Blog - Crystal Mozart July 23 Sailing

ClaudiaYVR - how are you finding the various Austrian wines on the menu?

Are the "all-inclusive" wines just Austrian or are there some French/Italian/Spanish ones as well? Would like to understand the variety of wine on offer.

I will post a picture of the wine list as soon as I can.

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Bistro coffee/tea menu

and delicious latte

Christian and his gorgeous daughter (they live in Budapest and his wife and daughter Florencia were visiting on board)

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Inaugural commemorative champagne flutes, our prize for winning the Not So Newlyweds :)

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Congratulations on your win - the prize is a nice souvenir of your Crystal Mozart cruise. Unfortunately, there is no chance of me winning a pair of them!!!

Enjoy your last few days onboard and thanks for the updates, photos and response to questions..

Anne

Looks like a lovely trip so far! Enjoying the blog

Thanks for posting the Bistro beverage menu. There is a nice selection.

I am pleased that the Mozart's dinner menu has regional dishes. My disappointment on my Tauck river cruise was that most of the menu selections were classic american. I think Crystal's immersion approach is better, and it is good to know that other selections are available in case there is nothing on the menu of interest. However it is unrealistic to think that a small river cruise could ever offer the wide selection possible on a large ocean vessel. It is very encouraging to hear that you are so pleased with the quality of the food. No doubt it will be a differentiator for Crystal.

I am enjoying your blog and posts! Thanks for all your efforts!

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

Rhonda

Claudia

Thanks for taking the time to blog and posting the photos - they are great and have given us a real insight into the Crystal River Cruise offering

It's not on my bucket list but it's good to see that Crystal are delivering to those who want to experience river cruising

Are they cruising during the winter? That will change the dynamics of the voyage for sure - can't see the bikes getting as much use then :D

Thanks

Thanks Claudia for posting so many photos, your impressions and the menus. We are loving living vicariously through you and it is so generous of you to share your vacation time with us.

Claudia,

From looking at the coffee/tea menu, it appears they are not offering Mighty Leaf teas. Is that the case? I've grown quite fond of their Celebration tea.

Claudia,

From looking at the coffee/tea menu, it appears they are not offering Mighty Leaf teas. Is that the case?

Fingers crossed - I'm not even fussy about tea, but don't care for the Mighty Leaf served on the ocean ships at all, it's a case of have tea bags will travel for me (both my preferred flavoured green tea and 'normal' tea)..😀😀😀☕️☕️

Anne...

Hi, Claudia,

I am enjoying your blog. Sorry that you had rain during your bike ride, but it sounds like you enjoyed the ride for the most part.

For your overnight in Passau, did Crystal run shuttles to town in the evening?

Also, I read in Travel Weekly that in the evening the Bistro converts to a reservation only, white tablecloth dining experience focused on refined interpretations of local cuisine. Have you dined there in the evening? Is it a more formal dining experience than Waterside in the evening?

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

Rhonda

These are the teas you find around. Must confess I've actually haven't had one yet, just pick one up and brought it to my cabin

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I love my teas, normally strong ones. Don't drink coffee.

Looking forwards to trying a Milky Oolong. This definitely caught my eye. A good Oolong tea is pricey is normally fairly strongly scented and is drunk black. Worth trying to see if I like this version.

At least, good ole English Breakfast tops the tea list.

We love and look forward to having Mighty Leaf's ginger twist tea on the Ocean ships, and would really miss it if they discontinued it. When the staff in the Bistro see us coming, they bring our ginger twist tea automatically. Our only choice is scone or chocolate cookie.

I understand brands of tea would be a very personal thing. I never really cared for hot teas until I sailed on Crystal. Then I just got so addicted to celebration tea & green tea passion. I have since ordered directly from Mighty Leaf; & keep some stashed in the fridge for special occasions. My tea drinking guests seem to appreciate it.

I understand brands of tea would be a very personal thing. I never really cared for hot teas until I sailed on Crystal. Then I just got so addicted to celebration tea & green tea passion. I have since ordered directly from Mighty Leaf; & keep some stashed in the fridge for special occasions. My tea drinking guests seem to appreciate it.

