Uniworld Cruises
 

We are wanting to do a European River cruise next summer, has anyone dealt with Uniworld? Also, any other suggestions for others would be appreciated. One thing we liked about Uniworld was it was non-smoking.

I suggest you post this under the topic of "cruises." I don't know anyone who has cruised with Uniword, but a friend of mine has done several cruises with Peter Deilmann Cruises: http://www.deilmann-cruises.com <BR>She says they are the best for European river cruises.

Past Uniworld experience: We traveled in 2000 to China (wanted to see things before the flooding)and were mostly happy with our experience. It WAS an education rather than a vacation - but it is so far, our favorite and we have done Australia/Japan/Alaska all different cruise lines and enjoyed all. It gave us the most for the money as everything was included and hotels 4-5 star-food okay-

My friends left on the 5th for the Danube cruise with Prague &amp; Budapest. I will get their feedback and post it when they return.
We decided late we wanted to go with them and it was already sold out.

Friends of mine did a Uniworld cruise on the Rhone and Saone in France. They loved it.

Uniworld took my wife and me from St. Petersburg to Moscow. First class in most respects -- food, service, cleanliness, shore excursions, etc. Only problem: our cabin was too small. Dividend: half the passengers were Australian -- what a bunch of party people!

For anyone who has taken one of these, are there many single passengers?

Hi Sheryl

My wife and I (retired mid 60's) have cruised with Uniworld twice and loved it. The first trip in 2001 was the Northsea to the Swiss Alps. This was a cruise up the Rhine from Holland to Switzerland with a side trip up the Moselle to the town of Trier. (One day up and one day back is my memory of the Moselle leg) Trip was fabulous and we loved it so much that in 2002 we booked with Uniworld again for their Grand Cruise Through France. This trip was from Honfleur on the English Channel up the Seine to Paris. Motor coach one day overland to Lyon , then sailed down to Rhone to the Mediterranean at Arles. Also a great trip. We have not used any other river cruise lines ecept a small one in Canada so we can not make any comparison between tour cruise operators. We have loved the Uniworld service and found an itinerary that fit our needs for a 21 day cruise from Bucahrest to Prague Aug 6, 2006 on the Danube. This trip is named the Ultimate Black Sea Journey.

Hope this is usefull and feel free to ask any questions, I will try to respond.

Good Luck River Cruising

Don

Don, I just found your post. We are booked on Uniworld's Rhone River cruise on their brand-new ship &quot;River Royale&quot; Sept 21-28, 2006. We liked the idea of a small, new ship with good $$ for 1st class cabin. AND non-smoking! What were the day excursions like? Interesting or boring? Any free time in towns? We're semi-retired 47 (wife) and 63 (hubby) and this will be our 1st cruise. How was the food? thx!

June of 2005 my husband and I took a 13 day Uniworld China tour and Yagtze River cruise. We had an excellent tour guide, who watched out for our every need. In each city we toured, another uniworld guide joined our tour to provide us with knowledgeable guides at every stop. The cruise was well organized and we felt that the trip was well worth the money. We would definitly cruise with Uniworld again and would love to do a European River cruise with the company.

My husband and I traveled from Amsterdam to Basel last summer on Uniworld and found that it was comparable to Viking Rivers Cruises , with one exception the ship we were on the Queen had washing and drying facilities for its passengers to use. This was great since our trip was 14 days. Cabins on the main deck were more spacious than the lower deck, which is true about most of the Viking ships. We have taken 6 cruises with Viking. River Cruising is the way to go,pull up to the ramp, unload, and the tour begins so quickly. Hopes this helps!

Thx all for your comments; since this is our 1st cruise we were a tad bit aprehensive about being &quot;too young&quot;-please no offense meant here at all! But it seems the trend is to gear this kind of traveling to a wider range age-wise. And it does sound nice to only unpack once! I hope the food takes on the flavor of the region and doesn't end up like cafeteria food-all our meals are included (w/ a few dinners in towns) so it'd be a shame if it wasn't as Provencal as I'm expecting! It sounds like we'll be pleasantly surprised.

