RLMSLL

Bon voyage, Ken! Enjoy the time with your family.

When we were on the Mozart in May we were told that Crystal is planning to secure a private docking location that will be conveniently located in Vienna. By 2018 they may be repositioned at the new dock.

Meanwhile if you explore Vienna independently, it is best to note the docking space number before you leave. It is helpful to the cab driver when you return. We had one ornery cab driver who was unhappy that we did not know the dock number even though we knew the exact location of the boat.

The new internet / wifi works great! The only place we had an issue was in Passau where our midship starboard cabin was docked up against a concrete pier. We just went upstairs to the public areas to use our iPads.

When I was on the Mozart for two voyages in May, the wifi worked far better than what I have experienced on Symphony and Serenity. I was able to access my roadrunner email, which is typically a problem on the ocean ships. I have to forward the roadrunner email to my gmail account in order to access it on Crystal's ocean ships. This was not necessary on the Mozart. It was however necessary on Tauck's Inspire when we sailed a few years ago soon after its launch.

The wifi on the buses worked well in Hungary and Austria, but Crystal did not appear to have an account set up for Germany at that time. Hopefully by now they have set up accounts in the additional countries where Crystal's river boats are sailing.

It's not absurd if it's a real case scenario. This gentleman claims to have gotten the fixed menu, with pigeon ( frankly I love squab/pigeon) the day of the dinner. Wouldn't it be smarter to give each passenger an allowance, of say 100 €, (which won't get you very far), make a reservation, and the allow customers to order off the menu, making up the difference in price? Then, one might say they had a one star Michelin experience.

 

For large groups, it would be somewhat impractical to have everyone order off the menu. The kitchen would be overwhelmed. It makes sense to have a set menu for a large group of people with the same start time.

If one researches the restaurants in advance to ensure it would be a good fit for them, there should not be very many issues.

I am sure Crystal is learning from their experience and the feedback from guests. If a significant number of guests are not pleased with some of the menu selections, contract adjustments would be made at the next opportunity.

Crystal is now providing the menus soon after one boards, so there is time to make adjustments for allergies or cancel if there are greater concerns.

The Michelin restaurant experience can be delightful if the venue is a good fit for the individual. (We LOVED Costes. Le Ciel was also fine, but not quite as memorable.) I applaud Crystal for making the effort to provide a high end experience off the ship. It is nice to have variety during the voyage, and I think the Michelin experience can be a discriminator among the various river cruise lines.

We very much enjoyed our two Crystal voyages though Eastern Europe and Central Europe. I have no hesitation to recommend Crystal to others. Crystal has done well with their expansion to the rivers.

Tracie,

For our B2B voyages we were invited to book the Michelin restaurants through the land-side butler as Patty reported, and this is the way we booked. Eventually the Michelin restaurants were added to the PCPC, and one could book by that method.

Crystal had issues where a significant number of folks signed up for the restaurants and then decided at the last minute, on the day of the dinner, that they would not attend. Crystal presumably was stuck still paying for their dinner. By the time we sailed, Crystal instituted the policy where if you did not show up for the dinner or made a late cancellation, Crystal would charge the cost of the dinner to your onboard account. Hence the dinner is complimentary if you attend, but there is a charge if you book the restaurant and then don't attend. As you can see the pricing is fairly steep if you book and then don't attend. I'm sure this policy has reduced the number of "no shows" or last minute cancellations.

Crystal will provide the set menu for the restaurant you book once you board. You are instructed to let them know of any dietary concerns, and they will work with the restaurant to make adjustments as needed.

Finicky eaters or those with significant dietary issues might want to contact the shore side butler before booking. The butler should be able to help down-select to the restaurant that is the best fit for the individuals.

Enjoy your voyage! Crystal really has created a fine experience on their river boats!

Rhonda

For Crystal River one third of the staff is from Crystal Ocean, one third is from other river cruise lines, and one third is from luxury properties. Crystal is finding that this combination of backgrounds is working well for them. All staff members on Crystal river boats are from Europe.

The influence from Crystsl Ocean is noticeable. All staff members are put through a rigorous training program. I think it is 6 week long. On our two voyages many staff members responded with "pleasure" similar to what is done on Crystal Ocean.

The two sets of shore excursion staff we had all seemed to have come from other river cruise lines. Crystal tends to offer more shore excursions in each port than most other river cruise lines. This makes the jobs of the shore excursion team more demanding than their previous jobs on other river cruise lines, because they have much more logistics to juggle.

The onboard experience in terms of dining service and food quality is at least as good and frequently better than Crystal Ocean.

