U by Uniworld: New River Cruise Line for Millennials

I wish Uniworld the best of luck on this venture.

I wish Uniworld would do set asides for some of their regular cruises for “active” seniors. Cruises with Tours with more activities at a higher pace.

Along with other reasons, Viking drove us away, with cruisers that refused to do the slow group and brought the regular tours to a snail’s pace. Uniworld has been a bit more proactive in identifying and segregating those travelers, but more could be done . Best yet would be to set aside perhaps one sailing per month, of their various cruises, and make them highly active. See more, do more, and broaden experiences.If I was a 20 or 30 something, I’D probably be ready to strangle some of the cruisers that take 10 minutes to walk a block while I wait and wait!

The new U should be great for them and I’d like something similar with a bit more refined elegance for we 45+ - 70. I think those cruises would sell like hot cakes .

I wish Uniworld the best of luck on this venture.

 

I wish Uniworld would do set asides for some of their regular cruises for “active” seniors. Cruises with Tours with more activities at a higher pace.

 

Along with other reasons, Viking drove us away, with cruisers that refused to do the slow group and brought the regular tours to a snail’s pace. Uniworld has been a bit more proactive in identifying and segregating those travelers, but more could be done . Best yet would be to set aside perhaps one sailing per month, of their various cruises, and make them highly active. See more, do more, and broaden experiences.If I was a 20 or 30 something, I’D probably be ready to strangle some of the cruisers that take 10 minutes to walk a block while I wait and wait!

 

The new U should be great for them and I’d like something similar with a bit more refined elegance for we 45+ - 70. I think those cruises would sell like hot cakes .

I did a bit more research on U by Uniworld and I suspect the bulk of their customers will come via Contiki which is actually age restricted 18-35 rather than up to 45.

It looks like Emerald are offering something akin to that (minus the parties) with their "for active travelers" river cruises but it is $1100pp more for a similar Rhine cruise.

U by Uniworld $1700 for a Rhine cruise is very affordable even if it doesn't include lunches

Note that "millennial" =/= "under 45." If U is going to be strict on the age limit, marketing as "millennial only" or "designed for millennials" is a great way to alienate the age 35-45yo Gen-Xers who may have been more likely to consider this type of cruise.

Any guesses on how long it will take to open it up to all ages?

 

 

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Robin

They may be starting.

I got an email today:

Let's go!!!

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Darn it! I'm 2 years too old. This concept is right up my alley.

Darn it! I'm 2 years too old. This concept is right up my alley.

You are not too old for the all ages cruises.

I am for the more actively focused U World. Although I must say, my recent Viking cruise did a good job of of dividing the active and not so active groups. We were simply assigned to different busses, with different tour guides.

You are not too old for the all ages cruises.

Some days I'm not so sure about that ;)

Well, that didn't take long did it? :)

This could be two things. Either the voyages aren't selling and they have to open them up to all, or they want us oldsters on board so that we'll send our kids on a future voyage, or tell our younger friends, coworkers, etc.

The dates available are widely scattered so I'm not totally convinced that it's the former. Time will tell, of course...if they start opening a lot more voyages to all ages, then I would certainly suspect that it's a problem filling ships. But I'm not sure yet.

2018 is pretty full for us already so we're not planning to take one of these.

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Interesting many of the Paris cruises are fully booked, but none of the other destinations are...yet.

The web site is rather vague about what is and isn't included for U. So for now we'll stick with what we know and enjoy and book with Uniworld.

RB

I like the concept of U of Uniworld, but quite honestly, the Bucharest to Budapest itinerary I did last fall had plenty of activity - climbing up hand hewn stone steps to a church in a cave, climbing to the top of rock formations, touring Bucharest and Budapest on foot, etc. I don't know how much more active I want to be. :cool:

Roz

On my singular Viking tour, they did a horrible job of separating the less physically able out! Even when valid complaints were made about some individuals. Joining a slow group was fully voluntary and some cruisers , that refused to join the slow groups brought tours to a near halt.

As an example, we had three elderly ladies that lived in assisted living on the cruise. They claimed to be in the best shape of anyone in that facility, so the slow group would obviously be for all those others certainly not them! Wrong!

I am a fully active 67 year old in good health and good shape. I would never claim , however, I could keep up cycling ( for example) long distances with a bunch of 25-35er! Nor would I ever consider being the old geezer that they were made to wait on! I’d be the same jerks those ladies were for doing so! Uniworld can be a bit sedate at times, but I love their cruise and wouldn’t want to negativity affect an U cruise. Let the younger set have their fun unhindered!

