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

AttilaTheFun

By AttilaTheFun,
in River Cruising

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nana541

nana541

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I will never take an ocean cruise again. The differences are all pluses to me in the River Cruise category. It is sophisticated and elegant. Ocean cruises are like Vegas or Disney - loud, crowded, cheap, tacky and filled with obnoxious partiers and screaming children. Ocean cruises are like Vienna - classic, full of art and history. No comparison for me. I refer the Louvre to the casino and theme park atmosphere of an Ocean cruise.

 

You may want to try Regent or Seabourne, very small, elegant and very little chance of running into children! Certainly won't find Vegas or Disney on these ships.

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glamour

glamour

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Does Uniworld provide maps &/or city guides for the ports?

I'm def going to print off a transit map for Vienna now- we love to wander around on our own & I'm all about cheap public transport.

Just received our Uniworld package for the Holiday Markets cruise on the Danube- so glad the Vienna (& hopefully Budapest) info is being posted now that the countdown is really on! So informative!!

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AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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Does Uniworld provide maps &/or city guides for the ports?

 

Yes, but for cities where you want to do significant exploring on your own, or venture away from the touristy areas, I definitely suggest preparing on your own and bringing your own maps. The Uniworld maps normally just cover the city center and main points of interest for tourists. I had to do a little more preparation for how to get to Schonbrunn Palace on our own, although I think the map Uniworld provided did include a metro map.

 

We just received the Uniworld documents this week for the upcoming Rhine Christmas Markets cruise - can't wait!

Edited by AttilaTheFun
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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

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Yes, but for cities where you want to do significant exploring on your own, or venture away from the touristy areas, I definitely suggest preparing on your own and bringing your own maps. The Uniworld maps normally just cover the city center and main points of interest for tourists. I had to do a little more preparation for how to get to Schonbrunn Palace on our own, although I think the map Uniworld provided did include a metro map.

 

We just received the Uniworld documents this week for the upcoming Rhine Christmas Markets cruise - can't wait!

 

WOOHOO We are going on Dec 8th, so I hope that ours arrive soon. Because we booked through a Travel Agent the docs were probably mailed there and the TA will mail them to us.

 

Got out some of my "winter" clothes today. Found a real nice pair of Lands End wool-type slacks that I bought last year and forgot about :eek:. Perfect for our trip :D.

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AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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WOOHOO We are going on Dec 8th, so I hope that ours arrive soon. Because we booked through a Travel Agent the docs were probably mailed there and the TA will mail them to us.

 

Got out some of my "winter" clothes today. Found a real nice pair of Lands End wool-type slacks that I bought last year and forgot about :eek:. Perfect for our trip :D.

 

I see this looks like it will be your first Uniworld cruise! Would love to hear your comparison of the river cruise lines you've sailed with - especially Grand Circle Tours as they're always very highly-rated, but their ships looks so old.

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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

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I see this looks like it will be your first Uniworld cruise! Would love to hear your comparison of the river cruise lines you've sailed with - especially Grand Circle Tours as they're always very highly-rated, but their ships looks so old.

 

This will be our second with Uniworld (I don't have all my trips listed), but it has been several years since we did Castles Along the Rhine. GCT does have older boats, but that doesn't bother me, I go for the itinerary more than for the boat. Have cruised with Viking, Uniworld, Grand Circle, AMA and Gate 1.

Next year I will add Vantage to the list.

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jojocmcla

jojocmcla

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We are cruising AmaLyra Prague to Budapest, leaving U.S. April 28 and embarking, I think, May 2. Is this the cruise you're on?

 

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 :-)

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  • 2 weeks later...
AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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Does Uniworld provide slippers in the rooms? I usually wear flip flops but will forgo packing them if there's a pair of disposable slippers in the room. Only one week to go!!

