Kristal Blade

We have sailed through the gorges today, it was a little cloudy and misty first thing but we could sit outside as we sailed and the temperature wasn’t too low. The captain slowed down as we passed the statue of king Decebal and we got lovely views. We are just about to embarrass ourselves by trying the movie quiz!

Apologies for the gap in reporting, we had a full and busy day yesterday. It was very windy in Belgrade, but it was a warm wind. We didn’t need jackets, the gilet was enough. Our first visit was to St Sava’s church. We were taken by coach and the guide gave us a great running commentary on the buildings around us. Belgrade is having buildings put up by Abu Dhabi investors. The apartment blocks are full of flats too expensive for the locals! The church was amazing! It is decorated inside with dozens of mosaics of saints and biblical scenes. There is a lot of gold in the patterns, the floor is beautiful marble tiles and we loved it! Our guide told us that Putin had funded the mosaic decoration, but other guides didn’t mention that. I might look that up later. Next stop was the fortress and we got lovely views over the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. We were moored on the Sava, hadn’t realised we had veered off the Danube. We decided to walk back to the ship after the tour so we had a walk round the city centre and went back to some of the government buildings we had seen from the coach. Unfortunately the rain started so we had to scoot back to the ship. It was an easy walk downhill but then we had to descend a long staircase. Definitely better to be going down that than up. We got back before the lashing rain started, had lunch, the usual slow process. Our next event was another coach ride, this time off to a farm in the country. That was fun. We were told we would get to taste some local specialities. That started with a shot glass of slivovitz, one lady described it as like drinking Deep Heat. It was definitely very warming. We each got a plate of sausage, ham, cheese and pastries. We should have skipped lunch! After lunch we strolled round the farm, I fed the donkey the 2 apples I had brought from home. The rain was off and we strolled to the local church. All through the time we were at the farm, nearly 2 hours, a band of local musicians kept us entertained. Some passengers skipped this event, but we enjoyed it a lot. Here is some evidence of our farm visit!

I’m now on my Capella cruise with the sliding down window “verandah”. I think at this time of year, even though we are in warm weather and blue skies, this option is good. But I did love my AmaStella full balcony. If I was on a cruise between maybe May-September I would go for a proper balcony.

Vukovar today, an interesting visit with some very sad history. There were signs of the 1991 war on several buildings in spite of most of the town being rebuilt after the civil war. But we had a beautiful sunny day and our guide was informative and upbeat about the town. We found interesting places to walk after our tour and the museum kept our interest for ages. We have had lunch on board, which is quite a haphazard event. In the dining room there is a buffet with salad items, a chef who dishes out one of the main meal options but there are some items on the menu which need to be ordered from the waiter. Soup has to be ordered and also main menu choices, apart from the one the chef is providing! Sometimes it takes several minutes to get the menu then there is a delay till the waiter returns to take the order. You also don’t know which menu item you can help yourself to so you may wait to order then be told that choice is available from the chef. I think it would help if the menu was displayed at reception or at the door of the restaurant and there was a code to indicate which items were order only. At our table the people who got their choices from the chef had nearly finished their meals till I had ordered my meal. But, the food is mostly excellent (soup was too salty today) and the waiters and waitresses are always polite and smiling as they gallop round their tables taking orders and delivering food. The photos show the sights of Vukovar town, exhibits in the museum and the museum building. Check out that beautiful blue sky! We are so lucky to be on this trip.

After lunch we had a stroll round Mohacs. It was even quieter than Pecs. Only a few cafes open because of the public holiday. But we still found interesting monuments and buildings to photograph. Back on board we enjoyed happy hour in the bar then had a talk from the cruise director about passport checks over the next few days. I think we enter a new country every day for the next 4 days. After another delicious dinner there was a quiz in the lounge. The questions were hard so we left them to it and headed back to the cabin to catch up on our sleep!

Back from our trip to Pecs, a beautiful sunny day in a very pretty town. Another excellent guide but as it’s All Saints’ Day most of the shops were shut. It didn’t worry us too much. We are having a drink in the lounge now. Pint of beer is €5 and a Diet Coke is 2.20. We were very thirsty and couldn’t wait till lunch to get a freebie! Several passengers needed help with the safe operation!

Yes, thank you reeves35, your comment was the reason why I brought a washing line! Our smalls are all dry now, nobody garrotted! Last night we had our welcome champagne reception followed by another very tasty dinner and an evening of fun chat round the table. On sail away lots of us went up on deck to see the beautiful buildings of Budapest illuminated. Forgot my iPad, just took pics on my camera. From there we headed back to the lounge to warm up. The duo, think they are called Ann & Richard were playing some Hungarian songs then other tunes for dancing. I asked for some Halloween themed songs, I asked for Moon Dance or Spooky. Ann hadn’t heard of Spooky but I think she might look it up. Today we have woken up to a lovely misty morning. I will be doing morning stretch before breakfast then 8.30 we arrive in Mohacs

Hi ural guy, Yes, we are with Travelmarvel. We have had a very good guide today who told us lots of historical facts about Budapest. The weather let us down badly this afternoon. We were out in a thunder and lightning storm. But the central market was our shelter. We are currently checking out the programme for today on our tv screen. Cocktail party at 6.30 then gala dinner. I’m going to wear a dress! We are a tiny bit annoyed that there is no washing line in the shower room. But… we have strung up our washing line, which I brought from home, between the towel rail and the towel hook by the shower. I now have a line of undies drying nicely but we will need to take it down so we aren’t garrotted whenever we go into the shower!

