Uniworld River Royale

[mn2ga]

We are considering a Burgundy/Provence cruise on River Royale. Not having had any experience with Uniworld, I would like to hear others experiences with the company and that boat. We are specifically looking at a river cruise in southern France and are open to suggestions. Thank you.

[alexandra cruiser]

Have been on 8 or so with different lines,,,in general,,,like Uniworld the best for overall performance,good food,nice entertainment,great itineraries..etc....also like Viking,Ama,too....

 

This is very scenic area,great towns,etc...

 

I say,go for it,,can t go wrong,,,new boat,nice rooms,good staff,,,go for french balcony,if you can...:)

[wbarrister]

Go back about five pages in this section and you will find a review I did on this cruise upon our return in early July. I have never figured out how to directly attach the reference in a separate post but it is titled "River Poyale, etc. and is by me "Wbarrister". It should be helpful to you.

[crule]

Piggy backing on this thread...

 

For those of you who have done the NORTHBOUND itinerary, do you have any specific "time" information? Arrival/Departure?

 

I am going to be arriving in Arles on the Saturday morning prior to the cruise departure, and the monday itinerary of the cruise is also Arles - so that's 3 days in Arles. I am considering renting a car for 48 hours and heading out and doing some touring in the area - maybe explore the camargue or even a self-guided tour to Pont Du Gard or Les Baux or finding my own winery in the area instead of taking the ship's optional tours.

 

The specific question is what time on the Monday do they cast off lines in Arles and head north? Anybody know?

 

 

I'm going to send a note to Uniworld also and see if they can assist.

[giraffelt]

Crule

 

I would be interested in what you hear learn from uniworld. We are considering doing the south to north route next year. My original thought was to fly into marseile, pick up a car and do some touring in Provence before going to Arles. The difficulty is that the car rentals aren't open in Arles on Sunday.that means overnighting in Arles and like you felt it would be too much time there.

 

Appreciate any thought you might have

 

Larry

[crule]

Uniworld advised me that the ship would depart around 6pm enroute to Avignon - arriving in Avignon around 10p.

 

The Avis rental at the train station is indeed closed on Sunday - however, the ADA (www.ada.fr) car rental is open 7 days.

 

I am looking to grab a car as soon as I get into town on Saturday and have it for the entire day on Sunday.

 

My plan is on the Saturday - we're going to go to MontMajour and tour there and may sneak all the way to Pont Du Gard. On the Sunday, we're going to Les Baux and touring some wineries. Decided we'd do the ship's tour on Monday morning, and tour more of Arles by bike in the afternoon while the ship takes its own fee-based tour to Les Baux.

[crule]

Sorry - spoke too soon.

 

The AVIS rental at the train station is closed Saturday and Sunday. The ADA car rental is open every day but Sunday (but I think you can "return" on Sunday.

 

I just reserved my vehicle - 2 days -from 3p Saturday to 3p monday.

[giraffelt]

Crule

Thanks for the information. I see two options a) get into Arles on Saturday to drop the car b) arrive on Sunday and keep the car until Monday.

 

We are just starting the planning process

 

Regards

 

Larry

[crule]

Every day I'm looking at something - I've been finding some city maps of the various small villages along the way and printing them out and marking them up.

 

Just for your FYI - the Avis rental location at the train station is also closed on Saturday, too. So, take a look at ADA if you want some flexibility.

 

My itinerary has me getting to ARles around noon on the Saturday - so I'll drop off my bags, get checked in, and get a bite to eat - then go grab my car at 3pm. Pont du Gard is open until 5:30 - and is about a 30 minute drive away. So, now the itinerary is:

 

Get car - go to Pont du Gard. If there is time on the way back, go by Mont Majour Abbey.

 

Sunday - Les Baux, and 3 different winery/olive places. If time, hit that Mont Majour if I missed it on Saturday.

 

Monday - do ship's tour in the AM - and bicycle around in the afternoon (again, keeping that MontMajour in the loop just in case I missed it - it's only like 4km out of town - easily obtained by bike).

 

Enjoy your planning - I got my cruise docs today - so it's really starting to get close for us - 3 weeks away.

[giraffelt]

Crule

Thanks so much for sharing your information.

