crystal river cruise excursion question

[poochi24]

`i am looking into crystal river cruises and saw they have complimentary excursions that are not very long--between 2-4 hours. 

what is the schdule like for these excursions (i.e. one in the morning and one in the afternoon?) looking into potentially doing 2 complimentary ones in a day since they are short. but i am not sure if the times are staggered or if they all just start at the same time so you can only do one. 

also, most of their danube itiernaries go to vilshofen isntead of regensburg. is there anytihng to do in vilshofen? there aren't even any complimentary excursions to do there so i'm worried that there's really nothing to see there. but i'm thinking there must be since they are docked there for 1.5 days at the end of the trip..... 

-also random question about their cabins--- are there any noise issues with engines humming in the aft rooms? 

[Coral]

Hopefully I can answer this. I was on a 10 night Danube trip RT Vienna.

 

We ran into low waters and could not get to Vilshofen. Instead, we stayed in Passau for 2 days instead.

 

My trip was last year (November). All tours I booked were complimentary though I was looking at a trip next year and one of the tours that we had for free had a charge for next year.

 

I had all day tours from Linz where we were for 2 days. The 3 all day tours were to Salzburg, Lake District in Austria and CESKY Krumlov. I did Salzburg and Lake District in Austria.

 

In Passau - I did all day tours to Munich and Regensburg. I was scheduled to go to Regensburg from Vilshofen. They just bussed us to Regensburg and it wasn't a big deal. They did tell us that all of our tours in Vilshofen were a go, even though we were docked in Passau.

 

There were half day local tours in Linz and Passau also. They also did half day tours in Melk and Krems where we were only there for part of the day (sailing the other part). In Vienna, they were half day tours. I was able to do a tour in the morning, come back for lunch and then a tour in the afternoon. In Vienna, the tours were setup so you could easily do 2 tours with out being rushed and could enjoy lunch back at the ship. Lunch was a buffet (a very good buffet and I am not a fan of buffets).

 

I am sad that I didn't get to see Linz or Passau but I enjoyed going to the larger cities, a few were on my bucket list (Munich and Salzburg).

 

I can't say all the tours started at the same time, they were slightly staggered sometimes, other times, all the buses were boarding at the same time. I can say most of the time you could do 2 half day tours if you were not on a full day tour.

 

My cabin was pretty forward (maybe 2 cabins in front of me). I did not hear any sounds. I was on the Mozart, so a different class of ships.

[Coral]

Hopefully this helps:

 

[poochi24]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

Hopefully this helps:

 

 

7 hours ago, Coral said:

Hopefully I can answer this. I was on a 10 night Danube trip RT Vienna.

 

We ran into low waters and could not get to Vilshofen. Instead, we stayed in Passau for 2 days instead.

 

My trip was last year (November). All tours I booked were complimentary though I was looking at a trip next year and one of the tours that we had for free had a charge for next year.

 

I had all day tours from Linz where we were for 2 days. The 3 all day tours were to Salzburg, Lake District in Austria and CESKY Krumlov. I did Salzburg and Lake District in Austria.

 

In Passau - I did all day tours to Munich and Regensburg. I was scheduled to go to Regensburg from Vilshofen. They just bussed us to Regensburg and it wasn't a big deal. They did tell us that all of our tours in Vilshofen were a go, even though we were docked in Passau.

 

There were half day local tours in Linz and Passau also. They also did half day tours in Melk and Krems where we were only there for part of the day (sailing the other part). In Vienna, they were half day tours. I was able to do a tour in the morning, come back for lunch and then a tour in the afternoon. In Vienna, the tours were setup so you could easily do 2 tours with out being rushed and could enjoy lunch back at the ship. Lunch was a buffet (a very good buffet and I am not a fan of buffets).

 

I am sad that I didn't get to see Linz or Passau but I enjoyed going to the larger cities, a few were on my bucket list (Munich and Salzburg).

 

I can't say all the tours started at the same time, they were slightly staggered sometimes, other times, all the buses were boarding at the same time. I can say most of the time you could do 2 half day tours if you were not on a full day tour.

 

My cabin was pretty forward (maybe 2 cabins in front of me). I did not hear any sounds. I was on the Mozart, so a different class of ships.

thank you this is very helpful! 

[poochi24]

20 hours ago, Coral said:

Hopefully I can answer this. I was on a 10 night Danube trip RT Vienna.

 

We ran into low waters and could not get to Vilshofen. Instead, we stayed in Passau for 2 days instead.

