SEA CLOUD CRUISES
Europe, Mediterranean,Caribbean

RIVER CLOUD
Passenger Capacity: 90
Built: 1996
Length: 360 ft.
Beam: 37 ft.
Draft: 6 ft.
Decks: 3
Elevator: None
Officers: European, German
Staff and Crew: 36, European

• Itinerary: The vessel cruises on the Danube, Rhine, Main and Moselle Rivers. Saturday to Saturday cruises go between Dietfurt and Budapest with stops at Regensburg, Passau, Melk, Durnstein, Vienna, Bratislava, Esztergom and Kelheim, with several major stops being overnight.


• Cabins: 45. All cabins are outside, are air-conditioned and have a private bath with shower. Welcoming champagne and fruit basket are included as are robes. There is a TV/VCR, music channel, safe, hairdryer, and telephone. Cabins have queen or twin beds. There are six suites.


• Dining: The dining room, with a panoramic view, has open-seating at one sitting. Cuisine is international with local specialties. Complimentary regional wines are served. Breakfast and lunch are buffet. There is afternoon tea and a midnight snack. Fresh fruit and soft drinks are served in cabins free of charge.


• Dress: A jacket and tie for men and a dress for women will suffice at the captain's welcome and farewell dinners.


• Facilities and Activities: Teak, mahogany and rosewood are used to create the ambiance of a waterborne Orient Express. The lounge has panoramic windows. There is a wrap-around promenade, a fitness center, sauna, hairdresser, library and a putting green and large-scale chessboard on deck. There are on-board wine tastings, piano music, films, slide shows and lectures in the evening. In June a music cruise from Budapest to Dietfurt offers private concerts aboard ship as well as on-shore public performances of classical music, opera and ballet. In October a connoisseur cruise features lectures and wine tasting of German and Alsace wines. There is an open bridge policy. Days consist of sightseeing at towns and villages visiting historical sites, castles and cathedrals. The tour guides are English-speaking.


• Typical Rates and Special Deals: Standard seven-night cruise-only rates range from $3,300-$4,800 per person double occupancy. Additional cruise programs are available through a variety of tour operators and rates vary as to what is included in the itinerary.

• Itinerary: The Sea Cloud cruises in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean on six, seven and eight-night cruises. Cruises in the Caribbean go from Antigua roundtrip. Cruises in the Mediterranean go from Palermo to Venice, Istanbul to Kusadasi, Kusadesi to Piraeus, or Palermo to Nice. The transatlantic repositioning cruise goes between Las Palmas and Barbados. The ship is also chartered by various tour operators who offer cruises for certain dates.


• Cabins: 34. All cabins are outside, are air-conditioned and range from 90 to 140 sq. ft, while the two owners' suites are 375 and 422 sq. ft., lavishly decorated with a king-size bed, antique furniture, walk-in closets, marble fireplace, and Italian marble bathrooms with tub and shower. Most cabins have queen or twin beds, six cabins have upper and lower berths, and two cabins are singles. Cabins have a safe, telephone, music channel, down comforters and pillows, robes, and a private bath with shower.


• Dining: There is an open-seating dining room with one seating and rotating invitations to the captain's table. The dining room is paneled with a wood beam ceiling. Food is continental nouvelle cuisine plus local specialties, and wines, beer or soft drinks are included with lunch and dinner. Breakfast and lunch are buffet, with lunches sometimes on deck. There is an afternoon tea and midnight snack. The dining room also serves as a library.


• Dress: Casual, except for captain's dinner, which is formal.


• Facilities and Activities: This is a four-masted bark with 30 sails, most of them square-rigged, with 34,000 sq. ft. of canvas and a main mast 120 ft. high. It is the largest private sailing yacht ever built, originally built for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post by her husband broker E.F. Hutton. In World War II, de-masted, it served the US Coast Guard as a weather observation ship. Later it was traded to Latin American dictator Rafaael Trujillo for a prop jet. The interior of the vessel has carved paneling, antique furniture and original oil paintings of old sailing vessels. Whenever the wind is favorable the sails are set; when it is not, there are four diesels. There is after-dinner piano music. The staircase is steep as on all sailing vessels. Smoking is only allowed outside on deck. On board languages are English and German. There are zodiacs and tenders. Video recorder and overhead and slide projectors are available. Guests swim, snorkel, water-ski or windsurf, or explore local ports. An archeological cruise is held in October.


• Typical Rates and Special Deals: Standard seven-night cruise-only rates are from $3,500 to $8,590. Additional cruise programs are available through a variety of tour operators where rates vary as to what is included in the itinerary. The Sea Cloud II is privately chartered mostly by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Itinerary: The vessel navigates the Po River between Venice and Cremona.


• Cabins: 44. All cabins are outside, are air-conditioned and have a private bath with shower. Welcoming champagne, fruit basket, mineral water and a selection of soft drinks is included as are robes. There is a TV/VCR, music channel, safe, hairdryer, and telephone. Cabins have queen or twin beds. There are 13 junior suites.


• Dining: The dining room, with a panoramic view, has open-seating at one sitting. Cuisine is international with an emphasis on local specialties. Complimentary regional wines are served. Breakfast and lunch are buffet. There is afternoon tea and a midnight snack. Fresh fruit and soft drinks are served in cabins free of charge.


• Dress: A jacket and tie for men and a dress for women will suffice at the captain's welcome and farewell dinners. Facilities & Activities: This new river boat offers a Mediterranean decor in the cabins, suite and lounges, with motifs and hues reminiscent of Northern Italy landscapes and marble from the famous Carrara quarrites.The lounge has a Steinway grand piano. There are lectures, wine-tasting, and nightly entertainment. There is a fitness center, hairdresser, library, shuffleboard, and a large-scale chessboard on deck. Days consist of sightseeing in historic towns. Tour guides are English-speaking.


• Typical rates and Special Deals: Standard seven-night cruise-only rates range from $3,300 to $4,800 per person double occupancy. Additional cruise programs are available through a variety of tour operators and rates vary as to what is included in the itinerary.