I am a fully active 67 year old in good health and good shape. I would never claim , however, I could keep up cycling ( for example) long distances with a bunch of 25-35er! Nor would I ever consider being the old geezer that they were made to wait on! I’d be the same jerks those ladies were for doing so! Uniworld can be a bit sedate at times, but I love their cruise and wouldn’t want to negativity affect an U cruise. Let the younger set have their fun unhindered!

Just keep in mind that the normal cut-off age is 45, so there are a lot of people over that age who would not have any problems keeping up.

I do agree though that many people are not good at rational self-assessment of their abilities, whatever their age...

I did not get the all-ages email, although maybe that's because I fall into their current U by Uniworld demographic. Funny thing is, I've been turned off by how trendy they've been making it look, and how they executed their social media influencer program (I actually asked if they'd consider including me, since I have prior Uniworld experience, work in social media, and know for a fact some folks have booked cruises because of my not-for-profit blog—they said no, likely because I'm not a trendy influencer). I'd be more likely to book a U by Uniworld cruise on the all-ages dates if I thought I'd avoid the drunken 20 year olds :)

How many 20 year olds can afford a Uniworld cruise, whether they're drunk or sober?

Roz

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There are a lot of 20 year olds who have credit cards and substantial debt loads who 'deserve' vacations 😉 just as there are those who might travel with their parents or grandparents.

We did not get the email that JPAlbany got, but do get weekly notices about 30% off and special cruises for photographers, etc.

We have travelled on the Ambassador 3 times and it is now 'A' for U, so are interested is seeing what they've done to tart it up.

Originally the concept of U sounded great...more evenings in port to check out the local flavour....more active experiences, but if everything ends up being a la carte then the € are going to add up , so I'd rather pay it all up front, have them do my laundry for free and pamper me the way they have up till now...

RB

I still don't see most 20 year olds choosing Uniworld if their objective is to get drunk every night. Their are less pricey cruise options available in Europe.

I didn't get the all ages email either.

Roz

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Maybe not the 20 year olds, but the 30 to 45ers ?

We have had young honeymooners on a number of our Uniworld cruises, so there is interest.

Quite popular now for wedding gift registries is a travel agency instead of a department store...maybe that is where U should concentrate their promos.?

RB

Where does this ignorant position that 20 and 30 year olds only want to get drunk every night come from??? I lived in Europe in my twenties and meet multitude of similar aged travelers they wanted to see and experience Europe. Getting drunk every night was definitely not on their Agenda!

In fact, their desire to see and experience Europe would definitely differentiate them from many older travelers. They often would have zero desire to go back to the ship to have another Americanized meal/lunch, but to eat local authentic cuisine. They’ Often more interested in seeing the local entertainment after dinner, than going to bed by 9:00!

Those that want to get drunk every night are far more likely to go to Cancun or dome all inclusive beach resort in lieu of paying to travel to Europe!

I would tend to agree that river crusing is not that great an appeal for the real party people in their twenties, in Europe they head to the island of Ibiza, other beach resorts or take cheap flights to the Baltic countries (where they sometimes behave appallingly). The idea of trying out local food and "sophisticated" nightlife actually into the night - rather than stopping at 10pm - will be the real appeal I should think. And using all those modern gadgets to the full, probably. Having a mystery tour in Paris in some museum (I cannot recall what they call the event) and eating on Montmatre or in the Quartier Latin, would have loved that in my twenties. Actually, I did that when I was 18! Apart from the gadgets.

I would not mind doing an all age sailing with them, I like the design, it is just something different. If it works out I will have a closer look at the ship when it sails the Rhine. Just from the embankment probably.

notamermaid

I did not get the all-ages email, although maybe that's because I fall into their current U by Uniworld demographic. Funny thing is, I've been turned off by how trendy they've been making it look, and how they executed their social media influencer program (I actually asked if they'd consider including me, since I have prior Uniworld experience, work in social media, and know for a fact some folks have booked cruises because of my not-for-profit blog—they said no, likely because I'm not a trendy influencer). I'd be more likely to book a U by Uniworld cruise on the all-ages dates if I thought I'd avoid the drunken 20 year olds :)

I agree with the social media influencer program, and the whole social media marketing angle. I thought the adult-oriented marketing (or any cruise line, for that matter) was contrived. But U is over the top. It looks like Studio 54 and goth mixed together. I love the itineraries, the overnighting in ports, pub crawls, etc, but would rather do this on their more comfortable "plush" ships.

Robin

I am booked on one of this AGELESS itinerary and look forward to my 2nd river cruise.

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