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Hi, Ken,

I am enjoying your blog! :)

Your dinner at Steirereck was amazing! Thanks for the great photos.

Happy holidays to John and you. Enjoy the Mozart.

Rhonda

Hi, Ken,

I have emailed you the two maps of the Mozart's docking location.

We have booked tickets to the opera for the night before we embark the Mozart.

We may also want to book concert tickets for the 2nd time Crystal offers the excursion to Belvedere Palace. As nice as the outing is, we probably don't need to participate in it twice within a 3 day period on our B2Bs. We may also want to enjoy a concert in Vienna on the embarkation night of the 2nd leg of our B2Bs.

Steirereck would be nice for lunch before our 5 hour opera, but it is closed on holidays so we will have to find a different option.

We do not get too much overlap in booking the two different itineraries as a B2B. It does give us more time in Budapest and Vienna, which was one of the attractions of Crystal's itineraries, and we intend to make the most of it.

Have a great trip! :)

Rhonda

Hi, Ken,

It would be wonderful if you wrote a blog of your cruise on the Mozart!

The temperatures you are anticipating will be similar to what we experienced on NWP in summer, but you will have less daylight. :D

We wil be on a B2B in the spring and would appreciate your insights.

At this point we are waiting for the 2017 Michelin starred restaurant program to be released so we can adjust our time in Budapest and Vienna. We expect to go to a Vienna restaurant on the first voyage and a Budapest restaurant on the second voyage. We will try to get dinner reservations rather than lunch reservations, because it appears that one would have difficulty fitting in daytime shore excursions if one opted for a luncheon. Is that a valid assumption?

With the B2Bs we will have a fair amount of time in Vienna, which is one of the reasons we like Crystal's itinerary. Any guidance as to how to get into Vienna independently would be helpful.

Since those arriving at the ship independently were having difficulty finding the boat, my TA got some maps from Crystal. We can hand them to the taxi driver so he can find the "bicycle" path. I can email the maps to you if you would like.

Happy holidays to John and you! Have a great time!

Bon Voyage,

Rhonda

Erica,

Excellent photos! Thank you for your efforts. They are greatly appreciated!

We can't wait for our voyage next year!

Rhonda

When the Mozart rooms were renumbered, my original room was renumbered however my original room number was still in the same category but in a different location. Crystal left me with the same cabin number even though the location changed. My TA did not notice the change in physical location, but I was on top of it. My cabin number has now been changed, and I am now back in my original location.

So even if an assigned cabin number has not changed, it is best to check the location against the revised deck plans.

Hi, Claudia,

I am enjoying your blog. Sorry that you had rain during your bike ride, but it sounds like you enjoyed the ride for the most part.

For your overnight in Passau, did Crystal run shuttles to town in the evening?

Also, I read in Travel Weekly that in the evening the Bistro converts to a reservation only, white tablecloth dining experience focused on refined interpretations of local cuisine. Have you dined there in the evening? Is it a more formal dining experience than Waterside in the evening?

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

Rhonda

It appears that Crystal does not plan to cruise the Moselle even with their increased number of river boats in the Danube / Main region. In my opinion this is a missed opportunity for Crystal, since I found the sights along the Moselle to generally be much more scenic than those along the Rhine which tends to be more industrial in many stretches.

Our fondest memories of our Rhine / Moselle cruise was the time we ditched the planned excursions, stayed on the ship, snd enjoyed a lovely sunny day sailing the Moselle. There were about 8 out of 130 of us that did so, and none of us had regrets about missing another castle visit or wine tasting. The scenery along the river was much more memorable.

I think Crystal should at least "test the water" and consider adding some itineraries that included France's Moselle.

Thanks for posting the Bistro beverage menu. There is a nice selection.

I am pleased that the Mozart's dinner menu has regional dishes. My disappointment on my Tauck river cruise was that most of the menu selections were classic american. I think Crystal's immersion approach is better, and it is good to know that other selections are available in case there is nothing on the menu of interest. However it is unrealistic to think that a small river cruise could ever offer the wide selection possible on a large ocean vessel. It is very encouraging to hear that you are so pleased with the quality of the food. No doubt it will be a differentiator for Crystal.

I am enjoying your blog and posts! Thanks for all your efforts!

