Europe for Visitors Blog

ABOVE: The river vessel Katharina von Bora (shown here in Dresden, on the Elbe) is now operated by Nicko Tours. 

When Peter Deilmann Cruises exited the river-cruising business in 2009, many former Deilmann cruise passengers (including us) were disappointed by the news. Fortunately, a number of Deilmann's comfortable and well-equipped ships are now owned by Nicko Tours, a Stuttgart-based company that has catered to German river cruisers for nearly two decades.

Some Nicko Tours vessels (like the Katharina von Bora, shown above) offer German-only cruises, but 10 of the company's 28 ships "are equipped for bilingual on-board life" (to borrow a phrase from Nicko's Web site), with announcements, menus, daily programs, etc. in both German and English.

Excursions that are included in the cruise package have bilingual guides, while optional excursions are bilingual if at least 25 passengers who prefer English have booked such tours in advance.

For more information on the company's cruises and ships, visit www.nicko-tours.de.