The 2016 Hillsdale College cruise of southwest Alaska aboard Crystal Serenity (27 July-3 August) provided an impressive visit to a spectacular state. Accompanying the fine dining and entertainment was a crew which could not have done more. Crystal Cruises seems to own all the highest ratings in the business, and it’s easy to see why. There’s no separate bar bill, and they’ll deliver up to two bottles a day to your stateroom. No one could drink this much! Tips are included, nobody duns you for handouts, and you’re not presented with a list of “estimated gratuities” on your last day aboard.

Crystal ships offer more than average public space. We had only 1000 passengers (much less than capacity), aboard an 820 foot, 69,000-ton ship), so it never felt congested. As they used to say at Brooklands racing circuit: “the right crowd and no crowding.” More passengers are usual, however. On 16 August Serenity set sail to Alaska again with 1700 customers on a 28-day cruise from Vancouver to New York via the Northwest Passage. She is the largest ship ever to navigate that course.

Fun Afloat

Aside from the attentive staff and perfect organization, there was nightly entertainment at four or five different venues. Bar room piano player Perry Grant kept us at the Avenue Saloon 9:30-12:30 every night, as he played, sang and interviewed guests. Perry has a touch: never too bawdy, always fun. He seems to know hundreds of tunes, hardly ever repeats one. For those of “a certain age,” it’s a memorable combination. We understand he has a small army of followers, who sign on wherever he goes. Here’s Perry’s version of “My Way.”

(We couldn’t get enough. This one’s for you, and you know who you are….)

The route began from Vancouver to Juneau, Alaska’s capital. There was a sea voyage the Hubbard Glacier, then to the Alaska towns of Hoonah, Skagway and Ketchikan. We reentered British Columbia via Nanaimo, and ended in Vancouver. Well organized excursions (extra cost) were available, but you could easily pass a day walking around a town, or just relaxing on the ship.

We aren’t cruise folk. Viking’s Danube River cruise, with 180 aboard, is more our style. We confess to hankering for a canal barge for twelve, a big ketch for six, or the Claymore II, supply ship for Pitcairn Island, which takes three days to float six passengers to the storied hideaway of Fletcher Christian and a handful of rebels after the Mutiny on the Bounty. That we enjoyed a “big” cruise speaks volumes of Crystal quality and Hillsdale’s organizing.

Hillsdale Seminars

The College’s educational program is a great way to while away days at sea. Our speakers were an eclectic mix. Hillsdale President Larry Arnn always has worthwhile things to say to thoughtful people. Worrisome things these days, with so many uncertainties facing America and the world. Victor Davis Hanson spoke about Athens and Sparta, eloquently and well, not without parallels to modern problems. John Steele Gordon, the historian and columnist, spoke about his illuminating book on the Washington Monument and other obelisks.

Screenwriter Michael Walsh said movies don’t really start off to be liberal or conservative. If you want to write one of those, you’re on the wrong track. What matters—despite Hollywood’s reputation as a hotbed of wealthy lefties who can bear any tax burden levied on the rest of us—is the story line: “The Godfather could have been set a million years BC and would still have been a success because of the story line.”

Walsh incidentally wrote a great prequel/sequel to Casablanca called As Time Goes By, which all Casablanca fans should read. The prequel explains why Rick Blaine(who grew up in New York as Itzhak Baline) could not return to his home town. The sequel describes how Elsa, Victor, Louie, Sam and Rick  helped to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, “the Butcher of Prague.”  So now you know how that happened.

David Goldman was so riveting on the demographics of Islam and the Middle East that I bought his book. Prompted by a Turkish waiter, I also asked him about Turkey, which is worthy of a separate post.

For information on future Hillsdale cruises, click here.

continued from part 5… Once called “Batavia” or “Batavis,” Passau is a charmer of a medieval Bavarian town at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz, the last out of the Black Forest, spewing dark peaty water into the larger, faster-moving rivers.

With a population the same as Manchester, New Hampshire, it draws 1.6 million visitors per year, compared to 1 million down at Durnstein, population 400 and a tenth the size. Result: you can move around without masses of crowds and enjoy the transition architecture, Gothic to Baroque.

St. Stefan’s Cathedral has one of the largest organs in the world and the recital there is tremendous. Viking crew members tell us they like Passau best of all the stops and you can see why. It’s laid back, picturesque and not inundated with tourists. It doesn’t seem to be trying so hard.

Passau architecture

Temperatures were still steaming as our Viking guide led us around the sights. Passau offers wonderful architecture. We don’t think the churches have one square inch of display place left. We bought local cheeses, strawberries and crusty bread in the open air market. We brought them back to the ship to eat in air-conditioned comfort. The ship provided fine Austrian reds and German whites, and local beer on tap. I am afraid we pigged out: a perfect combination of local cheese and produce and the ship’s ample beverage lists.

