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Rhine River Excursions on Crystal


USCAdventurer
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i'll be on the crystal bach from basel to amsterdam on november 3rd.  does anyone have good things or bad things to say about the excursions that crystal offers along the way?  also, do they give you enough time in some ports to try interesting restaurants ashore for lunch or dinner?

 

thank you in advance for your advice and comments.

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We were on Crystal Bach's Rhine and Moselle cruise this summer.  All of the excursions we took were great and we especially enjoyed being in small groups...never more than 15, and as few as 8 people on a couple of tours.  We had several overnights in ports, which would allow you time if you wanted to venture on your own for lunch or dinner.  That said, we found that most meals on board the ship were delicious and offered specialties of the region.

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caripoo  

always FIGHT ON!!!!!!

i'd love to hear about your cruise when you return.  i've never done a river cruise and i'm very excited about it. and it's my first crystal cruise too.   i'm sure you are too.

 

i have booked a christmas market cruise with crystal for next december, 2020 on the mahler on the danube from budapest to vienna which i'm also very excited about but its too early for that one now.

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We did the Rhine on Uniworld and there was time during the tours almost everyday when we had free time on our own to walk around and found our way into local restaurants, coffee houses, beer and wine bars and also time for shopping several times during the cruise.  Since they are direct competitors, I'm certain Crystal will be the same and you will have different opportunities to try local foods.  

 

Basically on the tours, they walk you around the area - or in one place they took us on the tourist train loop so familiarize us with the area, then maybe they take you in a cathedral and then you are free to do as you wish until it is time to meet at the bus again. For example in Cologne we walked about 4 blocks, went through the cathedral and we were free for the rest of the time, so we went to a beer bar to sample Kolsch beer and I bought some Eau de Cologne on the walk back to the bus.  In Rudesheim, they took us on the mini tourist train that took us around the town in 30 minutes and then we were free to do whatever we wanted so we went to a restaurant, then went wine tasting and finally stopped in a toy shop so I could buy a porcupine (doll.). 

Edited by SuiteTraveler
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When on the Danube, Crystal also gave us free time. They often said "meet back here at 5 pm if you want to take the bus back to the ship - otherwise you are on your own to get back to the ship". Several stayed late and took a taxi back to the ship. Very flexible.

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coral and suite traveler,

thank you for your information.  i'm glad to know we do have free time to explore shops and restaurants during the day.  there seem to be so many tours, i'm a little overwhelmed and even though i signed up for a tour every day, i might just decide not to go one day and sleep late and explore on my own.

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4 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

coral and suite traveler,

thank you for your information.  i'm glad to know we do have free time to explore shops and restaurants during the day.  there seem to be so many tours, i'm a little overwhelmed and even though i signed up for a tour every day, i might just decide not to go one day and sleep late and explore on my own.

One word of wisdom is that if you know you won't be going on a tour, let the front desk know ASAP (the day before if possible). Also, some tours were full and some were denied seats on tours so definitely keep the front desk informed if you change your mind. They are so nice there!

 

We had a Christmas Markets trip. Our trip was RT Vienna. Only half the markets were available at the beginning of the trip but they were all open at the end of the trip. On the last full day in Vienna, Crystal had arranged for us to get into an Art Gallery 2 hours before it opened and everyone signed up for this tour. Well, probably half of us ditched this as we wanted to go to the Christmas Markets (Crystal ran a shuttle into town free) and maybe some people were tired of tours. I spoke with the tour person on the ride back to the ship and she indicated that not everyone had notified the tour desk that they were cancelling and they had too many buses and too many local guides for the amount of people who showed up. She indicated it was a negative side effect of having "free tours". 

 

The one thing I have to say is Crystal's city maps are really good maps. Some of the best I have seen. They are always at the front desk.

 

I hope you post a review when you get back. I was so impressed with Crystal - I think I am spoiled for life!

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coral,

thank you for all your comments.  i will advise the front desk the day before if i don't plan to on a tour.  that's the right thing to do, of course,

i also booked a christmas market cruise with crystal for next december. it will be a danube cruise starting in budapest and ending in vienna.  i love european christmas markets and usually go to europe every december to see as many as i can, especially in england  but i know the ones in germany, austria and hungary should be fabulous.  i actually did see the christmas markets in salzburg and vienna a few years ago.

i'm not much for writing reviews of my trips.  do you write reviews of yours?

 

cheers

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USC Adventurer,

We were on the Debussy in June for the Basel to Amsterdam cruise, and we had such a good time that we have already booked a Danube cruise (Budapest to Regensburg) on the Ravel for the end of April 2020.  You will have a great trip!  We also booked an excursion every day, and as the week progressed, we changed our minds some and did exactly what you suggest - slept late and ventured out on our own some days.  We did let the desk know in advance when we were planning to skip an excursion, and Coral's advice about that is on point.  I agree with Coral that the maps at the front desk are very helpful.

