On board credit...what may I use it on Crystal Mozart???

Hi. We are taking our first river cruise on Crystal Mozart this coming April. We are looking forward to it. Our TA just informed us that he managed to add some on board credit to our reservations. We really appreciate that, but knowing that almost everything is included in the cruise fare, we are not sure what to spend the credit on. We see that most, if not all of the excursions are complimentary. We don't smoke cigars. We don't usually visit the spa either. Only thing we could think of is using it to pay for part of Vintage Room or the Michelin-Star dining. Is there anything else we haven't though of yet?

Great question - my TA told me that AMEX is giving me $200 OBC. It isn't enough for a Michelin dining experience (which is more) and I am not interested in any of the extra tours or they conflict with the complimentary excursions.

Not all excursions are included. Some excursions carry a cost (e.g. Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna)

At the Waterside (main dinning room), there are complementary wines but also a Connoisseur Wine List with reasonable prices. There are two sommeliers to advice you accordingly.

The Vintage Room is not guaranteed unless you are booking the entire room. One Mozart cruise I was on it was cancelled. However, it was held on my second Mozart cruise.

There are salon/massage services if you are interested.

Not all excursions are included. Some excursions carry a cost (e.g. Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna)

 

Schönbrunn Palace is listed as complimentary on my cruise.

Honestly - the excursions that carry a fee I am not interested in. They are mostly driver and car or Michelin restaurants. There is a cooking one but it conflicts with a free one I want to do. It is not that I am against paying for tours but non interest me.

I am waitlisted for one tour which I really hope I clear (Regensburg). There are not many tours that day and the only other ones, I don't want to do. They have one full day tour (Regensburg) and the other 2 are less than 2 hours (Puppet Theatre and Abbey). Any experience with clearing waitlist once on the ship? Are there more tours available on the ship. On my AMA they did have more on the ship.

From my experience on the Mozart, no extra cruises offered on board. Crystal does not push excursions or sales pro-actively on-board. You have to approach the concierge.

Never experienced wait-listing for excursions. In that situation, I will make my own arrangement. There is no guarantee with the local guides used. We have had good ones and lousy ones (mainly strong accents or those that take the background details too seriously)

Cannot speak for other Crystal river boats.

Personally, I would book the Michelin restaurant myself where I get a full choice of their menu and not book with Crystal. Crystal get a standard set menu which I think is not value for money. Personally, for me in Vienna, there are much better Michelin star restaurants around not offered by Crystal. Crystal only offer one Michelin star restaurants in Vienna and Budapest. Think about it, any respectable Michelin star restaurant should not be encouraging groups.

Go to the salon, get your hair & nails done. I would definitely recommend doing a massage focusing on the feet & ankles after many walking tours. Most excursions require you to walk over 10,000 steps per day.

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Crystal only offer one Michelin star restaurants in Vienna and Budapest. Think about it, any respectable Michelin star restaurant should not be encouraging groups.

They offer 3 Michelin restaurants on our sailing in Vienna.

I am going to hold off on booking privately due to the Danube situation. Just hoping to clear!

They offer 3 Michelin restaurants on our sailing in Vienna.

 

 

 

I am going to hold off on booking privately due to the Danube situation. Just hoping to clear!

Michelin have a grading system

Recommended

1 star

2 star

3 star

Singapore has food court style venues which are 1 Michelin star with massive queues to order.

1 star is about the food not about restaurant ambience. Do not be surprised by wooden tables and chairs

2 Michelin star must have decent front of house service.

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Michelin have a grading system

Recommended

1 star

2 star

3 star

 

Sorry - I thought you said 1 choice.

Although it is not required and not even suggested, I suspect that you will want to leave a gratuity for some of the personnel once you experience the tremendous service they provide. Whether it be the room attendant, the butler or the waiters, their extraordinary caring and helpfulness made our last Crystal river cruise memorable. Gratuities can be given from the onboard credit.

Be aware that the Crystal river boats operate on the Euro. Your on board credit is probably given in dollars. The exchange rate Crystal uses is very much in their favor. So, what I'm saying is that you might not have as much OBC as you might think. I can recommend the massage I got on the Mozart.

SkyBlue

I was actually just going to ask this question - if it was possible to do this.

Have not had the opportunity YET to do a river cruise on Crystal - but its on my bucket list - which I hope to fulfill next year!

How would one go about doing this with the front desk? - and know that the individuals receive?

We always bring extra funds to tip those who provide excellent service (beyond the standard gratuities auto added) but that's always in the old fashioned envelope in hand to the individuals. If I had OBC - would love this option.

Bob

Although it is not required and not even suggested, I suspect that you will want to leave a gratuity for some of the personnel once you experience the tremendous service they provide. Whether it be the room attendant, the butler or the waiters, their extraordinary caring and helpfulness made our last Crystal river cruise memorable. Gratuities can be given from the onboard credit.

This is probably where it will go because I can't see myself going to the salon or spa.

I know my service on my Crystal Serenity cruise was amazing. I am sure it will be the same on the Mozart. And if the CD (or whoever handles tours) can clear my waitlist on my tour - he/she will definitely get some of it.

Yes - the OBC is $200 US I believe.

In order to leave gratuities using your onboard credit, you just go to the front desk and they have a form that allows you to list the names of those you wish to give to, and you can list any amount. I believe that if you go over your OBC amount, the difference will be charged to the credit card you have on file (although I am not 100% sure about this).

The recipient will receive a note from the front desk that indicates that you gave the gratuity.

On the ocean cruises, you are also given a note that indicates your gratuity, which you can give to the crew member if you would like to. I don't recall with certainty if you can do this on the river cruises.

Of course, you can give cash to the crew member if you prefer.

Skyblue

Thank you so much for the information. Got to luv these boards and those that post!

I have learned so much about cruising the main stream lines - and did so much research on these boards prior to booking our first river cruise last year. Was very apprehensive but happy to say expectations met realty - all good and then some. So much so, looking to sail on another river cruise in 2019!

It is my understanding that there is no actual gift shop on Crystal Mozart, but is it still possible to buy Crystal logo items at the reception desk? That was the case with Crystal Esprit when we were aboard in September of last year.

It is my understanding that there is no actual gift shop on Crystal Mozart, but is it still possible to buy Crystal logo items at the reception desk? That was the case with Crystal Esprit when we were aboard in September of last year.

No gift shop and I certainly never heard that they had anything at the reception desk. This was in April and December, 2017. Perhaps things have changed.