After all that heat, we were looking forward to rainy 60s the next few days in Prague, an “optional extra” to the Danube Waltz Tour, which ends here. The coach ride is four hours, tomorrow morning, through the historic Sudetenland, the area Hitler claimed and won at Munich, which then had an ethnic German minority. Since the war it’s been all Czech. They had their revanche after all.

Next: Prague, Czech Republic

continued from part 4…  Visiting Linz and Salzburg….

The quality of Viking’s Danube Waltz cuisine is uniformly high. There is always a choice of three or four first and main courses, nicely balanced between meat, fish and vegetarian, with excellent soups (and again, there’s no reason why you can’t order both a starter and soup). At dinner, several staple items always accompany the choices: Caesar salad, sautéed salmon fillet and rib eye steak. Meats tend to be overcooked, so specify medium-rare if you mean medium—and some are tough, for which there are two solutions: send it back and ask for another (never a problem), or bring your own steak knives (unless they’ve accepted our suggestion that these be provided.)

We woke in Linz and set off on a day’s excursion to Salzburg, 90 minutes away by motor coach. For passengers already familiar with Salzburg, Viking offers a morning tour of Linz. I leave it to your browser to tell you all about these fine cities and will simply state how Viking handles Salzburg.

Salzburg magnificence

Morning group walking tours take you to the Old Town, Mozart’s birthplace and Hohensalzburg Fortress above the city center. You’re then turned loose for 2 1/2 hours of free time including lunch on your own. Obviously this can be no more than an orientation visit; you need to come back.

In a few hours there’s enough time for a walking tour, shops and lunch. At mid-day many cafes seem to specialize in dessert dishes. We found one with a very good lunch (touristy prices) but it’s heavy fare. It was 90 in the shade so a cool church was a welcome respite afterward. The Old Town is mainly a shopping area for pricey luxury goods and tschotske. The funicular up to the Fortress is said to offer a great view and it was much cooler up there, but at this schedule there’d be little time for much else.

Again in June the crowds are enormous; early autumn might be a better time for this visit. I was not taking photos today but I did snap one of the Modensee, en route from Linz, overlooked by the southern alps, filled with sailboats, a spectacular panorama.

Next: Passau, Germany

Cruising Austria …continued from part 3… Viking encourages you to buy local wine and beer and stash it in your stateroom cooler. In practice this is superfluous because there is so much of it aboard, especially with the premium drinks package. You only have to lift a finger or a wine list, and it’s there 24/7.

However, if you’re serious about wine or cocktails, the premium “Silver Spirits” package is worth $300 per cabin. (It also includes espresso and other specialty coffees, juices and mineral water.)

Acceptable house wine and beer are poured freely, but not the premium stuff, and mixed drinks cost extra. If you order an Old Fashioned or a Grey Goose, $8 or $10 will go on your tab every time—as will any of the pricier bottles on the wine list. We are sure the four of us made out against the $600 we paid, considering a dozen bottles of €35-40 premium wines—plus a bottle our kindly waiter slipped us “to go” on the last day, an uncounted quantity of martinis and vodka-rocks, and the many Bailey’s with which we closed the bar several nights. (Aldefonso’s bottle made it all the way home, but is getting a deserved rest in my wine cellar after all that shaking.)

Austria red wine

A discovery worth experiencing is Austrian red wine. It is not widely exported, but now accounts for a third or more of production, most of it enjoyed locally. A revelation was Markowitz “Rubin Carnuntum” 2011: 100% zweigelt grapes, a velvety red with a flowery nose, normally €38 the bottle, freely poured on our premium package. The predominant white is gruner veltlinger, like a spritzy sauvignon blanc. You can find veltlinger in North America, but not in the varieties and quality of the vintages sold locally. Other grapes are St. Laurent, blaufränkisch, riesling, muller thurgau and chardonnay. You can find dealers stocking these delectables on the wine-searcher website.

Spectacular vistas

North from Vienna a is the most scenic section of Austria and the Danube. This is one day on the cruise where the ship really is your viewing platform. You cruise along the attractive countryside past mini-castles and stately homes, punctuated by stops at two picturesque towns, and even at 90 degrees there’s a nice breeze on the water.

Durnstein

Tiny Durnstein is pretty and medieval,  Melk larger, with a monastery. No need for coaches today. For the optional morning tour of Durnstein (€29=$33) the ship ties up at the town pier. Just walk into the village in ten minutes. Included in the package is an afternoon tour of Melk’s 900-year-old Abbey. Its church offers baroque carvings and frescoes. Google these towns for a review of the details. Durnstein was celebrating a festival, with grasses spread all over the cobbled or flagstone streets; still, it’s uphill and downhill, so be prepared.

