Crystal
River Cruises has announced that Elisabeth Gurtler, managing director of the
Hotel Sacher in Vienna, will serve as the godmother of the Crystal Mozart when
it relaunches on July 11.
The
christening ceremony will take place in Vienna, and the Crystal Mozart will
embark on its maiden voyage, a roundtrip cruise from Vienna, on July 13. The
inaugural cruise will stop in Durnstein, Melk, and Linz, Austria; Passau,
Germany; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; and end with two nights
in Vienna.
“It is fitting that such a pillar of the Viennese
community as Ms. Gurtler would join the Crystal family as we expand into
the stunning waterways of Austria and the surrounding areas,” said Edie
Rodriguez, Crystal’s CEO and president.
In
addition to being managing director of the Hotel Sacher, Gurtler is acting
director of Vienna’s Spanish Riding School.
The
158-passenger Crystal Mozart, a former Peter Deilmann vessel purchased last
year that is undergoing an extensive redesign, is Crystal Cruises’ first river cruise ship. In addition to the Mozart, the company has plans to build six river yachts, bringing to seven the total number of river
ships the company plans to deploy across Europe by 2019.