The primary issue with Crystal River is the land based side which does not keep the website current. However the ocean side has the same issue. This is where Crystal needs to improve.

In the interim I can live with the issue on the land side. The river and ocean side of the experience are what is most important to me, and Crystal delivers.

Oh, and I'm pleased to report that the onboard internet service on the Mozart went through a recent upgrade and is outstanding. It is far better than what is currently available on Crystal Ocean. It is also far better than what I experienced on Tauck's Inspire a couple of years ago.

Costes in Budapest is a very special experience, and there were no corners cut for the Crystal menu. The food was innovative and unique. The sommelier described the wine pairings for each course. That restaurant compares favorably with the fine cuisine onboard the Mozart. It was a very memorable experience. The restaurant is small and not very many diners can participate. The photos on Trip Advisor can provide an idea of the menu items and food presentation.

Le Ciel Vienna was more of a banquet style meal and not as special.

I understand your disappointment and agree that Crystal needed to add a footnote that they were unable to secure reservations at the Michelin restaurants for the holiday cruise. On their 2017 Michelin calendar, they do not show any restaurant dates for the holiday cruise:

http://legacy.crystalcruises.com/files/download/2017_Michelin_Star_Restaurant_Dates_Time_FINAL.pdf

The link to this pdf file is through this website:

http://www.crystalcruises.com/crystal-mozart-2017-michelin-starred-culinary-experiences

I do agree with you that this exception needs to be noted and highlighted on the web pages for any impacted voyages to avoid disappointment to anyone who books expecting the Michelin restaurant experience. However, I would not let this one issue prompt you to cancel your holiday voyage, which I am sure Crystal will make delightful.

We sailed on two back to back Danube voyages in May on the Mozart. The first itinerary took us to Eastern Europe. The next one sailed through Central Europe. We visited one Michelin restaurant on each voyage. In Budapest we visited Costes (not the downtown one), and it was an extraordinary experience for someone who enjoys innovative cuisine. We were in heaven! However the cuisine was a bit too far out of the comfort zone of some of our fellow diners. In Vienna we dined at Le Ciel, and the food was fine, but not particularly memorable. There were guests on both voyages that in hindsight wished they had stayed onboard, because the food and service on the Mozart are wonderful! This is a high compliment to the chefs and wait staff onboard the Mozart.

Crystal on the whole has done a fantastic job of creating an outstanding river cruise experience. :) I would not let Crystal's inability to secure reservations at the Michelin restaurants for the holiday cruise deter you from an otherwise great cruising experience.

New Years Eve in Budapest! Most likely watching fireworks from the boat on the river at midnight...! Wow! I am envious!

I appreciate both responses but am really confused. I tried to find feedback on Scenic but did not find what RLMSLL did. However I did find that Scenic has taken an insurance policy which, I think, is in response to the problems they had in the flood a few years ago.

 

Crystal is two days longer than the other cruises. I had thought to add an extension to Prague for 3 days after the cruise but would not be able to do that with Crystal. That said, we could just do the cruise and not do Prague. It would be left for another time.

 

Caviargirl I have been torn between Scenic and AMA but like some of the scenic excursions better and they are running a promotion so that we would save about 3-4,000 on the trip. That said, if we had a bad experience it is not worth the savings -- I would rather pay the extra.

 

Both AMA and Scenic would allow us the time to go to Prague for 3 nights after. It is not critical but I would like to do it.

 

We held a cabin on Scenic and the deposit is due Wednesday but I guess I am having second thoughts after reading RLMSLL's post. I also have not found an agent that is familiar with Scenic or has booked someone on it. I have not, however, been able to find where Scenic did not do well and Tauck and Crystal did and nothing on AMA either -- would like to have that information.

The search function on CC is not as powerful as I would like. Here is one thread that outlines issues with a lack of communication to those booked, but I think there were other threads that addressed how Scenic dealt with the logistics:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1857235

We visited Prague independently prior to our recent Crystal cruise, which was round trip out of Vienna, and Prague is well worth making the effort to visit. We used Mike's Chauffeur Service (recommended by Rick Steves) to make the transfer between our hotel in Prague and our pre-cruise hotel in Vienna. We could have done a straight transfer, but we decided to do a sightseeing transfer via Cesky Krumlov. The booking process was easy, and the transfer was smooth and scenic. :)

Mike's Chauffeur Service also offers reasonably priced transfers between Prague and Budapest, so it is an option worth considering. Here is a link to the TripAdvisor Reviews:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g274707-d8005793-Reviews-Mike_s_Chauffeur_Service-Prague_Bohemia.html

