amd1234

Thanks so sorry to hear of your late wife's passing. Things can change in a moment.. Grasp it while we can..enjoy your traveling. I hope to do the same..

Thanks:)

Thanks.. I am on the fence whether to wait until 2016.. We have done two River cruises this year and last year. I love the anticipation and planning of a trip. We are thinking of 2015 middle Sept. Is the month of Oct the rainy season?

We just returned from our second cruise with Uniworld. Loved it especially the all inclusive. But in order to get a great deal we had to pay in full at time of booking. We don't want to do that again! My husband wants to wait a few years before taking another River Cruise. We are now in our early 70's no health issues very active and enjoying our retirement. I would like to book another cruise for 2015 my philosophy postpone nothing! I have been reading about Vantage and looking at the Douro Portugual cruise. What month is the best summer can be very hot. What about October? We would like to do the optional precruise to Mederia. How far ahead do you have to book? I need some advice from anyone that has done this itinerary. Hopefully it's less expensive than Uniworld. Thanks..

Wow!that sure is a significant savings. I also noticed on the Douro Spirit they listed category A, B etc they seemed to be the same size room but a different level! I know on Uniworld we paid a good amount of money for our upgrade to a French Balcony. I don't think I would do that again. We will be happy with just a large window. What did you book for a room on this cruise? Also what is the best month to cruise? It can be very hot in Portugal in the summer.. Thanks for your input..

JC. Is the Douro Spirit Wine Cruise cruising Portugal ? What month are you going? Is this cruise less expensive than Uniworld?why did you chose Vantage?

Vantage had precruise trip to. Madeira ... Does any other

cruise line have this extension? We cruised with AMA a few years ago on the Danube and we were very disappointed with the food. for that reason we will not cruise with AMA again. I have read really great reviews on this forum for AMA but our choice not to cruise with them..we really enjoyed Uniworld but Vantage seemed less expensive..

Well we have been on three River Cruises two Uniworld one AMA and considering itinerary of Douro River with Vantage. I know the Doura Spirit had been charted by Uniworld and Vantage is now leasing this ship. We are skeptical about Vantage only because we loved Uniworld. Will we be disappointed? We are looking at Vantage only because of their itinerary. Need feedback of cruisers who have enjoyed Vantage. Anyone been on the Douro with Vantage?

Just a stupid question? You did a remarkable job showing the ship and room etc.. I am not a photo person but would like to know what type of camera and how did you download to cruise critic forum.

On our last cruise I just used my I Pad and shared photos..I would love to learn how this was accomplished. It was great..

Rick, I drove myself crazy before our trip checking the weather each day. I did take an umbrella and a waterproof rain jacket. If I remember we had a few showers in Lucerne and the day we went to Mt Pilitis was overcast and cloudy. The first day in Lucerne was very warm too hot for a two hr walking tour. We loved the tour but it wasn't enjoyable walking in the heat. We informed our Uniworld guide Kathleen that that they booked too many activities for our first day..we didn't check into our room until 5 0'clock.. We departed ship and it was about an hr from Basel to Lucerne. Walking tour, cruise on the Lake too much for one day! Lucerne is just so lovely but I wish we could have stayed an extra day? Enjoy....

Rick, loved Strasbourg. We took the canal trip but we had enough time to sit at a cafe have a local beer and do some shopping.

Recommendation when you are staying in Lucerne. If you walk from your Hotel to the river (very close) on the river there is a pizza restaurant . Flat bread Swiss style sour cream and onion base and you add what you want on the flat bread. really delicious.. Please if there are other questions just ask.. Lucerne is just so lovely...

We just returned a few weeks ago and stayed at the Wilden Mann on the very expensive Uniworld extension.. There is no AC so be aware of this. It wasn't a problem but it's a wonderful location but lots of street noise. We booked the ext. even though a bit expensive but I think for us it was worth it. We liked the room large bathroom . Good breakfast nice selection.the Uniworld guide kathleen was exceptional. We took the optional Mt Pilitis tour very enjoyable. The ext. included a walking tour and cruise on the Lake. For us it was a hassle free two days worth the money..

We stayed at the Hotel Schiller fabulous location. I had been on the Amsterdam Forum and decided to try bidding on Priceline. I tried a few times and finally success .. A four star Hotel for $100 dollars. When we arrived early they had our room ready and it was upgraded to a Jr suite. We loved it.

We had a great Italian meal at a restaurant we happened to just find by mistake. Capresse . There are so many places to eat..can't remember where it was!

We didn't buy the pass ... We purchased tickets for Anne Frank on line (the lines were unbelievable at least two hrs) we also purchased tickets for the Rikesmuseum and Van Gogh . We walked everywhere and took the tram a few times. You can buy a one day pass on the tram. We just purchased the tickets as needed not expensive... We asked the desk person at our Hotel what number tram to take they were very helpful. Trams go both ways just take the tram in the correct direction.oops ... We took the tram going wrong direction on our first day. We also took a ride on a pedal bike after an exhausting day of walking really fun.. Enjoy we loved Amsterdam great restaurants ..

The cruise critic a few years ago wouldn't post a review not concise enough..

