DESTINATIONS CRUISE |MAIN & RHINE
eats EXCLUSIVE
E The Owner’s Cellar (above) is an exclusive
evening-only restaurant for 16 people that kicks off with champagne and serves a
five-course tasting menu with
a different wine to match. E Annie’s Table (below) opens in The Salon every evening. It’s more casual, with a three-course French-inspired menu
including cold meats, cheese, olives, mushroom quiche, duck and crème brûlée.
of deck three. But in port, the crew can press a button and the whole restaurant – galley, bar, tables, the lot – is hydraulically lifted onto the sun deck. It’s not just an amazing feat of engineering, but also a lovely spot to dine and is open for lunch and dinner, though guests will need an invitation for either (APT’s way of managing speciality dining, so everyone gets a turn). Invitations are also needed for the Owner’s Cellar and Annie’s Table (see box, left).
Once on the sun deck, Grüner doubles as a walk-up
bar where passengers can refuel with their favourite tipple – which is included, along with everything from flights and transfers to tips.
BOOK IT
APT’sOstara and Solara are sailing 15-day Magnificent Europe cruises between Amsterdam and Budapest from £2,895 per person, departing November 21, including flights, transfers, drinks, tips, excursions and Wi-Fi. Shorter Highlights of the Rhine and Main cruises between Amsterdam and Nuremberg (flights from Munich) are also available, priced from £2,645 per person for eight days based on a November 21 departure.
aptouring.co.uk
40 11 SEPTEMBER 2025
At other times, guests can take their pick from Bistro Saison, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner; or The Salon, which serves a light breakfast and lunch. Venue number six is on the Daystar Deck (the area
in front of the wheelhouse) where, in a nod to APT’s Australian roots, there’s a lunchtime barbecue twice per cruise, weather permitting. It wasn’t looking very permitting for us, but just as we returned to Ostara after a morning of excursions in the wine village of Rüdesheim, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we feasted on steak, kebabs, German sausages, baked potatoes and more.
DECK DETAILS
Most of our fellow passengers (predominantly Australian) are on a 15-day voyage from Budapest to Amsterdam. We joined them part-way through, in Nuremberg, for a one-week Highlights of the Rhine and Main cruise ending in the Dutch capital. On the Main leg, we pass through countless locks, see Bamberg’s
fresco-filled town halls and Little Venice quarter, visit the spectacular Versailles-like Würzburg Residence and learn about medieval life in Miltenberg. By the time we reach Rüdesheim, we’ve moved to the Rhine and still to come is castle-spotting as we transit the Rhine Gorge; a meeting with a princess in her castle, one of three APT Signature Experiences on the full 15-day cruise; and a day in Amsterdam with a canal cruise and bike ride among tour options. The dining is just one of many things that add to the wow
factor on Ostara. There’s the nautical look, exemplified by white-wood panelling, rope sculptures and beechwood banisters; the excellent service; and solar-powered lanterns that light up a Conversation Lounge. Then there is the fabulous all-suite accommodation, also with a nautical look, which feels very spacious. Most have a French balcony, with a wall-to-wall window that opens half-way at the touch of a button, lots of storage and large bathrooms with butler-style marble sinks and showers. For more room, eight Owner’s Suites have sitting and dining areas. For the lower deck cabins, the Australian company behind the interior design went for teak-like panelling reminiscent of a ship’s cabin of old. Instead of curtains, the windows (two fixed windows in each room) have elegant slatted wood-effect blinds. For now, Ostara and Solara are in a two-ship class of their own (APT and Travelmarvel also launched Estrela on the Douro this year, but it is a very different style) but that won’t last long if APT Travel Group chief executive David Cox has his way. He’d like another two vessels in the next three years and promises: “There will be more.”
TW
travelweekly.co.uk
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Conversation Lounge, lobby and an Owner’s Suite, all on APT Solara and Ostara; inset, Würzburg Residence PICTURES: APT; Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Antanovich
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