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Live - Crystal Mozart Danube Cruise April 12 -22


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Its Sunday morning in beautiful Sunny Vienna.. We departedfor this much anticipated Crystal River Cruise on Friday afternoon from Sydneyand we arrived in Vienna on Saturday afternoon – a 31 hour trip door to door!

 

We were fortunate to be able to secure Emirates first classreturn tickets using points and it certainly helped make the long journey muchmore pleasurable. The food and beverage choices in first class on Emirates werereally spectacular and it was a fun novelty to take a shower 30,000 feet inthe air. It was a great way to start the holiday.

 

Our pre cruise hotel is a budget design hotel called MotelOne in Staatstopper, - very close to the Vienna Opera House so the locationcan’t be beat. I was a little nervous about our choice of hotel but we wantedto do this trip on a bit of a budget and I knew we wouldn’t be spending toomuch time in our hotel room. I’m pleased to say that Motel One has been afabulous choice. The rooms are very clean and not too small given this isEurope. The hotel lobby has a great vibe with a nice bar and a good breakfastoffering in the mornings. I must say Motel One must have a great reputation inEurope as there are some very well heeled people staying here. So if you’relooking for a good budget hotel in a great location I can highly recommendMotel One Staatstopper.

 

We have three full days in Vienna before boarding CrystalMozart. Our plans are to do a lot of self guided walks around the city, go to Sundaymass and listen to the Vienna Boys Choir, go to Schonbrunn, shop and eat.Speaking of eating after much deliberation our restaurant choices in Viennaare: Imperial Café (wonderful Schnitzel), Greichen Beisl, Schawrzen Kameel (TheBlack Camel) and Zum weissenRauchfangkehrer (The White Chimney Sweep).

 

I’m so pleased we have chosen this time of year for ariver cruise. There don’t seem to be too many tourists around and the weatherso far has been really delightful – clear blue skies, with just enoughcrispness to make walking around comfortable. My fingers are crossed that the weathercontinues to behave. All going well my next update will be from on board theMozart – we are so excited!!

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Thank you for doing a live report, there isn't masses of information around so look forward to your updates.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions along the way!

We are sailing on the Mozart in August and can't wait, this will be our first river cruise!!

 

Kim

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Thank you for doing a live report, there isn't masses of information around so look forward to your updates.

I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions along the way!

We are sailing on the Mozart in August and can't wait, this will be our first river cruise!!

 

Kim

 

Kim, please ask as many questions as you like! This is our first river cruise too although we've sailed on Crystal's ocean ships. I also forgot to mention that if there are any other CC members on this sailing to feel free to chime in on this thread.

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Thanks so much, Nancy! Vienna is certainly a wonderful city!

Today is our last full day here and we'll be doing some shopping as well as having lunch at Kunsthistorisches Museum - I think it must be the best looking dining room in Vienna.

We plan to get to the Mozart around 11.00am tomorrow. Unlike the ocean ships the Mozart appears to be a little more flexible with boarding times. They asked us what time we planned to board and made no objection to 11.00am. We'll know soon enough if it proves to be an issue.

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When you're only dealing with dozens of passengers, rather than hundreds, it's easier to be flexible. In fact as we have seen AMA's ship staff rush from the ship to the taxi to take our luggage before we dared to lift anything, it's probably helpful to them that people come at different times rather than all showing up together. [There is one line that forces that by bringing everyone to the ship on buses; can't imagine how you get personal service that way.]

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When you're only dealing with dozens of passengers, rather than hundreds, it's easier to be flexible. In fact as we have seen AMA's ship staff rush from the ship to the taxi to take our luggage before we dared to lift anything, it's probably helpful to them that people come at different times rather than all showing up together. [There is one line that forces that by bringing everyone to the ship on buses; can't imagine how you get personal service that way.]

