Indulged on the Danube

Gillian Anstey enjoys a never-ending buzz of stimulation on a seven-day cruise

Dressed in tails and a crisp white shirt, he introduced himself. "I am Danni and I am your butler," he said.

"Butler?" I gasped. "What am I going to do with you?" I blurted out, sounding every bit the gauche, unseasoned high-end traveller that I am.

It was day one of a seven-day cruise up the Danube, and I had just stepped into my cabin aboard the River Beatrice in Budapest.

Danni, whom I later learnt was Danut Fasola from Romania, was part of the package on a journey very different to the leisurely "lie-around-and-do-nothing" one I had expected.

Oh, it was indulgent alright. Everything (apart from the erratic Internet coverage and the rather limp on-board resident entertainment) was top-end. My suite boasted elegant cream décor, a Nespresso machine and a "French balcony" - really a sliding door with a railing. But the elegance is not restricted to suites.

All the other cabins, even those in "steerage", where one South African passenger claimed his was based, are the same size, have tasteful décor and complimentary L'Occitane beauty products in the marble bathrooms.

But the real extravagance lay beyond the physical amenities, in the quality of the activities, the many options open to passengers and, ultimately, the level of service. It was not just about having a Danni around to take care of one's every whim, (for those of us fortunate to stay in a suite), but in the quality of tours and talks and the warm friendliness of the crew.

The surprise of the cruise, however, was how little time there was to sit around and veg, although I suppose one could always have chosen that option.

For me, it was a never-ending buzz of stimulation. On the one free day we had on board, when we sailed through Slovakia, I was about to open my Deon Meyer thriller in my suite when there was a voice over the intercom: "In a few minutes, if you look to the right, you will see the ruins of a Roman fortress." I quickly grabbed my jacket, scarf and gloves and headed to the sundeck to see it all. And there was a lot to see and do.

I missed the optional extra - as in "pay extra" - tour of the Puszta (the plains) with its horse show but Jack and Jane from California, with whom I had dined in the captain's lounge on the first night, told me it was a wonderful opportunity to see rural Hungary. I also opted out of a helicopter flight over the Wachau valley in Austria, with its steep vineyard terraces, ancient ruins and Benedictine abbeys. And I must have been the only guest aboard who didn't take advantage of the massage facilities. But I was also the only one at the first 7am yoga session in the lounge with masseur Balazs.

One extra I did opt for was a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, where Marie Antoinette spent her summers until she left at the age of 14 for Versailles to become the future queen of France. Schönbrunn is the most-visited site in Austria but it's not a tourist trap. The architecture and furniture are sumptuous and the gardens, which include an awe-inspiring Neptune fountain erected in 1776, majestic.

The other extra I chose was also in Vienna: an orchestral concert featuring mostly the music of Austrian composers Mozart and Strauss and five singers. The concert's appeal included the venue, a hall in the Hofburg Palace and which, in true River Beatrice opulence, was followed by vegetable goulash soup, viennas, potato salad and pretzels.

I became used to frequent and indulgent eating. Breakfasts and lunches were buffet-style and dinners - apart from a few special occasions, such as Captain Doede Smit's welcome and farewell dinners - always included options, such as vegetarian ones, and the Travelling Lite menu.

Hotel manager Mario Mirao welcomed passengers with the line: "The ship is yours; let us spoil you" - and they do, which makes the suggested gratuity of à10 per passenger per day, to be divided among all crew, and à3 per passenger per day for the cruise manager, seem paltry once you are on board.

There was never a dull moment on the ship. From the talk on "What you don't know about Hungarians" to the humorous and informative one on the Hapsburg dynasty to watching the water rise early one morning in the chambers of the lock at Gabcikovo in Slovakia - "like being in the world's slowest elevator," quipped one passenger.

Apart from a preponderance of cathedrals named St Stephen's, each place we visited on shore on our 583km trip up the Danube was different.

The cruise started in Budapest and one of our first stops was the Central Market (vásárcsarnok), which we reached by crossing one of the city's bridges by tram. Although we had just had breakfast, I had no difficulty buying a piece of spicy smoked sausage to munch while I strolled around, and even contemplated having a tot of pálinka, a potent fruit brandy, at one of the bar-stalls.

St Stephen's Basilica, the tallest building in Budapest, is unforgettable for having the mummified right hand of St Stephen, the first Christian ruler of Hungary from 1001-1038, on view in a side chapel.

Then there was Vienna. Wow! I chose the "Vienna as the Viennese do" tour, where we rode by bus past famous sights such as the opera house and the ferris wheel (riesenrad), erected in 1897. After Schönbrunn, I returned to the city, wandered through the open-air food Naschmarkt in the dark (in autumn the sun sets at about 4.30pm), then went on a cultural high exploring the seemingly endless exhibition of works by 20th-century surrealist René Magritte at the Albertina museum, which had opened only the night before.

Dürnstein in Austria is such a little village - it has about 800 residents - that it might not seem worth going ashore, but it was one of the more memorable places we visited. While some hiked to the ruins of the medieval castle on top of the hill, I strolled the main street, sampling and buying the apricot wares the region is known for, such as chocolate-coated dried apricots.

That afternoon's tour of the abbey of Melk was astonishing. The abbey, with its imposing architecture; its treasures, such as the trunk with the 14 locks all controlled by one key; its library with 80000 or so books; and its church, where we heard an organ recital was memorable - as was the walk back to the ship, albeit it with a handful of other passengers, in the dark along lonely pathways.

The next day we docked at Linz. I still regret not having bought its famous Linzertorte, first baked around 1822 which, like Christmas cake, improves with age, before leaving on a two-hour bus ride to Salzburg. There I saw the house where Mozart was born, saw extraordinarily decorated graves and ate sausage topped with grated horseradish at a street stall.

I also adored our last stop, Passau in Germany.

Back home, if I shut my eyes tightly again when I wake up, I can still imagine I am on the water. There was something indefinably magical about being adrift on the Danube.

- Gillian Anstey did the Enchanting Danube cruise on the River Beatrice courtesy of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises

. To book a cruise, contact your local travel agent or call Uniworld Boutique Cruises on 0112808400 or visit www.uniworldcruises.co.za.