Regarding your question about Value World Tours -

In 2003, six of us travelled with VW Tours from St. Petersburg to Moscow on a fantastic trip that we didn't think could be beat.

It was so good that this year (June/July 2004) the same six of us and four more friends did VW Tour's Ukraine Waterways cruise from Odessa to Kiev.

Now, ten of us have already registered for their Six Country Cruise in October 2005 to the southern Danube route from Vienna to Bucharest.

We can't say enough about the company, its service (they give even more than they promise!) and personnel (cruise directors, guides, ship crew, etc). .

The ships are small and that enables you to meet almost everyone and to exchange thoughts, ideas and suggestions. The cabins are small but clean, comfortable and with great picture windows out on the river.

The excursions at each port are excellent and varied and the on-board entertainment program is fantastic - this year in the Ukraine we had a folklore ensemble that performed almost every evening, a sax and clarinet duo and a violin and piano duo that entertained us non-stop.

If you want to get in touch with me, please write to my office e-mail:

Julie.Levy@il.ey.com

By the way, the staff at the company in California are wonderful - Diana is the manager and Samo the CEO.

I went on the 6-country cruise in May 2005 and had a wonderful time. I went with a group from our local community college. Everyone said it was one of the best tours we've been on. There were larger, more luxurious boats on the river, but the crew, from the captain down to the people who cleaned our rooms were friendly and went out of their way to help us in whatever way possible. I had a package to mail in Vidin, Bulgaria, to an American friend in central Bulgaria. One of the guides found where the post office was, walked there with me (carrying my heavy package of peanut butter), translated for me, then didn't want to take a tip! I'm hoping that when my husband retires we can repeat this trip.