ninaks

We did a one day trip to Lucerne from Basel before our river cruise and took a trip on the lake and went up Mt. Pilatus.  It was well worth it!    We took a train, bus, funicular, boat  and gondola all in one day.  It is a gorgeous town and the mountains are beautiful.  I had never been up a funicular before and it was a quite an experience.   I would highly recommend it.  If you go to the train station , they gave us all the information we needed for the trip.  

My travel agent contacted Uniworld. If you test positive once the cruise starts,  He was told we would be put off the ship at the next port and you would not get a refund.      You would be responsible for quarantine expenses once off the ship.  i know you can purchase travel insurance that will cover some quarantine expenses but i don't know if it would cover what i am sure would be a large cost to change flights to dates after quarantine.  This is the scenario that really bothers me because I personally know 4 fully vaccinated people that have Covid now and 2 of them got it from another vaccinated person.  Delta variant is just so contagious and i believe the number of breakthrough mild cases are underreported since you can be asymptomatic or just feel like you have a cold.   We have made the very difficult decision to cancel our cruise in October.  We plan to reschedule for next fall.   I am so sad about this but i know i would be kicking myself if I caught covid during the cruise and was quarantined.  

Uniworld did the same thing yesterday, requiring vaccines.

I am currently booked to do a Uniworld cruise for October on the Rhine and Moselle.  Trying to decide if need to cancel and reschedule or not.  Does anyone know the policy if you were to get sick while on the cruise, how is that handled?  I am just concerned with the Delta variant being so contagious, even though i am fully vaccinated.  Do they do testing during the cruise at all?   Would you need to quarantine on the ship or off?  Who would pay for that if you have to leave the ship and how would this all impact the person you are sharing a cabin with?  I know, so many questions.....  My gut is telling me I should cancel, oh but my heart really wants to go on this trip.....

Just now, gnome12 said:

I don't think that is what they are saying. They are saying that some ships seem to have had all their sailings cancelled, because they are likely consolidating passengers on other sailings of the same route.

Thank you for that clarification..... I am slightly on edge I guess....

I am booked in October on Uniworld for Rhine and Mosselle, but anxiously reading this post.  Are you all saying that Viking has cancelled most of their trips through October?

We are booked for Rhine and Moselle for October.  I know France is opening up, hoping the same for Germany for our trip.  I am hoping most passengers are fully vaccinated on the cruises but I don't think they are requiring that unfortunately.

My brother and his wife were thinking of taking advantage of the 50% off savings for summer Uniworld cruises.  He is looking at either a cruise in France or Spain/Portugal cruise.  He was asking me if i thought the towns would be safe to stop in and if stores and restaurants would be open.   They are fully vaccinated.  I know they are just opening up river cruising in Europe so I was hoping someone had already done the research on how it is being handled in the small towns the boats dock at. Any information would be appreciated or if you do go on a cruise soon, please post a review with these details.  Thank you

thank you all for your suggestions.  I am now even more thrilled to take this voyage.  I did find out the River  Queen was not redone during Covid times, but I really don't care.  

thank you for your response.  We have never been on Uniworld before, only Viking.  Would you recommend Uniworld?

Thank you for the offer of help.  In Baden Baden, they have these choices: 

Choice of 

I am trying to stay positive for a cruise in October with Uniworld for the Rhine and Moselle on the Rive Queen.  Several days of the cruise you have choices of excursions.  Has anyone done this trip and can make recommendations on which of these they enjoyed?  thank you!

Does Uniworld do referral discounts?  if so, does anyone have one to share?  thank you

I know it isn't much of a river, and a lot of the tours you have to go by bus, but we are still considering this since I want to see Italy and I love just unpacking once. We have done river cruises on Viking on the Rhine and Danube. Can anyone share their experiences on the Po River? thank you!

HI, just came back from a Gate 1 cruise down the Danube on the new Monarch Empress and loved it. Highly would recommend Gate 1, especially on their new ship. I wrote up a bit comparing Gate 1 and Viking that might be good for you to read. No problem with smoking on the ship at all. I don't even remember seeing one person smoking.

We went inside the Melk Abbey and that was included, but the rest, we did not go inside. The Schoenbrunn palace was an optional excursion you had to pay for if you wanted to go there. There is plenty of time on your own so you can go where you want and nothing costs that much. I think you will love Gate 1. They were very organized and the staff was great.

Yes, IMO, I believe Gate 1 the better value if you are on their new ship. There is one thing to keep in mind though. Gate 1 only uses a very few ships so if there are issues , there probably isn't a ship they can transfer you to, where Viking probably can. We had no issues on our trip, but I have read several reviews where viking moved people to a different ship due to water levels.

