28 Dec: Linz Day 3 (substitution for a full day to Budapest)

Another lazy morning after a late night in the bar.

Had breakfast in the Bistro. Nice set-up and is the same daily.

Got to make my own toast!

At lunch we had the palette-blowing dish of the cruise - fusilli pasta with caviar, in a white wine and vodka sauce. Truly inspired and absolutely delicious

Most of the guests had taken one of the three new excursions organised at short notice today.
We just decided to enjoy the boat. Was considering a walk but it was raining and very windy. Crystal Golf umbrellas were blowing all over the place.

After lunch, we got given a choice of two excursions for our new stop at Krems tomorrow. Wine tasting a drive to see a castle of Richard the Lionhearted. No consideration was needed! More tomorrow.

A really poor turn out for trivia - 4 people so two teams of two.

Head off to the steam room and jacuzzi at tea time and it was empty as usual.

Evening cocktails at the Palm Court with Neal singing away before heading in to dinner. This is getting to be a bit of routine now!

After dinner, the band played dance music. Neal finished the night off but we headed off to bed early-isa. Exhausted from doing nothing.

All evening, everyone was speaking about Anthony, the Crystal staff member who followed one of the tours to visit the Alps reason.
Someone tripped and their walk stick fell into the river. Anthony took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trousers and went into the freezing river waters to retrieve the walking stick. Hero of the day!

27 Dec: The announcement of itinerary changes

This evening at 6pm, there was a rare shipwide announcement including all the rooms made by the Entertainment Host, Neal Fullerton
 - The Mozart cannot sail further down river than Vienna due to the low water levels.

We will bussed to Budapest (2.5 hours each way) for an ovenight stay and will be put up in the Ritz Carlton in Budapest (Good reviews on TripAdvisor at least with rooms currently going at EUR 450 a night) Returning to Mozart in Vienna for New Years Eve celebrations. Will be bussed to Bratislavia on New Year's day (1 hour each way). Excursions at being worked out tomorrow.

No change to the overall length of the cruise.

Full day sailing on the 28 Dec, will be replaced by another full day in Linz. They have thrown in a couple of complimentary full day tours and a morning tour. 

Crystal are also throwing in a 30% of the current cruise fare for a future cruise to be taken by the end of Dec 2018 per the literature we were given. Full details and the precise credit amount to be provided to us and our Travel Agent on our return. 

Will post developments here

What we knownso far!  Day 1 of change (28 Dec)
Full day of sailing substituted with full day at Linz
Two full day excursions organised this morning along with a half day tour to a couple of local museums.

Day 2 of change (29 Dec)
Full day Budapest substituted with a morning of sailing and an afternoon in Krems (new stop)
Two excursions being offered in the afternoon at Krems.

Day 3 of change (30 Dec)
Morning in Budapest substituted with a morning coach transfer to Budapest with a night's stay at the Ritz Carlton. We understand that 35 guests have opted to stay on board the boat in Vienna for various reasons. That means about 100 guests will head off to Budapest
Looks like the tours for the Budapest have been kept the same. Only instead of being able to do 3 excursions in total, we can now only do 2: one in the afternoon of 30 Dec an one in the morning of 31 Dec.

The Mozart's three excursion staff came along. They set up a Crystal desk in the lobby across from reception. They were extremely good at being on hand in the evening after the tours returned and during dinner time.

Group lunch is by we can claim up for EUR 100 with receipts to cover dinner on 30 Dec and lunch on 31 Dec.

Day 4 of change (31 Dec)
Morning in Esztergom substituted with a morning in Budapest and an afternoon coach transfer from Budapest to Vienna to see the New Year in on-board the Mozart.

Breakfast is included. Two tours on offer this morning. Coaches head back to Vienna at 1:30 pm


Day 5 of change (1 Jan)
Day in Bratislava substituted with a half a day in Vienna and half a day in Bratislava.
There will be a shuttle service taking guests to the centre of town in the morning and returning at lunch time.
Three options to see Bratislava in the afternoon based on town themes
- transfer to Bratislava for some sightseeing on the coach and by foot
- transfer to Bratislava for some sightseeing on the coach and by foot, followed by dinner and a New Years Day evening concert
- transfer to Bratislava for dinner and a New Years Day evening concert


We should be back on schedule by 2 Jan.

27 Dec: Linz Day 2

Too exhausted for another full day of touring. Really wanted a lie in so decided to wake up late and then walk around town looking for free wifi.

Had lunch at a lovely lunch at Blue at the back of the boat.

Broccoli soup with almonds instead of croutons for that crunchy texture.

Prawn Ceasar Salad

Rubens Sandwich

Cheese Burger

And you need fairly strong finger knuckles to work the salt and pepper










Top Tip
Look out for the Altes Rathaus in the main town square. It is in the middle of the square on the left hand side if your back is to the river. Why? Free toilets and free wifi somewhere out of the cold. There are a few chairs beyond the map on the floor where you can sit down quietly and go on the internet. No member of staff will judge you here.

Linz has a great free wifi system call Hotspot Linz. You can get this in various parts of town. Really good download speeds - fastest we have experience on this trip so far. Not so fast on the uploads.

There is also a really good Google Earth map on the floor which will give you a great overview of Linz.