See Route F for the Budapest to Prague sightseeing options. They also offer a direct transfer:

https://mike-chauffeur.cz/central-europe-trips.html#route-f

Thus the logistics would still be fairly simple to include a visit to Prague if you decide to go with Crystal. :)

There are threads on how Tauck and Crystal dealt with anomalous situations. Tauck's was from the same time period as the Scenic thread. Crystal's was from the 2016 holiday cruise.:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2433116&highlight=crystal+mozart

Before our first river cruise, I studied the Boards to see which cruise lines best handled anomalous situations, such as high or low water levels. Scenic had numerous complaints (documented on other threads). The Tauck customers all seemed to pretty content with how the company dealt with the situation. Last year Crystal's holiday cruise was impacted, and guests were generally pretty satisfied with adjustments that Crystal made. I prefer to book with a line in which I have confidence that management will strive to minimize impacts on guests in anomalous situations and do their best to keep them happy in such situations. This is one of the reasons that I will continue to book with Tauck and Crystal.

We recently returned from two B2B itineraries on the Crystal Mozart and were very impressed.

We found the food to be even better than what they offer on their ocean ships. The menus were varied and took advantage of fresh local ingredients. The service onboard was excellent all staff were well trained. Some of our favorite crew members will be transferring to Crystal's new river boats once launched, and I am confident that the new riverboats will uphold the same standards in food quality and service.

As you mention, one appealing feature of the Crystal shore excursions was that there are multiple choices of excursions in most ports unlike most other river cruise lines. On our B2B voyages with different itineraries we repeated 3 of the ports, and had no problem finding different shore excursion of interest for each trip.

Our other river cruise a few years ago was on the Tauck Inspire, and we enjoyed that trip. However Tauck's schedule is more rigid and there is typically just one shore excursion offered in each port. Tauck tends to offer a slow walkers' group in each port which is helpful for some, while Crystal does not. We somewhat prefer the flexibility in tour selection that Crystal offers, but we can be happy sailing either line.

Rhonda,

 

You are an engineer, aren't you?? Great solution! :D

 

Don't you love the Mozart? :)

 

Patty

Hi, Patty,

Yes, I love the Mozart and its crew! :) The service and food are the best! Neil Fullerton is a hoot! All is well - even with a few raindrops today.

Sorry we missed you by a few weeks.

Rhonda

I am on the Mozart now, and I stepped into the shower stall with an 8-1/2" x 11" paper in hand. I am 5'-6" tall, and there was room to spare when I put the 8-1/2" paper above my head. When I rotated the paper the other way, there was an interference of about 1.5". Thus the ceiling height in the shower is about 6'-3-1/2". There is a rain head nozzle and also shower wand that can be angled or oriented manually.

Some slouching would be required for someone 6'-5" tall.

Our cruise documents for two B2B May voyages show the Millennium Tower Docking location for both embarkation and disembarkation, so it appear that only select voyages will be able to dock at the more convenient location where the bulk of the riverboats dock.

Perhaps it is only the earlier voyages in the season that can dock in the better location. Once the other cruise lines switch itineraries from tulip time cruises to Danube cruises, there is probably no longer capacity for the Crystal Mozart at the more convenient location.

Interestingly all ports are shown as docking except for Belgrade which indicates anchoring. :confused: My guess is that the dock type for that port is an error since riverboats don't have tenders.

Neal Fullerton is an excellent alternate to Mark Farris. We had a great time with him over Christmas on the Mozart.

 

The role on board the river boats and yacht is that of entertainer cum host. Neal makes the time during the day to chat to guests making them feel welcomed and part of the family.

Based on your blog I knew that Neal would be a great alternative to Mark. It is nice to have some variety in entertainers too.

Crystal has posted their updated entertainment schedule, and Mark Farris will be onboard the Mozart through 5/2 at which time Neal Fullerton takes over as Entertainment host.

Does anyone know how long Mark will be onboard the Mozart? We are booked on two B2B May voyages. It would be great to sail with Mark! :)

As for docking location, it appears that the Mozart did not have stacked docking in Vienna in 2016. If the Mozart is docked in a new location with the other riverboats, it would likely be stacked docking.

We spent three days on the Moselle with Tauck, and those days were the highlight of the trip. We are so glad that we didn't do just a Rhine voyage. We sailed in May and the weather was great! Tauck's itinerary was outstanding.

Crystal has complimentary self service laundry.

Schwedenplatz does seem to be an odd choice for the shuttle stop. There is not a lot to see at that location, but it was probably chosen because that location does have lots of transportation options to get you where you want to go by either tram or subway.