I had written a review a few weeks ago but it has never been published. Everyone on this forum has been so helpful I wanted to write a brief description of this wonderful experience. This was our second River cruise with Uniworld last year we cruised Burgundy & Provence. We booked a French Balcony #301 perfect location but honestly you can save money by booking aquarium class you spend so little time in cabin. The ship is decorated beautifully our cabin small but very compact. Loved the bed linens and comfy coverlets. The staff was amazing and this year Uniworld is all inclusive so everything is included except for a few optional excurisions . Excellent choice at meals and lunch was a buffet but with a wonderful soup, salad sandwiches .. I can't forget the gelato ..you will not go hungry. Tea in the afternoon with a selection of pastries.

I will give you a brief description of the excurisions .. Loved the Cathedral in Cologne.

Koblenz.. Walking tour least favorite too long guide very knowledgable but long winded. People took the optional Aerial Tram to Fortress and enjoyed it.

Doktorenhof Vinegar tasting.. We loved it..

We did not take the Tour to Marksburg Castle or the Tour of Heidelberg.

Optional tour of The Black Forest a very long day but we enjoyed it and glad we went. Great... Black Forest Cake...

Two favorites a don't miss is Strasbourg and 2 Alasatian Villages Kayserberg & Riquewihr.

We enjoyed meeting people from so many counties and the passengers ranged in age from 40's to 92( wonderful people from England).. This was truly a memorable vacation we are Uniworld cheerleaders.

If anyone has questions about precruise and post cruise I will gladly answer them.. We did Amsterdam three nights planned on our own and Lucerne with Uniworld.

We just returned from our post cruise two days in Lucerne. First of all Lucerne is breathtaking loved it. First day we had a two hr. Walking tour and in the afternoon we had a cruise on the Lake. Day two we went to Mt Pilitis which took most of the day. We had time to go to the Chapel bridge just walk around and enjoy the views.. Sit at a restaurant have a glass of wine and relax ...

We also wanted no hassle so we booked through Uniworld a bit expensive but worth it. We had a little glitch with the transfer to airport we booked Lucerne to Zurich. It's all resolved but it made our trip to Lucerne a huge distraction. Cathleen is the Uniworld representative and absolutely terrific. She took care of everything there was eight of us on the extension. Hotel Wilden Mann is in a great locatipn. One negative no AC. Lots of restaurants walking distance from Hotel.. We enjoyed a flat bread pizza rest.on the water short distance from Hotel. Take the Mt. Pilitis trip it was awesome..enjoy...

Rick, On the above reply message from Chris & JP..they did a blog on the SS Antoinette . Photo review -April 2014 click on and see their amazing pictures..

Chris thanks for the info about my review. It's definitely not like your great blog..

Ric are you doing Lucerne on your own? We booked the Lucerne ext with Uniworld. We took the optional tour of Mt Pilitis loved it. Lucerne is so beautiful you will enjoy it.

We were happy with our choice of excurisions really difficult trying to decide.

One of our favorites was the Doktorenhof vinegar tasting very interesting. We didn't go to Marksberg Castle too tired after our walking tour of Koblenz. Guide was knowledgable but long winded. We should have taken the Gondola to the Fortress people enjoyed it. We also didn't go to Hidelberg . We took the optional tour to the Black Forest a long day but glad we went. We had to make a decision to visit Colmar or take the bus to 2 Alsatian Wine Villages Kayserberg & Riquewihr we absolutely loved it.

I wrote my review two days ago and I don't seem to find it!

I will answer a few questions. You can disembark whenever you want. We had a bus transfer to Lucerne at 9 am arranged by Uniworld. Some people left really early to catch their flights back home.

We stayed three nights in Amsterdam pre cruise really enjoyed it. It I had unlimited time I would visit the Anne Frank house buying your tickets online. The lines are 2 hrs Long if your tickets are not purchased in advance.

Amsterdam is a great walking city sit at a cafe have a beer and just take in the moment..

Well I finally had a bit of time to write about our wonderful Castles on The Rhine River Cruise. it's been a week and the memories fade quickly. so I will try and answer any questions. It was very difficult trying to be concise in my reporting.

Chris your pictures and blog was amazing ... :) I tried and gave it my best!

I have yet to write a review of our wonderful River cruise Castles on The Rhine SS Antoinette. I will try and gather all my notes and write a review this week.. Traveling is exhausting and it's been a week and we are still recuperating. It was beyond amazing everything was perfect also great weather. I will answer any questions. I really enjoyed our three day precruise to Amsterdam. Amsterdam was very enjoyable I planned and organized this trip on my own. We did a post cruise to Lucerne with Uniworld expensive but really great if you want every thing arranged. we had a glitch that was upsetting but we got all the issues resolved..This forum really helped in planning and I am going through withdrawal not being on this website 24-7. I guess I Have to plan another trip..

Well I received a call this afternoon from my TA and they will issue me a check for the entire amount of my cab to Zurich. They are converting the amount from francs to dollars.. So thank you TA. They apologized ...:(

Well it's been a few days and I really appreciate all the responses to my transfer issue. I am not going to pursue this issue what's done is done. It was an expensive lesson learned. I will be more vigilant in the future reading documents. Lucerne was so amazing it was just such a distraction worrying over our transfer issue. ...thanks again ..