Q – We are, at the urging of our travel agent, who happens to be in the prestigious Virtuoso organization, looking to do our first river boat cruise on the Crystal Mozart in August of 2016. We’ve sailed Seabourn and Crystal in the past but we’re ready to try something upscale on the Danube. Can we assume you are as enthusiastic about this option as our agent seems to be?
A – Sorry – we’re not. This will be Crystal’s very first try at river cruising and the launch date is July 13th. August is too early for the ship to be properly broken in. But our major concern is the likelihood of stifling temperatures at that time of year.
We are extremely impressed with the itinerary round-trip out of Vienna, allowing for several nights ashore. The Mozart, one of the world’s largest river boats, carried 203 guests for Euro River Cruises and, before that, Peter Deilmann. As the first Crystal river boat the Mozart will sail with 160 guests and many larger than original suites. In fact, the smallest suites are over 200 sq. ft. and there are twin two-bedroom suites at 860 sq. ft., unheard of on Europe’s waterways. So our view of the Mozart is by no means negative but we are not enthusiastic about your plans to sail her in August.
