The Danube river cruise on the River Beatrice from Budapest to Passau with the Prague extension was fantastic from the time we arrived until we departed. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a suite. The extra care and attention to detail was extraordinary. Our cruise director Marcus was as hardworking as they come and had us in stitches most of the time with his sense of humour. We were fortunate to have excellent weather for touring. Uniworld offered a hot towel and drink when we came back to the ship and the captain was there welcoming us as ... well. The rooms are well appointed. The entertainment was fantastic although don't expect broadway shows. The extension to Prague is highly recommended if you can possibly make it. You will regret not going there if you don't. River cruising does have a place if you enjoy experiencing the world in intimate settings. The maturity and sophistication of the guests makes it all worthwhile. Read More...

River Empress, Amsterdam to Budapest in August, 2012.
The best vacation my wife and I have ever experienced. Everything about the cruise was first rate. The food, the service, the attitude of the entire ship's staff was outstanding. I would highly recommend this cruise to anyone. From the time we were met at the Amsterdam airport until the time we were bussed to the Budapest airport, everything was outstanding. Tony, our tour director, Carylene, our hotel director, Roberto, our dining room director and most of all our captain - who got us through some pretty ... shallow water when other cruise lines were busing their passengers, shows the commitment of Uniworld to hire first rate people. Read More...

My husband & I chose a Uniworld cruise to Burgundy & Provence (12-19 Aug) for our 10th wedding anniversary - we couldn't have made a better choice! We have never been on any cruise before and this first experience surpassed our expectations. River Royale is beautiful, the cruise was smooth & relaxing, the food and wine served onboard was good, and we enjoyed the itinerary, in particular, Lyon, Beaune, Avignon, Les Baux and the truffle farm. Favorite experiences include sitting on the ship deck after dinner while the ship was sailing from Lyon to Tournon, with the wind in our ... hair and thousands of stars above us. Most of all, it was the people we met who made the cruise most memorable.

We were impressed by how the entire crew worked collectively to offer great and friendly service. From day one, we were made to feel at home. It was nice meeting Captain Pascal who invited us to join him at his table for the Welcome Dinner and who shared information about the local culture & customs. Patrice, our hotel manager, is enthusiastic & excellent and it was wonderful that he spoke some Bahasa Indonesia (which is similar to our Bahasa Malaysia). We were surprised to later find out that he has only been working with Uniworld for 2 weeks as there is certainly great camaraderie between him and the entire crew. Emmanuelle, our Cruise manager, is fabulous - funny, entertaining, knowledgable and helpful. Together, Patrice & Emmanuelle kept the mood onboard fun & lively! There was much laughter daily at the pre-dinner briefings! Aniko & Cosmin of Front Desk, Marius, Kriztian, Georgiv, Sarin & Jakub (restaurant staff) and Ilona of Housekeeping are cheerful, efficient and great at their jobs. We enjoyed the refreshing morning walks with Rene, the onboard masseur. The guides we found particularly good are Kristian (Lyon), Jeannette (Tournon/Tain L'Hermitage/Viviers) & Francis (Truffle farm/Les Baux).

We also met many wonderful fellow passengers from various countries, some of whom we're keeping in touch with. It was with heavy hearts that we bade goodbye to everyone at the end of the week. We will definitely be going on another Uniworld cruise and will highly recommend Uniworld to our family & friends.

To the entire crew of River Royale, thank you very much, well done & keep up the great work! :) Read More...

This is our second adventure on the waterways traveled by Uniworld. They have something small and brilliant underway. They are creating possibly the very best for way for those of us that crave an authentic and personal way to see the world but are bound by constraints, most notable time. They have identified the things you must see, the impossibly charming villages, the notable historic sites, and everything in between. It's then up to you how you will shape your experience; group tour, on foot, on bike or a combination of all! The tenor of these trips ... is low-key sophisticated. Never stuffy or rigid. But make no mistake, nothing is left to chance. Every detail is carefully crafted to ensure translucent perfection. The magic formula of luxe facilities, uber-interesting staff, thoughtful itineraries, exceptional food, and impeccable service is incredibly successful. It's intriguing though that the staff does not seem to settle for these high marks, but rather they appear to be constantly looking for ways to re-imagine the week and improve. It would be wise to get on board soon and catch a ride on this shining and rising star that is Uniworld.

p.s. We travel with our teenager. Many kids are over the raucous beach vacations and are ready for more substance. The demographic of Uniworld appears to be decidedly younger or younger at heart. This combination works out beautifully. Read More...