 

Yes, they provided disposable slippers, if I remember correctly. They never fit me, so I usually toss them aside :)

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Kathie859

Kathie859

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Does Uniworld provide slippers in the rooms? I usually wear flip flops but will forgo packing them if there's a pair of disposable slippers in the room. Only one week to go!!

 

I'm a size 8.5 and DH is a 9.5 and the slippers work for both of us. They are white terry with an open back---I'd call them "scuffs".

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jc foster Holiday Sharing Rare

jc foster

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Yes, they provided disposable slippers, if I remember correctly. They never fit me, so I usually toss them aside :)

Atilla the Fun, One thing that I would recommend for your upcoming Castles on the Rhine trip is a good pair of waterproof hiking boots. My wife and I found these invaluable. Also Uniworld just implemented a new policy of almost zero announcements unless its an emergency or an important cruise port change. In other words they do not announce when its time for the tours to leave etc..

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AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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Atilla the Fun, One thing that I would recommend for your upcoming Castles on the Rhine trip is a good pair of waterproof hiking boots. My wife and I found these invaluable. Also Uniworld just implemented a new policy of almost zero announcements unless its an emergency or an important cruise port change. In other words they do not announce when its time for the tours to leave etc..

 

Thank you, I have those all lined up and ready to go! It may be a challenge to pack all my warm clothes and some changes for dinner, but being a past Uniworld passenger, we get free laundry once during the cruise and there are always the free self-serve washer/dryers onboard too.

 

We fly out tomorrow to Amsterdam, will spend a couple nights there, then take a train to Cologne and board the SS Antoinette. I'm very excited!

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AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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Thanks for the wonderful review! We are considering a river cruise in Fall 2015 but haven't made a final decision yet. This has been really helpful!

 

Glad to help! If you have any questions about Uniworld or river cruising, let me know. As you can see - I'm embarking on my second Uniworld cruise in a few days!

 

I'm also excited to read your review of Explorer of the Seas! I took a ship tour of her a couple months ago and was curious what passengers thought.

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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

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Thank you, I have those all lined up and ready to go! It may be a challenge to pack all my warm clothes and some changes for dinner, but being a past Uniworld passenger, we get free laundry once during the cruise and there are always the free self-serve washer/dryers onboard too.

 

We fly out tomorrow to Amsterdam, will spend a couple nights there, then take a train to Cologne and board the SS Antoinette. I'm very excited!

 

How did you find out about this? I am taking my second Uniworld trip next week and have not heard anything about this. That would be a nice thing to know about.

 

Have a great vacation.

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AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

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How did you find out about this? I am taking my second Uniworld trip next week and have not heard anything about this. That would be a nice thing to know about.

 

Have a great vacation.

 

It's part of Uniworld's loyalty program, called the River Heritage Club:

http://uniworld.com/river-heritage-club

 

If you didn't already, you're entitled to receive $100 off per person for all 2013 sailings. The amounts go up for 2014 sailings due to them changing to an all-inclusive model. Contact your travel agent right away to get the additional discount!

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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

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It's part of Uniworld's loyalty program, called the River Heritage Club:

http://uniworld.com/river-heritage-club

 

If you didn't already, you're entitled to receive $100 off per person for all 2013 sailings. The amounts go up for 2014 sailings due to them changing to an all-inclusive model. Contact your travel agent right away to get the additional discount!

 

Yes, I did get the $100pp, but I was unaware of the other benefits. I certainly will take advantage of the free laundry. Thanks for mentioning this.

 

I am also a member of other loyalty programs and they usually tell you what the benefits are without having to look for them.

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Cary Cruiser

Cary Cruiser

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That's right. My bad. It's been a month and already I can't tell my Buda from my Pest!

 

Totally understandable drib.

 

I'm back a little over 2 weeks so it's still a little fresh in my mind.

 

I can't believe how much Hungarian paprika I used today for the turkey and stuffing. Maybe it will make me feel like I am back in Budapest again.

 

I miss that place...three days there were just not enough. Oh well. Time to have some palinka and watch some football.

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