To Katerbug

My reply to your questions must be qualified by the following facts.;

Our trip was four years ago (2002) before Uniworld changed owners. Do the new owners do it the same???

Second our tour was a “wine theme cruise”. I suspect that this may have affected the land tours as we enjoyed a lot of wine tasting and winery tours.

Given the above we found all of the land tours but one very very good. They were historical (Roman Ruins) &amp; cathedrals or the Hospices de Beaune Muse, scenic such as the steam train tour of the Doux Valley and Ardege Gorge with a Kir tasting party at the end, or wine oriented such as the outstanding tour of Chateauneuf-du-Pape..

The only two negatives I can give were, first we did not have enough time in Paris. Yes we went to the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, Muse d’Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Versailles etc. Even spent an evening at a Moulin Rouge Champagne show. Not part of the tour package but arranged by our fantastic Tour manager Yvette.

The one sort of off tour was a wine tour and tasting at Le Hameau en Beaujolias. The site was great but the tasting was in a very large room with multiple tours present. The noise level precluded hearing anything the taste master had to say and then we were taken to view a mechanical animation of a vineyard farmer talking to his animated grape vine about the process of growing grapes and making wine. We felt this was a bit hokey.

Food was very good with buffet for B and L. Dinners were served and were excellent. Not a big choice however. This part is not at all like the big cruise ships in the Caribbean. Entertainment in the evenings was good or cute depending on your point of view. The shows are not nightclub type shows you get on the big ships. It is local entertainment and it is entertaining.

We did dine ashore a couple of evenings. The most notable was at Le Sud in Lyon. We had called for reservations and were told they were full. We decided to just go walk about and find a French Restaurant on a walk in Basis. It turns out that Le Sud was only a couple of blocks from were the ship was berthed. As we walked by it was obvious that they had an outdoor caf&eacute; on the front of the building. It was empty. We were seated and had a wonderful dinner on a beautiful; July evening in Lyon. When they say they are full they mean the main dining room. We were just as happy.

Hope this serves some purpose.

Enjoy your trip.
Don

Hi Don, I've been away; just read your response. I appreciate your comments. I understand that Uniworld has new owners and are trying to bring their line up in quality to compete with the big boys. We like the fact that their River Royale ship is brand new &amp; that's one of the reasons we chose to take this cruise in So. France. I can already tell from my research that we need more time in both Nice/Provence and Paris, but this trip is about the cruise, with a &quot;teaser&quot; of the other areas. I'm sure we'll be planning our prompt return as soon as we get back to the States! I'm hoping the entertainment isn't too hokey here-we aren't late-nighters anyway. We'd rather go exploring on our own but I'm sure we're stuck on board after the evening meal. Gonna keep an open mind about the whole trip and enjoy it all!

We're booked on the Deilmann Princese de Provence next April I'm sure I'll post a review. So, if ou can wait...

Katerbug

We were free to go ashore most evenings following dinner. The exception would be that the ship was going to be moving after dinner which was not common at all. Our eveinings ashore were a very special part of both of our Uniworld trips.

Don

Katerbug:

Some posts just don't die. I have been intrigued by the cruise that you went on last Fall - Uniworld - Burgandy and Provence.

I'd love to hear your thoughts - highlights, problems, etc.

My wife and I went on the Christmas Market Cruise on the Danube in December and also used Uniworld on a Po River Cruise in Italy. Both were very nice experiences- cabin (upgraded) was excellent; meals were very good; shore tours were mostly walking on Danube but we docked right in most towns/cities so you could go off on your own if you wished. On the Po River we ended up in Venice and docked steops away from St. Mark's Square. The company is very accomodating. One caution- make sure of where your flight originates. For Danube we flew from Philadelphia to Chicago to Munich!!! Complained but to no avail! Other than that- Uniworld has been top-notch.

I am going on the River Royale on Saturday...a little nervous..our first river cruise and I chose Uniworld..so far so good...we are spending 4 days in Paris at the end..at the Hotel Royale..if anyone has any info..pls let me know.
Thanks,
Tina

btt

Any other recent experiences ? Quality still Ok ?

Thinking of a river trip next year (Rhine or Danube).

Thanks :)