 

My trip was last year (November). All tours I booked were complimentary though I was looking at a trip next year and one of the tours that we had for free had a charge for next year.

 

I had all day tours from Linz where we were for 2 days. The 3 all day tours were to Salzburg, Lake District in Austria and CESKY Krumlov. I did Salzburg and Lake District in Austria.

 

In Passau - I did all day tours to Munich and Regensburg. I was scheduled to go to Regensburg from Vilshofen. They just bussed us to Regensburg and it wasn't a big deal. They did tell us that all of our tours in Vilshofen were a go, even though we were docked in Passau.

 

There were half day local tours in Linz and Passau also. They also did half day tours in Melk and Krems where we were only there for part of the day (sailing the other part). In Vienna, they were half day tours. I was able to do a tour in the morning, come back for lunch and then a tour in the afternoon. In Vienna, the tours were setup so you could easily do 2 tours with out being rushed and could enjoy lunch back at the ship. Lunch was a buffet (a very good buffet and I am not a fan of buffets).

 

I am sad that I didn't get to see Linz or Passau but I enjoyed going to the larger cities, a few were on my bucket list (Munich and Salzburg).

 

I can't say all the tours started at the same time, they were slightly staggered sometimes, other times, all the buses were boarding at the same time. I can say most of the time you could do 2 half day tours if you were not on a full day tour.

 

My cabin was pretty forward (maybe 2 cabins in front of me). I did not hear any sounds. I was on the Mozart, so a different class of ships.

 

Just noticed that there is a Czech republic excursion too-- did anyone on your cruise mention if that one was good? Salzburg was on my bucket list too so it's hard to choose between just one when we are docked in Linz! 

 

 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, poochi24 said:

 

Just noticed that there is a Czech republic excursion too-- did anyone on your cruise mention if that one was good? Salzburg was on my bucket list too so it's hard to choose between just one when we are docked in Linz! 

 

Yes - people liked it. We were there at the end of November. We had 2 full days in Linz and most of us planned to do Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov. Once on the cruise, they added the Lake District in Austria. It turned out the 2 towns we went to in the Lake District had Christmas Markets open and Cesky Krumlov's had not opened yet. I had friends who changed to the Lake District so I changed also. Everyone who went to Cesky Krumlov loved it the first day, the second day, it rained quite a bit there so the reviews were less than positive due to the rain. I have friends who have spent a few days there and absolutely loved it. It is supposed to be a pretty cool city.  I personally wish I would have had 3 days to do all 3. It was a tough decision.

 

I went on the trip because it was advertised as a Christmas Market trip. I figured when I made it back to that area, it would be during the normal year so I focused on Christmas markets.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Coral

[mrsm88]

We booked a Vienna to Budapest river cruise on Crystal for Oct.  Is there any where else on these boards for any other feedback- seems to be sparse info on their river cruises.

Thank you CORAL for posting the shore excursion itinerary, that was helpful to see timing on things so we can do morning & afternoon tours.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, mrsm88 said:

We booked a Vienna to Budapest river cruise on Crystal for Oct.  Is there any where else on these boards for any other feedback- seems to be sparse info on their river cruises.

Thank you CORAL for posting the shore excursion itinerary, that was helpful to see timing on things so we can do morning & afternoon tours.

I found these blogs helpful: 

 

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/2018/11/  You may have to click on a few countries but she posted the blogs from the cruise around the same time.

 

https://johnken3.blogspot.com/2016/12/dinner-on-board-crystal-mozart.html

 

The other blog post I want to find, the link is no longer valid (Keith).

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Coral

[Texas Tillie]

15 hours ago, mrsm88 said:

We booked a Vienna to Budapest river cruise on Crystal for Oct.  Is there any where else on these boards for any other feedback- seems to be sparse info on their river cruises.

Thank you CORAL for posting the shore excursion itinerary, that was helpful to see timing on things so we can do morning & afternoon tours.

 

Since the Crystal river boats hold 106 passengers max and a small subset of those have even heard of Cruise Critic, it makes this board "sparse"!

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

Since the Crystal river boats hold 106 passengers max and a small subset of those have even heard of Cruise Critic, it makes this board "sparse"!

Yep - they also are a newer line with only 4 ships in Europe.

 

I can say my trip was wonderful and the reviews of others of Crystal river cruises are also very high.

[mrsm88]

22 hours ago, Coral said:

I found these blogs helpful: 

 

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/2018/11/  You may have to click on a few countries but she posted the blogs from the cruise around the same time.

