5 Alternatives to V$k$ing River Cruises: A Review of Crucemundo Christmas Cruise

I was determined to do a Christmas cruise along the Danube River to see the Christmas markets without having to pay for an expensive Viking Cruise. Although Viking offers a fine product, I felt that it was overpriced and out of my budget for the type of Christmas Market Cruise I wanted to do on Europe’s Danube River (or Rhine, I didn’t care.)

So I searched feverishly to find an off-market river cruise for Christmas in Europe, and I stumbled upon Crucemundo Cruises. They cruise the Danube all year long and have great summer trips on the Danube as well.

As an American from the US, Crucemundo doesn’t market to me. Its default audience is the Spanairds of Europe; they can’t/don’t seem to try to break into the American market that is saturated with Viking marketing and branding. I actually had to put ChatGPT to work to find me a cruise line that would be a competitor to Viking, but offer a better value.

By the way, if you’re looking for a Christmas Market Cruise for 2026 in Europe, bookmark this page for future research.

Booking at Crucemundo was a breeze. I found an 8-day cruise embarking and disembarking from Vienna for $1300* all in (I booked in August.) The stops included Melk/Durnstein, Budapest, Esztergome, and Bratislava.

*Correction: I previously reported that we paid $900 but failed to include the $400 deposit.

We had included 3-hour guided tours in Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava with plenty of time in the cities to enjoy them on our own. Vienna annd Budapest were both bus and walk, while Bratislava was walk only.

The daily meal plan included a buffet breakfast, a choice of three options (one vegetarian) for lunch, a dessert/coffee/high tea in the afternoon, a choice of three options at dinner (one vegetarian) and a late night dessert. They accomodated for vegans, gluten-free and other diets. I particularly liked that you could pick a small, normal, or large portion at lunch and dinner.

All port fees/taxes were included. Our price was $900 for two in the cheapest cabin which had a half window, no balcony.

The Ship (M/S Fidelio)

We sailed on the M/S Fidelio. Refurbished in 2012, with four floors and an upper deck, there were 135 passengers. 12 spoke English. The remainder were Spanish-speakers. We had assigned seating at meals with other like-language speakers. The ship had a gym and a sauna. The sauna cost $10 for 2 hours. The gym, which was mediocre at best, was free.

The upper deck had plenty of seating and a pool, but due to the freezing temperatures, no one but the smokers used the deck and the pool was closed.

Steep steps connected the decks. There were no elevators; there were chair lifts for those who needed extra help up/down stairs.

The Food

The food was abundant, good quality and varied.

The breakfast bar had scrambled, fried, boiled, and soft boiled eggs, three types of yogurt, plenty of fresh fruit and nuts, cheese and sliced meats, and multiple types of bread.

Lunch always had a fresh salad buffet, soup, a well-prepared meal, and a dessert.

Dinner always had a prepared salad, a soup, a well-prepared meal, and a dessert. Pics are some of the vegetarian salads, soups, dinners.

Wine, beer, sodas, and alcohol were on offer. A coffee machine was readily available in the lounge with tea, coffee, and hot chocolate as well as fresh water. Water bottles in the room cost $2.75.

The couple at our six-top spoke English and French. The dining room was cozy and with excellent service. I only had to state my preferences once and the server accommodated me each time without reminder.

Our Room on the M/S Fidelio

We saw our room steward once, but our room was refreshed and cleaned when we stowed the Do Not Disturb sign. If we needed anything, we’d ask at the front desk.

The room had one comfortable chair, one vanity chair, a vanity, a small round table, two bedside tables, two twins pushed together to make a queeen, two lamps, a safe, and adequate storage.

We had our own heater and thermostat.

The bathroom was big enough to sit straight forward on the toilet and raise your arms in the shower. There was a shampoo/soap/body wash liquid.

We enjoyed that there were plenty of hooks for hanging towels and jackets.

While standing, we could look out the window at the river and beyond. The dark-out curtains worked well.

The bed was firm but not too hard and had two regular pillows and two decorative pillows.

