Back from a Christmas Market River Cruise with a Group of PBS Viewers!

One of the greatest joys of cruising is sharing it with others! I’m just back from a charming, inspiring week cruising the Danube River during Christmas market season, with a group of PBS viewers.

From the magical, nighttime Christmas market in the courtyard of the castle in Regensburg, Germany, to the home of the Sound of Music – Salzburg, Austria, picture-perfect Durnstein with its powder-blue, riverside tower and medieval streets, majestic Vienna, charming Bratislava, Slovakia, to Budapest, Hungary, we sipped and savored, shopped for Christmas treats and crafts, and shared stories of our adventures and the holiday spirit in the cradle of many of our favorite holiday traditions.

I’m so inspired experiencing cruises through the eyes of other guests: hearing what stands out and is special to them, and seeing first-time cruisers fall in love with cruising.

It’s hard to pick a single perfect moment, between unforgettable shore experiences, and magical shipboard memories.

All of us were in awe during a signature ‘Scenic Enrich’ evening in Vienna in a private palace (complete with an original carriage in the foyer that would make Cinderella jealous!) with an exclusive performance of some of the Mozart, Strauss and other tunes that make Vienna the City of Music!

Onboard was just as memorable: themed dinners inspired by local flavors in our ports of call, entertainment on board that got whole families (there were several groups of families of parents and teenage kids who were having such a great time bonding over this once-in-a-lifetime Christmas experience!) participating, competing, singing and dancing.

And one of my favorite cruising experiences: scenic sailing. On the Danube aboard the Scenic Jade, we enjoyed two scenic sailings: daytime along the Wachau Valley into Durnstein, and the nighttime scenic sailing through illuminated Budapest (that's members of the group with the iconic Hungarian Parliament buildings illuminated in the background, top) – one of my top 3 nighttime scenic sailings in the world!

World’s Greatest Cruises is all about the wonder of discovering the world by water, and there really is no more wondrous a time of year – double cruising joy for me, and I hope all the PBS viewers who I had the privilege of sharing this river cruise with.

By: Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of World’s Greatest Cruises

Images: World’s Greatest Cruises