swn4

I am on Catherine now - the cruise director clearly said that tour guides and drivers are not part of the Uniworld gratuities so recommended 2 euro per day per person for the guide and 1 euro per person per day for the driver.

I won a 3 Night cruise to nowhere for 1 May and I don’t see an “unlimited dining package” on the website - Just “chops + 1” and the individual restaurants.  I wonder whether UDP has been removed because it has been over-subscribed or they have decided UDP is not economical for cruises to nowhere since all lunches would be included!

Hi,

I arrived early in Beijing and have just checked into the China World Hotel (the Windstar hotel) and have confirmed that you can leave your luggage at the concierge.

Thank you for info about the service charge.  The text on the price list is definitely not too clear!

On 3/4/2019 at 1:49 AM, Cometman said:

We did the drink package last summer, and I think it was well worth it.

Daily we had a glass of wine at lunch (or two)

Champagne at sail away (or two)

Dinner 2-3 glasses of wine

Hanging out in the Compass Rose after dinner one or two more.

 

The wine list does change onboard too- we ran them out of a few wines but they substituted the next wine up the list.

I was looking at the price list for the drink packages and it says: “Package price is per guest per day. The standard 15% beverage service charge is not included. Package prices are inclusive of applicable taxes”.

Does this mean that you are charged upfront (1.15*$49/59 per guest per day)?  Or are you supposed to tip separately every time you order a drink?

Makan by the bay is a good choice - in addition to the dishes you mentioned - the grilled chicken wings, Popiah (fresh spring rolls) are worth a try!

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An update.

I did the Treetops walk at MacRitchie Reservoir last month.

I did the Treetop loop from Venus Drive Carpark, and it took about 2 1/4 hrs.

It was an enjoyable walk.

 

I caught the MRT to Newton, then 167 Sembawang bus getting off at the opp flame tree park stop.

After the walk, caught bus 167 again and stayed on all the way down Orchard & Bras Basah rd till Raffles.

 

Thanks swn4 for your info.

Glad that you enjoyed yourself!

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We’re there on the 16th Dec which is a Saturday Hopefully we’ll get to experience it

You be A-ok for the cable car ride then!

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Crazycoop99: The cable car excursion at Koblenz was definitely worth doing. The ride itself was nice, about 10 minutes each way, with great views. On the inaugural cruise of the Mahler, we had an outstanding guide who really made the fortress at the top come alive.

 

 

 

swn4: Thank you so very much for your interesting commentary!

I checked and the cablecar runs only on the weekends in the winter.

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I did not do a 2nd Michelin dinner but those that did Edvard/Schiller’s and especially those that did Le Ciel/Schiller’s said Schiller’s was significantly better. If you did not drink wine, Schiller’s had juice pairings.

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We have booked a number of excursions, mainly the Xmas markets

 

Did you do the cable car at Koblenz

Unfortunately the cable car was not running today so we were bussed up to the fort. I am not sure whether the cable car is closed for the season or just today. We arrived late today so the tour was shorter than originally planned. Thanks to the guide, I loved the fort and the mini city tour.

This morning, the GPS commentary was not working so we saw a lot of wonderful scenery/castles while cruising sans commentary.

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I am not sure what other guests are doing about tipping but I plan on directing most of my OBC to the crew fund. Everyone has been wonderful and I think that’s fairer than tipping individual crew members.

Oh, other than the Schonebrunn palace excursion in Vienna and possibly a 2nd Michelin dinner, I think people are choosing the complimentary excursions.

According to some other guests, the Crystal included excursions are much higher quality than the excursions provided by Ama/Uniworld/Viking.

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In terms of onboard entertainment, Neal has been great with piano playing and trivia quizes. We have also had some Slovakian musicians, an operatic tenor and tap dancers as well. One night, some of the guests performed. In the day, we have also had 2 very good lectures(canal lock system and 21st century Germany). The lecturers cycled to the lock, hopped on with their bike, gave the lecture and hopped off with their bike at another lock.

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This morning, the pastry chef(Nathalia) demonstrated how to make apple strudel. She spent 2 years on Serenity then opened the Mozart, Bach and Mahler pastry stations. She will do the same for the 2 new vessels next year.

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The food onboard has been outstanding so just sharing a couple photos from the waterside.

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We had a wonderful chilly but sunny day in Miltenberg. Apart from the ancient buildings, there was an unusual sculpture!

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On the 12th, we experienced unseasonably early first snow of the year in Würzburg/Rothenburg. Our local tour guide was freezing because he had no gloves and the wrong shoes! Due to our late arrival (lock delays), we did not have enough time in Rothenburg (1/2 hr) since the bus-ride was an hour each way. Hopefully, the timing of this port stay will be reviewed.

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We had yet another wonderful guide in Bamberg who really brought the ancient city to life. Since we had already walked through a treetop walk in a Bavarian Forest, we opted to stay onboard to rest in the afternoon.

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‘The rise & fall of the ****s’ excursion in Nuremberg was excellent especially the documentation center. The documentation center showed how one man managed to gradually take over power in Germany through the use of rallies and propaganda - he gave hope to the Germans who felt hopelessness during the difficult 20s and 30s. I hope they can extend the port stay here in future cruises.

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The Weisswurst lesson was fun although the husbands(generally) stayed very far away from the hands on part of the class. We got to gain confidence that despite no excursion tickets being generated/collected, the crew knew that 2 guests had not joined the excursion and needed to be located as they would not know the ship’s new location. Fortunately, the 2 Crystal crew accompanying our excursion were able to locate the 2 missing guests(who had even realized that they were ‘missing’).

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Starting from when we leave port from Regensburg today until Cologne - Vista Level is closed due to low bridges. Here is a photo of the bar and canopies “up” and of the ship’s rails being progressively lowered in preparation of the low bridges.

Another very pretty and historical city today. We ran into a Viking tour group in town this morning and it was very obvious that the Crystal tour groups were about half or less the size of the Viking group.

I was looking forward to the BMW factory tour this afternoon but unfortunately the factory called to say the tour had to be cancelled due to technical reasons. Instead, we are going to learn how to make weisswurst! The ship moves while we will be away and we will boarding the ship in a lock!

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Bookings every half an hour during dinner hours when the bistro opens for tapas. They aim to seat about 20 per night so only a few tables at a time.

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The Tapas sounds great Thanks for the tip We’ll have to get in early before the word gets out

You can only book the bistro on the previous evening after it is announced in the daily schedule.

Here is a photo of the appetizer sampler platter from the Bistro.

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Safety hazard reported! The door to the laundry room and the crew area are at right angles to each other and my husband’s glasses got knocked off.

They were already aware and have a sign up but longer term, I think the crew only door needs a window!

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Notice how the bar counter and canopies fold down so that we can pass under low bridges! Closer to the bridge, even the railings get folded down and Vista deck is closed off. Thanks to the very clear and well positioned ship’s cameras, you can see just how close the bridge is!

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