 

https://johnken3.blogspot.com/2016/12/dinner-on-board-crystal-mozart.html

 

The other blog post I want to find, the link is no longer valid (Keith).

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for the links! You are the best😊

[Coral]

1 minute ago, mrsm88 said:

Thanks so much for the links! You are the best😊

The one thing that is no longer correct - John Ken mentions looking for free internet on the ship. When the ships first launched, they gave an amount of minutes for free internet. When I sailed, all internet was free - there was no limit.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

The one thing that is no longer correct - John Ken mentions looking for free internet off the ship. When the ships first launched, they gave an amount of minutes for free internet. When I sailed, all internet was free - there was no limit.

Just made a correction.

[USCAdventurer]

i took my first river cruise on the crystal bach from basel to amsterdam in early november 2019.  it was the best cruising decision i've ever made.  the ship and the crew were absolutely fabulous.  the food was michelin 10 star, if that exists.  the best thing about dinner was that you could sit down whenever and wherever you wanted between 7 and 9 and no rushing either.  the cabin was superb with a huge kng size bed and super large and very modern bathroom.  the butler service is wonderful too.  i did use the free self serve laundry and it's also terrific.

the excursions were so interesting and the guides were really well informed about their cities.  i can only say i was so impressed with crystal that i booked a danube christmas market cruise from budapest to vienna for dec 2, 2020.  i've been to vienna before in december and the christmas markets there and at schonbrunn palace are fabulous and i went to salzburg too and their christmas market is also fabulous but i've never been to any of the other ports of call before.  i also booked a crystal serentity cruise for sept. 2021 from quebec to nyc for my birthday so i'm looking forward to comparing the ocean cruise to the river cruise.  and i also booked a crystal symphony cruise from lisbon to rome for november, 2022.  i really don't think i'll ever go back to celebrity nor princess after taking crystal cruises.

 

 

[Coral]

3 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

  i also booked a crystal serentity cruise for sept. 2021 from quebec to nyc for my birthday so i'm looking forward to comparing the ocean cruise to the river cruise.  and i also booked a crystal symphony cruise from lisbon to rome for november, 2022.  i really don't think i'll ever go back to celebrity nor princess after taking crystal cruises.

 

Yep - you have been Crystalized.

[need2cruisesoon]

3 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

i took my first river cruise on the crystal bach from basel to amsterdam in early november 2019.  it was the best cruising decision i've ever made.  the ship and the crew were absolutely fabulous.  the food was michelin 10 star, if that exists.  the best thing about dinner was that you could sit down whenever and wherever you wanted between 7 and 9 and no rushing either.  the cabin was superb with a huge kng size bed and super large and very modern bathroom.  the butler service is wonderful too.  i did use the free self serve laundry and it's also terrific.

the excursions were so interesting and the guides were really well informed about their cities.  i can only say i was so impressed with crystal that i booked a danube christmas market cruise from budapest to vienna for dec 2, 2020.  i've been to vienna before in december and the christmas markets there and at schonbrunn palace are fabulous and i went to salzburg too and their christmas market is also fabulous but i've never been to any of the other ports of call before.  i also booked a crystal serentity cruise for sept. 2021 from quebec to nyc for my birthday so i'm looking forward to comparing the ocean cruise to the river cruise.  and i also booked a crystal symphony cruise from lisbon to rome for november, 2022.  i really don't think i'll ever go back to celebrity nor princess after taking crystal cruises.

 

 

 

Thanks for the great feedback on Crystal. My DW and I are also looking at Crystal (Danube) for the Fall '20. as a first time river cruiser.

 

What prompted me for Crystal was the flexible dining arrangements for dinner, nice to be able and eat between 7-9 and no rush to get back to the boat.

 

Just deciding whether to do east or west cruise and where to spend the post cruise days.

 

Ron

[USCAdventurer]

ron,

i cruised from Basel to Amsterdam, which is down river and you have the current at your back.  i found out we had more time to spend in strasbourg because of this and we went to a special organ concert for crystal cruisers at notre dame cathedral at night there.  the trip from amsterdam to basel does not get to do this event because they are going against the current.  that is one reason i would take the east to west cruise.  of course, if you've never been to switzerland, then going west to east would allow you to spend a few days visiting basel, lucerne and some other places there.  if you go east to west, you can spend a few extra days in amsterdam which has lots of things for tourists to visit there.  hope this helps you decide.

