WanderlustJourney

I was onboard for a ship tour of the Riverside Mozart last month in Vienna while cruising through on Uniworld and I've booked "A Taste of Christmas" for November. Can't wait to sail the Riverside Mozart, also looking at booking the Riverside Ravel for next October,

I’m currently on the Encore, but I am only doing the LA to Vancouver portion. There are 2500 onboard for our cruise, fully staffed. There were some who did back to back and stayed on, they mentioned they had a great cruise. I’ll try to see if I can get more details, however Panama Canal is not popular with families typically as it’s a longer sailing, you will have a few family with kids onboard but not many (especially school aged children). There aren’t many children on our sailing either right now.

Currently on the Encore and unfortunately they do not exist. They do have “Miami” and “Florida” mugs, saying this as we cruise into Vancouver today for the Encore to start her Alaska season on Saturday out of Seattle lol

The active excursions seem to be really popular on most river cruises nowadays (especially the bikes onboard), it’s one of the reasons I personally love river cruising. You can make it as active as you want it to be.

I’ll definitely have to try a “French 75”, sounds delicious! I am also an early riser, I’ve heard they have a good fitness program onboard with yoga/stretching classes offered, etc.

I think that’s why I was a bit confused, I was told that the excursions are booked onboard and then saw this and was worried I missed something for the included excursions.

Yes, most of the non-heated loungers were in the room where the hydrotherapy pool is. I believe you can also use the relaxation room (I didn’t), however this can be busy at times with guests waiting for treatments. I’ll actually be onboard the Koningsdam again on May 6th, so I can double check this.

The loungers that overlook the main pool like others have said are first come first serve and no charge to use these “cabanas”. There is a paid area called The Retreat, but those are outdoor up on Deck 12. The hydropool is part of the Thermal Suite which is a wonderful place to relax on the Koningsdam. Definitely less busier than other areas, however when I sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam last year, I had no problems finding a hot tub to myself at certain times of the day.

Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful cruise yourselves! 😊

Thank you! I was just worried that the excursions wouldn’t have enough spaces for everyone.

Thank you! I’ll be sure to try to book the dinner as soon as I arrive to the ship.

Hello Cruisers! I’ll be sailing on Uniworld for the first time in June from Nuremberg to Budapest on the SS Beatrice. I’ve sailed with Avalon and Ama before and just curious on a few things? I believe documents are just delivered as edocs, do they mail anything out in advance? Some river cruise lines do and some have stopped. I understand that Uniworld is a bit unique that you actually select your included shore excursions once you get onboard the ship and not before? Is there a presentation on the first night as part of the port talk on the options for the entire cruise, or is it best to have a chat when I first arrive then submit my choices? If anyone has also sailed on the SS Beatrice and has any tips they’d like to share about the ship, please let me know! Thanks! Ariane

I’ve also arrived to the port just over an hour early on my POA cruise last year and was never asked about it. Have a great cruise!

Following along, I'll be boarding the Encore in 33 Days.

I just got off the Queen Elizabeth yesterday on a seven night voyage to Alaska. The pools were on the cooler side for me, it didn’t feel like they were heating them very much, if at all. Only a couple people used the pools on some of the warmer days we experienced in Icy Strait Point and Sitka. Only three of four whirlpools were working on our sailing (only one at the aft of the ship was in operation) and the temperature was kept at 36C or 37C. Hope this helps!

Thanks so much Mark! The premium wifi onboard seems to be pretty good so far, just had some initial issues getting connected however we did get it sorted out. I’ll be interested to see if it stays a good strength throughout the week, but we are at just under 50% capacity so it should work good.

The only specialty restaurants open are Jefferson’s Bistro (Le Bistro) and Cagney’s. 🙂

If you have any specific questions let me know! 🙂

Good morning from just off the coast as we approach Maui! I brought my aunt along for this cruise, so it’s her and I travelling this trip. I will also preface this and say that I am a hosted guest onboard along with others, this cruise is a rescheduled POA “Inaugural” cruise from January. The port and check in experience was quite smooth. We arrived to the port from The Royal Hawaiian (just over a $17 cab ride), at 10:15am. At 10:30am it looked like they opened security. Our documents were checked, we then went through security and lined up for the check in. Check in was also quick, and received “Boarding Card A”. They had two local Hawaiians playing live music which was great and by 11:00am they were boarding the ship. Once onboard we headed straight for the Restaurant Reservations desk to get those sorted for the week, “Jefferson’s Bistro” aka Le Bistro and Cagney’s are the only two specialty dining restaurants open this sailing. Once we did that, we secured some more shore excursions. Afterwards we headed up to the Aloha Cafe (the buffet) for some lunch. We actually ate outside at the very aft of the ship, it was covered and with the breeze it was a perfect temperature. Food was good and I enjoyed what I picked out. We are at just under 50% for this sailing. No issues getting drinks at the bar and staff have been great so far and very friendly! Rooms on our deck (deck 9) were not quite ready on our sailing until around 4pm, luggage was delivered shortly after 5:30pm. We have a balcony cabin and they’ve definitely refreshed them. Brand new carpets, balcony doors have been replaced and are brand new, throw pillows and foot runner are also a great new pattern. We had a very special sail away cocktail party. Harry Sommer (President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines) hosted a group of us as we sailed away from Honolulu. Afterwards we headed to Jefferson’s Bistro for a lovely dinner to wrap up the night. This is my first time on the Pride of America, and my overall first impressions are positive. There were some initial hiccups with the internet, however we got those solved quickly with some help from the Internet Manager, Robert. The premium internet is okay and is a good speed for uploading to Instagram I’m finding. I’ll see how it works later in the week for a work zoom call I need to be on lol. I am posting live stories on my Instagram which you can find the link in my first post above 🙂

Hello everyone! I'll be sailing on the Pride of America from May 14th to 21st, 2022. I will be trying to keep this as up to date as I can along the way. I will be filming my experience for my travel YouTube channel and on my travel blog (where I will be posting the Dailies, lots of photos and menus) which will be live once I return. Please feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer each day, and/or follow me on Instagram @wanderlustjourney.ca as I'll be posting lots of live stories there. Thanks! Ariane

I am considering doing a live review, this will depend on time, etc 🙂 I will be filming my experience for my YouTube channel and in a proper blog post on my website with menus, photos, etc.

Thanks so much! I board on Saturday and I'm really looking forward to it 🙂

How much was the taxi to and from the airport to collect your car rental on Kauai? I think we're going to be renting a car ourselves as it just seems like a better option.

Was most of the entertainment onboard still taking place? Were any of the pools or fitness facilities closed? Boarding on May 14th and looking forward to the cruise!

I'm planning on filming my experience with Avalon for YouTube and writing a detailed travel blog 🙂