Design functionality is another consideration when choosing which company to travel w

[steverhodes]

I also worked in the tech world back in the day and traveled all over as a computer consultant to Fortune 200 companies. Yes, of course I was dressed in a business suit just like my clients. Steve Jobs owned both tuxes and suits and I would see him around at various events, so I think you are wrong thinking he didn't dress up. In fact everyone did that I knew - maybe not your group if you were a developer - but if you were meeting with clients, dressing up was the rule. Steve Jobs probably didn't dress up when with his employees or at employee events, even in fancy restaurants, because that is the type of work environment he created for you, but outside of work, he did indeed dress up whenever it was appropriate:

 

 

And also Steve Wozniak dressed up:

 

and Bill Gates:

 

 

 

I am sure they did it sometimes but it was rare. Computer consultants for other companies have very different wardrobe needs than a software designer

 

I remember we have a party, a big party, after the Mac rollout and even got Bill Gates to come. I thought is pretty cool seeing Steve and Bill Gates in the same small room at the same time as I was. Neither dressed up.

[Daisi]

You know, I had not really thought about that but you are right. Have you tried La Rive?

 

 

Just looked up the menu, but it's a French restaurant. Just like you want to stay in places that reflect the areas you travel in, when we go to Amsterdam, we will want to eat the foods from that area. DH is Dutch and looking to having food he hasn't had for a long time. It will be the same for me as we travel through the Rhine, I will be looking for the food I am used to. While I have a great European store close to me, it will be interesting trying other peoples recipes than the ones I am used to cooking.

 

 

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[gnome12]

I guess we spend to much time eating out on patios along our waterways, as that's one thing that I would never think of. One of the things I am a little disappointed with when reviewing restaurants in Amsterdam...there aren't that many that have patios along the canals. We had been looking forward to eating and enjoying the view.

Buildings go right up to the canals in many cases.

[capriccio]

Buildings go right up to the canals in many cases.

 

Or it is very common to have a street along both sides of the canal and the buildings go right up to the sidewalk.

[KathyK13]

Generic ship designs/decor are a real turn off for me personally. I prefer individuality in design and decor and even more so when that is aesthetically pleasing.

 

And I do enjoy lines where guests still dress nicely for dinner. We do as that is our preference.

 

Uniworld's decor in general is bit over the top for my tastes but I am a guest for a week and not living with that opulence full time. Their amazing beds and Christy of England plush towels in their bathrooms are worth putting up with a little frou-frou IMO.:halo:

 

Uniworld seems to have toned down their decor somewhat since we started looking at river cruises in 2013. I remember seeing a photo of one of their staterooms that had red flocked curtains, red bedspread, red upholstery. It wasn't a room that I felt I could relax in! Plus I think their French balcony staterooms were smaller than those on AMA and Avalon, so that made it easy to cross them off the list. Do the newer ships have the same size staterooms? I looked on their website and didn't see any info on the stateroom size.

[acwmom]

Uniworld seems to have toned down their decor somewhat since we started looking at river cruises in 2013. I remember seeing a photo of one of their staterooms that had red flocked curtains, red bedspread, red upholstery. It wasn't a room that I felt I could relax in! Plus I think their French balcony staterooms were smaller than those on AMA and Avalon, so that made it easy to cross them off the list. Do the newer ships have the same size staterooms? I looked on their website and didn't see any info on the stateroom size.

 

 

The French balcony cabins on the SS Antoinette are listed at 196 sf. Our cabin was decorated in a very soothing blue color. (A prior cruise on the Baroness had cabins of 128 sf-never again!!!!!)

 

Robin

 

 

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[capriccio]

U Do the newer ships have the same size staterooms? I looked on their website and didn't see any info on the stateroom size.

 

On the website (www.uniworld.com), click on "Ships", chose the ship you are interested in and there will be a highlighted box entitled "Quick Facts" which includes the rivers sailed on, number of guests, number of staff, number of suites and size, number of staterooms and size, length and width.

[sofietucker]

Fascinating thread We adore the contemporary, sleek style of Avalon. Here's the atrium of the Tapestry II.