In the warmer months, you can however out the Lentos Kuntmuseum by the ticket office and shop. This is a modern art museum with art by Andy Worhol,  Klimit, etc. The Mozart was docked right next to this building. This is also another Hotspot Linz location. We went inside to the ticket office given it was winter. There are sofas along the ticket office/shop area. The ticket seller kept staring at us while we used the hotspot facilities there. We did not buy an entrance ticket but we did buy some postcards.

The Christmas Market was shut from Christmas Eve. Shops were closed on 26 Dec but most were open on December 27.

We found a Nespresso shop that sold Apple Strudel Coffee and Sacher Torte Coffee - a must for a coffee lover's visit to Austria.

I found a traditional Austrian clothes shop. Was interested to see the prices of lederhosen.
Came away with a lovely Austrian hat and long feathers (yes - another hat purchased). The lovely reindeer Alpine-style leather jackets were just for women - bah!

Made it back to Mozart in time for some tea - I miss those cucumber sandwiches you get in Palm Court at teatime.

Headed off to the Spa to use the steam room and jacuzzi before dinner.
At 6pm, the Entertainment Host, Neal Fullerton made a rare announcement that was piped into all the rooms. This only ever happens for muster drills. I'll put the details in a separate folder as the situation unfolds.

Neil Fullerton played a set in the Palm Court for pre-dinner cocktails.
Tapas was offered in the Bistro for dinner again but we went to the main dining room instead. By the way, you have to book a place for dinner in the Bistro. It has been packed two nights running. It operates just like Taste on the Crystal Serenity.

The ballroom dancing couples had big smiles on their face. They were good. The dance floor in the Palm Court was definitely full.

Dec 26: Linz Day 1 (Full Day trip to Salzburg)

Salzburg - a city celebrating many things

These were the step where they filmed the memorable Do-Re-Mi sequence.

A status of Papageno from Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute

The house that Mozart bought when he was at the height of this fame.

Mozart's birthday place - on the third floor.

There are some pretty traditional shop signs on the high street but do not let that fool you.
Its a sign for MacDonalds - do they do lion burgers and Eagle McNuggets?

Salzburg Christmas Market on Boxing Day - still going strong and fairly busy.

    

A cup of mulled/spiced wine is a must at a Christmas Market - and the cup makes a nice souvenir!

  

The famous chocolate shop selling original hand-made Mozart Chocolate Balls was opened.

Despite very few shops being opened, we found this nice Austrian hat with feathers and pins.

      

And we still found time for a lovely quiet lunch at Europe's oldest restaurant - a very quaint setting after the crowds of the Christmas Markets above. Lunch had to be a schnitzel!

St Peter Stiftskeller

25 Dec: Vishofen

Got up early for breakfast. After breakfast, two coach loads of Crystal guests headed off for Schweikberg Abbey. 

It was a full Christmas Day Catholic Mass with Holy Communion...in German. The church would only have been half full if not for the 50+ Crystal guests there.

After the service, Abbot Rhabanus Petri came out to welcome the Crystal guests in English and gave us a talk about the Abbey and its history and its work. This is one representative of the church who does really does religion credit by reflecting a jovial and humourous disposition yet looks at the world from practical perspective. He made anything fun when speaking. He is also a very good singer and sings in a group called The Priests

Anything to raise money for the Abbey and for charity.

We also visited the Abbey's African Museum that exhibited decades of collections from their missionary work in various parts of African.

We visited the shop where they sold their homemade brew - the weak stuff which was 45% proof and the good stuff that was 77% proof; ie moonshine (or the Recipe for anyone who remembers The Waltons on TV). Also bought some honey based gummy bears in the shop. It is all for a good cause.

Changed for Christmas lunch on the boat!

John and a weird friend he met on board!

There was an organised Christmas Day afternoon walk around town that we did not bother with.

Several guests just walked around on their own; which is what I did. It is a pretty place despite the grim weather.

The early evening show was a real treat if you love The Sound of Music and Christmas Carols

After dinner, there was a piano recital by Filip Wojciechowski. Then he dueted with his wife. Finally he trio-ed with his wife and son

24 Dec: Passau

Another lazy morning waking up late while the Mozart its way up river to Passau. Did up on the Vista deck for some fresh air and a look at the sights. We pulled up at Passau by about 11:30am. The Mozart was docked out of town and a shuttle was provided to guests.

We cancelled out walking tour of Passau. It was raining and everything was closed since it was the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Heard a few complaints about this tour.

We spotted a late additional excursion to Aldersbach Abbey and its Brewery. Best excursion we have been on in a long time! 

It is about a 40 mins drive from Passau to Aldersbach. We were greeted by the Baron of Alderbach who owns the grounds of the Abbey and the Brewery which is operated as a small business given employment to the village.

The Abbey is magnificent. 

The initial WOW view












The high alter

The pulpit.

On to the brewery - the small traditional brewery

You get to taste a selection of malt.

Today's mesh tanks

The fermentation tanks

We got to sample the beer/ale directly from the taps before it hit any kegs, cans or bottles.

Everyone got two complimentary bottles of beer as a souvenir.

Back to Mozart in plenty of time to shower and change for dinner that that evening's entertainment

Got all dressed up for Christmas Eve

Stefan Mullens gave two performance that evening; one before dinner and one after dinner.

There was also an evening excursion for an organ recital followed by Catholic midnight mass or a  Lutheran midnight mass.