22. February 2025
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Vienna Danube City Cruise (Route C) with DDSG Blue Danube

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Vienna DDSG Danube City Cruise (Route C)

Vienna DDSG Danube City Cruise (Route C)
1.9

Rating

 1.9/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Rather new ship
  • Friendly crew and service
  • Central departure point

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Absolutely boring cruise
  • Poor sound of the announcements
  • U-turn route

Everybody in German-speaking countries knows the (Erste) Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft (which literally means “(First) Danube Steam Ship Company”). The word is a perfect illustration for the nice fact that in German you can combine multiple nouns to one word. However, apart from this legendary naming, the company is still operating (the company name uses hyphens instead of putting the words together), even though they have been split into two companies. One of them DDSG Blue Danube, is doing the tradtional passenger cruises. During my June 2024 trip to Vienna, I took their shortest cruise with them, the City Cruise (or Route C), as it was included in my Vienna Pass.

 

DDSG Blue Danube Vienna City Cruise – Location & Admission

The DDSG main cruise terminal is Franz-Josefs-Kai, which is not too far from Central Vienna, e.g. the Stephansdom. However, you can easily reach the place by public transport as well. The stop Schwedenplatz serves underground rail (U1, U4), tram lines 1 and 2 as well as bus connections. The tourist buses stop there as well. You more or less just have to cross the street to reach the cruise terminal. The same spot also hosts the Twin City Liner, a fast ferry connection to Bratislava in Slovakia.

The 75 minute city cruise is the shortest trip offered by the cruise company. It departs multiple times per day. The nominal price is 29.50 EUR. You can also do the Grosse Donaurundfahrt (Large Danube Cruise), which is 42 Euro. This review is solely based on the City Cruise. I would expect the 3:20 minute major cruise to be significantly better. DDSG Blue Danube is also driving cruises in other locations.

 

DDSG Blue Danube Vienna City Cruise – The Ship

My cruise was served by the ship Blue Danube, which was built in 2014. Regarding the low age of the ship, You typically sit on the upper deck. Unfortunately, I could not take too many pictures. You can sit on tables or on the benches holding the emergency equipment. However, the upper deck was packed and I could not take too many pictures of that. The upper deck has a restaurant-alike atmosphere. Most of the seats on the upper deck are covered. The sound system was poor, especially in the open deck area. The sparse announcements (recorded) were very hard to understand. Typically, the motor of the ship was louder than the loudspeakers.

 

En Route DDSG Blue Danube Vienna City Cruise

You might not zoom into the map above when you read my review. Thus, let’s clearly state: Franz-Josefs-Kai is not located at the Danube, but on the Donaukanal, the Danube Canal. The cruise is heading upstream (to the North) to the locks of the Donaukanal just when the canal is merging back into the Danube River again. From there, it takes a U-turn and takes you exactly the same way back. This return downstream is at least much faster than the one in the upstream direction. On the return, the ship first passes the departure quay, but turns around very briefly thereafter to finally finish the cruise.

This solely wouldn’t be too critical and might happen in cruises in other cities as well. Unfortunately on this Vienna cruise, there is a clear and rather unique downside: The cruise is massively boring. The first minutes might feel promising, but then, there are rather high and tight trees on both sides of Danube Canal,so that you in fact don’t see too much, apart from some walls with graffiti on it. The highlight is definitely the MA48 designed by Hundertwasser. To be very clear: this architectural icon is a garbage incinerator. Thus, it may not exactly be the key sight you want to explore when you visit the Austrian capital.

 

DDSG Blue Danube Vienna City Cruise – Service

The staff on board the Blue Danube was very friendly. They offer drinks and some basic meals and snacks. You can either grab them at the self-service counter or use their at-seat service, which was overall very attentive. Not too surprisingly, the prices on board the ship are higher than in the city. However, the quality was quite fine. I would not necessarily use the cruise for lunch or dinner, though. The ship has separate toilets for men and women at the back of the ship. They were well maintained.

 

DDSG Blue Danube Vienna City Cruise – My View

Luckily, this cruise was included in my Vienna Pass. Vienna feels to be a great place to explore from the water. I am sure the longer cruise is much better – but the City Cruise by DDSG Blue Danube is nothing but a waste of time and money. Reasonable service on board just cannot change that. If you want to have a relaxed way of exploring the city, a bus tour or a different boat route will definitely be the much better choice.

 

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