 

When we cruised on Scenic, last summer, we arrived by bus but they were still very efficient in checking us in, even though we were in the way, as they still had departing pax onboard. I'm sure we were a real nuisance, but as always the ship personnel do a wonderful job even when their land based colleagues screw it up.

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Looking forwards to this thread to see what changes have been made to 2017. The list of excursion have changed in my Dec 2016 cruise and I am going on this again in Sep 2017.

 

All I can say about the check-in experience is that it is phenomenal compared to any ocean cruise. We got access to our room immediately after our check-in formalities. Some guests did not get this.

 

By the way, if you are wondering who it is who takes your bags off the taxi and to the rooms, they are the butlers.

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Hadn't thought about looking here until this morning! I'll be there tomorrow. Decided to make this a short (read less expensive!) trip so didn't get there early. So looking forward to this trip. I'll listen for your accent and introduce myself! :cool:

 

Patty

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Hi! Ask Mark Farris to point me out!! Already in bed. Exhausted from my journey from Texas to Austria.

 

Patty

 

Nighty night, Patty..glad you made it and all is well. Hugs to Mark and when you meet Shirin, tell her I'm really looking forward to meeting her next year on the Norway cruise...join us!!!

 

Can't wait to read all about your river cruise...enjoy.

 

Nancy

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Patty, great idea - I'll definitely ask Mark to point you out. We went to bed early too.

Nancy, so looking forward to meeting you on the Northcape cruise!

Keith, thanks for your kind comment.

 

A contented sigh - we boarded Mozart yesterday. As plannedwe got to the boat at 11.00am and check in was very swift. Not too much fanfareor sense of occasion as there were still passengers milling about with theirluggage from the previous cruise so there was a general sense of disarray butwe didn’t mind as it was nice to be able to get on board earlier than theofficial 12.00pm embarkation time. Wewere checked in at the front reception desk but I did notice that people whochecked in later in the afternoon were seated in various different alcoves and thecheck in process was a little more personal. Our room, as we expected, wasn’tready so we did a quick tour of the ship and I must say the Crystal Mozartreally is stunning. The interior design, furniture and textiles are just beautiful. The attention to detail is evident in every element. We’ve stayed insome amazing hotels all over the world and the interiors of Mozart are tight up there with some of the best. Having seen pictures of just about every other river boat there’snothing on the market at the moment that I think can compete with the contemporaryelegance of the Mozart.

 

Our stateroom was ready incredibly quickly and we wereunpacking by 11.30am. I was a little anxious about the room size but to be quitehonest it is no smaller and perhaps even a tad larger than a veranda stateroomon Symphony. We are in a window onlyroom, the smallest on board, and we managed to fi everything into the wardrobeand drawers with the suitcases fitting under the bed. We did ask forall the robes to be taken away as they take up an awful lot of preciouswardrobe space and we never use them. We also packed very lightly for this trip– just one large suitcase each - it helps that there are no formal nights assuch although my husband always travels with a few sports jackets. I’ll postpictures of the wardrobe space shortly as I know this is something I wascurious about. There definitely isn’t as much storage as the staterooms on theocean ships which is a shame as they could have easily chosen bedside tablesand desks etc with drawers and perhaps a slightly smaller bed (the bed isreally enormous for the size of the room). However the room is beautifullyappointed and I guess with most river cruises being only 10 days long thereshould be enough storage space for most people. The bathroom also is tight onstorage but again we managed to find a place for everything. I think the keywhen packing for a river cruise is to try and pack as lightly as possible.

 

Lunch was in the Waterside and served buffet style but verynicely done with the buffet being in an adjoining room. I did notice that thetables for 2 were placed very, and I mean very, close to each other and I’m notsure if I’m going to like this. Whilst we enjoy socialising this would feellike we are sitting at a table for 4 every night. After lunch we went on a Vienna city tour andit was well conducted. The coaches are very comfortable but they seem to havedone away with the Nespresso machines and in fact no water was even on the busbut I think this could just be an embarkation day hitch.

