54 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

Food and wine are very personally specific as to what one person thinks of the quality versus what the next person thinks. Having done 4 Crystal river cruises, I'd be surprised if one person on each cruise would find the included wine "undrinkable". The specific poster who used that word has posted his opinion before and has yet to find anyone in agreement with him. That being said, he has every right to his opinion.

Agreed. We were on the Mozart last December and I found all the beverages and food to be fine. Great time on that boat, seemed like the other passengers enjoyed it too. But you never know who onboard is secretly bitter about being unable to gargle a 1963 bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild in the morning after hydraulically irrigating their diamond encrusted donkey choppers.

The only thing I didn't get to do on the Mozart was talk to the Captain more and I understand, he was busy. It's all good.

@notamermaid Thanks for your earlier water level reports on the Rhine, as well as your other detailed accounts. Sailing the Debussy's last  of this season's  A-Dam to Basel run.......Happy Trails

We were watching all the river level reports through the whole of last year and I wasn't surprised that many lines, including Crystal, had problems meeting their goals at times, busing passengers and cancellations... that's the nature of the rivers, you're pretty much rolling the dice if you chose to cruise rivers in Europe. We've never been on a cruise where those kind of issues came up, we've deliberately chosen the latest possible dates where historically the water levels have been high. In December 2017 I saw so much water in the Danube that tree trunks were being dislodged from the shore and carried out into the middle of the Danube, creating the high water problem where the vessels cannot pass under bridges and we accordingly slowed down in order to allow the river level to lessen in order to proceed. That occurred approaching Regensburg.

I can understand the concerns of people who mainly cruise oceans and then give the rivers a try. It's a far more temperamental environment, we always have a backup plan in case things go off schedule.

I too, want the Mozart back in December, exactly at the time we cruised on her....my wife REALLY wants her back then as well. But we were told when we booked the Debussy for December of this year that the Mozart wouldn't be running this year or next year either at the time we prefer.

robertmartha...

I don't believe the Mozart's demand wanes in the holiday season. Europe now has the largest river cruising fleet in the world, nearly 350 vessels. All those ships vie for space in shipyards for their overhaul and refurbishment and are most likely inspected and certified before they are sent out again. That many ships probably creates a huge logistics problem scheduling them all. It's crowded out there.

My family just happens to prefer the holiday season to be Europe, kind of a tradition to cruise on a vessels last trip before it goes into the shipyards. We've been in Europe every year  at that time for the last 20 years. Go for it ! 🙂

8 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

No problem, take the cheapest red wine you can find, add tons of sugar and some orange juice plus spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves... and then throw it away!

 

steamboats

I second that motion ! To me, that stuff is flat out nasty, I'll take a draft beer anywhere in Europe over that concoction. Of course, you have to try it yourself for the first time..... 🙂

Aha ! So I was not the only one asking the staff about Crystal's other boats ! I think I may have gotten a little farther with my questions and I came to this conclusion - I got the strong impression that the people I talked to were hesitant to offer opinions like the ones were seeking mainly because they are in fact, Crystal employees, and maybe they didn't want to be perceived as possibly critical of the company's offerings, which I feel Crystal came through for it's guests with flying colors, far exceeding our personal expectations. I really believe that the Mozart staff were responding to us with a type of loyalty to the Mozart itself and not trying to hide a deficiency or fault with Crystal's other vessels. But here's one factor that several employees did let slip to me..there is more room on the Mozart than the other vessels, a lot more for us...and also for them, as they live right alongside us onboard for the whole cruise. They must share quarters aboard as part of their job.... and we don't. If I was in their shoes, I would probably feel the same way.

The Avalon vessels carried a lot more people than the Crystal river vessels do, and from everything I could learn from the Mozart staff, Crystal's service and philosophy extends to all it's operations ( Crystal should probably hire me to be a spokesman, I certainly sound like one) But the one final fact that makes me so enthusiastic about Crystal? My wife was and is soooo happy. That is priceless.

Ciao...Be seeing you 🙂

We booked the Crystal Debussy for it's December A-Dam to Basel run while still aboard the Mozart because we were told that the Mozart would not be making it's last voyage as late in December as it had in the past. We have been on Avalon's boats in the past and to try and compare them with them with the Mozart is really no contest at all, the Mozart stands alone, in my opinion. And I am not knocking Avalon in any way by saying that, we had a great time on Avalon. But the Mozart?...Absolutely love at first sight.

We're going on the Debussy based on the belief that Crystal will hold firm to it's philosophy of travel that we experienced, no matter what the size of the vessel. Happy Trails, Coral

On 12/27/2018 at 8:46 AM, Netta7 said:

 The only place that ever feels crowded is the laundry room.  Everyone seems to want to do laundry.  

 

 

 

Netta.....Everyone did seem to want to do laundry, yes, and all at the same time. Probably why my wife took advantage of my night owl tendencies and sent me off after midnight to the laundry, laptop in hand. It was a great cruise, the Mozart is arguably incomparable and addictive. Not my first time in Europe or on it's rivers and not my last with Crystal.  The boss is hooked....Cabin 223

 

Catskier....we were on the Avalon Expression the same time as your cruise, same direction up river, slightly ahead of you most of the way(saw your boat in fact) This was our first river cruise, although we have extensive experience in Europe.

We got the same briefing from our Captain as well, who told us that Austria had closed their portion of the river but we didn't get stuck anywhere overnight. Avalon was excellent in their response as well with their already planned excursions departing and then meeting the boat in Wien.

I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed sailing with Avalon, especially with Captain Alex taking care of business. I am a professional mariner and I know seamanship when I see it and our skipper was way ahead of things from the start. Our Captain, who was in fact born on a boat, knows the Danube and everyone along it in every capacity possible like the back of his hand.

So call this a shameless plug for Avalon if you will, but on our trip everything went as smoothly as it could, everyone looked and sounded happy and I'm going back next year and do Avalon again. I think that most of the cruise lines do the best they can under the circumstances that can pop up. Oh ......the food was great, coffee 24/7, great service onboard and most important of all, my wife was happy.

Happy Trails

Thanks for the responses, as I said cruising is new to us.

Happy Trails

So my vintage Aloha shirt is a no go on these special dinner nights?

I'm more concerned about leaving our house in the care of our 30 year old son, who actually has more common sense than his frequently goofy and impulsive dad than I am about being in the wrong place at the wrong time in Europe. Not worried or brooding here.

Hello All

My wife and I are taking the Avalon Expression from Budapest to A-Dam run later this month. We have extensive European experience, although it is all tour bus-based and all through the Globus/Cosmos etc. umbrella. This is an experiment for us: we have no problem with the pace and tone of the bus tours and they have all been good, however, this year we decided to try something different. In other words, it's my wife's idea and I'm going along with it because after 30+ years of marriage, I've figured out that 1. When she's happy, my life is strangely calm...and 2. Do I really have a choice?

Anyway...anybody out there been on the newest Avalon boats who can relate their experiences as to seating for 2? It's not that we're antisocial, not at all...just inquiring as to the possibilities of an occasional quiet dinner alone surrounded by 100 people....thanks in advance for any info