I'm no expert and only came to tea late in life - having always been intolerant of cow's milk I never drank tea or coffee growing up as it always came with milk!!! At college I took to black coffee and stuck with it until a couple of years ago when I mysteriously went off coffee...After a bit of trial and error I found my preferences are a green tea with ginger and orange from a German company and English Breakfast Tea (still no milk) from good old Marks & Spencer!!!!

The supplier to the Mozart appears to be a 'luxury Viennese coffee house' - surprise, surprise!!! :D:D

Anne...

Where in Vienna is does the Mozart dock? Is there an address or landmark to look up on Google Maps?

Would like to see the distance from our hotel.

Where in Vienna is does the Mozart dock? Is there an address or landmark to look up on Google Maps?

 

Would like to see the distance from our hotel.

There was address on the back of my cruise ticket, and I believe it is a dedicated dock for the Mozart. The address is:

Millennium Pier

Close to Millennium Tower

Between Nordbahnbrucke and Brigittenauer Brucke

Treppelweg, Vienna

Haven't tried locating it on Goigle maps yet...

Anne...

Where in Vienna is does the Mozart dock? Is there an address or landmark to look up on Google Maps?

 

Would like to see the distance from our hotel.

If you are staying in the center of Vienna, near Hotel Sacher, it is a 25 minute cab or Uber ride. This is according to google maps. None of the river boats dock anywhere near the center and having been there on river boats numerous times I can tell you from experience the shuttle ride is necessary to get to the center of the city. This is truly the only city where you are not docked in the center of town on this itinerary.

Vienna is one of my favorite cities especially in the summer.

The pier is, as Anne says, right by the Millennium Tower which you should be able to Google map. It is a 15 minute shuttle ride to the city centre but not within walking distance.

There is also a public transit (light rail) station so for those adventurous enough to do it, super simple. There are 6 lines which numerous transfer stations. Today we got around from the pier to the city centre, from there to Schonbrunn Palace and then back to the ship. I'll tell the story in a separate posting.

Here is a Google map pic of the Millennium Tower and the river You can actually see the pier marked Treppelweg (no ship docked when the pic was taken)

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Thanks. I am planning to stay at the Hilton Vienna Plaza on the recommendation of a very friendly pianist. Have enough points for a nice room.

Claudia, Thank you for giving us a glimpse into life on the Crystal Mozart! I enjoyed your posts on your blog and on CC. My husband and I have tentative plans to try river cruising next year, but are still unsure if we would like it as much as an ocean voyage. Did you find that you had time to explore on your own or were you mostly on excursions? Were there opportunities to have lunch in town, or did most people return to the river boat? Also, did Crystal inform you of their back-up plans if the waters had been too high or too low? Thanks so much, Claudia...any insights are most welcome!

Mary

Travel Blog: http://www.themodernpostcard.com

For those of you who've been following:

http://claudiayvrmozartdanube.blogspot.ca/

I'll be posting more comments and info not covered here in the next few days.

For those of you who've been following:

 

http://claudiayvrmozartdanube.blogspot.ca/

 

I'll be posting more comments and info not covered here in the next few days.

Claudia, just managed to log in and read your fabulously detailed blog. Small question about the 48km e-bike ride along the Danube (the one that turned into a mud ride...

We've booked on the same excursion. I looked at the pictures of the kind of e-bikes used, and they seem high - even with the adjustable seat. They are not the newer high-handle bar versions of e-bikes.

I ask because I'm petite (ok, small, small) and very often bikes for average adults leave my legs dangling precariously, making it very difficult to simply stop and admire the scenery without getting off the bike completely and walking it like a reluctant dog. I fare better with other models of e-bikes. DH is over six feet tall so he has no issues. I wondered if I ought to select another excursion for myself?

On the last e-bike trip we did in Copenhagen, I was offered a "big child's bike" (they were being polite), but then some kid smaller than me, came in with a helmet and it seemed unkind to take his bike away from him! They lowered the seat of the adult bike to its maximum for me, but it was a horrible, uncomfortable ride :eek:

Any advice? Thank you for such an engaging read on your Mozart cruise. We're looking forward to boarding soon.