Just took my 3rd river cruise. I did the first 2 with Viking(Rhine and South of France) and enjoyed them very much. This time we took Gate 1 down the Danube on their new ship. The Gate 1 cruise at the time we booked it was $1000 less per person than the same trip and dates on Viking. I couldn't find much information out there on Gate 1 river cruises before I booked, so i thought I would share my thoughts on comparing the two companies. All 3 of my cruises have been wonderful and I really have no major complaints about any of them. I will do a trip review later when I recover from my jet lag....

Ship: On Viking ,I was on a new longship and for Gate 1, their brand new Monarch Empress. Both ships were very nice. I think the bathroom was nicer on Gate 1 with a better shower. Gate 1 had nice seating on the top of the ship in the front that Viking didn’t have, but Viking had the great Aquavit lounge in the front of the ship that Gate 1 didn’t. Both ships were great. Gate 1 ship was smaller, with max capacity of 144 vs I think 100 more on some Viking ships. I liked the smaller ship

Staff: Loved the crew on both ships. One thing I liked on Gate 1 better was they had 3 cruise directors, not just one. You worked with your same cruise director on all your excursions.

Excursions: Local guides for both companies were very good. Viking did a better job with getting you inside places, such as cathedrals or castles, where I felt Gate 1 would take you on the outside and tell you the history but then left it up to you if you wanted to take the time later to explore more inside. On the Danube, I really wanted to go to Salzburg and only Gate 1 offered that as an optional tour, but not Viking.

Food: This is where Viking excelled. Gate 1’s food was good but they didn’t offer nearly as many choices each night. Also they didn’t tie the food at all to the area you were visiting. Viking’s food was better tasting. Both ships had good food, Viking was just a step up.

The little extras: Viking did more little things such as giving you a water bottle to you as you left the ship or handing you a drink as you came back from an excursion.

Entertainment on the ship: Both had very good piano players but Gate 1 did more shows at night to entertain such as a Crew talent night or Dance Bingo. They also had a movie one day and a history lesson taught through a family stories of one of the Cruise Directors.

So for the money savings, I was very happy with Gate 1. I am happy to answer any specific questions.

We ate at this restaurant in Lyon and loved it. We ate dinner there, so i am not sure though if they do lunch. It is not to be missed. 3 course course meal that is very reasonable and so amazing. Small place on a side street. you need reservations in advance. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187265-d2192358-Reviews-L_Archange-Lyon_Rhone_Rhone_Alpes.html

yes, we are starting in Budapest. We actually arranged a private tour through a guide Rick Steves had recommended. We are doing 4 hours a day for 2 days in a private van going through all sites in Budapest including the Jewish heritage sites and lots of markets.

Curious if there was any particular reason you skipped Salzburg. We were thinking of going to both Salzburg and Cesky. Do you think that would be too much? I hope it rains a lot so we don't miss anything. Keep the information coming! thanks so much

As part of our pre-extension we did the salt mine tour in Krakow and the Jewish interest tour in Budapest which were both optional and well worth doing. On the River Cruise we went to the Viennese concert which was very nice and gave us the added benefit of seeing Vienna at night. We went to Cesky Krumlov today and I highly recommend it. Absolutely charming and not too strenuous. We are opting to stay in Passau tomorrow rather than going to Saltzburg.

The food has been good and nicely presented. There are three entres each night (one is vegetarian) and in addition, a chicken breast dinner is always available. The service is excellent. A white and red wine are available each night and are always different. Or you can have beer with dinner. You are not limited to one glass.

The beds are very comfortable, but if you don't like sleeping with just a duvet comforter, ask for a sheet and the steward will make you bed with a duvet cover as a top sheet.

There is a small refrigerator in the room and the hair dryer is a professional model. The lighting in the room and bathroom is well done. There are plenty of electrical outlets, but if you bring something with a plug that has one prong larger than the other (like a curling iron) you will need an adaptor for it, as the two 110 US plugs on the desk only accept the small prongs of electronics.

Don't hesitate to ask me questions, I'm having such a great time, and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

 

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and one more thing I forgot to ask... any water level issues? thanks again so much for sharing

this is perfect, thanks so much for sharing. It seems it is getting cooler. do you need a coat now? Have you heard from anyone that went to the Palace optional excursion and was that worth it? Anything else you care to share we would love to hear. How is the cruise director?

We are on the Monarch Empress in a week. Can you tell me if you have taken any optional excursions and how it went? how is the food? any other tidbits you can share?

While we were in Lyon, we ate at this restaurant and had my favorite meal ever. It is a tiny restaurant, but great food and a great price. Make reservations in advance if you decide to go. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187265-d2192358-Reviews-L_Archange-Lyon_Rhone_Rhone_Alpes.html

Are you certain the concert is during the day. Our cruise and other cruiselines went during the evening

 

 

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Sorry, I meant it was on the same date, not day. It is offered at night