Lord Byron Danube Cruise – Part 2

In my previous post I covered the ship and its facilities (click here to read it), so in this blog I’d like to share with you my opinions about the food and service on board the beautiful Lord Byron.

The beauty of sailing on a much smaller ship means that the service is much more personal. You came across the same staff in the restaurants and the bars every day and they remembered what you like to drink and even your cabin number. The bar prices on board were very reasonable. A bottle of lager was 3 Euros, a large glass of wine was 4.8 Euros, cocktails started at 7.5 Euros and a G & T was 6.5 Euros. Bottles of wine in the restaurant started from 18 Euros and could be saved for the following day if you didn’t finish the bottle. And there are no service charges added as is the case with most U.S. cruise companies.

We were lucky in the fact that the ship wasn’t full. There were 80 passengers and 44 crew,so the staff to guest ratio was extremely high, although the maximum capacity is 148 passengers, so even when the ship is full you’ll find the service superb.

I have to say that all the crew I came across were nothing but friendly, efficient, helpful and polite from the reception staff to the cleaners, waiting staff, cabin stewards, cruise director and the bar staff. They really made the trip an absolute pleasure for us.

On to my favourite bit – the food! I have posted below some of the menus we had whilst on board. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style and the food containers were not huge and were therefore being replenished regularly, ensuring that everything was constantly fresh & hot. At the top end of the restaurant there was an egg man at breakfast cooking your choice of eggs just as you like them which became a hot cooking station at lunchtime. Breakfast had a big choice including full English breakfast plus continental style offerings as well as cereals, porridge and a good choice of fruits.

Dinner was a la carte and ran very smoothly. The quality of all the food was excellent and although I am a carnivore (and probably ate the equivalent of half a cow whilst on board due to the varied choices of beef dishes) vegetarians were catered for really well. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff. I am not the greatest fan of desserts, so they were happy to substitute my pud with a cheese plate whenever I requested it and whilst I’m on the subject of cheese the variety and quality was superb! I ate some of the nicest cheeses I have ever had.

The first night of the cruise is very relaxed and usually a buffet meal. There is a captains welcome dinner early in the cruise, so whilst the dress code throughout the trip is informal, you can take the opportunity to dress up for this if you like. We were lucky enough to join the captains table on this evening.

At no extra charge you also have the option of dining in the intimate dining room once during your stay. This felt really special and it was nice to dine somewhere different and have a change of scenery. You have to make a reservation for this, so better to book early in your cruise. Below is the menu we had.

To summarise I could not have asked for any better food or service. It certainly matched the 5 star quality that Riviera Travel advertise for this ship.

Watch our for my next instalment – Beautiful Budapest!