Enjoy your trip and safe journey

 

Larry

[crule]

It's my pleasure, Larry. Planning the trip is almost equally as exciting as being on the trip itself.

 

My wife and I are psyched about this trip - and especially with it being under 3 weeks away.

 

Enjoy your planning - I'll try to post some day-by-days on my trip, provided the internet connection is stable. Feel free to ask questions (it'll be a new thread) and I'll try to answer or go ask around get the answers you want.

[giraffelt]

Crule

Itrust that your cruise is going well despite the problems in France.

 

Larry

[giraffelt]

Crule

Itrust that your cruise is going well despite the problems in France.

 

Larry

[cole]

I would be interested in hearing about getting to the airport for an early morning flight at the end of the south to north trip. Currently our flight from Lyon to Paris departs at 7:30 a.m. We may have an opportunity to bump that up to 9:30 before our trip (May 2011), but if not - has anyone had any experience with an early flight and transferring from the ship to Lyon? Thanks for your help and looking forward to everyone's comments about their trips!

B. Cole

[jms]

We just returned from the Royale's Arles to Chalon sailing. It was our first river cruise and we loved every minute of it! We can't wait to pick another itinerary to do a different river. Regarding the early morning flights, there were shuttles at all hours of the morning starting at 3:45AM. It's about an hour and 30 to 45 minutes from Chalon to the Lyon airport so you'd have plenty of time for a 7:30AM flight.

Have a great time!

 

Regarding others who want to spend time pre-cruise - we chose Aix-en-Provence, at the Cezanne hotel and it was wonderful. Only a few blocks from the Cours Mirabeaux and the weekend markets were great for scarves and even fabric! We used a private guide to pick us up at MRS and then take us on a tour on the way to the ship in Arles. She also took us to Les Baux on Monday along with St Remy (the only place it rained!).

 

Enjoy!

[KarlS]

We just returned from the Royale's Arles to Chalon sailing.

 

Hi,

 

Hoping you will post a review. We are on the same itinerary, although in the opposite direction, in mid-April, along with the 3-night pre-cruise in Paris. This will be our fifth Uniworld Europe river cruise, but our first on Royale. We can't wait. (We're glad we're not there this week, with the strikes, no petrol, and associated disruptions).

 

...Karl

[crule]

Crule

Itrust that your cruise is going well despite the problems in France.

 

Larry

 

 

Greetings and "bienvenue" from France.... We're currently enroute between Vivers and Tain L'Hermitage at this moment.

 

Cruise is going well... Arrived Saturday AM to CDG and made my connection to Marseille.... security lines a little crowded, but we made our connections with little incident.

 

I've been following the strikes up until our departure - and I made a change to my plans on Wednesday - opting to rent a car in Marseille and drive / tour around Arles instead of my original plan to take the train from MRS to Arles and then rent a car.... all the trains (well, almost all of them) are cancelled between Marseille and Arles - so good thing I switched.

 

Toured Les Baux, Pont du Gard, and other sites on my own.... toured some wineries and bought some wine..

 

Embarcation was cake ... drove up in my rental car with luggage -was met on the quai and they took my bags immediately and I went off and toured... later that evening (this is Sunday, btw) came back in - they knew exactly who I was.

 

BTW - age on the cruise... definately late 40's and up - very diverse between late 40's up to in the 60's - retirees mostly - but a lot of folks who are still working...

 

At 39, my wife and I are the youngest - with only the crew being younger... but we're enjoying ourselves and are making lots of friends.

 

OK... Arles - walking tour in Arles - had a very spunky british expat guide us - nice tour. Skipped the optional afternoon tour and went back and hit the sites we did on the tour with more detail.

 

Avignon - STRIKES!!! Saw a "manifestation" in Avignon - they were striking that day - but we walked by the protesters... toured the city - again, skipping the afternoon pay-to-tour and doing avignon again in more detail.

 

Today was Viviers - half-day here - walked around - saw an organ concert - then made our own way to the ship...

 

Now, enroute to Tournon/Tain L'Hermitage....

 

Crew is great - Istvan, the restaurant manager is super nice - sharing lots of conversations with him ...... I'm having fun flirting with the Hungarian housekeeping girls...

 

Captain is very approachable... speaks about similar English that I do French - but we can have basic conversations and make some really basic small talk...

