Enchanted, for sure
Tracy Watkins discovers the merits of having everything organised for her on a cruise down the River Danube.
nchanting’’ was the promise of our river cruise in the glossy brochures. I didn’t need any convincing. The Danube has always conjured up images of a beautiful, romantic and mysterious place. A storybook setting, home of the waltz, snowflakes at Christmas, and visions of beautiful women in billowing capes and romantic gowns strolling the promenade with a handsome man.
So a winter cruise down the Danube? In a floating hotel described by one cruise magazine as a baroque Viennese palace? Yes, please.
We flew to Munich and got transfers to Passau, where we boarded our boat, the SS Maria Theresa, for an eight-day cruise down the Danube.
Stops along the way included Linz (with the option of a side trip to Salzburg); gorgeous historic towns like Melk and Durnstein; Vienna, the city of romance; Bratislava (I was sick and missed it), and the grand finale – Budapest, a vibrant, crazy, stunning city whose graceful, ancient beauty staggered us at every street corner.
Fitter passengers took in the sights by bicycle (one excursion took them on a 30-kilometre-plus cycle trip along the Danube), or mini hikes and walking tours. For the less mobile (or less energetic) sightseeing buses were also put on.
The highlights
I expected to be blown away by Vienna. And, of course, I was. It’s a cultural treasure trove – home of the waltz, Mozart and Strauss. On our ‘‘do like the locals’’ tour we meandered through narrow city streets, ate cake in a traditional coffee house and stopped for sausage at one of the many street stands. We looked nothing like the locals of course, with our tour guide and earpieces to hear the commentary. But the advantage of travelling at the end of the year meant we weren’t lost among a sea of other tourists like us. The locals definitely outnumbered us.
Our day in Vienna began with an exclusive ‘‘morning with the Masters’’ at Vienna Art History Museum and ended with an enchanting evening concert at a Viennese palace, listening to Mozart and Strauss while ballroom dancers brought the music to life.
Vienna was charming but Budapest stole my heart. We were advised by the crew to find a spot on the top deck as we drew into the city and it soon became clear why. This ancient city is breathtakingly beautiful. Hungary’s capital and most populous city is a vibrant and pulsating contrast to the plush and somewhat staid Vienna. Its faded and peeling grandeur is home to a young and thriving population, making it one the most densely populated cities in the European Union.
Tour the city by foot and metro and make sure you visit the markets. Our guide took us by metro to one of the larger market halls away from the tourist spots where stalls spilled over with sausages, the speciality dried paprika, honey and cheeses. We could have spent the day there.
River cruises – yay or nay?
Yay. I’ve never been sure about cruises, sea-sickness being my biggest, though not my only, concern. The cruise ships that tie up at Wellington intimidate me – they seem like huge floating cities. But the Maria Theresa was a wee floating jewel. It has just 83 rooms and a maximum occupancy of 155 passengers. It was like travelling in an intimate, luxurious, boutique hotel that came with an ever-changing view.
We had hours of joy sitting on the top deck watching the world go by – charming, ancient villages followed by surprising stretches of dark and mysterious forest. It was a chilly November, but we snuggled up in heated blankets and the crew plied us with hot chocolates and mulled wine. Bliss.
As trips go, this one is crammed into a short space of time.
We’ve been to Europe before, so we knew covering that much ground on our own would be a logistical nightmare. We didn’t have the time ahead of this trip to organise accommodation and transport, or the energy once we got there to navigate B&B language barriers, hellish train schedules and left-hand driving (I still have nightmares about a roundabout in Grenada a few years ago).
A river cruise seemed like the perfect answer. There was very little we had to organise in advance. Our biggest headache was on arrival at a chaotic Munich airport (the fabled German love of order was missing in action). Once we hooked up with our Uniworld rep for the transfer bus, any logistical problems magically melted away.
Oh, and no sea sickness.
Our boat
Cruise Critic described the SS Maria Theresa as ‘‘Regal in its opulent 18thcentury decor, a floating homage to the former Austrian empress. Besides indulgent dining and an elegant atmosphere, this is one of the prettiest ships out there.’’ They were not wrong.
Voted the best new river ship for 2015, the Maria Theresa is 135 metres long and decorated in extravagant Baroque and Rococo styles.
We boarded on a bitterly cold evening and the Maria Theresa was a haven of hushed warmth and colour, as opulent as the glossy brochures promised. In downtown Auckland it might seem over the top but on the Danube it worked.
The row of staff dressed in formal dinner suits who welcomed us included a marvel called Sebastian. I’m not sure what was in Sebastian’s job description – it probably didn’t include bringing us chicken soup and dry crackers when we both got sick with the flu, lugging large quantities of fresh water to our room, offering us advice on places to see, seeking out information on our behalf or explaining how much things cost. But he seemed to magically appear whenever we needed him.