M&M travel adventurers

The latest: We made it to Bratislava and will be bussed to Budapest in the morning for the overnight. The ship is split into two hotels: The Intercontinental and the Kempinski. We and many others have arranged to stay an additional night in Budapest; we will take a train back later in the day on the day before departure.

 

Because of the change, Crystal is compensating passengers $50 for an additional meal in Budapest plus $250 per person toward a future cruise.

 

Our only quibble is that we would have liked Crystal to allow us to use our shipboard credit for travel back to the ship – and/or even to pay for part of our hotel room. But it is a mere quibble.

 

The destinations staff and the tireless concierge Andreea have had a ton to juggle and have gone out of their way to help (including helping us with train reservations, if we asked) and yet somehow managed to keep their sanity and smiles.

 

We learned first hand that this is sometimes an hour-by-hour decision process, based on water levels – not even day-by-day. Crystal did its best in a difficult situation.

 

The crew has been nothing short of exceptional.

 

This was our first river cruise; not sure we'll do another. But not because of anything Crystal didn't do right; just because we prefer an ocean cruise. This was an efficient way to hit a bunch of places we wouldn't have ordinarily seen: Prague (pre-cruise), Vienna (don't miss the fine art museum (Crystal provided a great guide, small group - I can't stress how spectacular this was), the summer palace (the gardens are a must see plus we went late enough in the day to have much of the palace to ourselves) and now onward to Budapest.

 

Enjoy your trip. You can't control or predict the weather (on any trip) or water levels (on this one.) You just have to roll with it.

 

Herb

Thank you so much for all of this - very much appreciated.

Taxi driver will know where pier is & it was a breeze. They took us directly to the Crystal dock. Check in was quick & efficient.

We have enjoyed the cruise & the scenery is beautiful. It’s been a lot of fun & Crystal is top notch! They are handling the situation with professionalism in spite of the difficulties. It is disappointing for the passengers & difficult for the employees. We have decided to proceed to Budapest via bus. We voted & since it is my husband’s birthday trip we are going to see Budapest!!!! Bus travel to Budapest is a problem many people would love to have. We are indeed fortunate. Still not sure if we will be bused from Bratislava or Vienna. Water level in Bratislava may be challenging. To be continued...

Looking forward to updates - they’re wonderful - thank you so much and happy birthday to your husband.

You are very welcome. We are leaning towards staying on the ship & going back to Vienna. Less hassle, more relaxing & no extra packing involved. 7 hours on a bus does not thrill us either. We are flying out of Budapest & will be spending a night there at the end of the trip anyway. We already have train tickets from Vienna to Budapest. We will plan a trip to Budapest at a later date as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the cruise overall and that the short time you’ll spend in Budapest will be fun. Taking a train there is a much better option then a bus!

We are new to cruising - how do we locate where the boat is docked in Vienna?

Your updates have been wonderful. Thank you and safe flight home from Budapest.

How disappointing but as you say it is what it is. I am sure the situation will not change for our cruise. I have been looking at the long range forecast and it appears the temperatures are still unusually high and there is no rain in the forecast.

Thanks for advising what options were given - if we get the same, we will opt for a return trip to Vienna as we really do not like buses. It just means a trip to Budapest at a future date.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip - which option will you take? If you choose the bus to Budapest can you post about the experience?

My husband and I really appreciate all the updates you have provided.

Update on Sept 10 - 20 Mozart sailing. Good news/bad news. We will sail tomorrow to Bratislava & do scheduled Shore excursions. Bad news is we will not sail to Budapest. Several choices - Plan A - go by bus to Budapest & stay one night in hotel & bus back to Vienna OR Plan B - skip Budapest, cruise back to Vienna & have an extra night on ship in Vienna. The water level is not looking good for the next 6/8 days at this time. The rain in Linz today didn’t help the area going into/out of Budapest. We will have final revised shore excursions & travel plans tomorrow at 2:30. There are 120 ships in the same situation on the river right now. It is a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines. You just can’t fight Mother Nature. Hope that the cruise on Sept 20 doesn’t have to deal with this but it is what it is & we have to go with the flow.

