For that reason, (as we were being hurried around them a little), some of these posts about the different ships may not be as detailed as they always are and some of the pictures might not be the best in the world. They will however, (I hope), give you a taste of what each ship is like and let you judge the 'personality' of each ship.
The penultimate ship I saw over in Amsterdam was the DaVinci operated by Shearings river cruises. This was probably my least favourite ship of the day. Shearings rated it as a 4* river cruise ship but there were parts of it, (especially the cabins), that I found lacking.
You can however book onboard this ship for a lot cheaper than you can on some of the 5* luxury ships that I saw.
Shearings also don't include drinks or shore excursions in their cruise packages and you will be transported to many of their cruises by coach rather than by air.
The main lounge was very comfy with big leather sofas and tub chairs although you can see from the sloped windows they've tried to make use of all available space.
I thought this was a really nice touch. They had a fireplace in the main reception area with a table and sofas in front of it. It feels very welcoming as you enter the ship, almost as though you are coming home.
Some of the decorations in the main reception. I love nautical paraphernalia k as though someone had just dropped it there. It would of looked a lot nicer on some kind of stand or pedestal.
This is the library area which is free to use for all guests. Again it's a very comfortable corner of the ship but it's not exactly the biggest library I've ever seen.
The sun deck didn't have any padded loungers, just these wooden ones. There were didn't look like they were the most comfortable of chairs to relax in.
I also thought this circular seating area was a bit of a waste of space. Although it looks very nice in reality people will want to use the sun deck in small groups and are unlikely to sit in a circle all facing away from each other.
You may think I've been a little down on the Davinci so far but the above picture, (I think), is a massive plus in their favour. Most, if not all, river cruise lines cater for disabled passengers. The stairs are too steep, there aren't any lifts and their ships don't have disabled cabins with wet rooms. The DaVinci has all three. As you can see there is a stair lift to get passengers up on to deck. There is a lift onboard to help people navigate the ship and they have a couple of disabled cabins with wet rooms available for disabled guests who might need them.
A quick picture of the souvenir shop onboard.
And another of the lift people with mobility difficulties can use to navigate the ship.
The main restaurant was actually one of the nicest parts of the ship, by far the most elegant area onboard.
This is the gym/spa area onboard with a very large sauna for guests to relax in, (assuming you like saunas).
This is a video of one of the outside cabins on the DaVinci. I call it an outside cabin but it's worth noting that this is the only type of cabin onboard, it doesn't come equipped with any balcony cabins.
The beds are all fold up beds as well which gives you a lot more space in your cabin during the day but doesn't make for a very comfortable sleep at night, (you can see how narrow the mattress is in the video). Which would you prefer, a proper bed and mattress in your room or a lot more room during the day because the bed folds into the wall? I know which I'd want.
So what did you think of the DaVinci? Have you travelled with Shearings before? Would you recommend them to other people? Let everyone know what you think here.
Happy, (river), cruising
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