My wife and I would like to acknowledge the excellent service received on our recent European Jewels river cruise with Uniworld. This was our first ever cruise, and I'm not so sure the Uniworld River Queen set the bar to the point we will never be able to recreate the environment again on any future cruise. The entire crew under Captain Ferdy's direction (along with "Siggy" and Lawrence) made us feel like we were part of the family, with Hildagard our Cruise Manager providing an exceptional iterary each and ever day. Martin's resturant and lounge staff were on point (especially ... "Banjo" and Alex!) and his executive chef and team never disappointed at any meal. Martina had the hotel staff working at peak performance.

Not a single issue, not a single excuse, not a better team on a cruise than the River Queen for those 14 days. We can understand why the River Queen was ranked #1 recently. If Uniworld can find a way to bottle this winning formula on each and every cruise ship they own.... The sky is the limit!

Someone told me many years ago - if you love your job, you will excel at it - I don't think there was a single Uniworld employee on the River Queen that didn't want to be there. Uniworld - the River Queen knocked this one out of the park!

I will be recommending the Uniworld Boutique River Cruises to anyone looking for a vacation idea. Read More...

My husband and I recently returned from an 18 day trip to China and must say what an awesome experience it was. Reading about and seeing pictures in history books cannot do justice to the places and things we saw! Our tour manager was Kevin Lin and he was by far the best tour guide we have ever had! He got our group to where we needed to be (no easy task!) with minimal effort. He helped us out of a situation that could have been disastrous and for that we truly appreciate all that he did for us! I ... just want Uniworld to know what a gem they have in Kevin Lin! Read More...

This was my first time on a river cruise and after this wonderful experience, I don't think I can go back to any ocean cruising. The staff and service was friendly, intimate and excellent. They started to know us by sight after the first day. Everyone was friendly and helpful. I love the more intimate experience provided by the max. 25 group of local tours, the audio boxes which allowed you to listen to the tour guide while wandering off to take pictures, and the food which featured local specialities. I found the food on board to be better than ... our lunch in one of the towns, not always true but it was for that occasion! The food was so good, I'm still craving it after my return.
I thought the Cruise Manager was great in trying to be flexible with the program. There was a couple stops where we started the city tour an hour later because some folks requested a later wake up time. If possible, I would suggest offering both since I felt we lost time on that tour and visting the Valhrona chocolate factory in Tain L'Hermitage should be a must - we got to go but had very little time to sample and shop! The best experience was the open air market in Beaune but I felt we didn't have as much time for wine tasting. If we didn't stop for a sit down lunch, we could have but after looking at all the wonderful product on sale in the market, it made me hungry and I honestly didn't think i'd feel hungry all week. The service is so fantastic that there was a person waiting at the airport at 5AM to take us through the Lyon airport and made sure we got our baggage tags and boarding passes - and he wouldn't even take a tip. That was literally "door to door" or "plane to plane" service.
I am so hooked and can't wait to try another UniWorld tour! Read More...

This review is primarily for antipodeans considering a northern hemisphere cruise.

NB: Our cruise was down river from Vienna - Istanbul (River Duchess).

Given the travel investment involved we felt a 15 day cruise was not enough to justify the time and cost so chose to break the journey north with a two day/night stopover in Dubai. Additionally we included the Prague pre-cruise extension and front loaded this with a further night in the same hotel. This gave us a suitable break (Dubai - Prague only 4.5 hours) and provided two buffer periods should there be any unexpected ... delays. This worked well and would recommend it.

We took as cash Euros only (1050) which lasted from Prague to Istanbul. Given most excursions are included in the boat fare only discretionary spending cash is needed. Money was changed either at a bank or an official money changer. Currency exchange was also available on the boat and given the small amounts of local currency required the cost was insignificant. In Dubai and Bangkok we accessed local funds from an ATM ($5NZD Fee).

We had a two day/night stopover in Bangkok on the return journey which very much assisted post travel recovery and gave us an overall 25 day journey which justified, and was appropriate for, the travel involved.

