Uniworld River Beatrice, Enchanting Danube: Thoughts, pictures, and menus

[burtonnm]

I happened upon a post of yours from before this trip where you asked the best way to reserve Budapest Parliament tour tickets ahead of time. I was wondering which method you went with and how it worked out? I have EXACTLY the same question so it was wonderful to find your thread about it!

 

Also, I will be cruising about the same time of year as you did. How was the weather? How did you dress for it? Did you need a jacket or rain coat?

 

I also saw you are in your 20's! Me too! Any advice for being the youngest on the boat? (I don't see this as being a problem, just wondering if you have any anecdotes about it)

[AttilaTheFun]

I happened upon a post of yours from before this trip where you asked the best way to reserve Budapest Parliament tour tickets ahead of time. I was wondering which method you went with and how it worked out? I have EXACTLY the same question so it was wonderful to find your thread about it!

 

Also, I will be cruising about the same time of year as you did. How was the weather? How did you dress for it? Did you need a jacket or rain coat?

 

I also saw you are in your 20's! Me too! Any advice for being the youngest on the boat? (I don't see this as being a problem, just wondering if you have any anecdotes about it)

 

We ended up choosing the Uniworld tour that included a tour of Parliament, which I HIGHLY recommend. The process of requesting tickets in advance is not documented and varies, depending on which message boards you read. Otherwise, you have to go first-thing in the morning to request tickets at Parliament and I've read mixed results for this process as well - there are only so many tours in English each day and they could be sold out. Let the river cruise company worry about the process of getting tickets.

 

The weather was actually warm, but is variable that time of year. I checked the forecasts leading up to the trip and we lucked out, with Budapest temperatures being in the low 80s. They said it had snowed only a week before that! Bring a variety of clothing, especially items that can be layered for when the weather changes during the day.

 

Being in your 20s, you may get some strange looks from other passengers. I felt some did not even want to talk to us, but that could have been my own perception, as most of the other passengers were very friendly. I would recommend sitting with different people at meals and if you find other passengers that you "click" with, try to seek them out for meals again in the future. We met 5 fantastic other people that we ended up having almost all our dinners with and one of us would go right away when the dining room opened to save a table for 8 with the waiter we liked. Most people eat right when the dining room opens, so it didn't take much coordination to dine together. Breakfast/lunch dining times are more variable, but usually not super-flexible either.

 

Hope that helps. Enjoy the cruise - you'll have a fantastic time! Which cruise line/itinerary are you sailing?

[burtonnm]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going with AmaWaterways on the Danube-Prague to Budapest. Unfortunately, they don't have an organized Parliament tour option so I will have to try one of the sketchy methods you documented so well in your thread. Maybe I'll post on there if one of them worked for me so someone in the future can be the fortunate benefactor.

 

I had done some research on the weather and your comments confirm my research. It seems to be pretty unpredictable that time of year, and can change even within one day. Sounds a lot like where I live. I was hoping you would tell me it would be sunny and warm everyday... Oh, well.

 

Sorry to hear about some of your more uptight fellow passengers. I hope I don't experience any of that! Although like you said, there should be enough friendlier people to avoid the unfriendly ones. Maybe I'll get lucky and meet another 20-something! I'm not counting on it, though :-)

[AttilaTheFun]

Thanks for the advice! I'm going with AmaWaterways on the Danube-Prague to Budapest. Unfortunately, they don't have an organized Parliament tour option so I will have to try one of the sketchy methods you documented so well in your thread. Maybe I'll post on there if one of them worked for me so someone in the future can be the fortunate benefactor.

 

I had done some research on the weather and your comments confirm my research. It seems to be pretty unpredictable that time of year, and can change even within one day. Sounds a lot like where I live. I was hoping you would tell me it would be sunny and warm everyday... Oh, well.

 

Sorry to hear about some of your more uptight fellow passengers. I hope I don't experience any of that! Although like you said, there should be enough friendlier people to avoid the unfriendly ones. Maybe I'll get lucky and meet another 20-something! I'm not counting on it, though :-)

 

If you are staying in a decent hotel in Budapest before/after the cruise, you can try asking the Concierge for advice. A co-worker was able to go first thing in the morning and secure tickets and most people online confirm this is a legit way of doing it, but they seem to sell-out quickly during summer months and there are potentially shady people trying to sell you them instead...

[pastamom2011]

Thanks for such a detailed review and for answering everyone's questions. We are going on a Med cruise in a few weeks, but a river cruise is definitely on my bucket list. I appreciate how thorough you were.

