Uniworld River Royale 7.7.07

[MrsDave]

Sorry I am getting this so late...you will have a simply fantastic trip aboard the Royale...we did eat lunch off the ship in Lyon and asked our tour guide (who was Christian) where to go..the tour guides are very helpful and will show you along the tour which restaurants they like and why....my husband even bought me a dress in Lyon..it turned out that France has major sales two times a year...once in July and once at Xmas...I promise I didn't plan the trip around it...ha!

As far as the wine...we met two really great couples on board and we started to share wine...we did purchase some when we went to a wine tasting and brought it back..the corkage fee was 12 euros...one really important thing I want to mention..which we didn't know..is you can pay your onboard bill at the end of the trip with US dollars..we wish we would have known that...check with Uniworld before you go...and..I just read that Pat said that wine will be free with dinner next year...another perk!....as far as the dress...I packed lighter for this trip than any other...on the "dress up" night...we had the Captain's welcome and farewell dinner..I had a black dress and just threw on some pearlsand on the other night wore pants and a top......it was fine....my husband did not have a jacket and didn't feel out of place at all...a nice shirt and slacks works just fine...we had arranged our train travel through Uniworld before we left the states..and..took the TGV from Lyon to Paris..it was great...a beautiful two hour ride.....this really was a wonderful trip...there were 76 of us...and....the ship is brand new and beautiful....

If I can answer anything else pls feel free...

Tina

[Bobblsc]

Yes, we are proud of our opera star, earlier this year Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was singing with the New Zealand Symphony orchestra on a national tour.

On August 18th 2007 she will be performing with the same orchestra at the Hawkes Bay Opera House. P. O. Box 303. Hastings. New zealand.

Thanks for your info about the Budapest State Opera, I will look that up.

I am thankful we have transfer arrangements made with uniworld so should not require taxis, I have noted your warning about over charging. I have picked up such a lot of useful hints from these boards.

Thank you all.

 

While the OP started with a post about a river cruise in France, the thread has had posts about other cruises as well. I suppose it is therefore OK to provide more info to those who will cruise to or from Budapest and are interested in the opera there. Tickets for other performances may be readily available, but this is not the case for good seats for opera.

 

Here is the web site for tickets: www.jegymester.hu.

 

If you like classical music, you will not be disappointed.

 

Bob :cool:

[Euroqueen]

Dear Mrs. Dave,

Thanks for the great review. I am doing the reverse itinerary with 20 friends in Sept. so delighted it was a good experience.

Does anyone out there have info on the best way to get from Paris to Chalon sur Saone other than train with a transfer in Dijon?

Secondly, was the ship docked in the center of Arles? and any info on nearby car rentals and finally, did there seem to be many coach departures to and from the airports or were they limited to 2-3 times a day?

Thanks for your help.

[pacmom]

We took the same trip in July 2006--Paris south. We took the TGV from paris--no stops. We left from Gard Lyon. It was a very quick trip, about 2 hours. Can't tell you the cost, because it was part of a special offer to previous Uniworld cruisers. You will love the trip. The boat and crew were wonderful. In Avignon, there is a repica of the tiles in the Pope's palace. They are pendants--cost about 5 euros. The only place you can buy them is in the palace museum shop. Don't hesitate to post questions. We leave Sat. for A Panama canal cruise. I will check the boards when we return. Pat