[sofietucker]

I agree and because the staterooms are all different, some are more toned down than others and I would choose one of those. But even on land, we like to stay in interesting places like The Witchery by The Castle in Edinburgh:

http://www.thewitchery.com/dine

We had The Old Rectory Suite - it was really a fun place!

or

Adobe Grand Villas in Sedona, AZ

http://www.adobegrandvillas.com

We've stayed in several different rooms there.

or

Royal Palms in Scottsdale, AZ

http://www.royalpalmshotel.com

or

The Epic in Miami, FL

http://www.epichotel.com

If we have more time, we'd stay at the Fontainebleu

or

Hotel Monteleone in NOLA

http://hotelmonteleone.com

or

The Salish Lodge in Salish, WA

https://www.salishlodge.com

 

At least these places make sense given where we are. We've also stayed in plantation houses and lots of different and interesting B&B's. The funniest was a B&B run by a pair of retired elementary school teachers in a small town in East Texas. They were very strict and they gave us laminated rules we had to follow! But I knew ahead of time from reviews and clued in the other couple we were traveling with as they actually had the nicest inn in town in terms of accommodations. Oh my gosh, we were laughing so hard - but not in front of the owners, who I truly believe meant well, but had no business whatsoever being in the hospitality business. And in fact, I think they knew that as they had the inn up for sale and sold it a few months later. Staying with them was like being in elementary school all over again. I'm sure they were good teachers and kept order in the classroom, though.

 

We prefer to stay in locally atmospheric places too; last month at the Residence Henri IV in Paris: http://www.residencehenri4.com/en/

And our favorite B&B in Amsterdam has the typical 37 narrow steps to our apartment (the entire 2nd floor)--plus the extra 15 steps up the the lavish marble bathroom! http://tulipa.amsterdam/

 

But our funniest B&B was in Victoria, BC--a huge Arts & Crafts house with many unique features, original stained glass, etc.--and a raft of glowing reviews, many professional. But it had just been sold prior to our stay to a group of completely clueless millennials. The house and all its decor was still intact, but the service was hilariously bad.

They were clearly overwhelmed, trying to work from the former breakfast menus and recipes but apparently couldn't cook; didn't seem to understand their service errors such as, oh, disappearing for 10 minutes between bringing juice and serving coffee; offering store-bought muffins; fighting in the kitchen over who stayed out too late & didn't show up; making abysmally bad (burned outside, raw inside) quiches, etc. A couple next to us informed them of an allergy to eggs--so they brought out (egg-based) pre-made quenelles... And the massive industrial fridge was padlocked!

But they were earnest, bless their hearts; we may even stay there again on our next visit.

 

PS--Re: Arizona, the best, most amazing most atmospheric hotel is in Winslow, La Posada. Designed by the same woman architect who created El Tovar at the Grand Canyon--this is her crown jewel. FABULOUS. http://www.laposada.org/

And out-of-this world dining, like nothing you've ever had (I say as an AZ native). http://www.laposada.org/turquoise-room.html

Edited June 1, 2017 by sofietucker

[caviargal]

Uniworld seems to have toned down their decor somewhat since we started looking at river cruises in 2013. I remember seeing a photo of one of their staterooms that had red flocked curtains, red bedspread, red upholstery. It wasn't a room that I felt I could relax in! Plus I think their French balcony staterooms were smaller than those on AMA and Avalon, so that made it easy to cross them off the list. Do the newer ships have the same size staterooms? I looked on their website and didn't see any info on the stateroom size.

 

We have not had what I consider to be a French balcony on Uniworld, rather windows that open horizontally with a switch. They call them "riverview staterooms". Not our favorite. I personally will only sail on their SS class ships as I do not care for the look or cabin sizes on the older vessels in their fleet.

 

Our cabin on JDV was a bit overdone for our tastes but not so on the Catherine. That was understated and calming, in contrast to the rest of the ship. It was 194 sq ft. The beds are high and large and seem to take up a lot of space as compared to other lines. It did not feel any larger than the 170 sq ft French balcony cabins on AMA because of the size of the bed - worth the trade off.

 

We love a real balcony and choose these on AMA on their ships that have the twin balcony staterooms. Those are 210 or 235 sq ft and we appreciate our persona, outdoor space. We also liked the Scenic SunLounge and used our outdoor space often, though these cabins were considerably smaller than on AMA.

Edited June 1, 2017 by caviargal

[caviargal]

Fascinating thread We adore the contemporary, sleek style of Avalon. Here's the atrium of the Tapestry II.

[/quote

 

We walked aboard the Tapestry II recently while in Paris and it struck us as cold and generic and reminiscent of an airport Marriott. Functional, clean but not particularly welcoming or warm. Having sailed on three of their ships, we found them to be interchangeable. Not a fan of Avalon in any aspect as compared to AMA, Scenic and Uniworld.