[daw11]

AttilaTheFun, I can't tell you how valuable your info has been. We are leaving for this exact trip on Sept. 1 - just 15 days away! Can't wait to see your critique for the end of your adventure.

Really appreciate the time and effort you have put into helping those of us sweating the "little things."

[cormike1]

I am loving your review AttilaTheFun!!!! We did our Budapest-Passeau-Budapest with Viking years ago as our first river cruise and we were hooked. We did the Rhine with Avalon and the Moscow-St. Petersburg with AMA and each one had it's fine points and I have nothing but good things to say about each company. Your pictures are bringing back lots of great memories. We to were almost the youngest on our 1st river cruise and also we were told, the first Canadians, but I don't know how true that is. We would like to do the River Po and it is in the future for sure. So keep posting....I am looking forward to the rest of your write-ups!

[jeant]

If you are staying in a decent hotel in Budapest before/after the cruise, you can try asking the Concierge for advice. A co-worker was able to go first thing in the morning and secure tickets and most people online confirm this is a legit way of doing it, but they seem to sell-out quickly during summer months and there are potentially shady people trying to sell you them instead...

WOW!!!! Atilla, your postings are fantastic. Thank you so much. I cannot imagine how much work this has been. We are leaving for the same cruise on Uniworld on October 13, 2013 with a 4 day independent stay in both Prague and Budapest. If you should by chance be able to continue your information, it would be so helpful. I have cut and pasted so much of your information and will use it on our trip. Again, thank you!

[AttilaTheFun]

Thank you everyone so much for the kind comments! It means a lot to me. I've started combing through the Vienna pictures, but I have some a couple upcoming trips (non-cruises this time!) that will delay the rest of my review a bit further. However, Vienna and Budapest were both breathtaking and definitely worth a write-up!

[marysb]

Can't wait to see your Budapest and Vienna pics, Attila. - thanks again for shar ing!

[glamour]

Does anyone know what the free weights/dumbells are like in the gym (i.e. range of weights)? Also, would there be room to do an "Insanity" type workout or even put a mat down for some push ups, etc?

Need a way to repent for the amount of food I plan on eating:p

[AttilaTheFun]

Does anyone know what the free weights/dumbells are like in the gym (i.e. range of weights)? Also, would there be room to do an "Insanity" type workout or even put a mat down for some push ups, etc?

Need a way to repent for the amount of food I plan on eating:p

 

You can see the small rack of free weights in the gym picture on this post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38531608&postcount=2

 

As you can see, they look to be few and light. You can work out on the sun deck with a mat, which a few passengers on our sailing did. The gym didn't have much free space.

[glamour]

Thanks for the gym info- looks pretty tight in there but I don't think that I'll be able to work out up top in December. I wonder if they'll mind me taking over the lounge;)

[riandei]

Great review.... I am in the planning stages of a river cruise for next year.....uniworld is my top choice and you have given them a wonderful review...im very happy

 

Did you feel the included tours were what you wanted to do... Or did you feel any 'bait and switch' that the tours they were charging for where the better tours??

 

Did you consume any alcohol that you paid for?? If so...what were the prices like??

 

Did you feel this was an all inclusive vacation...or did you feel you had a large BIll when the cruise was over??

 

Thanks in advance

[AttilaTheFun]

Great review.... I am in the planning stages of a river cruise for next year.....uniworld is my top choice and you have given them a wonderful review...im very happy

 

Did you feel the included tours were what you wanted to do... Or did you feel any 'bait and switch' that the tours they were charging for where the better tours??

 

Did you consume any alcohol that you paid for?? If so...what were the prices like??

 

Did you feel this was an all inclusive vacation...or did you feel you had a large BIll when the cruise was over??

 

Thanks in advance

 

The included (free) tours were great! Most were city overviews, but there were ones like Melk Abbey and the wine tasting that went in-depth into one topic or location. The optional (pay) tours are never positioned as an "up-sell" opportunity because they occur during times where there are no included tours going on. Therefore, the decision is never between a free or pay tour, it's "would I like to pay extra to go on this other tour?"

 

Uniworld posts the Cruise Companions on their website (http://uniworld.com/before-you-go/cruise-companion) for most itineraries and they list in detail what you'll see on each tour - both included and optional. If you do your research, you can sometimes figure out how to cover things on an optional tour on your own - like we did with Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, which saved us 30-40 euros pp. However, some of their optional tours include transportation that would be difficult otherwise. I also felt the pricing of their optional tours was very fair - they aren't price-gouging you like some of the ocean cruises do for shore excursions.

