Riverside Cruises (formerly Crystal) - Debussy

[CJANDH]

21 hours ago, IUBeth92 said:

Our cruise had 14 passengers. Eight of the passengers were travel agents but we all became friends! 🙂

Is that for real? How can Riverside hope to make any money if the sail with only six fare paying passengers.

[IUBeth92]

They clearly aren't making money yet but are trying to build their brand. The week after our sailing they only had three guests.

[Canal archive]

Their difficulty is taking over a brand that had basically failed! If they can weather the next few months with good feedback from their alas few paying passengers and business insiders they may just may stand a chance of making a go of it! This is the way of any business endeavour but good on them they are attempting what many would say is a lost cause. An interesting watch!

[WanderingTravels]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Their difficulty is taking over a brand that had basically failed! If they can weather the next few months with good feedback from their alas few paying passengers and business insiders they may just may stand a chance of making a go of it! This is the way of any business endeavour but good on them they are attempting what many would say is a lost cause. An interesting watch!

They didn’t take over a brand that failed, this is a new brand that nobody knows!

[Canal archive]

I didn’t think that Crystal was unknown thank you for enlightening me!

Edited Thursday at 02:52 PM by Canal archive

[steamboats]

29 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

I didn’t think that Crystal was unknown thank you for enlightening me!

 

Actually they didn´t take over the Crystal river cruises brand but bought out the ships. They started a totally new brand. And first they thought they can more or less operate it as an addition to their hotels. It took them some time to understand the river cruise business.

 

While Crystal was well known Riverside is hardly known by anyone. Ships have been renamed to Riverside Mozart, Riverside Debussy, Riverside Ravel (or Riverside Bach). 

 

It takes some time to get known in the luxury river cruise business. If they want to focus on the English speaking market they might have to include beverages and shore tours like the competitors do.

 

steamboats

[BobMartha]

From all the positive reviews I have been reading - I would book them in a heartbeat.

Agree - their pricing structure is a bit confusing and if you want to appeal to the US market and be competitive in the luxury market - they should include beverages and some tours.

[Ski Mom 2]

I’m glad they are giving you the choice to include or not include drinks and tours. We typically don’t take the drink package since we are typically off the ship until dinner time. And we really like wandering on our own in many ports so the tours aren’t that important to us either. 
 

That being said, we have booked a cruise on Debussy for September 2025!

[Canal archive]

Sorry I should have explained myself with more clarity. I knew Riverside was an existing company although most probably unheard of in North America  they bought the ships from the defunct company Crystal. They as any company starting a new enterprise as they did changed the name of the vessels and I approve they did not take over the brand. It’s seems a pity that they are being compared with the original company.

[CJANDH]

2 hours ago, steamboats said:

If they want to focus on the English speaking market they might have to include beverages and shore tours like the competitors do.

They do. They offer pricing with all included and without inclusions. At least on their USA website they do.

[CJANDH]

2 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

It’s seems a pity that they are being compared with the original company

Why? The old company had the highest reputation for service, food and luxury. Based on reviews so far, it seems that they are doing a good job of matching that high standard.

[steamboats]

7 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

They as any company starting a new enterprise as they did changed the name of the vessels.

 

Actually they did change the names...

 

Crystal Mozart -> Riverside Mozart

 

The Mozart did run for many companies and many names Mozart (at the beginning and especially for Deilmann), TUI Mozart, DERTOUR Mozart, Crystal Mozart and now Riverside Mozart.

 

steamboats 

[Canal archive]

Well I’m sorry but I do think Crystal Mozart is different to Riverside Mozart.

Crystal had a superb name amongst river cruise companies but the company did fail.

[CJANDH]

1 hour ago, Canal archive said:

Well I’m sorry but I do think Crystal Mozart is different to Riverside Mozart.

Crystal had a superb name amongst river cruise companies but the company did fail.

I don't think Crystal failed. It was taken down by the bankruptcy of its owner Genting Hong Kong caused mainly by the failure of its shipbuilding business.

[Texas Tillie]

3 hours ago, CJANDH said:

I don't think Crystal failed. It was taken down by the bankruptcy of its owner Genting Hong Kong caused mainly by the failure of its shipbuilding business.

 

And don't forget that the owners of Genting Hong Kong didn't suffer, just the employees, customers and vendors.

[Host Jazzbeau]

My take on the Crystal bankruptcy was that (a) it was always a vanity project (under NYK and then Genting) so the high level of service was never supported by a business plan to fund it [good for customers]; (b) the final stage was vanity-on-steroids when Genting planned expansions in every which direction (new ocean ships, with apartments; river ships; expedition ships; Boeing jets – and the new ocean ships, their wheelhouse, always deferred to these side projects...)

 

The river cruise project was actually terrific.  With Mozart they bought this unique hull, stripped it down to the steel and rebuilt it as a luxury river cruise ship.  The other four ended up as very appealing 135m designs [ignoring the typical Crystal problem of announcing two 135m ships for Germany and two smaller ships for France and then "changing horses in midstream" as FDR had counseled against in WWII]

 

In the Crystal bankruptcy the most appealing part of their legacy was these five luxury river ships.  I was surprised that Scylla didn't buy them, and questioned Riverside's ability to make the transition from hotel operations to river ships.  [But maybe they were just ahead of the curve, as Explora Journeys, despite their MSC cruise heritage, has entered the luxury yacht segment with the approach that these are not cruise ships but floating hotels – and Aman, Four Seasons, and Ritz Carlton are all taking the same approach.  Results to be seen...]

[Coral]

On 9/24/2024 at 3:28 PM, CJANDH said:

I have just booked a Danube cruise on Mozart for next summer. Did it through my regular travel agent and it was handled very efficiently. From asking my agent o look at booking the cruise to getting an invoice took about an hour. The invoice included a link to my account where I could manage details immediately, including exploring shore excursions and completing our profiles. Impressive shoreside service, unlike many large established cruise lines. Good vibes so far. I hope they get the recognition that reviews so far indicate they deserve.

The ship is amazing! I sailed when it was owned by Crystal. Absolutely loved her.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I should note that Mozart now has competition – AmaMagna.  And that has been so successful that AMA will add a sister ship in 2027.  So then there will be three double-wide ships sailing this limited stretch of the Danube – choice is good!

[Canal archive]

When push comes to shove the failure of many companies can be traced back to a few basically inadequate so called business executives and finding the top of the tree can be a conundrum. Yes stand alone Crystal was a great brand there’s no doubting that but ultimately lead by money grubbing executives. Such a pity that’s why I suggested give Riverside a chance and hopefully they may make the grade in what is now becoming a very crowded industry.

[Coral]

22 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I should note that Mozart now has competition – AmaMagna.  And that has been so successful that AMA will add a sister ship in 2027.  So then there will be three double-wide ships sailing this limited stretch of the Danube – choice is good!

It was more than the double wide part that impressed me about the ship. I have never been on as nice of a ship inside. The food was better than any other restaurant I have been to (and I hear they kept a lot of the same staff). I absolutely loved my room and I had the cheapest room on the ship. It was incredibly spacious.

[CJANDH]

Spread the word. They need and deserve more bookings. I have been informed that the Mozart cruise on July 27, 2025 is currently only 20-30% booked.