A different type of cruise - What to expect on a European River Cruise - The Danube - MS Robert Burn

Riveria Travel MS Robert Burn, Danube Cruise

Whilst waiting impatiently for our narrowboat to be built, we did a cruise of a different sort - on the wide and long Danube, from Budapest to Vienna and return.  No idea what to expect, what to wear (we don't do posh) - it was all a big adventure, so here is what it was like for us . . . . .

In this blog we will cover:

The cabins, the food/dining, the drinks package - is it worth it? dress code, trips, what to do on board, the entertainment, the crew, the ambience, fellow passenger profile, what we spent and more . . . . .  

We booked with Riviera Travel (Burton-upon-Trent), a company small enough to speak immediately to a person when you ring. They were voted Which Best Provider in February 2018 - after we had booked - so we made the right choice.  MS Robert Burn is a brand new boat in 2018 so at the time of booking there were no reviews on Trip Advisor.  There is now! - here is ours

CABINS

Our Standard Suite was quite small so a bit of shuffling round each other. Good size luxury corner shower room with lots of storage - 5 star hotel standard. French doors are floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall and slide back two thirds the width - literally bringing the outside in. 

MS Robert Burn Standard Suite - view from the cabin

The view from the bridge on the TV - MS Robert Burn

MS Robert Burn - Standard Suite

Balcony Suites are much larger with both slide doors and an enclosed balcony.  Would we have preferred a Balcony Suite - yes - BUT if the weather is good you don't spend much time in your cabin at all - so spend the extra £400 each on other holiday goodies. Lower Deck cabins have smaller, higher windows which don't open and you have to stand up to look out.  Good for solo travellers as some have no extra charge

A word about cabins on other ships - there are loads of different river cruise companies on the Danube - Viking, Scenic, APT  and many others.  Not all ships have the panoramic opening doors.  So before choosing your river cruise company, take a close look at the windows/doors in the cabins and the cabin size too -  ours was just perfect  

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Choice of two venues - the main restaurant or The Bistro.  There are veggie and gluten free options at all meals.  Didn't see anything specifically vegan (apart from fruit, veg, salad etc) but I'm sure this could be catered for.

The main restaurant seats up to 170 people and was very bustling and noisy at every meal. There is a free-seating policy, and only a handful of tables for two - and these were very close together.  I often felt slightly overwhelmed walking into the restaurant and trying to find a seat. 

Most folks got there early doors, so by the time we arrived, finding a seat was hard and always involved scooting up and down the tables asking other diners if you could join them. I can see why they do this - its highly sociable and you get to meet and talk to lots of different people. You may get a little tired of asking and answering the same questions at every meal -  "where are you from, is this your first cruise? what do you do?" etc. The flip of that is by the end of the week you have loads of new friends and the ship starts to feel like one big happy family

Pudding!

Meals: Serve yourself buffet breakfast in the main restaurant with huge choice of cereals, yogurt, fresh fruit, cheese, smoked salmon, cooked meats, pastries, cook-your-own toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, baked beans, hash browns or you could order a full English or Vegetarian breakfast or omelettes. There was an early risers light breakfast in the lobby at 6:30 but we were never awake! You could also have room service breakfast (no extra charge) but this didn't work out for us as first servings were between 8 and 8 15 am and often you needed to be ready for a trip around that time

Bistro dinner - lamb chops

Buffet lunch - Range of dishes reflecting the local area including vegetarian hotpot, goulash, various cooked fish, range of potato and rice, pasta dishes, salads, soup, cheeses and biscuits, soup and small choice of deserts. Alternatively lunch could be taken in The Bistro at the rear of the ship - a small intimate restaurant which was more casual dining with light choices

Dinner - four course, four star dining served at your table.  Superb.  Typically four or five choices of main course including veggie option and there was always the choice of chicken or fish if you didn't like that evenings choices.  Small choice of desserts - but always delish

Fine dining in the restaurant - Gala Dinner

SO WHAT'S IT LIKE ON BOARD?

In a word - marvellous. They aim to create the feel of a country house hotel.  I'm not sure about that but it is luxurious, shiny, brand new, clean, friendly and welcoming.  In the Central lobby where you embark, there you can either head forward to the lounge (upper) or restaurant (lower). There's a small library in the central lobby with a range of books, guides and board games to borrow or swap

MS Robert Burn Central Lobby

The view from the cabin - the scenery comes to you - MS Robert Burn

Platinum Deck Corridor - MS Robert Burns

DRINKS PACKAGE - IS IT WORTH IT? 

Depends how big a drinker you are.  Free tea, coffee, hot chocolate and mineral water are available 24 hour.  Bottles of wine were typically 20 - 30 Euros, soft drinks 2.70 Euros, small beers and wine by the glass similar price. The drinks package does NOT give you free bar drinks, cocktails or drinks on the sundeck so even on the package you will pay extra for these. For us it was worth it, but if you are happy with a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, maybe not. You book this before arriving - I don't think it's available once on board.  We paid £99 each for our eight day September 2018 river cruise

DRESS CODE  - Two words: smart casual
  
The dress code was something Mr S was very concerned about it as he hates "dressing up like James Bond".  He didn't want to take a sports jacket or tie, likewise I didn't want to specially buy cocktail or long dresses - I don't possess any!  The only code is no gents in shorts at dinner.  95% of people dressed smart casual for five nights - typically ladies in nice day or summer dresses, skirts, tops, tunics, trousers.  Most men wore casual trousers and short sleeve shirt.  A few ties, a few jackets, the occasional cocktail or long dresses for the ladies, but mainly casual. On two evenings - the Welcome Dinner and Captain's Gala Dinner there was the opportunity to dress up if you wanted and a few people did.  We didn't and didn't feel awkward

