How About Those Expectations

As we left for the airport I started to think about what this River cruise will be like.  First, what I know:   

As a travel agent I've sat through various webinars put on by Crystal since the announcement of the River cruise expansion so I've gotten a bit more info than what's out there for the public in general.  Crystal is attempting to set itself apart as the only true luxury River cruise line.  One of the comments I've heard is that ocean cruisers tend to feel like they are "compromising" when they go on river cruises because the luxury experience cannot really be matched due to contstraints unique to River cruising. So Crystal's doing a few things differently.    

They have the highest crew/guest ratio in the industry by far; on the Mozart there are 91 crew for 156 guests, so my expectation regarding the quality of service is that it should be no different from what we've always experienced on Symphony and Serenity.  They have also brought quite a few familiar faces from the sister ships.   

Another distinction is the "farm to table" approach.  There will be no pre-made or frozen food brought on (unlike most if not all other River cruise lines) and, except for the emphasis on local food and specialties, the dining experience should be not a lot different from that on the ocean siblings.  Adding to that are the various options for dining onboard including Blue Grill, similar to Tastes which we love on Serenity.  Again, my expectations are quite high in the food department.   

There are a few other ways in which Crystal is trying to do things differently (which I'll comment upon as we experience them) to make sure that when their existing customers get on the River yachts, they will feel a seamless familiarity.    As for the unknowns, my biggest one has to do with whether our cabin will feel claustrophobic; it has two fairly large fixed windows and we won't be spending as much time in the cabin. Still, I would've much preferred a cabin with the French balcony but there were none available (long story but satisfactory ending).  We'll have to wait and see.   

My other concern was whether the ship may feel "old". Based on feedback I've gotten from friends who were on board for for the inauguration, the ship is just gorgeous, it was taken down to the bare metal and given all the ultimate technology possible (except perhaps for sufficient North American electrical outlets). The ship is the largest on the Danube and this has allowed Crystal to recreate the feel of the sister ocean ships in various ways.  The cabins are the most spacious of the River cruise ships which bodes well.   

To sum it up, I have not "adjusted" my expectations; if anything, I expect to be blown away.  

P.S. Arrived in Frankfurt but not without some excitement.  As we were coming in for landing, just about to land, the plane goes into a steep climb for several minutes.  It goes without saying, we were pretty alarmed.  As we reached 4,000 ft the captain announced that control had asked him to abort the landing because there was another plane right before us which was too close.  Phew...