Uniworld are a great cruise provider; excellent food, service, excursions and boats. We stayed in suite 208 and consider the upgrade from level 1 to be well worth it. We visited new found friends in level four and found their suite to be the same size, a sliding door but no balcony - the slider remained closed most of the time due to heat/noise etc so not worth it in opinion.

Most afternoons were free but optional excursions at additional cost were available and many of these were also good value. Later in the cruise there were some all-day excursions which some less than fit struggled with in the heat. For shopping it was best to use the morning excursion for an overview then return on your own in the afternoon to spend more time a chosen sites/shops.

Overall a great experience. These types of cruises are only now becoming known in our country and in our view are much superior to travel by bus etc.
Note the advice re walking a footwear.

Neville & Cathy
New Zealand Read More...

On July 15th, 2012 I began the most amazing experience of my life. When I stepped onto the breath taking River Beatrice behind by Grandmother, I realized that at age 17 I was easily one of the youngest passengers aboard. Not only that, but I had never traveled internationally, and I was about to be in three foreign countries over the course of a week. Of course I was excited, but there were quite a few butterflies as well!

As I learned later, there was no reason to be nervous, because I immediately became one of a ... 128 member family on the Beatrice. From day one, the crew was fantastic. Service was great, but so was the camaraderie. We hadn’t even set sail yet, and crew members were already smiling at me on the deck and commenting on my book, as well as directing me towards the library and offering to fill my glass with water. And we had just begun! The rest of the week could only get better.

On this trip, I was determined to try all sorts of new foods, and I had all sorts of opportunities to do so! All the food was AMAZING, and every dinner had a vegetarian option. The breakfast and lunch buffets had a variety of ever-changing options, and the culinary crew was always more than happy to recommend and describe any odd-looking dishes. For example, one afternoon in Germany I selected a hot pretzel to join my lunch, and Armin (a member of the crew) immediately recommended a dish of funny looking cheese sauce I hadn’t even noticed. It tasted fantastic! My personal favorite was a linguine with ‘sea fruits.’ Well I learned that ‘sea fruits’ consist of pieces of octopus and squid…yet it turned out to be a very delicious dish. Another fun touch was that every meal had some sort of local favorite. For example, the day we set sail in Hungary we had the option of eating Hungarian goulash, while in Germany we had Bratwurst.

I also had the opportunity to be a guinea pig for an amazing excursion- an (at least) 11 mile bike ride from the town of Dürnstein to Melk (Austria), through all sorts of little towns. A group of eight people set out on this adventure, and I stuck with a group of four friends I had made earlier in the week. The bike ride took us four hours- but not because of the distance! We stopped at a local café for a cappuccino, ate the picnic box lunch provided by the ship while looking over the Danube, explored St. Michael’s church, as well as purchased freshly picked apricots and peaches from a local seller. We biked by terraced vineyards and sunflower fields, all the way directed by signs. We got lost once when trying to find the boat, but that is the reason why we were the guinea pigs! :) We made it back late and missed the bus to Melk Abbey, but this was just an opportunity for the front desk to exercise their talents. Within minutes a taxi was called, and we drove to Melk Abbey where our tour manager Markus stood waiting with tickets. We walked in and joined the fourth group as if we had been right on time. The bike trip was definitely one of the highlight experiences of this trip for me, and I hope anyone else who sails the Danube has the opportunity to experience it!

But what was my grandmother doing during this biking adventure? Not everyone was physically capable for this sort of a ride…well, while I was enjoying a freshly picked apricot she was relaxing on the sundeck of the Beatrice as it sailed to Melk. The crew had prepared a barbecue on the deck for everyone to enjoy as they took in the beautiful scenery of the Wachau Valley. While I was able to tell stories about biking over cobblestones, GranAnn learned all about the pirates who used to raid the Danube and what all those crumbly buildings along the river were. So no matter where we were or what we were doing, we were creating memories unlike any other.

The second new excursion was a hike along the Else river in Passau, Germany. It was a three hour hike (although quite honestly, about 45 minutes was spent at a lovely local café) led by a fantastic local guide, Hika. The hike gave us a wonderful view of Passau that not everyone gets to experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is physically capable of wandering over dirt and root trails. The forest of Passau is beautiful, and is a unique experience that you can’t find on the deck of a ship.