 

Internet is FREE (but relatively slow - since it's a high latency sat-link). Also, no problems with carry-on wine for pouring in the dining room....no corkage fees - haven't tried drinking it in the "bar" area.... (grin).

 

I'll check in daily / every other day - if any of you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them...

 

After the cruise is finished, I can give some commentary on service, food and beverage, and other items ....

 

On the whole - very well run ship - SO different from Ocean Cruising.... the people in France are very very nice - and if you make attempts to communicate with them in french - 9 out of 10 them let you talk and try to work with you in french... but there is the 10th person who just immediately jumps to english ...possibly because they are impatient or maybe that they want to help "me" out by switching... but I'm trying to actually learn french - so I WANT to speak to them in french - it helps build my vocabulary and fluidity...

 

Keeping an eye out on the French News and also eyeballing trip advisor along the way....it looks like this could get nasty as the cruise continues - especially in the larger towns - like Lyon, which we hit in 2 days... could get ugly there - they were rioting and throwing tear gas there today....

 

Anyway - live from the River Royale....

[Cruisermann]

The ship will get you to the airport which serves as the train station as well. Train is a better option

[giraffelt]

JMS

 

I am interested in knowing the name of your guide. We are booked for next year south to north and arelanning on using aix-en-province as our base for a few days prior to the river cruise.

 

Larry

[2DesertRats!]

Agree with everything crule says about the Royale. Did this cruise last November north to south and Loved it!

 

In particular, we were impressed with the personal care we received. My DW has some significant food allergies and after speaking to one of the waiters the first day, the restaurant manager found us and went over the menu DAILY(!!!) to be sure that there was safe options for her.

 

Uniworld and the Royale are just plain excellent.

[KarlS]

My DW has some significant food allergies and after speaking to one of the waiters the first day, the restaurant manager found us and went over the menu DAILY(!!!) to be sure that there was safe options for her.

 

I can confirm this kindness. I'm allergic to nuts, (although, strangely, not peanuts), and I have experienced the same attention by our waiters and/or the head chef on our Uniworld cruises on Duchess, Queen, and Baroness. :)

[KatsQ]

We are considering a Burgundy/Provence cruise on River Royale. Not having had any experience with Uniworld, I would like to hear others experiences with the company and that boat. We are specifically looking at a river cruise in southern France and are open to suggestions. Thank you.

 

We traveled on the River Royale and have to say it was a magnificent experience. We were on the Grand France cruise, which left out of Paris to Normandy, back to Paris. Then we were bused south and continued onto Arles on the River Royale. Uniworld is by far the best of the river cruises and I have no complaints. In fact, we chose Uniworld again for a cruise through Hungary, Germany, Austria and ending in Amsterdam. Getting ready for our third Uniworld cruise in 2011. Enough said?! Enjoy!

[jms]

To Giraffelt

Re: tour guide for Provence area - tour.designer@provence-travel.com - Catherine D'Antuono. She also provided us with a colleague to take us to Chateauneuf du Pape because she herself was unavailable that day. Sorry I took very, very long to answer this and I hope you see it - I have not been online in several months because of various responsibilities.

You can email me directly at; joann@speicher.org

[giraffelt]

JMS

 

I appreciate the response. We are just starting to work out the details for our Rhone cruise. Coincidently, today, we just confirmed our hotel reservations in Gordes. We decided to use Gordes as our base for 3 nights and then Aix for 2 nights. Then we will transfer to Arles for the cruise.

 

I have some generic questions about the cruise right now so I will start a new thread in the hopes of attracting a broader audience.

 

thanks

 

larry

[giraffelt]

We are booked on the July 10 sailing and are planning on arriving 5 days in advance to explore Provence by car. With the exception of Marseille airport it's not possible to return a rental car on Sunday (the 10). My plan was to drop off the car in Aix-en-Provence on Saturday and to stay there over night and then hire a car service to drive us to Arles. The problem is that it would seem every hotel in X is booked (haven't been able to figure out why).

 

I am looking for suggestions on how we can a) spend 1-2 days in X b) drop off the car on Saturday and c) get to Arles for Sunday embarkation. We have booked 4 nights accommodation in Gordes.