Travel Blog: First Impressions of Crystal Bach

Our flight to Amsterdam turned out to be rather uneventful, but it might have been different had we had to land in Glasgow to offload an ill passenger. Fortunately there were a couple of doctors and a nurse on board, and with their help to keep this passenger stable we were able to fly all the way through.

It was still dark when we arrived at 7:10 in the morning, as at this time of year the sun doesn't come up until 8:30 and goes back down at 4:30, so we didn't see just how dreary a day it was until we left the airport. Unlike in Athens in September when we boarded Esprit, this time the Crystal transfer team was right there, and after gathering the group of same-time arrivals together, they led us to one of our Crystal dedicated buses for the trip to the port.

Crystal has not missed any details in setting up the river cruise division. All of the cruise lines have their own contracted local tour buses for excursions, and these buses usually follow the ship along the river since there is really no long distance between ports. It is just easier than arranging new buses everywhere. Crystal's own purpose-built buses have been configured with lots of leg room, with a capacity of about 40 passengers instead of 48 or 50 in normal highway tour buses. Big windows and deeper overhead shelves will make for a very comfortable ride when we start touring around.

We were on the ship so early that we had a long wait for our stateroom, as the previous guests took their time in leaving. But we were quite comfortable in the Palm Court while we waited. Once we were in, we found the stateroom quite comfortable, although, as usual, a bit smaller than it looked in the brochure and website photos. That doesn't take anything away from it, though. It is nice and bright due to the outside wall being entirely window, and a 'convertible' window at that - the top half of the window will lower to create a virtual balcony in nice weather; we're not expecting to have a chance to try that out on this trip. A small walk-in closet provides enough storage for all our clothes and our winter coats, and the bathroom is a good size for a river ship, similar in design to the one we had in our suite on Crystal Esprit. Here's a photo of the stateroom, there will be more later.

Walking around the public areas, we agreed that the photos don't do the ship justice - it is really beautifully designed, open and spacious. The Palm Court is the main lounge, large enough to accommodate all 105 passengers for Muster Drill, and not feel really crowded. Waterside, the dining room, is also really nicely laid out, especially the buffet, which is separated from the table area and is used as a service area for the wait staff at dinner. We took a quick look up at Vista Deck, the outside deck, this morning. It will be really nice should we get a clear day for any of our sailing time on the Rhine, and would be a great spot on a warm-weather cruise. The one real surprise on this ship is the indoor pool, which is located at the aft end of Deck 3. Not a huge pool, but nice for a dip and a little exercise.

The Bistro, casual breakfast and snacks all day. There are
tables along the windows on both sides and a
bar for all sorts of coffee and espresso specialties, teas
and chocolate drinks

One side of the Waterside Dining Room; photo
of the buffet coming soon!

The Crystal Plaza foyer. The staircase winds
around the elevator.

The Palm Court. Floor to ceiling windows on each side,
and skylights over two-thirds of the ceiling.

The Bar and part of the covered area on Vista Deck. More pictures
here when the weather clears.

The swimming pool - any other ship we've seen
has had a small outdoor pool. We'll have to try this out!

Our lunch and dinner yesterday were delicious. The chef makes sure to prepare some local specialty dishes for each menu, so at lunch there were Bitterballen, a Dutch specialty of spiced potato puree with bacon, breaded and lightly deep fried, and Herring and Bami Goreng (an Indonesian dish, a sort of stir fry of meats and shrimp with noodles and peanut sauce) for dinner. We will try not to eat too much, but it may be a difficult proposition!

Our tour to the Dutch countryside goes this afternoon, so we slept in this morning and had our breakfast at the Bistro. As we write this blog post, we're sitting in Palm Court among the lovely and somewhat whimsical Christmas decorations, watching the tiny patches of blue sky float by, hoping that they will grow enough to give us a little sunshine and dry weather for our tour.