Uniowrld - Queen Isabel

[Tazisrose]

I enjoyed reading ALL the posts. I have not found much on River Princess, we are going June 7, 2014, Uniworld, River Princess, European Jewels from Amsterdam to Budapest, 15 days. We have never river cruised, only the big ships on the ocean, which have gotten too big we think, like being in Disney World to get in line for a buffet. We will probably try Regents or Crystal for our next one, but Celebrity Solstice was very very nice and had adult areas and lovely solarium. Back to the river cruise, it is the first for me to fly to Europe, but we do have business class...so maybe that will help. Never flew business class either. We have category 2, which was a 1,200 upgrade. I see all the cabins are same size except for the four suites...but maybe we should go category one with the full window?? and french balcony?? Any feelings from anyone on that? We had friends who traveled Uniworld 2 yrs ago, said food was excellent. We are an active couple ( 59 and 61 yrs old) play tennis...etc. We hope to find some bridge players if there is any downtime. No jacuzzi though, which I was hoping for to end the day of walking. Love to hear from any fellow Uniworld travelers from 2013-2014. It says River princess renovated in 2011, are there more subtle colors in the cabins?

[fred111]

Looking forward to reading it. It wasn't posted a few minutes ago. Thanks again.

[Nana4x]

Hi Cole,

 

Could you post the link to the review once it goes live.

Thanks in advance.

[cole]

Hi Cole,

 

Could you post the link to the review once it goes live.

Thanks in advance.

 

Here is my review. If you want more specifics, just ask and I will be glad to provide any information you need. It was a wonderful cruise.

 

We just returned from the Douro River Cruise with Uniworld and we would give this cruise 5 stars if we could! First of all, we flew into Lisbon and spent 3 nights in the Tiara Hotel, which we thought was beautiful. The local coordinator Petra and her assistant Isabell were our guides for Lisbon and from Lisbon to the ship. We opted to take the optional tour to Sintra the second day and would highly recommend it. We learned the first night that our ship was unable to reach Porto for us to board because the lock the ship had to travel through to get there was having a "small problem", so the day from Lisbon to the ship we were on the bus an hour longer than it would have been and that was a long day, but Uniworld gave everyone on board $250 credit for any future river cruise through 2016 for any inconvenience. The cabins are small because the locks are smaller that the other European rivers. The ships can only travel from port to port during the day and that provides a great opportunity to see the beautiful countryside. The ride to Salamanca was 2 hours each way, but again - the scenery is beautiful. The Flamenco show was terrific. Another highlight was dinner at Quinta Da Avessada.

Uniworld is "all inclusive" and they mean what they say. You are not charged for any alcohol you order during the day, for lunch or for dinner. After dinner, when you go to the lounge to listen to the music, they meet you at the door with a nice glass of Port.

If there are any negatives to speak of - the small cabins would be one (but again that is due to the size of the locks). We had a "French Balcony" which is not a "French Balcony" but a patio door. The dining room in the evenings when everyone is having dinner is extremely noisy due to the low ceilings. Breakfast and lunch buffets were very good with many choices, but the evening meals did not live up to Uniworld's standards. Plus one evening after a long day of touring - the meal was another buffet. Our opinion is that all evening meals should be sit down meals.

The Douro is now our new favorite river in Europe. Portugal is beautiful, the people are lovely and we would highly recommend this river cruise. Our thoughts were that after the word gets out - this itinerary will be high on everyone's Bucket List.

If you have any questions, just post them and I will be glad to try to answer them. This is our 4th river cruise and second one with Uniworld.

Cole

[fred111]

How easy is it to get around Lisbon from the Tiara Hotel. We will be getting in a couple of days early.

[cole]

How easy is it to get around Lisbon from the Tiara Hotel. We will be getting in a couple of days early.

 

Very easy, in fact - when the tour was over, we could either leave the group in mid-town and have lunch and either catch a cab back to the hotel or walk back. Even though the walk back was up hill, it was an easy walk. We had thought about doing the Hop On bus that afternoon but Petra said that it basically covered the same areas that we saw on the guided tour that morning.

Cole

The Tiara is a lovely hotel. We had dinner in the restaurant one night and enjoyed it very much and the last night before we traveled to the ship, had burgers in the bar and they were also excellent.

[fred111]

Thanks a lot.

[bunnsie]

how much was the cab from downtown to the hotel? was it worth it to stay in town?

Very easy, in fact - when the tour was over, we could either leave the group in mid-town and have lunch and either catch a cab back to the hotel or walk back. Even though the walk back was up hill, it was an easy walk. We had thought about doing the Hop On bus that afternoon but Petra said that it basically covered the same areas that we saw on the guided tour that morning.

Cole

The Tiara is a lovely hotel. We had dinner in the restaurant one night and enjoyed it very much and the last night before we traveled to the ship, had burgers in the bar and they were also excellent.

[cole]

how much was the cab from downtown to the hotel? was it worth it to stay in town?

Actually, we didn't need a cab to the hotel from where our tour had ended. We walked back, enjoying the exercise and additional views of Lisbon. Be warned though, it is uphill - not steep, but you can certainly tell that it isn't flat - but no problem at all for us who are in our mid-60's. Cab fare should be very reasonable since the distance was probably 10 blocks or less.

Cole

[BooBooTX]

We are booked for end of July on Queen Isabel. Does anyone know if there are self-service laundry facilities on the ship? Or if no self-service, if there is on-board laundry service? Thanks!

[cole]

We are booked for end of July on Queen Isabel. Does anyone know if there are self-service laundry facilities on the ship? Or if no self-service, if there is on-board laundry service? Thanks!

 

Not sure if there is self-service laundry, but definitely on-board laundry service. If you are a previous Uniworld passenger, you get one bag full at no cost.

Cole