{"id":39562,"date":"2019-10-23T05:41:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T09:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/?p=39562"},"modified":"2019-11-05T08:23:30","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T13:23:30","slug":"live-from-crystal-bach-first-impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/2019\/10\/live-from-crystal-bach-first-impressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Live From Crystal Bach: First Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday, I stepped aboard Crystal Bach in Amsterdam. Today, docked in a vineyard on the Moselle midway through our 10-night voyage, I sat down to pen my initial impressions of Bach and Crystal River Cruises. Here are three things that stand out for me – so far.<\/p>\n

\"Crystal

Crystal Bach docked near Trier, Germany. \u00a9 2019 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Crystal represents \u201cnext level\u201d river cruising<\/strong>. In fact, it is almost as if Crystal were not river cruising at all, at least in the way we have known river cruising up until now. No other company offers such a luxurious and refined experience on the European rivers. Yes, some in Crystal\u2019s competitive set come close, but as I wrote a couple of years ago, Crystal River Cruises truly does stand apart<\/a>. What Crystal offers so exquisitely is, well, whatever you want it to be: a heightened degree of decadence, a refined foray into luxury or an elevated way of exploring Europe. You may ask if this isn\u2019t just me being overly enthusiastic about Crystal? If so, I am not alone. Crystal has had more than 30 years to develop its luxury experience on the oceans. During those years, readers of travel publications have heaped praise on Crystal. What Crystal learned during its years of accumulating awards on the oceans, it brought to the rivers. This year, readers of Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler named Crystal \u201cBest River Cruise Line.\u201d What is it that separates Crystal from the pack? Let\u2019s continue with those initial impressions to find out.<\/p>\n