with longer stays in Prague and Berlin on Elbe River cruises.

Seven of the nine river vessels in the Deilmann fleet are five-star with the Mozart offering the largest cabins - 203 sq. ft. - of any river ship in the world while the Heidelberg, built in 2004, has cabins measuring 190 sq ft. Deilmann is holding prices on most of its ships in 2006, making increases on just four vessels of up to five percent. In the March, April and October Value Season, seven-night Rhône cruise rates on the four-star Princesse de Provence start at $1,375 per person twin and at $1,495 on Rhine-Moselle cruises on the five-star Heidelberg and Casanova.

The April 2-9 music cruise on the Mozart features onboard performances by the Lübecker Ensemble, composed of eight classical musicians, and evening concert and opera performances in Vienna and Budapest. Prices start at $2,080 per person for an outside twin cabin.

Among arrangements Deilmann makes for travelers are pre- and post-cruise city packages, reduced rate shore excursion packages, air transportation, meet-and-greet service and transfers between airports and ships. The 2006 Great Rivers of Europe brochures are available by calling Deilmann Cruises at 800-348-8287 or by e-mail at pdcmail@deilmann-cruises.com. The 120-page brochure, independent and escorted cruise-tours, music cruises, “Discovery Add-on” packages, shore excursions and maps are online at www.deilmann-cruises.com