Hi BillY, yes, our steward showed us the hairdryer and we might use it… not for our hair but to dry our socks after being caught in torrential rain, thunder and lightning this afternoon! Rather unexpected, but we sheltered in the market and the Whale building. We have been to the Fisherman’s Bastion on previous visits but I think we might have that tour at the end of our trip when we return to Budapest. In other news… we had to get the receptionist to come and reset our safe. I screwed setting it up 3 times in a row. At lunch we sat with 2 other couples who had had similar trouble. The instructions are terrible and situated on the back of the cupboard door making ready the tiny writing difficult. But all is good now. We are very happy with everything on board. Beef goulash for lunch was delicious. I had to ration myself to a small portion because we have gala dinner tonight.

we have returned from our tour where we went to the Heroes Square and St Stephen’s Basilica. Our guise was very informative and along the way he pointed out all sorts of info including the history of Budapest, famous buildings etc. Back on board we were greeted with a cooling glass of lemon squash and a wet towel to freshen up. It stayed dry for the tour and the temperature was ideal for touring. We didn’t the umbrellas or jackets. I was fine in a long sleeved shirt and gilet. Of course the socks kept my feet warm!

The photo above is a cabin view. It’s Halloween so I have dressed appropriately. Breakfast was excellent. I found a bottle of chilled Sekt so we each had a taste of that, about 25ml so not enough to get our heads spinning. After breakfast we did an explore of the ship. Found the lounge, the bar and the top deck with the mini hot tub. Our tour of Budapest starts in about 30 minutes so time to organise umbrellas because there has been a little shower of rain.

What a wonderful day. your descriptions are spot on! I’m trying to do a similar on the go review of my river trip on Capella. We boarded last night and already loving the ship. Have an enjoyable time in Tokyo and a safe journey home. I love that you have picked up a new recipe to try at home!

Myself and my husband are on board Capella now and I’m going to try to drop comments along the way. I will do my best to answer questions but right now my brain is a little foggy as we just woke up. So, yesterday we left home at 4.30 for our journey to Budapest. Our journey was taxi, train to Paddington, Heathrow Express to the airport, flight to Budapest then coach transfer to the ship. Everything worked smoothly but we were glad to get on board. We were last to set foot on Capella, checking in was a slow process. It was a surprise to have our passports taken from us, but we were told it made things easier for going through all the different countries on this trip. We were shown to our room by our room attendant. He gave us a quick “tour” pointing out the safe, fridge, window that opens downwards to turn the seating area into a balcony. It was dark on arrival, it’s dark now and we have another ship right beside us so we’re not trying that out yet! We missed the safety talk, but it was running on our room tv. We did a high speed unpack (I love my packing cubes - unzip and lay contents into drawers) then headed for dinner. We sat with a lovely couple from Australia and had a really delicious meal. We were gasping for a glass of wine, it was a little slow to arrive, but once it got to us the supply was continuous. My meal was a stuffed pancake (tasty), fish soup (a bit watery), perch fillet (delicious with a good variety of veg) then fresh fruit platter (very light and refreshing). We were straight to bed after that and the bed is super comfy, we had a good sleep. I’m off to find the tea making station now and find out today’s itinerary. More to follow…..

We are at the airport, ready to fly to Budapest I’m hoping ship wifi is good enough to let me share some pictures as we sail to and from Bucharest. Thank you notamermaid for all the updates. I really think you should be promoted to truemermaid or queenmermaid

Great photos bennybear, We will be visiting Kochi so good to know it is easily walkable from the shuttle.

Hi Richard, I think you can just put in the address of the first port you arrive at. Or try putting in ship name and see if that works. We have usually been on land before our cruise so had a hotel name and address. It’s a bit of a trial of a form, isn’t it? I remember having to be really patient as it takes a time to fill it in then loading can take a while. Do take a note of your reference numbers, you need them to check up on the progress of the applications. I did 2, one for me & one for my other half. They took different times to load. Best of luck!

Capella is in Budapest, ready for us boarding tomorrow. I just checked on ship traffic to see her docked near the Liberty Bridge. Packing day today!

Thank you for all the posts, Ferry-Watcher, you have given us all a really fascinating read with so much detail. I will be checking out the library in March, but I suspect your books may have been picked up and hopefully replaced! Thank you for the laundry info, I suspect we will send ours out too because we have some time in Yokohama post cruise as well as Tokyo pre cruise. Enjoy your time ashore and thanks again, Libby

Thanks BillY, The cabin looks good, thanks for the pictures. I have been tracking Capella and she looks to be moving steadily towards Budapest. I’ve been checking weather forecasts too and it looks like it will be better than our current heavy rain! Hoping to start my review on Monday, but we will be getting up about 0430 to start our journey so I may be a bit too muddle headed to get going then!

Ihave found a picture. will try to attach

Maybe the Asian ships are smaller? We fitted 2 on our balcony comfortably, but it is quite narrow. I would sit on the chair with my feet up on the rail and loved the fresh air because we couldn’t always go up on the top deck because of low bridges.

We had a veranda/balcony on AmaStella when we cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest in April. I sat out on it lots when we were sailing. It had room for 2 lounge chairs and a small table. Lovely for a glass of wine, watching the river flow or just reading in the fresh air. It was also fun to jump onto the balcony as we passed through locks. The balcony made our room very bright and airy. I loved it. I am disappointed that my upcoming cruise on Capella only has a French Balcony. In my opinion the veranda/balcony is well worth it.

How brilliant to get such good weather, but you have solved the clothes issue with finesse! A great idea to get your laundry done, ready to pack. I love going home with minimal laundry to do but as we are only 2 ⭐️ we don’t have a laundry service! Maybe I will be able to do a stuff a bag offer, if it’s available. Enjoy the rest of your trip, your updates have made excellent reading and you have given your readers loads of useful insider info about the ship and ports. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Really pleased to read your post. We are doing “your” cruise in 24/25, also on Regatta. I’m getting my party dress ready!