amd1234

The Uniworld rep at our Hotel gave us the alternate choice of the train and it was also expensive. This required taken a cab to train carrying the luggage and the reason for our ext was not to do this. My husband is 73 and had knee surgery two months ago. We had no choice. Also Post script Zurich airport was just horrible no sense of order no signs for directions and a ton of walking. After all the walking we had to board a bus to get our plane. Would never choose this airport again!

We just returned from Uniworld's SS Antoinette fabulous trip and I will answer questions and also post a review when I recover from the long return flight .

We booked the post cruise ext. with Uniworld in Lucerne. Very expensive but we wanted no hassle and also we didn't want to have to worry about transfers . We were informed at the Hotel that we had no transfer to Zurich airport. Evidently after many emails to Uniworld and my travel agent there would be no transfer we were on our own. The travel agent sent me a copy of their email which I never received that stated we needed to give them info on our airline departure schedule. On our documents from Uniworld it said transfers and I assumed that when we arrived in Lucerne that the info would be at our Hotel. It was a huge distraction on our trip waiting to hear from Uniworld to try and resolve this issue. From Lucerne Uniworld only makes airport transfers to Basel. We had no knowledge of this! We paid $2000 for two days which was to include our transfer. We had to pay $235 francs for a car to Zurich airport. Needless to say we were upset ..

Well if you have visited all these towns probably book with a different itinerary. We leave Wed boarding the SS Antoinette next Sunday... My mind is always working thinking of my next itinerary. This will be it for awhile we love River cruising this will be our third second with Uniworld. A few years back we cruised AMA on the Danube..I have read Viking :rolleyes:will have 14 more ships so I guess River Cruising has exploded. We are very happy with Uniworld don't think we would change unless we got a fantastic deal on another line..

Jp, Chris, thanks for your reply. We loved your review and beautiful pictures. ;)awesome! Last July we booked this cruise and it has kept me really busy viewing the forum each day. I know we will love it..

We leave on Wed SS Antiontette Castles on the Rhine. I have read somewhere on the forum that there are special:) Chef dinners on board! I think you sign up when you board. Has anyone attended these dinners?

I am sure that they have easy walking tours. Contact Uniworld they have an email address and will gladly answer any questions. I have the Uniworld book in front of me to refresh my memory of what tours we took last year. We are avid walkers so we took advantage of all the walking tours. I know one town just can't remember but they had a small train like a cho cho train for the people that had difficulty walking. It could possibly have been Avignon.We took the walking tour in Arles.. Avignon we didn't tour the Pope's Palace we took off the beaten path walking tour. Viviers we did the village day and organ tour. Lyon we did the city walking tour..Beaune was lovely especially enjoyed the quaintness of the town. You will tour the hospices de Beaune .. We also had time for a very delicious lunch. You will also love the vineyards and take the Truffle farm tour it was so interesting.. :)

Last June we were staying in Aix Provence three nights post cruise and Air France had a strike with air traffic controllers . I was fortunate to have my I Pad and happened to check my flight that was cancelled . It was a real hassle trying to reach Air France to rebook our flights. Bottom line we had a chance to stay an extra day in beautiful Aix and our travel insurance paid the extra night also our meals.. :)

Reading all the post about which company to book for the Rhine. We leave June 29 Amsterdam to Basel Castles on Rhine. This will be our second cruise with Uniworld. Absolutely loved Uniworld. We cruised with AMA a few years ago on the Danube and we were disappointed with the food. It was a real issue with hubby ..Last June we cruised Burgundy Provence great itinerary. We have a French Balcony this year last year we had a picture window which was fine! I will post a review when I return. This year Uniowrld will be all inclusive which is a bonus for us..

I just checked the price for our flight and it's $1742 each.. Yikes. I am glad I booked it in January..paid $1509.00:):rolleyes:

Paper... I used the Delta web. site to book my flight. I first did a flight search to see what airlines fly from Bos to Amsterdam. Icelandic Airline was the cheapest with one stop but we really wanted non stop and the times were really good. No non stop on our return but the layover is short in Amsterdam. We are leaving June 25 this month..we booked this past January. Good luck... I also put in my flights with Yapta to monitor the prices. The web site is Yapta.com...

We had plenty of time to poke through the stores after our walking tours. I think a few nights you have an opportunity to go back to the town .. We never did after dinner we had a drink relaxed maybe listen to the music from the piano bar and off to bed. If I remember correctly we had to stay in Lyon overnight for some reason and a few people went back in town. We had one really glitch and a word of caution. We had tickets (second class) for our train Paris to Lyon. My husband after talking to a Parisienne he misunderstood her! She informed him that we could board our train at 9 our ticket stated 10... We thought we could sit have coffee and leave at 10... The train pulled out we were on the 9 o'.clock train..bottom line not only were we seated in first class we were on the wrong train. Very costly mistake!! We had to buy new tickets at the cost of 82E apiece. I purchased our tickets months ago for 25E each. We couldn't explain the situation to the conductor he was really rude. It was our mistake but we didn't let it spoil our vacation..

