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Optional Bratislava Tour Uniworld River Beatrice


Los_Pepes
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We took the Bratislava tour last year on our Scenic cruise, and very much enjoyed the drive from Vienna, the tour of the city and our free time. The old town is attractive and interesting. You'll want to consider what your interests are and what you're trading off by not going to Bratislava. We chose that tour over the tour offerings in Vienna; not that we weren't interested in Vienna, it's just that those particular tours didn't speak to us. Also, on Scenic, the excursions are included, so price was not a consideration.

 

I know these comments are rather broad; I'll be happy to try to answer any specific questions you have.

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We were on the Uniworld cruise that ended up getting an included Bratislava tour due to lock issues last fall. I'm sure it was not the same as the one included in the excursion, because we were only there for a couple of hours. We were very glad we had the opportunity to stop there, but it would have been hard to decide between that stop and more time in Vienna.

If this is listed as an optional excursion, most of them were around 39 euros on Uniworld last year. I just looked at the cruise companion and it looks like it depends which direction you're sailing as to what you substitute. If you need to give up time in Vienna, you'll need to decide what you want to see and do in Vienna. We really enjoyed being able to spend the morning on our own walking around the Schonbrunn gardens (we did not take the optional palace tour). But I would have liked to have spent a little more time in the city too.

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I've done a land tour of both Vienna and Bratislava, as my mother's family is from Slovakia. Both cities have amazing charm. Vienna offers many things to do and we actually spent 3 days there and 2 days in Bratislava. As mentioned, Bratislava has a very nice, very walkable old town area. There are plenty of artisan stalls selling hand crafted items. If you haven't done Vienna before, it may be hard to give up time there. If you've done Vienna before, or think you'll do Vienna again, I would recommend Bratislava.

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Has anyone taken the above mentioned tour? I am curious as to the price and if it is worth it. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

 

I see from the Uniworld itinerary that this tour is an option to cruising between Vienna and Budapest. I think it is worth doing as the Danube is not terribly scenic at this point. On my Uniworld cruise last year (River Princess: Giurgiu to Vienna) we actually docked in Bratislava and the tour of the city was included so I don't know the price of the optional tour. I see that between Budapest and Passau you also get dinner ashore, while the other way is simply the Bratislava tour so the costs will vary.

 

Bratislava's city centre is quite charming and fairly compact. It's well suited for a walking tour--although with our cruise Uniworld also offered a tour of the city by mini-train for those with restricted mobility.

 

I would take the tour. Bratislava (formerly known as Pressburg, Pozony, and Prešporok) is a city of historical importance and the old part of the city has been beautifully restored.

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Last September we sailed from Budapest to Passau on Uniworld. The River Beatrice stopped in Bratislava in the afternoon and dropped those of us who wanted to do the optional tour off. The ship proceeded to Vienna. We did not miss any tours in Vienna. We had a full day there the next day.

 

Bratislava is a lovely city and has had much restoration since it's communist days. We had a fabulous guide and the walk through the old town was great.

 

But we left Bratislava by bus and were transported to a very old restaurant filled with antiques and curiosities on the outskirts of Vienna for dinner. The food was so so and the included wine not very good. It was a very overpriced experience. The food on board was so much better.

 

I complained on my review. Hopefully the Bratislava tour no longer includes the restaurant stop. Bratislava is worth seeing but the restaurant isn't! The tour with dinner was pretty pricey for what we got. That was my only bad experience on this cruise.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

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Isn't Uniworld all inclusive this year?

 

Are they even charging for that excursion? If so, then they really *aren't * "all inclusive" as advertised.

 

We went with Scenic last year. It was our 2nd time there - but still wanted to go back (DH's family is Slovak).

 

Fran

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Sorry I don't remember what the tour cost. I just recall that it was overpriced because of the poor quality of the restaurant.

 

And yes, Uniworld is all inclusive this year. I looked in their catalogue and saw no mention of tours that were extra. I also saw nothing about the Bratislava stop on the cruise that I took. We also did a optional tour to the Schoonbrun Palace in Vienna. I did not see it listed either.So perhaps no optional tours are offered now.

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Sorry I don't remember what the tour cost. I just recall that it was overpriced because of the poor quality of the restaurant.

 

And yes, Uniworld is all inclusive this year. I looked in their catalogue and saw no mention of tours that were extra. I also saw nothing about the Bratislava stop on the cruise that I took. We also did a optional tour to the Schoonbrun Palace in Vienna. I did not see it listed either.So perhaps no optional tours are offered now.

 

Uniworld still has optional tours at extra cost. You can find details of all the tours in the Cruise Companion for your cruise in the "Before You Go" menu on the Uniworld website. It's a bit confusing as the included tours are listed as "Your Excursion Options" while the extra cost tours are listed as "Optional Excursions". The costs are not shown in the Cruise Companion, but will be listed on a sign-up sheet when you board. In my experience on several Uniworld cruises, the extra-cost tours were not expensive and usually were good value. On my last Uniworld cruise the cruise director also personally led some free informal walking tours of cities along the way. These were at free times when no other tours had been scheduled. Of course this may well vary from ship to ship.

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