 

We had enough shipboard credits that were going to be wasted, so we asked the desk to arrange a private excursion for 3 of us on the day that is partly in Mannheim.  We had a private driver in a nice Mercedes passenger van with a private tour guide, and they helped us plan our half-day adventure, which ended up being our favorite day of the entire trip.  The excursions that day were mostly going to Heidelberg, and I'm sorry we missed that, but we chose to go west of the Rhine into the wine country, and we stopped at an old family-owned winery, and we had a typical German lunch at a place up on the side of a mountain that we rode a chair-lift to get to, and we stopped at a lavender/herb farm, and we saw really quaint little villages, and we hardly saw any other tourists.  The Crystal people set up the driver and guide with about 1 1/2 day notice.  The whole experience was truly memorable!

 

Also, when we were in Amsterdam, we took an Uber into Haarlem instead of going on an excursion, and we met up with some of my relatives and had a very relaxing time.  That was the only day we tried using Uber, but remember that is available in the larger ports.

 

I am watching the other message boards about river levels, especially since the Danube is having problems.  I hope the river levels are good for your trip, but you will have a great time no matter what.  I am a long-time Crystal cruiser, and I am so glad they are doing river cruises now, because I truly enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the small ships where everyone meets the other guests and the crew.  Have a great vacation!

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thekingd,

thank you so much for your post.  i'm so glad you enjoyed the cruise.  i'm starting to get excited about it now but it's still a month away for me.

i did sign up for the heidelberg tour and then in the afternoon i signed up the manheim tour.  however,  a few days ago i received an email from crystal saying the tour was cancelled so i don't know that means we're not stopping in manheim or what.  but whatever will be, will be (as doris day used to sing)  

i've never used uber in my life so i don't know if i would use it on this trip.  i really can't think of a reason to use it.  i did sign up for a tour in amsterdam and i'm looking forward to that.  i've never been to any of the countries on this trip so being in new places also makes me very excited.

by the way, i have booked a christmas market cruise for december, 2020 with crystal on the mahler on the danube from budapest to vienna which i'm really looking forward to doing.

 

thank you and cheers,

david

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8 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

coral,

thank you for all your comments.  i will advise the front desk the day before if i don't plan to on a tour.  that's the right thing to do, of course,

i also booked a christmas market cruise with crystal for next december. it will be a danube cruise starting in budapest and ending in vienna.  i love european christmas markets and usually go to europe every december to see as many as i can, especially in england  but i know the ones in germany, austria and hungary should be fabulous.  i actually did see the christmas markets in salzburg and vienna a few years ago.

i'm not much for writing reviews of my trips.  do you write reviews of yours?

 

I try to write reviews but didn't on this trip. Sorry. I can say it is all good! It was busy when I got back and then got the flu over Christmas :(.

 

Our trip did not go to Budapest. I do have to say I really enjoyed the Salzburg markets. They also had an option for us to go to the Lake District in Austria for St. Wolfgang and St. Gilgen which also had Christmas Markets. They were good also! Salzburg was probably my favorite. Some of the ones in Vienna were closed when we first got there and I didn't make it back on the last day (Schonbrunn Palace). Vienna does some great markets also as you know.

 

I went the week of Thanksgiving (20th - 30th) and the German ones were all opening up the day after we were there so I missed the German ones. It was all fine though.

 

This was my first experience with Christmas Markets and I loved them. Though - I have been to December Nights in San Diego and they try really hard to replicate European Christmas markets!

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On 9/24/2019 at 3:45 PM, USC Adventurer said:

caripoo  

always FIGHT ON!!!!!!

i'd love to hear about your cruise when you return.  i've never done a river cruise and i'm very excited about it. and it's my first crystal cruise too.   i'm sure you are too.

 

i have booked a christmas market cruise with crystal for next december, 2020 on the mahler on the danube from budapest to vienna which i'm also very excited about but its too early for that one now.

Will be sure to give you all the good reviews when we return....We are spending 2 days in Lake Como and then 8 days in Switzerland before we start......I am sure it will be great. Christmas market on the bucket list as well!!

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8 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

coral,

thank you for your information about your christmas cruise.  i'm looking forward to doing it next year starting out in budapest.  i have seen the christmas markets in vienna at schonbrunn palace and the market in salzburg.  they were both wonderful.

Crystal runs a shuttle to Rathausplatz when in Vienna. From there, I walked to the Markets near the Museums (a few blocks away). We also saw the ones near Stephansplatz. When we did the excursion near there, Crystal even picked up our Glühwein and souvenir cup!

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