 

 

We’ve already done a load of laundry (very nice machines)and sent some shirts for pressing which were returned an hour later!! Pressingis complimentary for all staterooms and I can also confirm there is complimentaryunlimited wifi although each person can only be logged on to one device at atime, Mark Farris played in the Palm Court for dinner and he has to be one ofthe nicest gentleman I’ve ever met and a wonderful entertainer – so so pleasedhe’s on this cruise! Dinner at the Waterside was just fantastic. Again I will post some photos but the food isdefinitely of Michelin standard and the ambience of the dining room waswonderful. We tried to stay up to hear Mark again in the Crystal Cove but jetlag got the better of us and we went to bed far earlier than we would haveliked. We are so happy to be on board and so far the experience on Mozart hasbeen amazing.

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Loving your report so far, we too shall be in a window room, 130, on the starboard side so I'd be interested to know how often you dock on that side.

I would also like to know if guests are able to take the e-bikes out unsupervised or only on arranged tours.

 

Many thanks

Kim

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A picture from the top deck of the nee Vienna docking location - nice picturesque church to view from the dining room

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Some shots of the dining room including my delicious wild mushroom tart appetiser

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I'll post some photos of our room and the inclusive wine list a little later

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Enjoying your review. Haven't tried Crystal yet but it sure looks nice!

 

Glad to see that you have a good docking location. The church in your photo is St. Francis of Assisi Church, so you're in Mexikoplatz by the Reichsbrücke. Great location if you want to explore on your own, as you're less than 10 minutes from a U-Bahn station.

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Wehad a very full day yesterday and were pretty much on the go from morning tilnight. Started the day with breakfast at Waterside – fruit and a bircher muelsithat tasted far too good to be healthy and then we did the Chamber of Wondersand Treasury tour which I can highly recommend. Not only did we have the museumto ourselves for a private viewing of the Chamber of Wonders but our guide wasvery informative and the items on display in these rooms were truly amazing.

 

Backon the ship we had lunch as Blue. Loved the menu and the fact that they have afew local dishes as well as burgers etc. We couldn’t resist the Austriansausages with mustard and pretzel. We managed to work this off though in theafternoon as we did the Vienna Vineyards hike. It was a little strenuous withsome quite steep inclines but the scenery, despite the drizzly weather, wasjust lovely. After the walk we went to a traditional Heuriger for some localwine and snacks before heading back to the boat. A great tour and once again,as with all the excursions we have chosen, it was a complimentary tour,

 

Wehad enough time for a quick shower and a bite to eat (buffet style atWaterside) before heading off to the Crystal Signature Event at BelvederePalace. It was a lovely night – a private viewing of the gallery where many ofKlimt’s most famous works are on display followed by a Mozart and Straussconcert by the Schloss Schonbrunn orchestra. It was a lovely surprise to havethe orchestra accompanied by 2 operasingers and dancers too. The only negative I have about the evening is that itwould have been nice if they could have served a slightly nicer Champagne.Whatever it was that they poured was really undrinkable and I was surprisedCrystal wouldn’t just serve what they do on the boat.

 

 

Backon board at 10.30pm where a lovely littlebuffet was waiting for us at the Bistro. I think our jet lag might finally besubsiding as we managed to stay up until midnight listening to Mark in theCrystal Cove. A fantastic day!

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Thanks for your ongoing updates. Shame about the Champagne and there doesn't seem to be the need to cut corners on a luxury product.

 

We love Austria and have spent many holidays in the mountains, but so far haven't visited Vienna.

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Here is the inclusive wine list - lots of very nice local wines to try

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And the wardrobe and drawer space. There is one teeny drawer on each bedside table but can't fit more than few pairs of socks and one good size drawer under the mini bar but thats sll. Moi can fit 8 pairs of shoes snuggly in the bottom of the wardrobe

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I know this frankfurter lunch doesn't look appealing but it was delish!

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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