The capital of innovation

For connoisseurs

People from Düsseldorf and the surrounding area who appreciate the finer things in life should definitely make their way towards the KD jetty on a regular basis in 2018. Because those who enjoy eating well and prefer to do so in a stylish atmosphere can find many suitable offers here. Would you like a taster? There are, for example, the all-inclusive evening trips that KD offers regularly from June onwards. While the handsome KD river cruiser MS RheinPoesie sails majestically on the Rhine for three hours, the attentive KD service team is constantly ensuring that the sumptuous buffet in the salon is fully stocked − and, of course, that the guests’ glasses are topped up. After all, all-inclusive means that all wines, beer and soft drinks as well as the buffet are included in the price. Incidentally, this also applies to the background music for the pleasurable evening. During the meal, a DJ provides subtle tunes and later turns the dining hall into a dance floor.

Anyone who would like to enjoy an on-board feast of Michelin star standards will also have the opportunity to do so for the first time in Düsseldorf in 2018. We provide a more detailed report on this on pages 64 to 68. In Cologne, the KD dinner cruises, during which a Michelin star chef on-board serves a menu specially created for the occasion, already have a large fan base. And the same will probably soon be formed in culinary cultivated Düsseldorf. After all, the dinner trips are a stylish way of showcasing top-class cookery skills in a special location.

For explorers

Enjoying a cocktail with the crowd, a beer with friends or taking a time out as a couple after work? Could there be a better place for this on warm summer evenings than the sun deck of a ship? Hardly. From June onwards, the KD in Düsseldorf lifts anchor for the evening trip every Monday to Thursday at 8:00 p.m. These relaxed tours last for two hours, during which chilled music plays and cocktails are served as well as freshly tapped dark beer. This is what “after work” is all about!

Anyone who would like to travel by boat for longer and during the day should keep Wednesdays free. From May onwards, this is excursion day at KD and when the discovery tours up and down the Rhine will begin. Sometimes picturesque Zons with its wealth of medieval buildings is on the itinerary, while sometimes the destination is Krefeld with a visit to the historical Dujardin distillery in the port of Uerdingen. Or how about a day trip to Duisburg to Europe’s largest inland port including tour of the harbour? A special highlight among the excursions is the tour from Düsseldorf to Cologne. Admittedly, it is always said that the inhabitants of the two Rhineland metropolises don’t really like each other much. However, this hasn’t affected the high demand for boat trips from one city to the other.

The two cities are only about 35 kilometres apart, but the Düsseldorf-Cologne-Düssel-dorf tour takes a good ten hours, including a one-hour guided tour of the cathedral city. That’s why the ticket price includes a breakfast and lunch buffet. No one will arrive hungry − neither in Cologne nor in Düsseldorf. By the way: a lunch buffet is also included in the ticket price for other day trips.

For party people

Düsseldorf is certainly not lacking in possibilities to party, and yet the region’s night owls will be pleased with the new offers from KD. For one thing, KD’s experienced event managers have come up with a lot of good ideas, and for another, the combination of partying and sailing is something very special, even for passionate partygoers.

In addition to the unusual ambience, there’s something else that makes the KD parties so special: The atmosphere on-board is at its peak right from the start. That’s because the party ship sets sail. That’s why all guests have to be on time, and whereas partygoers on land drift in to the venues gradually, queues form at the jetty long before the entrance to the KD party cruises begins because everyone wants to get on-board on time. And that means that the dance floor is crowded from the very first song.

Anyone who wants to experience this for themselves can choose from a wide variety of party formats: Have you ever danced into May on a ship? Or how about “No Limits”, the big all-in-clusive charts party? Two DJs supply the guests with the current Top 100, and service staff provide an unlimited supply of drinks, as beer, sparkling wine and soft drinks are all included in the ticket price.

In June and September, there is a “Funky Friday”. This is the name of KD’s over-30s party for Düsseldorf. On the turntable: The best hits from the last 30 years. Chart hits also sound out when KD sets sail with the “Ghost Ship”, the new Halloween format on the Rhine. This is when zombies, witches, mummies and other fearsome creatures are welcome to come aboard and dance and haunt in a wonderfully spooky atmosphere.

Anyone who loves to dress up has come to the right place with KD. After all, the company unites the two carnival strongholds of Cologne and Düsseldorf in its name − an indication that carnival parties on-board can only be great. People in Cologne have known this for a while, and from carnival season 2018/19 onwards, carnival fans will finally be able to dance on the Rhine in Düsseldorf as well. “Schiff Helau” is the party motto on ten evenings between November 2018 and February 2019.

The carnival celebrations on-board are briefly interrupted by a completely different kind of party: On Sunday, 23rd December, “Say hello to Santa” will be held from 6:00 p.m. This is a waiting-for-Santa party for fans of electronic dance music.

Party-lovers can especially look forward to a format that has already been discovered by several clubs, but is still new for a ship party: “Silent Beats”, probably the quietest party ever celebrated on a KD ship. Each guest receives a set of wireless headphones at the entrance, which allows them to listen to their favourite music. Three DJs play tunes from the genres of charts, pop and electro, and every partygoer can use the headphones to choose whether they want to dance to Helene Fischer or Katy Perry. The great thing about it: Even people with different tastes in music can dance the night away together − even on the open deck, as the headphones also work there.