THREE DEILMANN DANUBE SAILINGS TO FEATURE MUSIC CRUISES


Classical Music Programs Begin on the Mozart, April 2-9, Featuring Onboard Concerts, Performances in Vienna and Budapest

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2005 – In response to the growing interest in music theme cruises on European sailings, Peter Deilmann Cruises is offering four onboard classical music cruises in 2006 on seven-night sailings on two rivers, three on the Danube on the 200-passenger Mozart, and one on the Seine from Paris on the 100-passenger Cezanne. Each Danube music program cruise will feature onboard concerts and performances in Vienna and Budapest and visits to sites of musical interest in Vienna. Sailings are roundtrip from Passau, Germany, to Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava.

Eight classical musicians will perform on the first Mozart sailing, April 2-9. The artists, members of the Lübecker Ensemble came together while studying at the University for Music in Lübeck, Germany. The Ensemble musicians play the violin, cello, clarinet, flute, piano and percussion and include vocalists. Their repertoire encompasses music by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Schubert and baroque trios. In addition, they perform Broadway show tunes and movie theme music. Deilmann will announce the programs for the other two Mozart sailings, Oct. 1-8 and Oct. 9-16, and the Cezanne Seine River cruise, Sept. 2-9, in early 2006.

Deilmann’s Danube cruises sail from Passau in eastern Bavaria, situated at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers. The ship’s route takes passengers to Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and villages and small towns in Austria and Hungary. The dollar’s devaluation against the Euro has less impact on travelers who book a European river cruise as the cruise is priced in dollars and includes seven nights accommodations, all meals, transfers, musical performances, sightseeing and shore excursions. Starting price for the seven-night music cruise is $2,080 per person twin for an outside cabin. Outside single rates start at $2,710.

A post-cruise package to Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart, is an added attraction to the Deilmann music cruises in 2006, which is the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The optional program includes transfer from the ship in Passau to Salzburg, two nights at the Salzburg Sheraton with breakfast, chamber orchestra concert with dinner at the Hohensalzburg Fortress, half-day city sightseeing tour and is priced at $490 per person double.

The October music theme sailings will offer the same cruise itinerary, sightseeing program and optional two-night package to Salzburg. Outside twin prices for these cruises start at $2,645 per person double for the Oct. 1 sailing and $2,080 for the Oct. 8 sailing.

The music cruise program in Vienna will begin with an evening concert performance in the city and the next morning will feature sightseeing that focuses on the musical traditions of the city visiting the Theatre of Vienna where Mozart’s Magic Flute was first played, St. Stephen’s Cathedral where Mozart married and Figaro House where he wrote “The Marriage of Figaro”. In the afternoon there are visits to the State Opera House and the Museum of Musical Instruments in Hofburg Palace. In Budapest, music cruise participants will attend an evening performance at Budapest’s Hungarian State Opera House.

Dürnstein, the ship’s first morning call, is an Austrian wine village with narrow, hilly streets, 16th and 18th century town houses, cozy wine taverns and the ruins of the medieval castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned. The Mozart sails next to Vienna, the incomparable Austrian capital, and then through river locks and under bridges to the Hungarian capital of Budapest where the pristine, restored Buda hill district rising high above the river and bustling, commercial Pest are on opposite sides of the river connected by seven distinctive bridges.

Austria’s grandiose Baroque abbey at Melk and Gothic town of Grein, the Hungarian city of Esztergom with its cathedral designed after St. Peter’s in Rome and Bratislava, capital of Slovakia with its restored old town, are other destinations on the itinerary.

Deilmann’s five-star Mozart has cabins of 203 square feet, largest of any river ship. Highly rated year after year by readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine as one of the best small cruise ships, this small floating hotel has 100 cabins, 95 outside and identical in size, and two suites of 406 square feet. Refurbished in 2003, the vessel's decor features polished rosewood and original works of art.

Passengers will find a spacious panoramic lounge, two bars, café, full-size indoor pool, sauna, fitness room, library, boutique, beauty salon, laundry and infirmary with a doctor. Dining is single seating in a nonsmoking, windowed restaurant and breakfast, morning bouillon, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and midnight snack are served daily. The cruise line has also expanded no-smoking restrictions to ship cabins and corridors. As on all vessels in the Deilmann river fleet, service is of the highest standard with one English-speaking crew member for every 2.5 passengers.

To view and download the Mozart music cruise brochures, log on to www.deilmann-cruises.com and click on theme cruises. Cruise details are also available from Peter Deilmann Cruises by calling 1-800-348-8287 or by e-mail at pdcmail@ deilmann-cruises.com. Details and photos of the ship are online at www.deilmann-cruises.com.