need2travel1

Since we travel w/ Uniworld in Summer my husband wears a dress shirt & tie for the Welcome/Farewell dinners.  About half the men on our trips wear sports coats, the others just go w/ a dress shirt & maybe a tie. It really comes down to personal preference for most. If we traveled in the shoulder season he would definitely pack a sport coat but Summer is just too warm.  As a bonus-a tie takes up less room in the suitcase than a sport jacket.  Enjoy your trip, Paris to Normandy is a fantastic itinerary!!

What a fantastic experience in Viviers!  It sounds like you were truly lucky to have Frances as a guide.  Thanks for sharing the story about her great aunt.  Cheers to her!

Bob,

So glad Jeannie was feeling better relatively quickly, it's bad enough when you become ill at home but it's awful when it happens on vacation.  Shout out to Uniworld for taking care of things so seamlessly for you.  Their high level of service is one of the reasons we choose to travel with them.

Loving your review & pics-Lyon looks like a great city to wander around.   But now I have a problem-I want to do this cruise instead of the Castles on the Rhine that we're booked on next month!!  I don't think I can convince my husband though LOL.  Guess I'll just live vicariously thru your review......

Thanks for the update!  Enjoy your time in Venice🙂

That's a ridiculously long time for Viking to hold your money before you actually cruise, I don't think there is another line that asks for full payment that far in advance.  Please do look around at some of the other river cruise lines out there,.  So many of them go to the same cities/towns/ports that in some cases it really does come down to just your own personal preference/likes/budget, etc.  

Bob,

 I agree with you that too much Paris does not compute!  We've been to Paris 4 times (& 2x were w/ Uniworld) & are hoping to go back in 2020.  No matter how many sights we see there are always more on our list.  

I'm really looking forward to your review of the SS Catherine & the south of France as this itinerary is on our Must Do list sometime in the next 3-4 years.  

Enjoy the next phase of your vacation & keep those awesome pictures coming!!  

Sounds terrific!  Have a great trip & please post when you return.  Safe travels!

Just wanted to see if I can help answer your question about ages of river cruisers.  Hub & I did our 1st river cruise in our mid 40's & loved it.  We were among the youngest on the ship but we didn't care-we were seeing sites we wanted to see with a group of people who were interested in the same things.  We've now done 3 & are booked on our 4th river cruise & are in our late 40's/very early 50's.  

Look into Uniworld River Cruises-they have bikes you can take out & even some biking/hiking excursions on their trips.  

And remember-age is only a number, people of any age can enjoy spending time with other people of any age!  I know we certainly do.  Good luck with your planning!

Thank you for posting your photos of the D Day Beaches today.  It's such a moving place & I second your suggestion that if anyone who gets a chance to go to Normandy does so.    

We've done 3 river cruises w/ Uniworld & have been thrilled w/ them all.  Everything from the staff, ships, food & excursions are top notch & just seem to be getting even better.  We chose Paris & Normandy as our first river cruise. We're WWII buffs & the beaches were the main draw but we also loved Monet's Givernay & the visit to Versailles.  Of course it also includes time in Paris & that's awesome in itself!  A bonus for us was a direct flight both ways (we're from NY).   Do your research, enjoy your planning & I bet after your first time on the river you'll be as addicted as the rest of us here on the river cruise board are:)

Looks like a great trip already!  Thanks for taking the time to do a review, looking forward to the next installment....

The video is so frightening, thank God no one was killed.  We were on the Countess in 2017 & I actually got tears in my eyes watching the video. 

Thank you so much for the link to this article!  We are hoping to do this cruise w/ Uniworld for our 25th wedding anniversary next year.

On 5/24/2019 at 4:58 PM, patprov said:

Hi There.  Are you going on a river cruise also?

 

 

Yes we are, Uniworld's Castles on the Rhine-Basel to Amsterdam on the River Empress.  It's our 4th river cruise but the 1st on this itinerary.  We'll be going in late July & hoping (fingers crossed) for decent water levels.  

On 5/23/2019 at 12:00 PM, patprov said:

Is the Rhine generally calm?  Does it get very rough during storms?  Just curious.  I lived on a beach on Long Island Sound so I am aware how water can get.

Hello Fellow Long Islander,

We're on the "other shore":) Half a mile from the Great South Bay.

Enjoy your travels!