All of the provided city excursions contained the perfect balance of tour guide time and free time. With a guide, we got an idea of the simple layout of the city, as a well as a fascinating history lesson. We were then free to explore as we wished, an opportunity my grandmother and I enjoyed. With the free time, we managed to find a fun bookstore in Vienna, as well as experience the subway in a foreign country. In Salzburg, we explored the local marketplace and enjoyed local food favorites (I highly recommend Baumkuchen!) If I wrote everything we did and enjoyed, I would be publishing a book, not writing a review. :) But for those curious about what we saw, I would say this cruise was the perfect first experience in Europe. We saw castle ruins, as well as vineyards. We explored local towns and the country side, as well as the two well-known European cities of Vienna and Salzburg. This trip was the perfect mix of everything, as well as an excellent teaser for any future trips!

Another unique feature of this cruise was how they created a fantastic experience by reading the group of people aboard the ship. Originally, there was only one onboard musical group scheduled to perform. (And they were AMAZING!) But as the week progressed, travelers began to dance. Every night after dinner, a good number of people would head to the lounge and dance as our pianist Zultan played and sang along. I learned to twist, cha-cha, and many more! Recognizing this developing hobby, ship managers Markus and Mario found a local jazz band from the area and brought them on board one night to play for us- not only for us to watch, but to dance along! We danced the night away, and even if you weren’t dancing, you were sipping a glass of wine watching and chatting with new acquaintances. The crew actually came to know us as people- for example, by the end of the week, everyone knew that my grandmother and I were in room 203 and that all I ever drank was water (much to the entertainment of bar tenders Georgi and Mladen!).

Not only did we become friends with the crew, but with the people around us. This is where the size of the River Beatrice comes into play. With a boat that only holds around 162 guests, we voyaged with 128 people. Because of the size, we recognized faces and made all sorts of friends. As the week progressed, we would always meet new people, but we would also create solid friendships over dinner and during city tours. We became one big happy family, one that was very hard to leave on the last day! All the trips and history I absorbed during this trip was amazing, but it was my fellow passengers and crew that added the icing on top of the cake. After all, what’s better than exploring the Danube River on a gorgeous boat full of friends? :) I’m never going to be able to thank my grandmother enough for sharing this amazing experience with me, and hope that whoever is in room 203 of the River Beatrice right now is having as much fun as we did.
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I can’t tell you how wonderful the River Royale Burgundy and Provence cruise was. I don’t know how Uniworld did it but it was even better than last year! The ship was very familiar as the same fabrics and colors were used. Just small things like additional American outlets in the cabins and reworking and separating the computer and coffee areas were big enhancements. The two large round tables with chairs that were in the computer area are GONE. So much less cluttered and easier to maneuver. The counter with computers is at same ... place but wraps to the outside wall. Only ice tea and cold water refill station is in this area now. The coffee is at the entrance hallway left side of lounge entrance. The lounge is a bit lighter as cream sofa material was used this year. The staff was outstanding. Most were new faces. Eric, the hotel manager, is still there and he had a larger visual presence this year and he kept surpassing in everything as I knew he would. Tony, was our tour manager. At first I was disappointed to find out AJ was on another ship but Tony was outstanding. He and Eric really went above and beyond the call. One gentleman in our group was older, slower and due to a back problem doesn’t walk quite as well or fast as others. But he is determined to see everything that he wants to see. In Avignon Tony arranged a taxi for he and another couple to the palace square. The three shared the cost of the car. Uniworld paid for the tram tour for them as they were unable to go on the others. The other couple went back to the ship in a taxi but my gentleman chose to walk. Tony walked with him to the gate just talking with him which was enough to satisfy Tony that he would safely arrive at the ship. In Viviers, Eric and Tony got the car of a staff member and drove the same three passengers to the cathedral for the concert and back to the ship. It was thoughtful touches like these that really made the difference. We were shadowed or shadowing other ships on the river. My group all wer singing high praises of the River Royale after seeing the other ships at various stops. Most everyone is home now and the memories are still glowing. The only comment I heard that would have made a couple of people’s cruise better would if the hot tubs were actually heated. But in the overall review of the week these were so MINOR and everything was so wonderful there were really no problems. On a good note River Royale actually offers shipping for a set fee. Great service. Mimosas as breakfast were a wonderful treat. Everyone is ready for to plan another one. So we will see when. Thanks for all you did to assist on this trip. Read More...