Good, but prefer the newer river ships
Crystal Mozart Cruise Review by corpkid
- Sail Date: Sep 2019
- Destination: Europe River
This was our second river cruise with Crystal. Last year we spent 8 glorious days on the brand new Debussy sailing the Rhine, and it was absolutely great. We decided to try this ship to sail the Danube this year. All of the "soft" items such as service, food, etc was just as good as the Debussy, but the ship itself left a little to be desired.
Let's start with the cabin: It was nice, but quite tight. We went with a "DELUXE SUITE W/ FIXED WINDOW (W1)" cabin. The bathroom was nice, though the Japanese toilet takes a bit to get used to. The bed was very comfortable. The closet setup is a bit weird as you have to do some maneuvering to get your stuff out. The decor was very similar, and modern, but for some reason didn't feel quite as opulent as the other ship. The biggest downside was the paper thin walls. I think my dorm in college was more soundproofed. The poor gentleman in the cabin next to ours apparently got quite sick and every morning at about 5:30am we were woken to the sounds of him... how to say... getting sick in the bathroom and coughing. We could also hear every conversation they were having. This is a major downside as it got to be quite annoying after a few days. Overall, I'd give the cabin a 4 out of 5 (whereas the newer river ships get a 5).
Service: EVERYONE from the butler, to the bartenders & waiters, etc were top-notch. They really do a great job with service. You will want for nothing.
Food: Was not quite as good as the newer ship for some reason. Not bad, but we had some misses. Not sure if this a function of a slightly larger ship, but we noticed it. One exception is the bistro in the Aft ("Blue"). We absolutely loved this place, and unfortunately it was only open for lunch. 4 out of 5 for food overall
Excursions: Very good. Same quality as the newer ship. 5 out of 5
Entertainment: Average. Some good, some not good, and there was no cruise director (!) or at least I wasn't aware there was one. That seemed odd and it was most certainly noticed.
Misc: The wifi was good. The gym was OK. Didn't use the spa.
Overall: I probably would not sail on Mozart again given the other options, but it's not bad, just not as good as the newer ships which are absolutely excellent.