Sponsored Listings:
Passengers aboard Crystal Cruises’ first river ship, the Crystal Mozart, may select from an extensive list of complimentary and add-on group excursions in every port.
Included in the cruise are activities like a schnapps distillery tour and glassblowing studio visit in Passau, Germany; a horse farm trip and carriage ride in Budapest, Hungary; and a tour of the Mauthausen concentration camp in Linz, Austria.
For an additional cost, guests can enjoy a beer lecture and tasting, ride on a whitewater slalom course, learn the Viennese waltz or book a private van and guide. Some excursions, like visits to Salzburg’s Christmas markets, are seasonal.
As part of a preview of the refurbished ship, we were able to attend a shore excursion in Vienna dubbed “Chamber of Arts & Wonders & Hidden Secrets,” which included transport in one Crystal’s posh coaches and guided visits to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Imperial Treasury.
A phoenix sculpted from ivory at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Photo Credit: Sarah Feldberg
Housed in an impressive neo-baroque building along Vienna’s ring road, the art museum opened exclusively for Crystal’s group 30 minutes early. That meant we could enjoy the cabinets of curiosities and treasures from the Habsburg dynasty in relative quiet, without the clamor of schoolchildren or throngs of tourists. In dim, climate-controlled rooms, sculptures, ornate tableware and other relics glowed under spotlights.
Rather than attempt to survey the entire museum in an hour, our in-house guide focused on in-depth discussion of a few notable pieces, including “Saliera,” a gold sculpture made by Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini for King Francis I of France in the 1540s. The piece is most famous for having been stolen in 2003 and recovered three years later buried in an Austrian forest, but our guide quickly added that the work itself — a hand-hammered salt-and-pepper holder that depicts Neptune, Tellus, the four winds and various creatures real and invented — is far more interesting than any robbery.
The Imperial Treasury inside Hofburg Palace feature royal vestments. Photo Credit: Sarah Feldberg
The second half of the tour took us to the Imperial Treasury, housed inside the Hofburg Palace, which holds sacred and secular treasures. On display were elegant vestments, glittering relics and a “unicorn horn” (actually from a narwhal). While the large crowds made absorbing the stories a bit challenging, pieces like the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, shining in gold and adorned with large gemstones, still drew “ahhhs.”
Some stops on the Mozart’s route offer as many six complimentary excursions, along with optional upgrades that range from 59 euros for the beer tasting to 1,599 euros for a flightseeing tour of the Austrian Alps followed by a gourmet lunch in the mountains.
The Mozart sets sail on the Danube July 13 on its maiden voyage.
Source: travelweekly.com
