I wouldn’t be writing this Crystal Ravel review if there were
a few decent reviews out there for others to read. To be sure, there is almost
nothing written about the approx. 1 year old river cruise ship - which is part
of the expansion of the Crystal Cruise line beyond its original high end ocean
cruising. The other - of course is
adventure cruising but that component is just starting and seems oppressively expensive.
Unlike Ravel’s Bolero which is the famous melodic one
movement orchestral crescendo composition, I started our Crystal Ravel experience
by reacting violently, ready to return to the airport and head back home. By the time we settled in however, it went
from the worst experience to arguably one of the best experiences in cruising
that we have had considering that this is about our 11th or 12th
Crystal cruise and experiences on another 10 or so other cruise lines.
To get this off my chest, there was no specific address
other than the general harbor location on the cruise ticket we were instructed
to follow. Without a more specific
address, Uber left us 1 mile away from the ship, the local Crystal representative
stationed nearby our drop off point was less than no help – truly - and we ended
up walking 1 mile in the rain pushing our luggage to get there. Every step of this one-mile journey thrusted my
adrenaline levels to the stratosphere. By
the time we got on board, we were cold and drenched, and I was ready to kill
and I let EVERYONE know it. Clearly a
combination of serious mistakes by Crystal not only affected me but other
guests as well – all imprinted for life with their horror stories of how
difficult it was to find the Crystal Ravel that fateful afternoon.
Apologies and an upgraded room tempered the negative first
impression, and for the next few days everyone, including Fernando, the cruise
director went out of their way, checking to make sure that we were comfortable.
That showing of kindness and the consistent outstanding customer service was enough
to tame even the most vicious of creatures, and I was really not in any mood to
be sad and depressed in Vienna, the city voted the most livable in the world
over the last umpteen years.
So - I’ll try to make this short and to the point to help
those considering a river cruise, especially for those experienced in ocean
cruising. Bottom line, the answer is
yes, ESPECIALLY if you can start and end your cruise in Vienna. Our other ports were very nice and included
Budapest, Bratislava, Esztergom, Krems, Linz, and Melk.
THE SHIP: Really not
much to say, boxy on the outside, lobby plain vanilla, Bistro about what you
would expect from a recently constructed inexpensive diner, BUT the restaurant
was very nice and especially with the curtains drawn, it created an intimate
ambiance that worked well for this small ship.
The other location of interest is the Palm Court, also decorated and
comfortable with a nice bar and a dance floor that we trampled on every night
for about an hour or more. Pictures are
helpful at this point……see below. Because of the inclement weather, we did not
have much time to enjoy the top deck, which had lounge chairs, blankets and a
bar service.
The least expensive cabins seemed small and unless you paid
for an upgrade, they seemed average in size…but it was nice to have a double
sink and walk in closet. TV gets funny
news stations like Al Jazeera, Russian Collusion Obsessed CNN, but not FOX
news. The best thing about the room is
that the almost room wide, almost floor length outside window could open electronically
exposing an opening half the size of the window. It was very nice being able to
access this huge opening and for it to work so easily.
The service during the one-week cruise could only be described
as outstanding. We each had a butler and
a cabin attendant, others worked in various places on the ship, but all of them
were just amazing. They all knew our names
by day 1, they all stood back when we were passing them in the hallway, they
all anticipate and served us at every opportunity, they all were cordial and
friendly, EVEN the typically demure and indifferent eastern European workers. THEY WERE ALL OUTSTANDING!
The SHORE EXCURSIONS:
Excursions in every port were included with the cruise. In addition
to the standard city tour and city highlights, an evening violin concert, outside
city tours choices of Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov, there were optional bike tours
for the more adventuresome. All of the shore excursions were broken up into small
groups, never over 15 people, and the “quietvox” which is a type of head phone
set, was very light, had a comfortable ear piece, enabled us to hear our tour
guide very clearly, and had a range of about 100 feet which allowed flexibility
to wander off and explore, instead of being glued to, and straining to hear
every word that the guide uttered. The buses were clean and comfortable with a
lot of leg room and even dropdown tables. The tours were nicely balanced to
give more than just quantity but a quality and equilibrium to the weeks’ holiday.
The ENTERTAINMENT:
The entertainment team for the Crystal Ravel consisted of two
individuals - Roz and her husband James.
Roz, in addition to being a wonderful vocalist and pianist, has the
ability to engross people in trivia, sing-a-longs, and other interactive audience
participation games and activities. She is
truly an accomplished entertainer! We found
ourselves looking forward to the night’s activity, seeing how she turns the
evening into fun and laughter as well as playing dance music that allowed us to
warm the dance floor most every night of our seven-day river cruise. Roz seemed
more than just the entertainment; she seemed genuinely involved in the
marketing and welfare of the Crystal Ravel.
For those Crystal Administrative folks reading this blog, she would be
my choice to hire as Cruise Director for any one of the Crystal Cruise
ships. She is a natural leader and
entertainer, articulate, attractive, kind, and focused. She made a great river cruise even greater.
Bottom Line: River Cruise by Crystal Cruises Company was a
great experience; one I recommend very much while I’m now looking forward to my
next ocean cruise from Amsterdam to Lisbon on the Crystal Serenity in July.
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