They usually involve a walking tour of the old town sections of whatever city/town you are visiting.  You'll learn a bit more & see more than if you do the panoramic tour.  You'll usually end up at a local market or maybe a specialty store to try a small snack that the area is famous for & then have some time on your own to explore a little more or shop (or have a cappuccino or glass of wine:))  

As PP said the Cruise Director will have more info on the excursions-they usually go over each of the next days options at the evening Port Talk the night before.  

Enjoy your planning!!

6 hours ago, Coral said:

I am curious - are you ok with Uniworld's water, just not the bottle/carafe? Or do you not like their water?

Overall I'm fine w/ their water-it's just the carafe that I'm not a fan of.  I feel like they just fill it in the bathroom & put it back out.  I know they don't do that, I know it's filtered & all but it's just the mental picture I can't get out of my head.  🙂

5 hours ago, helpmesailaway said:

This is just a suggestion that I have started to do recently.  Ive been packing my empty reusable water bottle  - that keeps water really cold -  then filling up and taking it along when I need it.

 

The aluminum water bottles on Uniworld were not very efficient and  leaked.  However I really appreciate their effort to help reducing all the plastic waste.

 

You could also fill from the carafes.  I'm super fussy about water "taste" and the water was good.

 

Enjoy your Rhine cruise - we loved it!!😊

We brought our own water bottles from home last time too & filled them for all our excursions & anytime we were up on the sundeck-they're 2x the size of the ones Uniworld provides.  I'm packing ones that have a built in filter this time too.  I was just looking for another option in addition to those.

Hey All,

We are taking Uniworld's Castles on the Rhine in July-sailing on the River Empress (very excited) & were wondering if we are able to bring a small case of water  (maybe 6 bottles) onboard w/ us?  I'm not sure if that's allowed or not.  We'd pick it up a local market over there & maybe get another small case in another port along the river.  I love Uniworld but hate the glass carafe of water they put in the room.  I know they have the water/coffee station in the hall & a bar where we can get water but last year we wound up carrying 4-5 glasses at a time back to our room for after dinner/overnight/early morning.  

For context-we just got back from 8 days at Disney World & I had a local grocery service deliver two cases (40 bottles each) to our hotel-we only had 6 left at the end of the trip.  I know, we nuts when it comes to water😳.

Thanks in advance!!

We travel in July so we always change for dinner-too hot & sticky after being on the go all day:)  My hub goes w/ dockers, dress shirt w/ sleeves rolled up & boat shoes & I go w/ black or white crops, a dressier top, slingbacks & jewelry.  Most people change for dinner-maybe a step or two up from daytime wear.  Everyone usually steps it up a bit more for the Welcome/Farewell Dinner.  I usually wear a sundress of some sort for those.  Enjoy yourself & have a great time!!

I'm sorry I can't help w/ your AMA question but we always get our Euro's before we leave home.  I pick them up from our local bank & when we get to Europe we're ready to hit the ground running & not have to start looking for an ATM.  As a bonus-if we have some leftover after our trip they go in the travel fund for the next year:)  

On 4/26/2019 at 1:05 AM, djett said:

Just returned from our fifth Uniworld cruise: Milan to Venice. Although this is not really a river cruise since most of the time the ship is docked in the Venice lagoon, it was the first time I ever felt any motion on a river cruise. The water traffic in the lagoon caused the ship to rock at times.

I felt the same way on our Venice cruise. It was the first morning & a very fast moving vaperetto sailed by while we were still docked, the ship rocked sideways a bit & I felt a little queasy for a few minutes.  That was the only time over the course of the week (& indeed 2 other river cruises) that I felt slightly sick.

19 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hey Brian, LOVING the photos...yes, I now officially have my deposit down!  I decided to save myself some more $ and book a window.  I was going to book a French Balcony but when I saw the price difference? The window will be just fine....it is almost 2500.00 difference! I remember from my river cruise back in 2016 I had a window and it was more than acceptable. I was never in the cabin during the day And they are waiving the Single Supplement as well!

Hey LoisR,

You are going to love this trip!  Venice is one of my favorite cities-so much so that we almost did this cruise again this July (took it in 2017).  If you're looking for a hotel we have stayed at both the Bauer Palazzo & the Luna Baglioni-both top notch hotels in great locations near St Marks Square.  Enjoy your trip!!

Looks great!  I'll be following along-have a great time & please do review when you get back home.  We did Venice on the River Countess in '17, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Looks great, looking forward to the next installment!