Just back from Uniworld Burgundy and Providence cruise

First, I would like to thank everyone on these boards that helped with the planning. This was our second river cruise. The first was on the Viking Rhein cruise.

We started in Paris with our own flights and transportation to Lyon. We stayed in Paris 2 nights. We returned to Paris for one more night before heading home. The self-made traveling to and from the cruise was simple and easy. Glad we had the time in Paris and saw a lot in the short time.

Uniworld was wonderful. (Remember this is my opinion), other than it was great not to worry about drinks, and gratuities, I didn't see much difference from Viking. Somethings I enjoyed with Uniworld, and somethings I preferred Viking. I enjoyed the Rhein itinerary better. No fault to Uniworld. I enjoyed many of the staff, however I thought Viking was much more personal and maybe that was because of gratuities. I mainly decided itinerary will be my first reason to decide the cruise line. There were more + and - of both.

Biggest word of advice from me would be to not take the Olive Farm tour for 55. Euros each. It was a big disappointment from most on the bus.

The kayak was wonderful but you need to be in good shape. Because of the wind, you must paddle the entire 8k. All of the excursions were very good and the guides knew their stuff. When you go to the chocolate factory read about the factory first. I bought a lot but if I would have know that only premier chefs and restaurants can order the chocolate, I would have bought a lot more for presents. And go hungry, it's all the samples you can eat.

There is so much I can say, but I will leave it for questions as this could start getting boring.

On our AMA Provence cruise the Olive Farm tour was included and everyone loved it. We went to the Moulin du Calanquet farm (from Arles), where we tasted three different varieties of single-barrel olive oil plus a blend – and bought a can from the barrel we liked best [we, who didn't think we even like olive oil!]

Jazz beat me to it!

AMA included the olive farm tour and we enjoyed it. Loved the truffle hunt also.

The Rhone is our all time favorite itinerary and we sailed with AMA and then Uniworld. AMA included a more extensive choice of included excursions while Uniworld charged a hefty premium (IMO) for Pont du Gard, Châteauneuf-du-Pape visit and several others.

We did enjoy the warmer and more engaging staff and crew on AMA over the formality of Uniworld, similar to the OP's comments about his Viking experience. While the Catherine was the more luxurious vessel, AmaDagio more than made up for it with a stellar staff and crew, very good food and some wonderfully fun evenings on board where the Captain and his staff were very interactive and visible.

I will keep AMA in mind for my next booking. I loved most of Uniworld excursions, especially the active choices. Most of the included tours were better than the Olive Farm visit. It's not that I didn't enjoy the tour, but my sister and BIL visited one on an Italy cruise that was included, and stated it was much more informative and tasted different oils. We tried one and overlooked the groves. It just wasn't worth the amount charged. If you get a chance to go on one included, I would go.

I am not necessarily a foodie, but I thought Viking dinner choices was much better.

I would say after only 2 river cruises, two different companies, I am not a brand snob, yet.

I think our next itinerary choice will be more eastern Europe