Uniworld Burgundy & Provence Review

We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the River Royale starting at Arles and ending at Chalon sur Saone. I will try to be brief, but if anyone has any questions don't hesitate to ask. We were met at the airport in Marseilles and driven to Arles, which was about a 45 minute bus ride. Upon arriving, our luggage was readily taken to the ship by staff and shown to our cabin and everything explained. Lunch was being served for arriving guests. Daily we had walking excursions in each of the towns and some were bus tours to villages away from the port. Optional excursions for about $50 each person were offered in the afternoons 3 days and they were well worth the cost. The food was excellent, service could not have been better and Eric the Hotel Manager and Tony the Cruise Director were always available and took exceptional care of everyone. The cabins are small, but there is plenty of storage for clothes and under bed storage for luggage. France was on "holiday" from Thursday through Sunday, so shopping was sort of limited, but when you consider that the Euro is 1.45 compared to US dollar - they probably were doing us a favor. Be aware that one person had her purse stolen out of her car while she was being distracted by two people and she lost her passport and $500 Euros. Another person was riding one of the loaner bicycles and had his money in a fanny pack attached to his bicycle seat and $200 was stolen. Be aware is the best advice anyone can give. Any questions?

B. Cole

We are leaving tomorrow for the Uniworld Grand France tour. Both Paris to Normandy and Chalon sur Saone to Arles.

Thanks for the review. We are really looking forward to the trip. We have had Tony as a Cruise Director before and are glad he is on our cruise. He did a great job.

Any recommendations of "things not to miss"?

Any recommendations of "things not to miss"?

Let's see: the food, the wine, the excursions, the optional excursions, etc. Just joking (of course) we loved everything about this cruise. We were just surprised that even though Thursday was a religious holiday that most shops were closed from then through Sunday. Generally when there are ships in most ports - the doors are opened wide for the visitors. And the Royale was not the only ship in each port at one time.

B. Cole

Cole,

from an earlier post I had learned that on the North to South itinerary there were several days on which the ship sailed to the next town mid afternoon. Is that the case when going South to North?

Larry

Your review was great. I would love to take that cruise someday. It sounded a lot better than my recent AMA cruise where the tour director was disorganized and we never met the hotel director. Uniworld sounds very nice. I love France. I have traveled to Paris many times and have also been to many other towns. I still have not been to Arles. I have had my pocket picked in the USA and Spain.( many years ago)..never in France. I know that it can happen anywhere. I wear a money belt under my clothes, and carry a pac-safe bag with my daily stuff ( camera, umbrella, tour book, etc.) Get a steel lined bag like Pac-safe and the thieves will leave you alone. They can spot a steel bag. They are knowledgeable and stay away from those people. Be smart. Don't loose track of your stuff, never wear a fanny pack or backpack, be alert, wear dull clothing, wear no jewelry or just ordinary cheap looking stuff, and relax. I travel looking like an ordinary nobody ( no frills or jewels ) and I am fine. The less you have, the less likely that you will become a victim.

Fred111, Please be sure to post a review of Grand France. We're doing it next year and want to know how the refurbed Baroness is. Also interested in the mid-cruise stop in Paris and how it works, what hotel etc.

Cole,

from an earlier post I had learned that on the North to South itinerary there were several days on which the ship sailed to the next town mid afternoon. Is that the case when going South to North?

 

Larry

Larry:

Monday, sailed at 6:00; Tuesday at 6:30; Wednesday at 1:15; Thursday at 3:00; Friday at 5:30; Saturday you are at Chalon sur Saone where the next cruise begins. Both Monday and Tuesday there were optional afternoon tours, which did not return to the ship until about 5:30.

B. Cole

We are at the airport right now. I'll post a review as soon as we get back.

Cole,

posting the sailing times was most helpful. We were thinking of skipping the Monday optional tour to Les Baux as we will have visited there on our own the previous week. Is there more to the tour that would warrant us reconsidering? Definitely will take the Monday tour to Pont du Gard. We also are planning on taking the optional tour on Saturday .

Seems Wednesday and Thursday will be more relaxed days given the early sailings.

Thanks for your post and glad to hear that you enjoyed the trip. I trust your train arrangements worked out for you.

Larry

Cole,

posting the sailing times was most helpful. We were thinking of skipping the Monday optional tour to Les Baux as we will have visited there on our own the previous week. Is there more to the tour that would warrant us reconsidering? Definitely will take the Monday tour to Pont du Gard. We also are planning on taking the optional tour on Saturday .

Seems Wednesday and Thursday will be more relaxed days given the early sailings.

 

Thanks for your post and glad to hear that you enjoyed the trip. I trust your train arrangements worked out for you.

 

Larry

In addition to Les Baux, there is a tour of an olive farm included in this optional tour, but if you have already done Les Baux, I don't think the additional price of the optional tour would be worth the olive farm (although we certainly enjoyed that too).

Now, the train trip is another story. Arrived at the train station 30 minutes before our train was scheduled to leave, the ticket man gave me the tickets and after searching and searching for information on the board as to the track it would leave on, finally found a wonderful gentleman who spoke English who took me back inside the ticket office where a delightful young lady (ticket agent) informed me that the train to Lyon was not scheduled because of repairs on the track! She rescheduled us through Dijon and that train left 1 hour later and arrived in Paris 1 hour later than we had planned, but it was a little scarey at the start. The TGV was very nice (and fast) but upon arriving at the station in Paris, there was a line for taxis that added another 30 minute wait. We made it to the hotel though and had a pleasant evening and were glad we had decided to leave the cruise on Sat. afternoon rather than Sunday.

B. Cole

Cole,

Glad to hear that your train adventure turned out ok.

One last question. I have been looking at Uniworld's Before You Go document about gratuities. They recommend 3euros for the local Host per day. this is in addition to guides and drivers. So my question is What is a local Host/Hostess? What do they do?

Larry

Cole,

 

Glad to hear that your train adventure turned out ok.

 

One last question. I have been looking at Uniworld's Before You Go document about gratuities. They recommend 3euros for the local Host per day. this is in addition to guides and drivers. So my question is What is a local Host/Hostess? What do they do?

 

Larry

I assume they are talking about Tony, who we referred to as the Cruise Director. He is the person who takes care of everyone! Gets people on their respective buses, coordinates the different excursions, etc. You will see him everywhere and any problem you have - Tony can solve it. He is well worth the $3 per day - just wait and see!

B. Cole

Actually the local host/hostess is only during pre and post cruise extensions. They are the equivalent of the cruise director during the cruise itself.

Gnome12

Thanks for the clarification.

Cole

We look forward to meeting Tony

We received our travel folder and luggage tags today so the excitement is building

Larry

We are in Paris right now and board on Sunday. We are staying at the Hotel Duquesne Eiffel. Couldn't have picked a better hotel. Walking distance from most tourist areas and a great view of the Eiffel Tower from our window.