My wife and I have returned from an August 2006 south of France trip (Lyon - Lyon) on the Deilmann river boat Princesse de Provence. Here are my observations, prefixed by a (+) or (-) based on my opinion:

(-) Everything is optional, meaning you pay extra for it. For example, bottled water is offered before every (optional) shore excursion, but you pay EUR 1,5 for it. All soft drinks are extra. Tea and coffee are free. Tipping is strongly encouraged. Port charges are a source of amusement (who charges the ship to tie up, anyway? Just another excuse to charge the tourist).

We received a letter a week before the cruise indicating that there would be a EUR 5 per person per day fuel surcharge. Just an annoyance, to be sure, but not enough time to cancel --- nor could this fuel surcharge be used as a legitimate excuse anyway.

(+) The boat holds 140 persons with 70 cabins, which made it small enough to recognize most of our fellow travelers when we met them in the towns. I would estimate the mix of people on our cruise to be 50% German, 25% other European and 25% American/Canadian.

(-) The room is SMALL (128 sq feet) which is why Deilmann calls the ship a 4-star rather than a 5-star experience. When the beds are lowered, there is a 2 foot gap between them, not enough to make a double bed. One bed is converted from the couch, the other is a Murphy (pull-down) type bed.

(+) We chose to pay extra for the full length opening French doors, which really helped to make the cabin seem larger. The evening breeze was a nice respite from the air conditioning as well.

(+)(-) The food was excellent and rich. All meals are served at the same time, with each course served simultaneously to everyone (one sitting). Towards the end of the 7 day cruise, my wife was actively looking for excuses to eat lunch in town, rather than succumb to the rich food on board. As a nice gesture, all menus are given to the passengers during the last dinner.

(-) Three formal dinners. Personally, I think that is one too many for a 7 day cruise, especially since you only have an hour to prepare when embarking after a shore excursion. The formal dinner had an extra course (usually sherbet) or two (another dinner entrée).

(+) Excellent food service  attentive waiters and staff.

(+) You dock in the heart of each town---no other transportation necessary. The shore excursion busses are right there and on time.

(+) Sitting on a deck chair, watching the scenery flow by is, of course, one of the main reasons you pick a river cruise. The scenery was wonderful and picturesque. The feeling of movement was imperceptible. There was no engine noise at all. When you're inside the locks, you can actually reach out from your cabin and touch the concrete walls, one foot away.

(+)(-) Traversing the first river lock or two was an adventure; the other 28 locks were boring. It was fun watching the unsuspecting passengers dive for cover as we passed the still-dripping lock gates.

(-) Bridge ducking. There were at least two occasions where the bridges were low enough to knock over a 6' person. Plenty of warning was given, however.

(+) Shore excursions were very well done --- some were bilingual (German & English). On the more popular excursions, we had separate English and German busses. Note again that ALL excursions were optional and cost between 30-70 Euros per person.

(-) If you took both the morning and afternoon tours, you had no opportunity to walk around the town itself, as the ship left almost immediately after you embarked.

(+) Fast and reasonably-priced laundry service.

(-) At age 58, we were amongst the youngest passengers on board. 80+% were 70 or older. There were a few children present.

(-) No onboard activities except one Bingo game. You may see this as a (+), however.

(-) Only two nightly acts: A gypsy quartet and an Edith Pilaf-like karaoke singer.

(-) No loyalty program (e.g., credit on future cruises)

To summarize:

Would I take a similar cruise again: No , primarily because of the food. Not that it was bad (it was great), but the richness of it overwhelmed us.

Would I recommend this cruise: Yes, if you're not claustrophobic and can relate to the points I've made above.