The Excursions on Crucemundo

In each big city, we had an included excursion. Crucemundo did a great job organizing all of us by language and guide and provided a headset which we kept the entire length of the cruise.

The excursions in Vienna and Budapest were the same: a 30-minute, narrated bus ride through town, a walk through town, free time, then a 30-minute ride home. The Bratislava excursion walked off from the boat into town for a 60-minute guided tour. In all cases the guides gave just enough info, managed the groups well, and stayed on time.

One additional optional excursion was offered in Budapest (a night-time tour) for $59 per person.

A Comparison of the Christmas Markets of Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava

We stopped in three cities for their Christmas markets, Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava. All the cities had more than one market, and we tried to get to as many as we could. All the lights and food were fantastic, but many had repetitive items, mostly ornaments. If you want ornaments, go to the markets!

I was hoping to find some good gifts, but actual gifts (beyond ornaments) were rare. The Budapest market was only hand-made items from Hungary, so it had some unique things and was refreshing.

Although all the markets had brats of some kind (we found vegan brats in Vienna), it seems the sweet treats varied the most. We had the best hot chocolate we’ve ever had in the Budapest markets (dark hot chocolate as thick as mud and topped with whipped cream!)

A Review of Crucemundo M/S Fidelio

Would we cruise Crucemendo again, and would we do another round of the Christmas markets? Maybe on the Rhine?

• We appreciated that we rarely saw our steward. On other cruises, it seems they’re often apparent, everywhere, often stumbling over their vaccuums and carts in the hallway. Our steward seemed to maximize her cleaning time while all of us were eating.
• The stairs in the ship are steep. I actually started taking them down backwards so they’d be easier.
• The ship is old, but it is clean. It’s not a luxury line. We could find candy bowls throughout, and they did a wonderful time with Christmas. The ship had lights and decorations everywhere. For Christmas dinner, they handed out Christmas hats, jewelry, and ties for passengers to wear at dinner. They dropped candy into our shoes on Christmas Eve.
• The wait staff was excellent and efficient. They spoke English and Ukranian. Their service was impeccable.
• While we weren’t on the ship for long amounts of time, there was one day that we cruised the river. The cruise director ran a painting class two times for something to do. It was fun, but it wasn’t very techincal. It was definitely just a time filler and relaxing.
• As we approached the cities, the staff would give oral history over the loudspeaker. The daily calendar also had nice write-ups of the towns and the times of the Christmas markets.
• The ship’s audio was difficult to hear unless we were in our room, which had its own speaker.
• We met several other English speakers whom we became friends with. There were 7 Americans, 2 South Africans, 1 French, 1 English, 1 Canadian.
• The bed was comfortable, and we slept well with the sounds of the river splashing along the ship.
• If the river’s tide was low, the ramp to the dock was often quite steep.
• The gym was a joke. It had a treadmill, an upright bike, and a row machine all cramped into together in a very small makeshift space.
• We didn’t use the sauna. It was $12 for two hours and required an hour pre-warming.
• We felt we got quite a good deal on our cruise, and it was well worth the money.
• All of the markets were fabulous, although we enjoyed the Budapest market the best.

Yes, we would cruise Crucemundo again.

We aren’t luxury, high-maintenance travelers, and Crucemundo’s staff on M/S Fidelio struck the perfect balance for us. While I’m not sure I’d do the Christmas markets again (I’m not much of a Christmas person, really), I could easily see doing a summer cruise and hiking in the areas we stopped. The Wachau Valley in the summer time is supposed to be spectacular for hiking, biking, and wine tasting. It’d be fun to cruise it (btw, we saw bikes on the top deck of the boat.)

5 Alternatives to Viking Cruises

Viking Cruises produces a nice product. But for us, it’s too expensive, too service-oriented, and too over-the-top. It appears the Crucemundo cruise offered the same features as Viking at a fraction of the price and with less luxury. Although we can’t recommend these competitors because we didn’t use them, they’re worthy of a look in case you, too, would like an alterntative to Viking.

Check out Emerald Cruises, A-Rosa, Gate1, TUI River Cruises, and CroisiEurope. Let us know who you book and whether you’d recommend them.