ONBOARD RIVERSIDE MOZART -- Maybe it was the intimacy of the piano bar in the Cove mixed with the amusing karaoke singing of '90s, Disney and classic Broadway showtunes (or more so, who was onboard singing them) that started to make me wonder about Riverside Luxury Cruises.
Or maybe it was the casual liveliness of the dinner party at Bistro, where the vibe emitting from the packed café was so magnetic that it could only be described as -- at least what the kids these days call it -- "poppin."
Or, it could have simply been the fact that I started day one of the Riverside Mozart's inaugural cruise doing a night excursion to Budapest's most famous ruin bar, Szimpla, my favorite in the entire city, that made me slowly realize "this could work."
The Fehi Spa on the Riverside Mozart has a pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
Whatever it was that I felt, I knew early on in joining this ship that Riverside was onto something, and that the line had more than one trick up its sleeve to attract a younger-than-average luxury river cruise demographic to its style of cruising, a market the company is striving to attract.
From its shorter 3- and 4-night cruise itineraries to the intimate corridors, side rooms, hidden nooks and crannies within the lounge and dining areas that offer space and a veil of anonymity, right down to the very stylishly-dressed passengers clad in jewel-tones and dry martinis -- I often felt like I was onboard a luxury overnight train like the Golden Eagle or the Venice-Simplon Orient Express.
But I wasn't. I was just on a very large river cruise ship that happened to be extremely luxurious.
If it isn't clear by now -- I'm obviously having a great time onboard the Riverside Mozart and its inaugural sailing from Budapest to Vienna, visiting Bratislava in between.
It's the kind of candy or toy store you might walk into where you know you're not going to really get the full experience in just one short visit; it's the old movies that I love to watch over and over again, where I still learn something new that I didn't see the first, second or third time around.
A dining table in the Vintage Room on the Riverside Mozart. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
I barely had time to see the entire ship when I first got on about five days ago, before the start of the cruise, as I was busy running around the second annual ASTA River Cruise Expo, emceeing the general session this year, grabbing interviews, documenting the conference, and catching my breath from time to time before it was suddenly time to get ready for dinner with several river cruise lines and their executives, and eventually call it a night.
But I snuck in sneak peeks of the ship during my own self-guided tour here and there during the conference.
"Where's that pool and steam room that everyone's been talking about," I wondered, eventually finding that it was in the Fehi Spa, which I took a breath before entering to prepare myself for what I might see because I had been hearing the reactions other people were having upon seeing it already.
"There's a hot tub too?" The Jacuzzi's surprise overrode my first impression of seeing the pool, which was bigger than I thought it would be.
On another day during the conference, when I had a lunch scheduled onboard the Mozart, a small group of us were given a sneak peek of the Vintage Room, the formal dining room that seats 12 for an over-the-top seven-course tasting menu with wine pairings that guests can purchase for an additional cost while onboard.
"I wonder what that experience is like. Oh well," I shrugged to myself, knowing the chances of me dining there, even as a sailing guest, were slim.
But the real surprises came when we finally set sail on the Mozart and made our way to Esztergom, Hungary and Bratislava, Slovakia.
A filet of beef main course in the Vintage Room. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
There was my discovery of Blue, the al fresco-style restaurant located in the back of the ship that I didn't even know about until I went in search of lunch one afternoon, and didn't find it being served in the main dining hall where I assumed it would be. At Blue, casual meals like hamburgers and sandwiches are served, as well as treats I didn't expect, like doughnuts and milkshakes.
I had trouble finding the steam room and sauna -- the most exciting part of my scavenger hunt of the ship's amenities -- so I caved and asked someone where it was. "Through the changing room and around the corner." I did almost look there at one point.
Then came the second night onboard the cruise and I found a note in my room inviting me to dine in the Vintage Room that night. It was delightful. All 12 courses of it and all 12 wines (well, it could have been 12, or maybe 6; I lost count after a while).