CroisiEurope/CroisiMer

ABOVE: CroisiEurope's Michelangelo cruises the Venetian Lagoon and the Po River in Northern Italy. INSET BELOW: La Belle de L'Adriatique moors behind MSC Poesia in Dubrovnik, and a cabin on La Belle de l'Adriatique.

CroisiEurope is a French cruise line that offers river voyages aboard 27 vessels in France, Spain, Portugal, the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe.

The company also operates coastal and maritime cruises in the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands with the 200-passenger M.S. Belle de l'Adriatique, which was launched in 2007. (Until recently, its ocean cruises were sold under the CroisiMer brand.)

Most CroisiEurope passengers are French, but the firm markets actively to travelers of other nationalities and has an English-language Web site. Its cruises are worth investigating if you speak some French and are looking for a distinctly European cruise experience.