Does Crystal provide nice maps for each port similar to what they do on their ocean vessels? If so, do they show major transportation options on the map? Do I need to fend for myself to obtain details of public transportation options?

The logistics folder has been updated for a wifi review on the four Crystal buses.

I have also added in a couple more pictures of rooms to avoid on deck one when the boat is docked in Vienna for some time.

 

I have also got to move a Penthouse Suite booking I have in Sept as the door faces the Saloon. The door of the saloon never closes so it can get noisy especially when they are blow drying hair.

 

Also both laundry room has doors on both sides of corridors. These doors never are never closed too.

 

Penthouse Suite 200 is particularly private it faces a solid wall.

Great information in your logistic folder, Ken! Your blog is a keeper, and I have it bookmarked.

Thanks for all your efforts in providing the rest of us with such useful information in planning our own journeys.

In your blog you mentioned that Crystal provided a shuttle into Vienna for the morning one day. Your voyage has a somewhat unique itinerary for the holiday voyage and also due to the need for some scheduling adjustments. Do you get the impression that Crystal ever offers shuttles in Vienna on the regular voyages?

I have been looking at the metro / train / tram system in Vienna, and it appears that we would have to make several transfers to get to the places of interest to us. It certainly would be nice if Crystal offered a shuttle to an area of interest to tourists.

 

Rhonda, if you ar in Budapest twice on your back to back, look out for what is showing at the Hungarian state opera house. It is not just opera but musicals as well . Billy Elliot has been on since Sep; OK in Hungarian with English surtitles. Also keep an eye out for the concert hall.

 

You can always male your own adance reservation at the Michelin restaurants in Budapest if you choose the compliementary ones in Vienna. Resturants in Budapest are really quiet reasonably priced.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions, Ken.

I'm glad John and you enjoyed Budapest even with the long bus ride.

Crystal has done a fine job of dealing with the itinerary adjustments needed due to the low water level.

Your blog is getting me excited about our 2017 trip!

Happy New Year to John and you!

Rhonda

It is great that under adverse circumstances, Crystal gave the guests a choice of either (1) continuing to Budapest by bus with a night at a high end hotel or (2) remaining on the Mozart and enjoying more time in Vienna. I am impressed with the manner in which Crystal is handling the anomaly.

Thanks, Ken,

The fireplace must be very inviting in the winter.

In an earlier post you mentioned that the wifi experience varied from one bus to another. Is there a way to identify the bus with the better wifi?

I appreciate all your time and effort in posting to your blog. It is very informative. :)

Rhonda

Hi, Ken,

I like your positive attitude and concur with your satisfaction with the way Crystal is handling the situation. Crystal is putting everyone up in a fine hotel in Budapest, where you will have more space as you mentioned. You most likely will also have better wifi than what is available on the boat. The 30% future cruise credit is a nice bonus.

When we sail on the Mozart in 2017, I am comfortable that if there are any itinerary adjustments needed due to the river conditions or mechanical issues, Crystal will handle the situation fairly.

Our first river cruise in Europe was with Tauck, and it is another fine company that performs well in trying to assure customer satisfaction in anomolous situations. By monitoring the river cruise forum at a time when all the river cruise lines were impacted by high water levels, I found that the Tauck guests were more satisfied with itinerary adjustments and compensation than were the guests on many of the other cruise lines. Since I am a long term Crystal customer, it is encouraging to see how well they also have stepped up to ensure customer satisfaction - as I expected they would.

In the future I will be pleased to sail with either Crystal or Tauck and know that they will take good care of us regardless of the circumstances.

Thanks for sharing the details of how Crystal has stepped up to handle the unfortunate situation. I look forward to sailing with Crystal on both the Mozart and one of their ocean vessels in 2017.

Enjoy your time on the lovely Mozart!

Rhonda

Thanks for the update, Ken.

It looks like Crystal is doing their best to minimize the impacts of the unfortunate situation. Being "stuck" in Vienna for New Years Eve is not too bad.

The ship, crew, food, and service are all wonderful by your accounts, so I'm sure John and you will find ways to make the best of the situation.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your time on the Mozart.

Rhonda

Hi, Ken,

I am very much enjoying your blog and the level of detail you are providing. Thank you for your efforts - particularly with the challenges of uploading pictures.

The Christmas decorations are lovely.

The dinner menus look interesting and the items are well presented.

Thanks for providing the docking sides. It is useful data. Have you had any stacked docking positions?

Enjoy your voyage!

Rhonda