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

Rhonda

Thanks for all the photos! It is such a treat to find each of your postings on CC and your blog! :)

The storage situation will be challenging, but it is good to know the specifics in advance so that we can plan accordingly. Based on the cabin floor plans, it appears that the PH cabins add more floor space, but not really much more storage. It looks like most of us will be challenged for storage space.

Thanks for the photos of Blue's menu and food. It will be a very nice place for lunch and probably other meals.

Hi, Claudia,

I'm enjoying your blog!

Great news about the entertainment! It sounds like there will be a nice variety each night!

Thanks for reporting on the storage situation. It looks like we can't pack as heavy as we usually do. Hopefully the laundry facilities will be readily available.

Enjoy your voyage! I am sure it will be as lovely as you have been anticipating!

Rhonda

Thanks Rhonda, I will be happy to oblige! Which cabin category will you be on? We're on a "W" (fixed window) and that's probably the only type of cabin I'll be able to report on.

We are in an S1, which is comparable in size and layout to your W.

Thanks so much!

Have a great time! Bon voyage!

Rhonda

Hi, Claudia,

Thanks so much for starting this thread and for access to your blog!

I am eagerly awaiting your reports since we are booked on B2Bs on the Mozart in 2017.

I would appreciate a description or pictures of the closet storage space. We will be onboard for 21 days, and I am a bit concerned as to where we will be able to store all our clothes and gear.

On the whole I am very much encouraged by the recent pictures of the Mozart and the descriptions of the activities and dining for the voyage.

I wish you a wonderful journey and can't wait to hear all the details! Thanks for sharing!

Rhonda

I've read a lot of very positive comments about Tauck land tours and river cruises. We'll be taking a small group land trip with them in 2015 and we have our eye on a river cruise for 2016. I know Tauck offers the "Gift of Time" hotel benefit for returning river cruise passengers. Does anybody know if this extends to previous land trip clients?

In 2013 we took a Tauck land tour, and we were offered the Gift of Time hotel benefit which could be used in conjunction with either a land tour or river cruise in 2014. This year we took a Tauck river cruise where we used the Gift of Time. For 2015 we were again offered the Gift of Time and we are using it in conjunction with a land tour.

Tauck could change or eliminate the program in the future, so there are no guarantees. The free hotel night pre or post tour / cruise is a wonderful perk to award past guests and we hope it continues!

There is no other discount directly from Tauck: no onboard booking discount, no early booking discount. Some TAs, however, may offer an incentive for booking with them.

There are 8 loft cabins on the MS Inspire and they all have windows that open. These are the only cabins that have stairs. The lofts are an innovative way to get light and nice views into some of the "aquarium" cabins.

Most of the cabins have French balconies, which is sufficient for our needs. We most likely would not use a full balcony and would rather have more space in the cabin. (I realize this is a matter of personal preference and some people really want a full balcony.) We expect to spend most of our time in the common areas and a spacious cabin should be plenty for us.

For those that want lots of space, there are 22 cabins that are 300 sq. ft. and they have double French balconies. There are also 32 cabins that are 225 sq. ft.: 24 of these have French balconies and 8 are the lofts with windows that open.

The riverboat only carries 130 passengers, so there is more space per passenger than is typical of most of the other river cruise lines.

Check out the deck plan and the stateroom schematics:

http://www.tauck.com/river-cruises/river-cruise-ships/ms-inspire.aspx

It looks like a great ship and I'm sure we will be very comfortable.

The staterooms look beautiful! We are sailing on the May 30th voyage on the Inspire and can't wait to see more pictures (and actually board). It is reassuring to learn that the launch is on schedule.

Thanks for sharing the link!

I spent 5 nights in Edinburgh this past August and did a day trip to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond. To make best use of your limited time, I suggest the excursion to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond. There are great views of the valley and hills from the castle. The castle is furnished unlike many others. The day we were there some bagpipers played in the courtyard. The lake is pretty. Between the castle and the scenery you will get a great sampler of Scotland.

In my opinion your time is too short to do Edinburgh on your own. If you decide to make the trip to Edinburgh, it would be best to take a tour to be most efficient with your time. However you will miss the beautiful scenery of Scotland which would be a higher priority for me.