In Durnstein, Richard I, the Lionheart, returning from the Crusades, ticked off the locals and was held for ransom in the castle. He was bailed out, so the story goes, with the help of Robin Hood. There are lots of tourists, including cyclists. They bike flat river paths from Ravensburg to Budapest, but they’re not Tour de France types.

I noticed right away the lack of pedal clips and helmets. There are mostly well-laden hybrid and mountain bikes, as opposed to lightweight road bikes. These are everyday people enjoying themselves. Many shuttle about on riverboats. They’re very polite and only once did one disobey the signs asking riders to dismount in the narrow streets.

As you’ll see by Googling Durnstein and Melk, they are attractive, oldy worldy places. The crowds underline their appeal. Bennett Cerf said he always headed for the tourist traps on a holiday. “They are tourist traps for a reason.”

Next: Linz and Salzburg

continued from part 2….

June 3: 

Viking’s cuisine is generally first-rate, highly varied, and the breakfasts lack nothing we could think of except the odd blintz. For example, there were three different styles of yogurt, eggs any way you want them including custom-made omelets, smoked salmon, fish, cheese, cold cuts, champagne by the glass, a dozen or more varieties of bread and rolls, pastry galore, all the usual things you find under hot plates, and everything of uniform high quality. For items you order from the table, like Eggs Benedict or pancakes, servings are small, but this is a plus for two reasons: it gives you more room to try different things, and if you want more of anything, a waiter will happily bring you a second serving.

Google Vienna and you’ll find more than could possibly be documented here, so this report is confined to how Viking’s Danube Waltz handles a classic city in one day, which takes some doing. If you want really to immerse yourself in Vienna, this isn’t the way. But if you’ve never been there before, you will come away knowing much about what to see next time.

Walking tour

Docking in the morning, you’re off on a half day combined coach and walking tour. This is included in the basic package. You visit the Ringstrasse, with its array of grand residences., It circles the medieval Inner Stadt or Inner City. On the card are Hofburg Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the State Opera House. There’s time for a ride in a horse-drawn fiaker, but at 95 degrees on leather seats it didn’t appeal to many today.

Lunch was back on the ship, and was not rushed. At 2pm, we opted for an add-on ($55 each) guided tour of Maria Theresa’s baroque Schönbrunn Palace, an opulent structure with lavish rooms and superb formal gardens. The guides spoke perfect English and were uniformly excellent, which is to Viking’s credit: in June Vienna is mobbed, with scores of tour groups in multiple languages. A minor quibble is that the walking tours could be limited to 15 or 20 instead of 30 or 35; although the audio earpieces are excellent, you do tend to get a herd complex.

Quick thinking crew

One of the more expensive but optional extras was an evening concert. It was in “one of the city’s historic venues,” at €64 ($71). It also demonstrated how fast Viking’s organizers are on their feet. Half way to the destination, they learned that for unknown reasons there would not be room for us. The coaches deftly changed direction with hardly anybody noticing. We ended up at a brilliant concert with a 30-piece orchestra, singers and dancers. We could sit anywhere, including overhead boxes. It was a grand night of Mozart and Strauss, perfectly performed. We only learned of this change of plans accidentally, giving Viking high marks for the quick correction.

The ship departed late from Vienna. It was still cruising in the morning, for the most impressive shipboard viewing on the itinerary.

Next: Durnstein and Melke, Austria

continued from Part 1….  

June 2: Bratislava, Slovakia 

If the Viking Legend is any example, you don’t need to worry about table service. The wait staff, mostly Filipino, could not have been more attentive, but at the same time never struck us as fawning or gratuitous. Our favorite waiter’s name tag read “Neri.” It turned out that he’d opted for that because his real name wouldn’t fit: Aldefonso Neria. He and his colleagues were gems, always looking out for us, and soon began to save a nice place for four by throwing napkins over chair backs at a well-situated table. They told us they enjoy working for Viking, citing the relatively easy Danube Waltz schedule compared to a 24/7 cruise ship. With the passengers mostly away during the day, they have time to catch up on inventories and take a break.

Velvet revolution: “Nobody asked us”

Bratislava is the only national capital bordering two other countries, Austria and Hungary. Built in the 10th century as a fortress, the Castle was converted to a royal residence by Empress Maria Theresa in the mid-18th century. On a tall hill, it towers over the city and surrounding countryside. You wind your way to it through up-market residences and embassies.

In the distance the Stars and Stripes flew from the U.S. Embassy’s garden, which our personable guide described as palatial. (The Embassy itself is a miniature of the White House.)

