Uniworld Boutique River Cruise CollectionReviews of uniworld.com

Just returned from the Danube cruise from Regensberg to Budapest it being our first river cruise. The stateroom was very attractive but very small, the shower room was a reasonable size. I looked at a suite which is much more spacious but very much more expensive. We went as far as Vienna after which because of the falling river levels we had to be transferred the rest of the way which was a 5 hour journey. Hotels had to be found at the last minute and that part of the cruise was very well handled. Trips were good as was the food, entertainment was minimal and I would have expected champagne to be available at no extra cost, this used to be included so why not now? Overall I would consider booking with Uniworld again but would probably go earlier than July because of the risk of low water levels.

Despite the way this review probably sounds like a lot of complaints, we really did have a wonderful time and Uniworld staff did a great job!!! Except for the issues I will discuss in what I hope is a helpful manner to future cruisers, everything was awesome! Food was fresh, plentiful, creative and delicious. Ship was very comfortable and kept very clean. Staff was kind, courteous, patient and very hard working. I would highly recommend Leaving the dinner clothes and any attempt at European fashion at home, Everyone everywhere just looks like a very casual American with logos and ball caps etc. Dinner was casual, just wear your respectable regular clothes. I could have saved a lot of space in my suitcase as I had a lot of fun anticipating our trip and planning and reading a lot of articles and maybe fake reviews that talked about dress code…especially Uniworld being dressier than other ship lines and how to blend in in Europe and not look like a tourist. (I think I am very naïve, we have not traveled in quite awhile) I was happy to anticipate "dressing up". The first night at dinner my view was of a hairy guy in a tank top! Thank goodness I did not have to see that again I should have listened to the reviews that said DO NOT OVERPACK! Again Staff, food, ship, room all excellent!. Too many excursions were centered on always ending up in shops and shopping areas. Now don’t get me wrong, we are shoppers and shopped so much we had to buy an extra suitcase for the way home. Needless to say our family loves us . With so little time though we wanted more time spent on local culture and less on making sure we had plenty of time for shops. We had a much better time looking up local things to do and also asking the staff what they recommended and then going out on our own. This is what happened on one of the only excursions we did go on: this is the description of one stop on the (extra fee) Black Forest Trip: “stop at the family-owned House of Black Forest Clocks, where you will learn how cuckoo clocks are made-and savor a slice of Black Forest cake, too.” The reality: This is a shop with a restaurant upstairs. Just a shop, not a museum, there is no presentation or explanation of the process of making the admittedly beautiful clocks. A shop filled with cuckoo clocks and aisles of the same touristy items we saw everywhere else, INLCUDING the next stop. The very adorable and charming owner and clock maker mingles a little and has a table where he does a little (just for show) carving while there are people in the shop. I expected more. Possibly to learn how cuckoo clocks are made per the description?????? The whole point of us going was to learn how they are made and then buy our clock. Maybe it’s us and we read more into the excursion explanations than is actually there? We did buy a Cuckoo Clock as we had planned, we both wanted one badly and we did find a gorgeous one along with a very rushed employee to sell it to us. The Black Forest Cake was delicious. At the next stop there was a shop with the same clocks and same aisles full of touristy items Now to the big tip! Watch out for sick people!!!!! We were placed in close quarters (excursion bus for example) with people who were obviously ill. Severe wet sounding constant cough (all day on 7 hour excursion) with no attempt at covering the mouth, they also couldn't stay awake. It was disgusting. Two men in particular, their wives refused to sit with them. The group of 4 all took separate seats. I am not sure why these people did not stay in their room as they looked extremely miserable. I can only speculate maybe because the extra excursions had a no refund policy? Also at what point does staff intervene when someone obviously ill is constantly in public areas? To be fair I understand this can be a very touchy issue. We ended up eating dinner in our room each night (the staff was wonderful about our repeated room service!!! We gave no explanation and they just smiled and did a great job) and staying away from organized excursions and onboard activities. We did end up with a pretty hefty case of covid, feels like a bad flu. (didn't know it was covid until we got home, and I know no one makes a big deal out of it anymore). We are still quite ill and are just staying home and resting. I am sure a tremendous amount of people that were on board our cruise are ill. One last thing, get the biggest cabin you can afford. We had the largest except for the suite. With the amount of time we spent in it trying to keep away from the sickies it was just big enough. The cabin was very nice, kept very clean by sweet staff. We would like to go on another Uniworld cruise, specifically Egypt. I will book differently as we paid full price and then kept getting offers for our same cruise with up to half off! I will take THAT as a learning experience!!!!!!!