:mad:

This trip I was going to just take my IPad to take pictures also my Samsung Galaxy phone takes great pictures. Last year I had my Olympus small point and shoot . I belong to groove book and I was just going to download and make a few books.. Unfortunately once we get home we are the only ones that are interested in out photos..:confused:

Thanks for the info.. We can't wait..:):)

Today I received my documents for our upcoming Castles on The Rhine cruise. Really getting excited! We will be staying three days pre cruise in Amsterdam. Our check out time at our Hotel is 12 noon. I think we can board our ship about 1 'o'clock. Is that correct? The ship is # SS Antoinette. :confused:

Last year we didn't have the option of a cooking class it must be new this year. We toured a great winery it was magnificent I know it was run by a wonderful family and we had an opportunity to meet them. Honestly can't remember the itinerary but we spent the days staying in the town after walking tours were over. We had a choice of staying in town or walking back to ship on our own. If I remember we had two tours most days. :)

Last year we cruised Burgundy & Provence our first cruise with Uniworld and absolutely loved every moment. We stayed in Paris three days precruise on our own taking the train to Lyon to board our ship. We stayed four nights post cruise also on our own in Aix Provence. You will be on Umiworlds brand new ship the SSCatherine.. We loved the excursions especially the truffle farm. The small quaint little towns. I especially like Beaune. We had lunch went shopping loved it all..I will answer any questions...

We loved Uniworld so much we booked a trip Castles on The Rhine leaving June 29..

I want to clarify the cost. For our trip to Amsterdam and return the price was an extra $200.00 $100.00 person. I have the economy comfort seat Boston to Amsterdam. The leg from Zurich to Amsterdam was a short trip so we booked comfort seats only on the Amsterdam to Boston.. :D

We are leaving June 25 Bost to Amsterdam returning Zurich, Amsterdam to Bost. I was monitoring the price and schedules for months trying to secure the lowest fares. I finally booked this January $1509 per person on Delta non stop to Amsterdam.the price now is over$1600... It's the luck of the draw I bit the bullet and chose the flights that would be easier for us. I also booked economy premium I think $100.00 per person. This also gives us priority boarding. We are staying two extra days in Lucerne. I found the flights from Zurich had a better schedule to Boston. We leave at noon from Zurich with a short layover in Amsterdam.. Good luck! We also secured miles on our CC so one flight was half price..:)

We always purchase travel insurance and collected twice. We had to cancel a few years ago when my son became ill. Last year we were staying in Aix Provence post cruise for three days. Air France had a dispute with air traffic controllers canceling our flight. We had to stay an additional day (not to difficult) our travel insurance paid our hotel and meals. We of course had to have all our receipts it was a little bit of hassle emails from Air France proof of Hotel stay etc..it was worth it.. Don't leave home without insurance..

On our first cruise was with AMA and booked air through AMA would not do this again..the layover was over five hrs in Amsterdam and early arrival and departure times. Never again.. I want to be in control of my flights and the price was still expensive. At the time it was our first cruise and we thought it would be easier... NAUGHT!

We are staying two nights post cruise in Lucerne. We are booking through Uniworld I didn't want the hassle of planning on my own. We are still debating about taking the optional Mt Pilatis excursion. Not great with heights. Any must sees in Lucerne? We are also cruising on the SS Antoinette leaving June 29.. We are really getting excited and you did a superb job on your review. :)

We are flying into Amsterdam from Boston the end of June. I checked flights almost daily and I finally booked my flight this past January. The price fluctuated about $50.00. We are flying non stop Delta $1546.. This was the best price and I monitored this flight for about a year. My advice if you see an inexpensive fare book it. We are returning Zurich to Amsterdam on to Boston. We are staying post cruise in Lucerne two days..good luck..

The Hotel Schiller. From what I read it's a great location.. Don't give up on the bidding process. It took a few weeks My bid kept being rejected. Go to the Amsterdam forum I know there is a link that will give you the specifics . Good Luck!

I will certainly post a review on my trip when I return. After reading posts on the Amsterdam forum I booked three nights through a Priceline bid. a 4 star Hotel for $100.00 per night. Great location. I also purchased my tickets for the Ann Frank House and Rikesmuseum. We will also take a canal cruise other then that we will just enjoy walking Amsterdam.

We are still discussing whether or not to take the Mt Pilatus excursion . Height is an issue with both of us! I would love to hear from people who have done this trip. It looks so beautiful... I am leaning toward booking this trip..

JP & Chris, I enjoyed your pictures and review of Castles on the Rhine. We are cruising Amsterdam to Basel leaving June 29 from Amsterdam. This will be our second cruise with Uniworld. last year we cruised Burgundy and Provence with a precruise on our own to Paris ( three days). We stayed three nights in Aix post cruise also on our own. A ton of planning and a little bit of a problem with boarding the wrong train to Lyon but it all worked out a lesson learned. We loved Uniworld and I only hope this itinerary will be as enjoyable. We are doing a pre cruise to Amsterdam on our own and post cruise with Uniworld a bit expensive but I wanted to end the trip without a hassle. We haven't decided on the excursions We booked this trip last July and there were only two cabins available .. Thanks again for taking the time to write such a terrific review.