The three days on our own in Vienna ended and we checked out
of the motel and made our way to the riverboat. We hired an Uber who got us to
the river but the address that Crystal Cruises had given us was a restaurant.
What we didn’t realize was that the boat was on the river on the other side of
the restaurant.
Our driver, whose English was a bit confusing, had no idea
where to go. We spotted some Crystal tour buses parked a bit down the road and
we had him drop us off there. Once over the other side of the levee, we could
see the riverboat. It was a bit of a trek with us dragging luggage (thank
goodness for wheeled bags). When we arrived, we were greeted by staff who asked
if we’d walked. When we said Uber, they chuckled. “None of them know how to get
here. Just the taxis.”
But all was well. We were at our destination and were ready
to settle in for ten days. We were shown to our room which was ready however
Bob’s brother and sister-in-law had to wait a bit for theirs. The room was on
the small side but expected and we had a window with a view of the dock wall just
above the water level. It was a nice room and we went about unpacking our
things and settling in. We had no sooner finished when we received a call from
the front desk that the hotel manager would like to speak to us.
Like two chastised kids wondering what we’d done to be
called to the principal’s office, we walked up to the reception desk. We were
greeted by a charming lady who introduced herself and said that we had been
given an upgrade to a penthouse suite. (The boat only had three decks plus the
top sundeck so I wondered what that could mean.) She took us around the corner
and opened a door to a much larger room with a double sink bathroom, shower and
tub, a walk-in closet and a French balcony (sliding glass doors that open to
the outside but with no place to sit). It was beautiful.
“So,” she asked, “If it is acceptable you may have it.”
Acceptable?! I had a hard time keeping my feet from jumping
up and down. “Oh, we would never turn down a lovely gift like this,” I said
hoping that I sounded sophisticated and polite and I wasn’t salivating as I
said it. “We just finished unpacking though.”
“No problem,” she said. “The butler will move your things.”
Oh, no he won’t, I thought. I hate the thought of someone
else touching my more personal items. We agreed that we would pack the things
from the drawers and bathroom back into the suitcases and then they would move
the things on hangers for us. After lunch we made the move. We wondered if our
travel companions had been moved to the old room but it turned out there was a
single lady who didn’t like the room she had who was moved into the one we
vacated.
This trip was getting better already. Wow!
Oh, and the rest of the riverboat was beautiful with a nice
restaurant, café and lounge where we enjoyed music before and after dinner as
well as several special performances from local entertainers. The boat was also
decorated extensively for Christmas and the holidays. Again, all was beautiful
and certainly beyond our expectations even for Crystal. By the way, I think our
World Cruise gave us the upgrade. It turned out we were the third longest
experienced cruisers with Crystal aboard the Mozart.
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