There’s something about cruising that brings out the romantic side of even the most hardened of souls, as Josh Stephenson discovers on Titan Travel’s MS Serenade.

It doesn’t take long for me to catch up on the gossip on board the MS Serenade  – after all, cruise ships are natural havens of the whispered word and a river cruise ship, well, that just means there are fewer mouths to distil the truth.

From what I can surmise, it seems that one couple is quickly becoming the talk of the ship with their display of flirty antics on the dancefloor. Now, I’m not the kind of person who is often late to dinner, but armed with this knowledge I speed downstairs to Serenade’s dining room. I’m all set for an interrogation when one of Titan’s delightful members of staff places a delicious-looking starter under my nose and all of sudden gossip loses its importance.

Food is serious business with Titan Travel and – in the fiercely competitive river cruise food scene – they stand out among the crowd. Dinner consists of four courses – appetiser, soup, main and dessert – and throughout the three nights I spend on board the Serenade it is nothing short of incredible.

MS Serenade, river cruise, cruise, Danube river cruise, Titan Travel,
Serenade takes in some astonishing mooring places.

Danube delights

My journey with Titan starts late as I join my fellow passengers halfway through their cruise down the Danube. They have already taken in the Austrian cities of Melk, Dürnstein and Vienna, before arriving in the pretty city of Linz, where I join them. Sitting in my spacious cabin – comfortable, well kept and cleverly laid out to maximise space – I glance out of the window to see the setting sun bathing the river in an orange glow as it slowly disappears behind the line of tall trees on the horizon.

But a river cruise is only as good as the destinations that sit on its bank – and the Danube never disappoints. I rise the next morning to join my group for a stroll around the ‘Three Rivers City’ of Passau in Germany.

What earned it such a nickname? Well, Passau sits on the confluence of the rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz, and at a certain point in the city it is possible to see where they all meet. Each river is a different colour – the light-green Inn, brown Danube and dark-blue Ilz; it’s almost like a painter has dipped a paintbrush into the water and watched the colours slowly mix into one another.

Away from the river, Passau is a great place to explore. In the centre of the old town there’s St Stephen’s Cathedral, a stunning baroque church that was built in 1688 and which is home to Europe’s largest pipe organ.

While my shipmates continue to explore the winding streets of Passau, lined with multi-coloured houses, I decide to conquer the climb to the Veste Oberhaus – a 13th-century fortress built on the top of a mountain crest with a museum exploring its history. To get there, I climb a few hundred stone-carved steps, no mean feat on a hot, sunny day.

Nevertheless, I manage to drag myself to the top, only to find that I could have taken a free bus. Fortunately, the stunning views of the city below and Austria in the distance more than make up for it.

Vienna, Austria, Danube river cruise, cruise,
Vienna features as one of the city stops.

Beer heaven

The next morning, we arrive in the medieval city of Regensburg, home of the famous Weltenburg Abbey. Built in the 6th century, it is the oldest abbey in Bavaria and continues to be a home for monks. The Abbey is a stunning, almost decadent, example of baroque architecture, and is most famous for its incredibly detailed, painted cupola. But people don’t flock to the Abbey for matters of faith – they come for the beer.

Weltenburg Abbey is renowned for having the oldest monastic brewery in the world, dating all the way back to 1050. It is no surprise, then, that they’ve won countless awards – including the World Beer Cup in 2004, 2008 and 2012 – for their Kloster Barock Dunkel dark beer.

I take up residence in the spacious courtyard a little after 10am to be greeted by giant jugs of the dark stuff. As it’s so early in the morning, I decide to sample a taste and leave the rest. This smooth, rich beer goes down far too well, however, and when a pretzel finds its way into my hands, well, it would be churlish not to, right?

It’s excursions like this that make river cruising so special. And, with Titan, guests can expect between three and four to be included on an average seven-night cruise. Further optional excursions won’t cost much more than £35 if booked in advance.

Oh, I nearly forgot about the little love story. My investigation takes me to the dancefloor, where the evening’s entertainment is often headed up by Pavel the Piano Man. Pavel is a celebrity on board and his evening repertoire always gets the crowd on their feet. It is here I first catch sight of the dancing. But it turns out to be harmless dancing between friends. How disappointing. Rather than sulk, though, I ask Pavel to play Dancing Queen and join in.

Sell it

Prices for Titan Travel’s eight-day Beauty of the Danube cruise start at £999pp. Departing 21 June 2019. 

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