She was frank about the peaceful separation of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in January 1993, which not all Slovaks are pleased about: “Nobody asked us. It was all about money and power.” (The two countries remain on good terms.) “We can understand them, they can understand us”—it also seems in these parts that most everybody speaks English. She added that they’ve been restoring the Castle for at least 150 years, and if we came back in the next century they might have it finished.

Up from Comm;unism

Like Hungary, Slovakia has made enormous strides since the fall of the Iron Curtain. The more distant suburbs of Bratislava reminded me of Latvia, where I bicycled the country four years after independence. A lot of ugly grey Soviet concrete is still standing, but Bratislava proper is prosperous and energetic. There was no sign of the ubiquitous Russian Ladas that prowled Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania when I visited in 1992 and 1995. Lots of up-market Skodas, BMWs and Mercs make the point that this is a high-income country with one of the fastest growth rates in Europe. Some of the houses on Castle Hill were spectacular, made yet more impressive by the marvelous view. The city itself is well brushed and clean, the locals friendly. There was little to suggest this was once part of the Warsaw Pact.

It was here that we became aware of the torrid heat that was to accompany us for most of the journey. Bratislava was 88F/31C and steaming. With a lot of walking to do, the crew handed everyone water bottles on the way to the tour coaches. As pleasant the viewing of the city, it was wonderful to get back to the ship for a leisurely air conditioned lunch and a glass of local wine or beer. A good tip if you plan a Viking cruise is to buy an insulated water bottle carrier with a shoulder strap. Take two bottles, and leave a spare on your coach seat.

Part 3: Vienna, Austria

If your idea of a cruise is floating around the sea with thousands of people and 24/7 entertainment, food and drink, a Viking River Cruise is not for you. Which is exactly why we took one, with two congenial friends and 180 fellow passengers, from May 31 to June 7 aboard Viking Legend, starting in Budapest, with three days’ optional side trip to Prague, staying at the Hilton. We came away highly satisfied and impressed with the crew and organizers, even though organized leisure is not our thing. We like to get out into a country and nibble the grass, as Churchill said, going where whim and the road take us.

Viking’s “Danube Waltz” from Budapest to Passau (or the other way depending on dates; options extend the voyage all the way to Amsterdam) is a delightful, comprehensive meander along the famous river.

Viking life

Since the ship is your hotel, there’s no repacking. Since she’s largely empty mornings and afternoons, there’s a side benefit you maybe didn’t think about: the crew gets time to rest or reorganize, ready to take on us passengers for lunch (virtually every day), dinner, or closing the bar at 2am. We praised the affable guides, organizers and especially the wait staff; they cannot do more for you, and enjoy doing it. More about this later.

Viking’s ads are a bit misleading, at least for this particular trip. You’re rarely an on-board observer of scenic towns; the ship moves mainly at night. Wake up in the wee hours and you’ll likely see a wooded shoreline across the rushing water (there’s a strong current and up-river the ship makes 5-6 knots) or the side of a lock (most of the 28 locks are conveniently traversed at night). The Danube is not always scenic; it’s a commercial river with its share of traffic. It’s also not blue—until  you get down to Romania, where there are no locks. Don’t expect to see many grand vistas aboard ship, she’s not primarily a viewing device.

Two exceptions to the shortage of shipboard observing were a day cruise with stops at the Austrian towns of Durnstein and Melk, of which more later (see ship photo) and an evening cruise off Budapest on our first night, which was magical.

Budapest

Hungary’s capital has experienced a rebirth. Its fine Hapsburg architecture, hardly anywhere more beautiful, is sandblasted clean and illuminated. The old Palace and the Parliament building are stunning. This made for a satisfying first night aboard. There was a repeat on June 1st. We enjoyed cigars on deck (well aft of everybody else!) while the brilliant city receded astern.

The ship usually docks in early morning and you take coach and walking tours. The morning ones are usually included, the afternoons optional. There’s a lot of walking, and stops tend not to be bucolic. It’s mainly city after intriguing city. Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Linz, and the delightful German town of Passau. If you’ve not been there, it’s a great way to see places you ought to visit. It bears witness how far Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have come in a quarter century since the fall of Communism. By and large, you’d think you were in any western European country.

June 1st in Budapest began with a combination coach and walking tour of the city, with firstrate guides, whose commentary is piped to individual earpieces, so there’s no straining to hear. The city sights can easily be Googled so I’ll skip that in favor of what’s unique to Viking. Among these are the optional afternoon tours, including a trip to the countryside to see Hungarian horsemen, and one adept horsewoman, at Lazar Equestrian Park—something very different from the city sights. You’re greeted with food and drink (“how bad can that be?” says one visitor) and finish up with a horsedrawn carriage ride. (There are several optional tours; I limit comments to the ones we experienced.)

Next: Bratislava, Slovakia