Cruising the Wachau Valley at night?

We are currently on the Crystal Mozart and have cruised up and down the Danube twice passing through the Wachau Valley at night. We are surprised and disappointed by this. We departed early from Passau yesterday which placed us in the Valley in the early morning, in the dark. We had thought that was the point of our long day sailing today. This is our first River cruise, and we are wondering if this is more common than we would think. The theme of our cruise is Christmas Markets, so maybe that is why the Valley was completely disregarded. Has anyone else had a similar cruising experience on the Danube.

That is really disappointing! The day cruising the Wachau Valley was a highlight of our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise on Uniworld in August 2015.

Suzcruise,

if I understand you correctly, you are currently on the cruise that is advertised thus (for later dates) on the website: http://www.crystalcruises.com/voyage/details/christmas-markets-along-the-danube-6m16r

While it does not say that you will have hours of seeing the Wachau valley, I understand the 3 December header to mean that you will be able to see some of it while being able to enjoy the amenities on board. The advertising bar with a big photo at the top clearly says Christmas markets while the text is a more all-year-round description. This is somewhat misleading.

I fully understand your disappointment and would bring it to the cruise director's attention. Especially as this is a round trip with the chance to plan the itinerary accordingly, i.e. get the Wachau valley in once or twice, at least in sunset or just after dawn. There is still about 8 hours and 30 minutes of daylight in Melk at the end of November (that excludes dawn and dusk).

I hope you can enjoy the Christmas markets fully and all the amenities the Crystal Mozart has to offer.

notamermaid

I would be disappointed, as well. While the weather could have been nicer, we enjoyed this stretch in the afternoon, and have many pictures as a reminder.

Robin

Acwmom, when was your cruise? You mention the weather, which makes me wonder if you might have been on a Christmas Market cruise as well. The reason I posted this question is to find out if this is the norm for a Christmas cruise or not.

Thanks!

Acwmom, when was your cruise? You mention the weather, which makes me wonder if you might have been on a Christmas Market cruise as well. The reason I posted this question is to find out if this is the norm for a Christmas cruise or not.

 

Thanks!

We we're on a Christmas Market Cruise with Uniworld Last December and sailed the valley during the day. I would think it is very unusual to sail this stretch of the Danube at night anytime as it is on of the major selling points of a Danube sailing. So sorry for your disappointment.

I would speak up about this to the captain or whoever is in charge.

We are going through that area right now on a Uniworld cruise in the middle of the day and it is beautiful! I would hate to miss it by going through at night.

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It is surprising to hear this. Looking at the same cruise in September next year, the Wachau Valley is done at lunchtime.

Suspect it is due to scheduling. This is the maiden season so there are things they will not get correct. Do give feedback on this so they realise their mistake.

Can you give immediate feedback on the on-board internet like you can on the Serenity and the Symphony.

I was impressed when someone got back to me on the Serenity when I raised an issue on the on-board internet system when cruising Alaska this July.

Acwmom, when was your cruise? You mention the weather, which makes me wonder if you might have been on a Christmas Market cruise as well. The reason I posted this question is to find out if this is the norm for a Christmas cruise or not.

 

Thanks!

We actually did our cruise in late April of this year. We had snow flurries in Vienna! Thankfully, our second cruising day, between Linz and Passau was picture perfect, sunny, and in the mid to high 50's.

Robin

Here is a consideration.

There is a very long thread about the growing love of river cruising along with talking about how many new river cruise ships are hitting the rivers. As is clearly pointed out in that thread, only so many boats can be on the same stretch of river, and go through the various locks, at the same time. Crystal is a new comer to the river cruise business, which typically means it puts them dead last in priority in scheduling through the various locks and dams. Remember, these boats sail the rivers, when the river masters tell them they can sail the rivers, not when they (or their passengers) may necessarily want to do so. Not all the cruise boats can sail at midday and lock through at midday. Seniority has its advantages in these manners, at perhaps people should consider that when choosing a cruise line! ;)