Once again thank you for the update. We will doing the rain dance here as well and hopefully if we all keep dancing the rain will come and make a difference, I hope despite the uncertainty you are enjoying life o. The Mozart.

Update on Crystal Mozart - currently in Linz. Forecast is showing rain tomorrow for the Austrian Danube region. The Captain would like to make the decision tomorrow evening whether conditions will allow us to proceed to Budapest. We will be sailing to Passau this evening. So....we wait & continue to pray for rain.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to hearing about the decision at Linz

Yes I will be happy to update. Last night “meet the officers” get together the Captain said when we get to Linz there will be “decisions made”. I take that to mean that the water level could be an issue going forward. He wouldn’t elaborate. I’m hoping it doesn’t end in a bus tour.

Thank you for the update - much appreciated. If you could post along your journey that would be wonderful.

I am currently on board Crystal Mozart for the Sep 10- 20 sailing. We have been told they are able to sail the posted itinerary. I will gladly update as we go along. I too was wondering the status prior to leaving.

Very interesting in learning about what is actually happening to the itinerary for the Sept 10th Treasures of the Danube cruise. What will be the itinerary and what has Crystal communicated to clients. We are on the Sept 20th cruise and we have heard NOTHING from Crystal - they need to learn to do better!

Crystal is getting ahead of the curve. We received this today. (Thanks, Crystal!) We figure it will be a bus to those two ports, with an overnight in Budapest. Not ideal, but a great option.

 

<<Dear xxxxx,

We look forward to welcoming you aboard Crystal Mozart’s "Treasures of the Danube" river cruise departing on September 10, 2018.

 

Due to unseasonably dry conditions in central Europe, and a record heat wave, the Danube River, specifically the stretch of river between Bratislava and Budapest, is experiencing extremely low water levels.

 

Even though water levels may improve with just one hearty rainfall, at this time we are erring on the side of caution to prepare our guests for a possible change of itinerary on this upcoming cruise. We have well thought-out contingency plans prepared to ensure you enjoy a fabulous vacation with us.

 

The safety and comfort of our guests are of the utmost importance to Crystal, and current forecasts for water levels along the route are being monitored continuously. Any necessary updates to the itinerary will be provided as they are confirmed.

 

While this act of nature is beyond our control, all of us at Crystal apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are all committed to providing our guests with a memorable vacation experience.

 

 

Sincerely,

Crystal

Guest Services>>

Could anyone who is on the September 10th Mozart sailing from Vienna please share what the status of the cruise is.is it sailing the normal itinerary or are parts of it being done by bus? We sail Sep 20 and as yet have not heard fro Crystal about conditions so wondering what is happening on the cruise before us. Any I formation we.d be greatly

appreciated.

bizinsider, have you decided what to do, cruise or cancel?

 

Fyi, (love it when someone still has a sense of humour even under such trying circumstances), it raining alone the Danube (rain expected for the next 5 days) and the Vienna - Budapest should improve in a couple of days.

 

Have a great cruise.

This is such great news - thanks for the update. May it keep raining and raising the river levels.

M&M, my guess is that we are on your cruise. Ours leaves the 10th. What we have heard and read is that the ship under conditions of the impacted cruises in recent weeks round-tripped Vienna without going to Bratislava or Budapest. However they did a day trip to Bratislava (about an hour away by coach) and an overnight to Budapest (about 2 hours), staying at the Ritz and doing the pre-planned special evening. We will all find out soon enough. Of course, it is unclear if the water conditions will get worse or better – either way impacting the cruise further.

Thanks for the information - we actually are on the cruise leaving the 20th. Don’t like the idea of a bus at all.

Just curious if anyone is currently sailing on the Mozart from Vienna - have you had any itinerary changes and if so how where they handled? Was the cruise shortened, rerouted, done by bus (which defeats the purpose of a river cruise)? I am curious as we are scheduled to sail on the boat in mid September. Any information would be greatly appreciated.