Edited June 1, 2017 by caviargal

[Hoyaheel]

I loved our Avalon cabin - the "french balcony" (yes, windows that open all the way - more usable cabin space was more important to us than personal outdoor space) and a bed that faced the window, so we could sit in the bed and look out. Very nice! We were on Avalon Vista. Different strokes, variety is the spice of life, etc.... :-)

[SuiteTraveler]

Just looked up the menu, but it's a French restaurant. Just like you want to stay in places that reflect the areas you travel in, when we go to Amsterdam, we will want to eat the foods from that area. DH is Dutch and looking to having food he hasn't had for a long time. It will be the same for me as we travel through the Rhine, I will be looking for the food I am used to. While I have a great European store close to me, it will be interesting trying other peoples recipes than the ones I am used to cooking.

 

 

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We generally prefer to eat the local cuisine as well. We inadvertently got hooked on Yamazato. Next time we go there, we really must get out and try some other restaurants at dinner.

[SuiteTraveler]

PS--Re: Arizona, the best, most amazing most atmospheric hotel is in Winslow, La Posada. Designed by the same woman architect who created El Tovar at the Grand Canyon--this is her crown jewel. FABULOUS. http://www.laposada.org/

And out-of-this world dining, like nothing you've ever had (I say as an AZ native). http://www.laposada.org/turquoise-room.html

 

Thanks for this tip! We go to Arizona frequently and that looks like a great place to stay with an amazing restaurant! I love the place you stay in Paris - definitely will keep that on my list as a possibility for when we get around to going there.

[SuiteTraveler]

I am sure they did it sometimes but it was rare. Computer consultants for other companies have very different wardrobe needs than a software designer

 

I remember we have a party, a big party, after the Mac rollout and even got Bill Gates to come. I thought is pretty cool seeing Steve and Bill Gates in the same small room at the same time as I was. Neither dressed up.

 

They didn't dress up because it was Steve's company event.

 

At my company, in the office, as long as there were no clients in, we all dressed casually but if we had clients in the building, we had to dress up. Since I was dealing with an international client base, I would often dress to suit my clients' culture so they would feel as comfortable as possible working with me.

[SuiteTraveler]

Uniworld seems to have toned down their decor somewhat since we started looking at river cruises in 2013. I remember seeing a photo of one of their staterooms that had red flocked curtains, red bedspread, red upholstery. It wasn't a room that I felt I could relax in! Plus I think their French balcony staterooms were smaller than those on AMA and Avalon, so that made it easy to cross them off the list. Do the newer ships have the same size staterooms? I looked on their website and didn't see any info on the stateroom size.

 

Was it this suite on the River Countess? (I believe this suite has been redone since the photo.) I must admit, I love red, but this is overpowering - they really should have toned it with a more neutral color carpet - that would help a lot. Fortunately it is just one suite on one ship and all the other suites are different color schemes. LOL!:

 

I believe the cabin size on all the Uniworld SS is the same:

Royal Suite 410 sq ft

Suites 305 sq ft

Category 1, 2, 3 194 sq ft

Category 4, 5 162 sq ft

[steverhodes]

They didn't dress up because it was Steve's company event.

 

At my company, in the office, as long as there were no clients in, we all dressed casually but if we had clients in the building, we had to dress up. Since I was dealing with an international client base, I would often dress to suit my clients' culture so they would feel as comfortable as possible working with me.

 

Reminds me of my days working for Bell Labs. We flew first class if trip was over 1,500 miles. IBM loved to take us to their facilities. Reason? They could never fly anything but coach unless it was with clients. Their facilities they wanted to show us were on the other side of the country. That was in the 747 days when there were a bar in the hump on top, just for first class. Very nice.

[SuiteTraveler]

Reminds me of my days working for Bell Labs. We flew first class if trip was over 1,500 miles. IBM loved to take us to their facilities. Reason? They could never fly anything but coach unless it was with clients. Their facilities they wanted to show us were on the other side of the country. That was in the 747 days when there were a bar in the hump on top, just for first class. Very nice.

 

IBM liked to entertain us as well. In fact, a lot of companies were constantly wanting to take various people from my company on all sorts of trips everywhere at their cost. I was always turning down offers because I was already flying 3 - 5 days per week and didn't need more travel I had so many miles I still have not used them up and I retired at 40. LOL! Then my clients did things like send the company limo to pick me up. I was working as a consultant for a company in Cleveland and I decided to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I went in the company limo after work, so when we pulled up I was telling the driving what time to come pick me up to take me to the hotel and a little crowd gathered - I guess they thought it was a celebrity in the limo. I'm sure they were disappointed. That company was either taking me out to dinner, entertaining me in their executive restaurant or having the limo driver take me somewhere interesting. Very nice people there and I appreciated it!