[USCAdventurer]

thanks coral,

i do feel crystalized and i like your use of that terminology 🙂

[Coral]

2 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

thanks coral,

i do feel crystalized and i like your use of that terminology 🙂

It is a common term over on the Crystal board. I wish I could take credit for the phrase.

[Texas Tillie]

9 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

ron,

i cruised from Basel to Amsterdam, which is down river and you have the current at your back.  i found out we had more time to spend in strasbourg because of this and we went to a special organ concert for crystal cruisers at notre dame cathedral at night there.  the trip from amsterdam to basel does not get to do this event because they are going against the current.  that is one reason i would take the east to west cruise.  of course, if you've never been to switzerland, then going west to east would allow you to spend a few days visiting basel, lucerne and some other places there.  if you go east to west, you can spend a few extra days in amsterdam which has lots of things for tourists to visit there.  hope this helps you decide.

 

I have done both ways on the Crystal Bach and we did the concert at the Strasbourg cathedral on the Amsterdam to Basel part. The concert wasn't at night but afternoon. So, it does happen both directions.

Edited December 31, 2019 by Texas Tillie

[TheKingD]

Poochi24, I hope you book a Crystal River cruise, and I know you will enjoy it!  We did a Rhine cruise in 2019 on the Debussy, and we have booked a Danube trip on the Ravel for the end of April 2020. 

 

When we first signed up for the Danube trip (going west from Budapest to Vilshofen), the final port was Regensburg, and Crystal notified us a week or so ago that they were changing that port to be Vilshofen.  Crystal always does a great job with their logistics, so I just take things as they come and never second-guess them.  In the past few days, they have posted the Vilshofen excursions, and some are staying in town, and some are longer trips to the surrounding areas, including Salzburg.

 

Depending on the arrival and departure times in the ports, some days have both morning and afternoon excursions, and if the ship is in port all day, usually there is enough time for lunch on board if you want to do more than one excursion.  Some days, the ship leaves a port after lunch because the scenery is so special that you will want to be on the top deck enjoying the countryside.

 

We have already signed up for excursions for our trip, even though you can be very flexible once you are on the ship and you can adjust your schedule if you change your mind.  Some excursions have limited space, so trying to decide in advance is advisable.  On the Rhine trip, we had shipboard credits and we asked the ship's excursion team to arrange a private excursion, and that was on the the highlights of the trip.  We had to pay a small amount extra, because our shipboard credits were not quite enough, but it was well worth it.  Also, on some days, we just poked around town and did not participate in any excursions, so keep that in mind too.

 

The other passengers on our Rhine cruise were really fun, and it is easy to meet other people and enjoy excursions with new friends.  Crystal is truly top-notch in offering interesting sightseeing, so it will be good, no matter what you do.

 

Happy New Year, and Happy Cruising!

[TheKingD]

Poochi24 - one more thing.  We were in an aft cabin on the Debussy (one of the smaller ones about 3 from the back) and we were on Deck 3 rather than the lower one.  We did not have any noise issues at all, and we have booked a similar cabin, also on Deck 3, on the Ravel.  We loved being near the doors at the back to step outside to sit on the back deck or have easy access to the top deck with all the lounge areas.

[USCAdventurer]

texas tillie,

thank you for your comment.  i was told they did not do the evening concert in strasbourg but i'll take your word for it since you were there for it.  thanks for updating me 🙂

[Texas Tillie]

1 minute ago, USC Adventurer said:

texas tillie,

thank you for your comment.  i was told they did not do the evening concert in strasbourg but i'll take your word for it since you were there for it.  thanks for updating me 🙂

 

Like I said, it wasn't evening but afternoon, I think it finished a little after 5, so technically they don't do an evening concert on the Amsterdam to Basel route!! 😎

[poochi24]

6 hours ago, TheKingD said:

Poochi24 - one more thing.  We were in an aft cabin on the Debussy (one of the smaller ones about 3 from the back) and we were on Deck 3 rather than the lower one.  We did not have any noise issues at all, and we have booked a similar cabin, also on Deck 3, on the Ravel.  We loved being near the doors at the back to step outside to sit on the back deck or have easy access to the top deck with all the lounge areas.

thanks! i may have just missed you then because we will be on the ravel early april!

 

how was the transport from the airport to the port? is there a set time for pickups ? we may be arriving at 11:35am and the port is around 1.5 hours away.  not sure if we will make the 3pm excursion. i guess worst case is we just look around town ourselves!