Gala dinner last night - some smart casual, some dressier

WHAT TO DO ON BOARD - Outside of mealtimes, and depending where the ship is, you had options:

1  Enjoy the ever-changing view from your cabin
2  Socialise in the lounge over a coffee or drinks
3  Visit the on-board hairdresser, have a manicure or massage
4  Work out in the mini fitness room
5  Play mini-golf on the sundeck
6  Cool off in the small plunge pool
7  Relax on the sundeck on a sun lounger or deck chair, in the sun or shade
8  Enjoy pre-lunch or pre-dinner drinks in the lounge or the Bistro
9  Borrow a bike and peddle off on your own

The ever-changing view from the cabin - MS Robert Burn

Sundeck - MS Robert Burn

Relaxing on the sundeck - MS Robert Burn

WHAT ABOUT THE DAILY EXCURSIONS?  

Daily Activity Sheet

Each evening a programme for the next day's activities was left on your bed during turn-down service. This meant you could plan over dinner what you wanted to do the next day. There were always options. You could walk if you wanted, catch a Noddy Train if you didn't want to walk (at some destinations), vigorous walks with the Tour Manager or gentle stroll with Tour Director, or just stay on board.

Durstein Castle - Lower Austria Wachau region

Lipizzaner Horse on way to Riding School - Vienna

Each trip was planned in great detail, to take in the "must-see" sights which involved accompanied coach and walking tours with local knowledgeable tour guides in most places.  Nothing was left to chance. You could not get lost or get too tired or not hear the commentary (individual Vox Boxes were provided for everyone in their cabin).  Your itinerary told you everything you needed to know and even had the ship's location and telephone number just in case.

"Vigorous"  walking tour option

Sight seeing Vienna

Cumil The Sewer Worker - Bratislava

ON BOARD ENTERTAINMENT

There was something entertaining in the lounge every night. There was the Captain's Welcome Drinks Reception and meet the team, a brilliant music quiz  which was a great ice breaker and had everyone roaring with laughter. There was a talk about up-coming excursions and Life Behind the Iron Curtain from the Tour manager, another night was a wonderful Crew Show and raffle, drawn to great hilarity (we didn't win). When moored in Vienna we were treated a classical four string quartet and the last night was the most wonderful Gala Dinner, where people dressed up a bit more followed by a Hungarian Folk Band and Dance 

Four String Quartet - Vienna - MS Robert Burn

Hungarian Folk Band - MS Robert Burn

FELLOW PASSENGERS

River cruises are targeted mainly at the older, reasonably well-off couple. The cabins can be made up as doubles or twins and there is definitely no room for extra beds (unless you book a Balcony suite, where there may be, but I can't be sure)

Pre-dinner drinks in the Lounge - MS Robert Burns

On our cruise there were no children or teenagers - there isn't much to keep them entertained. The average age of passengers was 72 years - the youngest were in their late forties and the oldest in their nineties. We didn't see any passengers in wheelchairs although they can certainly be catered for. The "gangplank" onto and off the ship can be extremely steep at times and you need to be mobile for getting on and off coaches and generally moving around the ship, so this isn't ideal for less-able people. However, once on the ship, if you are happy to move between your cabin and the lounge and restaurant, there is a lift and many happy hours could be spent watching the scenery from your cabin. 

THE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND CREW

Cruise Director and Tour Manager - MS Robert Burns

What made this trip truly outstanding were the staff and the crew.  Starting with The Riviera Cruise Director - Leslie and Tour Manager - Peter - those guys were tireless in their hard work, enthusiasm, attention to detail, humour and boundless energy. Unsung hero was Hotel Manager Jos who got to know everyone and sorted out anything you need. Nothing was too much trouble for these guys. All the staff and crew work really hard 16+ hours day from March to November and were always cheerful and would do anything for you. 

Happy smiling crew - drinks on the sundeck - MS Robert Burns

WOULD WE DO IT AGAIN?

Next week if we could! I can see how people become addicted to this type of holiday. Yes, river cruising seems expensive, however considering that almost everything is included they are actually excellent value for money.  We spent hardly anything outside of a few pre and post dinner drinks, a few souvenirs - oh and lots of paprika - the must-take-home item from Hungary 

Budapest at night from MS Robert Burns

IN SUMMARY  . . . . . 

I can do no more than quote from a review we left on Riviera Travel's Facebook Page:

"I'm struggling to find the words to describe how totally wonderful it was. This is one heck of a slick operation - with every team member working seamlessly and harmoniously together to provide a flawless experience.

Every part of the holiday ran smoothly and on time and at the right pace for everyone. Five star all the way - the ship, the cabins, the food, the transfers, the trips, the crew, the entertainment etc etc. Ambience on board is incredibly uplifting - this is a happy team - all 44 of them who work very long hours every day, every week, always with a smile and a happy greeting for everyone And all seamlessly orchestrated and managed by Hotel manager Jos, Cruise Director Leslie Ringwald and Tour Manager Peter. We made so many new friends during the week and we did not hear one word of complaint from anyone all week. That's amazing! 

But what really made it for us was the work of Leslie and Peter - their enthusiasm, attention to detail, humour and boundless energy meant that everyone totally enjoyed their trip. How they work so many hours a day with so little rest is a mystery - just shows how much they love their work. Thank you Riveria Travel for such a memorable and incredible holiday. Loved Loved LOVED every second"