MS My Story

We'll be taking a cruise this September with Rad+Reisen on the My Story. The cruise goes Passau to Passau biking along the Danube every day except for our day in Vienna. Has anyone sailed on this ship lately?

Hello Joe C CT,

welcome to cruisecritic and the river cruising forum. Unfortunately I cannot answer your question, but I am intrigued by the fact that you have chosen a company from Vienna to do an active bike and cruise holiday. Both are unusual on CC so may I ask where you are from (vague answer will do)? Alternatively you could change your profile to include your country on the right hand side.

May I recommend the great sticky from our host jazzbeau on the top of the title page? Very interesting reading.

As I cannot guess how familiar you are with the "My Story" I have linked here to the river company Select Voyages that "owns" the boat: http://www.select-voyages.com/en/ships/my-story/

The My Story is rarely mentioned on cruisecritic as it is used in charter by European operators, I hope somebody will be able to answer your question directly.

Reviews in German of this boat built in 1970/71 mention that the age shows in parts and the decor is not optimal but again those reviews are not very recent.

notamermaid

We are in the US, Connecticut specifically. If you are not familiar with it, we are about half way between New York City and Boston. We did not search it out but rather a friend's ski club in Texas has the entire ship chartered for the week. I have found limited information about the ship on line but I did see that it had been renovated only a few years ago. It will be a big change from sailing on mega ships with up to 3500+ passengers.

I figured it would be a shot in the dark to find some recent passengers here.

Joe

I haven't been on this ship either, but bike rides along the Danube sound like the perfect vacation for active people. A friend of mine did it a few years ago from inn to inn. How much more convenient to have the hotel ship come along.

Is the appeal of this cruise for you to go biking everyday along the Danube? If biking is really the appeal there are all sorts of companies that do biking tours that I would think we be better biking tours than that provided by a river cruise? I know that some of the ships on some lines include bicycles that you can use, I know this is particularly true of the cruises to and from Amsterdam.

I would be leery of a 45 year old river cruise boat, because I can only imagine how rough such a boat could be. Reno or not.

Whatever you decide, please let us know how it worked out, sounds interesting at the very least.

JC

As I said, it was not something we sought out. We talked briefly about a cruise like this on a more well known cruise line. This came about because a friend of my wife was going as her ski club and all the ski clubs in Texas had chartered it for a group trip. We signed up only to be able to do it with a friend. There has to be people who have done this trip recently or who are signed up to do it but I guess they are just not on CC.

There is a dual interest of both cruising on the Danube and being able to cycle along it as well. The ship does provide 21 speed bikes or optional electric bikes. We own 21 speed hybrid bikes so it is perfect for us.

Hi Joe,

Oddly enough I was searching for the My Story today because I was finally going to post my trip review of our vacation on that boat last spring. I did post in the "other" section as a response to your question, but I'll also post here.

In May 2015 my husband and I took the cycle Danube on the My Story. If you are a cyclist, or even reasonably fit, you will get along just fine without renting the ebike as the paths you will be on will all relatively flat.

We enjoyed the convenience of staying in the same room every night while seeing all of the towns along the river up close. Everyone we met was very friendly, as was all of the crew on the ship.

Although the ship was small, as to be expected because it is a converted barge, it was clean and comfortable. The meals were tasty. Overall the trip was a good value.

Two things to note: 1) If you pay for the internet service you will not have good reception except in port and even then it is sometimes sketchy. 2) The ship's engines and Air Conditioning shut down when the boat goes through a lock on the river. The A/C shouldn't be an issue for you in September, but the engines shutting down actually woke me up at night a few times.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I'll answer as best as I'm able.

Have a wonderful cruise :)

Colleen

So glad the OP got a few answers in information.

I have to chuckle as the title was a bit mis-leading. As I read it, I am saying to myself, is someone posting the story about dealing with MS? LOL

(MS is serious of course, but in this context it was funny)

Thank you so much Colleen! We knew it was an aging ship and even though it had been renovated, we were concerned about the comfort level. The group we are booked through have all upper cabins whose windows open. Also, we were concerned with the food as we read that you basically had the choice of three meals.

We are looking forward to seeing the cities along the Danube by bike. We both ride 21 speed hybrid bikes so we never even gave the ebikes any thought. The only thing I wish they had was a hot tub. If we have any specific questions, I will be sure to reach out to you.

Joe

So glad the OP got a few answers in information.

 

I have to chuckle as the title was a bit mis-leading. As I read it, I am saying to myself, is someone posting the story about dealing with MS? LOL

 

(MS is serious of course, but in this context it was funny)

Well, the ship the "MS" My Story!

We knew it was an aging ship and even though it had been renovated, we were concerned about the comfort level. The group we are booked through have all upper cabins whose windows open. Also, we were concerned with the food as we read that you basically had the choice of three meals.

It was a comfortable ship overall. The cabin beds do not squish together, so couples will bunk in separate beds. The windows are a great option (we also had a window), but even with those be prepared for a little stuffiness when the engines are off. Going through the lock, the boat isn't moving forward so there isn't a breeze.

There were only a few choices for a main course each evening at dinner, but they were all quite tasty. And there was always a vegetarian option available,which was frequently tastier then the carnivore option, in my opinion.

Glad to learn you are already cyclists....that will improve your enjoyment of the trip, I think. :) Believe it or not, some of the folks on board when we were there did not bicycle at all.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

By the time you read this, you will not have an opportunity to cruise the Danube on the My Story. After our trip with Rad & Reisen, the My Story had two cruises left and then it was being taken out of service and sold. It is 45 years old after all. Rad & Reisen will be using another barge next year.

Never the less, the cabins were small but comfortable. Our bathroom reminded us of the bathroom on our first cruise in 1984 on RCCL's Song of America. Our cabin steward did a wonderful job.

As someone mentioned, choices for dinner were limited. There was one appetizer, one soup, three entrees (meat, fish, vegetarian) and two desserts (one of which was always a fruit or cheese platter). Breakfast was buffet style with eggs, a meat (sausage, bacon, etc), sliced cold meats and cheeses, veggies and a lot of delicious house made bread, rolls and pastries. I can't comment on lunch on board the ship as we were off riding (or exploring Vienna). For those riding, they offered pre made sandwiches or you could make your own from the breakfast buffet (my choice). They would then wrap it all up for you in a plastic bag with a bottle of water, fruit and a yogurt or energy bar.

The bikes were all in excellent condition and there were bike mechanics on board if you had a problem. The route was easy. It is a level 1 bike ride. Our trips ranged from 16 miles to 33 miles. We also threw in some hikes and stair climbs for better views. Biking along the Danube was easy. Europe has numbered bike routes and we basically followed the Euro 6.

This was our first cycling trip and it definitely will not be our last. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Joe, thanks for taking the time to report back on your trip. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm sure your review will help others considering a similar cruise. Wish I knew about the bike tours a few years ago. Bob

For anyone who is interested in more detailed information about MS My Story Danube Waltz Bike and Barge trip, I wrote a review of our family's trip last June:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373559