 

I only remember having one alcoholic drink that I paid for on the first day. After that, I just enjoyed the beer/wine at lunch and dinner. We also brought a bottle of wine and our tablemate friends shared some wine with us that we had on the sun deck. The Lounge staff were so nice that they brought us up wine glasses for our own wine and a tray of bar snacks. Uniworld doesn't charge corkage fees you bring aboard unless you consume it in the Lounge.

 

I honestly don't remember how much the drinks cost, but found this 2012 bar menu from Uniworld, which is probably still semi-accurate: http://www.cruise.co.uk/images/Cruise//cruise_gallery/1/Bar%20Menu%202012%20_0.pdf.

 

Keep in mind that in 2014, Uniworld will go all-inclusive and include alcoholic beverages (except certain top-shelf options, I'm sure) in the price.

 

I felt that this was a very inclusive vacation and the only added cost at the end was daily gratuities, but we knew that ahead of time. Uniworld also allows you to pay the gratuities on your credit card (use one without foreign transaction fees), which is greatly appreciated.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Side-note: I have to commend Uniworld for their website, which provides a lot of information. I recently saw on another thread that they even have example menus posted from their ships:

http://uniworld.com/Media/US-English/8/21/2013/13-ONL-197_Online_Menus9.pdf

[riandei]

You are a huge help...thanks....

 

Will you be booking another uniworld??

 

I may have more questions in the coming weeks

[AttilaTheFun]

I have a Christmas Markets on the Rhine sailing with Uniworld booked for Dec of this year already!

 

Completely unrelated, but Uniworld allowed me to stack a bunch of offers on the purchase, which was great:

 

• Past passenger savings of $100pp (in addition to a bunch of other benefits)
  
• Pay-in-full savings of $450pp (basically an early booking + pay-in-full discount)
  
• Amex Platinum Cruise Privileges benefit of $300 onboard credit
  

[Hoyaheel]

I felt that this was a very inclusive vacation and the only added cost at the end was daily gratuities, but we knew that ahead of time.

 

I think I read that the gratuities are another thing that will be included in Uniworld's all-inclusive fee structure starting in 2014?

 

(I was very happy to note that the fare quote I got from another company also mentioned some fees I should think about that weren't included in the quote - namely tips and transfers - and they gave me an estimate of what those fees could be)

Edited August 29, 2013 by Hoyaheel

[AttilaTheFun]

Yes, gratuities will be covered in the price starting in 2014 for Uniworld. Transfers are already included in the price between the airport and ship if you arrive/leave the same days the cruise starts/ends.

[riandei]

Is it the norm to pay brochure prices....or is there some wiggle room.

 

Its very difficult to compare cruise line to cruise line....

 

This thread has been helpful

[AttilaTheFun]

Is it the norm to pay brochure prices....or is there some wiggle room.

 

Its very difficult to compare cruise line to cruise line....

 

This thread has been helpful

 

Brochure prices are made-up across all cruise lines - river or ocean. People rarely ever pay the brochure prices because they are made-up for the purposes of discounting later and trumpeting savings. Don't worry about brochure rates - just the current price for a river cruise. Keep in mind that certain cruise lines include more items in the price, such as alcohol outside of meals being included on Tauck, Scenic, and Uniworld (starting 2014). Hope that helps!

[glamour]

Does anyone have any idea what time the tours typically start in the morning? I have visions of having to set an alarm on holiday:eek:

[AttilaTheFun]

Does anyone have any idea what time the tours typically start in the morning? I have visions of having to set an alarm on holiday:eek:

 

Tours started anywhere from 8:30-9:30am. The tour leaving Linz to Salzburg was 8:30am due to the bus ride and the Melk tour started at 8:45am so that the ship could sail right after that to Durnstein.

 

People would start lining up 15 minutes before the tours, so even when we were on time, we felt late! The cruise manager even told people to stop doing that, but I guess some of them get antsy!

 

Keep in mind that if you want breakfast, you'll have to leave time to eat before the tour begins, so it made for some pretty early mornings!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the great info ...

[glamour]

Thanks for the info, AttilatheFun! Hoo boy- sounds like I'll be setting an alarm after all & working out in the pm.

After reading the Cruise Companion itinerary, it appears as if there are very few optional pay tours & that they are mostly included. Very nice.....

Were there any tours that you wouldn't recommend bothering with? We tend to get bored of churches & buildings rather quickly & prefer to immerse ourselves in the food & beverage culture while people watching. I'd hate to spend all day on a bus if I could have walked around & seen the same sights. We're all very active & ambulatory & prefer not to be carted around. We want to see the important sights but don't necessarily need to know every detail, nook & cranny on them. Hopefully there's enough time to wander around after the tours....