Uniworld Eastern Europe Explorer trip

Hi there Riverboat travelers,

We are looking at the Uniworld Eastern Europe Explorer trip. Has anyone taken this trip? What did you think? The boat is the Countess. Could you give the positives and negatives? We have also taken the Amsterdam to Budapest, China, Russia, and France riverboats trips, but some of these on Viking.

Pat,

We did this in 2008 (back-to-back with Amsterdam-Budapest) and enjoyed it enormously. It isn't the pretty geranium-encrusted tourist towns we saw along the Rhine. It was a fascinating insight into countries rebuilding themselves after the tragic wars that followed disintegration of Yugoslavia and communist bloc. The lunch with a Croatian family and school visit was a highlight.

The downside is that most tours involved bus travel and the group size was larger than the walking tours on the first leg. Not a big problem with Vox technology. However large groups do slow things down and make for a one-size-fits-all mentality. We're not shoppers so the afternoon we were left in a tourist shopping strip was frusrating. It was only once, thank goodness.

The River Countess staff looked after us very well. I cannot fault the service or the food. Our cabin was the cheapest, on the lower deck and very adequate for our needs. We use cabins/bedrooms to sleep, shower and dress. Otherwise we were on deck or on shore.

Our only experience with Viking is in Ukraine and Russia. I'm sure that is very different to what Viking offers in western Europe, so I don't compare the two experiences.

Uniworld issued a list of great books (not travel guides) to read prior to the cruise. I read as much as I could of their list and a few of my own. We did a private tour of Romania after the cruise and loved it. In fact I'm still reading everyhing I can of the Balkans and long to return.

Dear "Cool Cruiser"

We agree that Amsterdam to Budapest is a beautiful section. As far as the eastern europe route, would you suggest taking that trip alone? I guess we are wondering if there is enough to see rather than just the commentary.

thanks again. Pat

We enjoyed it as much as the western section. Other posters to this board were disappointed that the small Danube river ports weren't "set up for tourists". That was no problem to us. We were interested to see what was there and how people lived. The small ports were more like the back streets of Yaroslavl and Uglich on the Volga than the tourist facade along the Rhine. We didn't have a lot of time before or after the excursions to explore the ports, except Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna.

We stopped and were bused to an interesting and often beautiful/spectacular destination every day. Some older passengers found the daily bus trips tiring but we enjoyed seeing the country away from the river, though "enjoyable" isn't the word for the land mine warnings on the fences.

I can't remember which leg of the cruise had the most and biggest locks, there were lots of them. I spent most of the daylight cruising hours on deck watching the world go by. We enjoyed the company of our fellow cruisers immensely.

No sure that this is helpful, only you can decide if the detailed itinerary appeals to you or not.

Deb.

Dear HDS,

your information has been most benefecial. We remember those ports of Yuroslavl and Uglich. They were definitely not as touristy as the Rhine ports.

Thanks for the comparison as you noticed our previous trips. Pat

Pat,

I prefer the places that aren't touristy. Five blocks back from the riverbank's tourist facade the quaint Rhine towns slipped into suburbia, workshops and people doing ordinary jobs.

In 2008 Eastern Europs towns didn't have the facade, the suburbs weren't as affluent, the ordinary jobs weren't as wellpaid but the people were welcoming and happy to chat. There was a wealth of history and natural beauty to experience.

We felt so lucky to be going back to our comfortable riverboat cocoon at night and eventually reurning to a prosperous, peaceful Australia.

I do wish someone else would post, this is a subjective assessment.

Hi - our friends talked us into taking a 4 week Uniworld River Duchess river cruise through Europe next Aug. 1st. (Amsterdam to Budapest to Bucharest) We LOVE the big cruise ships so we hope we will love this, too!!!

I do have a question!!!!! I know that the river boats use 220 electricity. I am going to buy a dual wattage curling iron. I do have a Converter Set BUT it says "Do not use with ........ battery rechargers"!!!! Soooo - how do I charge my camera batteries???????

Thanks for any help you can give me!!!

Karen

PS - I just hope we don't go stir-crazy on a small boat!!!! My husband will throw me overboard if he doesn't get enough exercise!!!

Hi,

We have been on 3 Uniworld cruises and are planning our 4th…I'm also interested in the Eastern European itinerary new for 2015…

We are teetering on 2 choices..can you tell me more about the motor coach portion of the tours..

We LOVE Uniworld..it truly is a special experience….the ship…the crew and everything else…they just make you feel "special" which is what a vacation should be.

Tina

Please let me know about the bus part

MrsDave - This thread is three years old, so the original posters may be be checking it anymore. You would do better to start a new thread with your question.