beesKate

In most cases, you won't need local currency. We didn't have much reason to use local currency. We did make a few small purchases in Croatia and our guide recommended just using contactless (Apple or Google pay) even for very small purchases. We used both contactless & credit card in Bulgaria and Romania. We didn't make any purchases in Serbia. I think we used euros for the toilets (half to 1 or 2, depending if we paid together.). I think during covid most vendors started using contactless.

If you do decide to book on your own (Uniworld may not even offer early arrival or have transport arrangements that day), let the hotel know you are part of the Uniworld group and they can probably book you in the same room so you don't need to move.

When we went on Uniworld in fall, we were told they did not do complimentary upgrades (we had booked aquarium level). We went back and checked documents, and they no longer mention a complimentary upgrade for repeat cruisers. We were given an option to bid on an upgrade, which we did not do (I guess they no longer want to give them away). However, we were given a complimentary upgrade to the next level up... along with others on our itinerary who also booked the least expensive cabins. Our cruise was maybe 70% full.

Which is the most luxurious river boat company? My experience is only with Uniworld. Even though Uniworld calls themselves a boutique company, I wouldn't call it luxurious. As mentioned above, what do you consider luxurious? Is it the decor? service? food? In my fantasy world... I would consider a butler bringing me a well-brewed pot of coffee to the room in the morning to sip while I'm getting ready for the day, table service at all meals that learns my preferences, champagne (not cava) or other beverage of choice handed to me when I walk on board, nice linens, upscale food, perhaps smaller groups for excursions. Not that I've experienced all these. I think most cruise lines may have table-service options at the buffet style meals, instead of going through the buffet, but you'd need to let your server know in and they would need to expect that and take care of you. But maybe you like seeing the choices on the buffet? Uniworld has smaller bespoke excursions, but nothing I've felt compelled to pay extra for. Does cabin choice make a difference in line you would choose? It wouldn't for me. We have limited lifetime funds to travel and I'd rather stretch them when I can. That said, most river cruises have very similar layouts for cabins with limited suites. Yes, A suite would be more space, but for me I wouldn't pay for the difference as we don't spend that much time in the cabin. Maybe if I were a repeat cruiser on the same long itinerary of places I already visited it would be nice to have more space to spread out and enjoy private comfort. However we really enjoy visiting the ports and spend very little time in the cabin. Does length of cruise make a difference? It may, just because the crew would get to know you better and thus be able to anticipate your needs and learn your preferences. Does price or luxury make a difference in how passengers are treated when water levels do not permit cruising? Interesting question, like would suites get better treatment (more comfortable minivan) than aquarium class (big bus) if the cruise turned into a bus trip? I've never heard of any differentiating. We often wondered about extensions if you had a better cabin were you given a nicer hotel room. No practical experience but an interesting question.

--- I looked at our train ticket, we were on the 9:51 AM train out of Lyon Perrache and arrived Gare Lyon a little after noon.

Again, no direct experience with Viking, but if one leg of the cruise ends in Lyon, debarkation time will probably be in the morning as new passengers will be arriving to board. We did something similar on our own with Uniworld and we were on the same train car as the people who were continuing on with the organized Uniworld tour. One of the podcasts I follow has just published a VoiceMap tour of Eiffel Tower if you're interested in having someone speak into your ear as you explore the area around the tower. I haven't listened to this tour, but she previewed it on her last podcasts and gives hints on best photo spots, etc. Once you have the code, you can listen as many times as you want. https://joinusinfrance.com/boutique/eiffel-tower-voicemap-tour/

We haven't done this exact route, but whenever I have European train travel questions I first check www.seat61. He's a wealth of knowledge! PRAGUE to BUDAPEST by train | Tickets from €16 (seat61.com)

We did this trip in 2018, along with the extension to Florence & Rome. It wasn't like a river cruise as you were docked in the lagoon, but it was a different experience. If you use the search for Venice on this forum, I think Uniworld is the only river cruise line that goes there. Yes, there was time to explore Venice itself, but there was also cruising the islands. We really enjoyed wandering Venice in the early mornings before tourists arrive. You see the locals with children, dogs, deliveries via the canals, etc. When we went, they had an informal pizza café outside, but dinner was in the regular dining room.

We hired a private guide for 4 days because Uniworld barely included anything in Romania. Since we are both still working, and the "cruise" started on a Wednesday with free time in Bucharest, we didn't want to waste the weekend prior and flew out on Friday evening. This was really one of the most interesting trips we've been on. When you go to most of Europe, you know what to expect; you know the basic history. This was really learning about a pocket of Europe that is very fascinating and beautiful.

This isn’t so much a review or travel log, but random thoughts. We recently completed the 10 Day Highlights of Eastern Europe traveling from Bucharest to Budapest, which is 7 nights on the ship, and 2 nights in Bucharest. We sailed the River Duchess. It had been several years since we’ve last cruised, with a few land trips in between. We booked this during Covid when Uniworld was offering a more significant discount than normal. We were watching water levels on the Danube and thankful we could cruise! This stretch of river is really beautiful! Although I really enjoy river cruises, there’s always ports I wish we stayed longer or times I would have liked to have done multiple excursions. I’ve described river cruising as a sampler plate, you learn where you want to go back and revisit. However, this itinerary is probably going to be a one-and-done. This is not a critique of the trip itself; Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are countries it was nice to visit once, but probably won’t return. I would have liked a little more time in Croatia, even along the Danube which is not as touristic as the Dalmatian coast. This was our second time Budapest, but it was only ½ a day – docking around lunch time. In retrospect, we should have stayed an extra night in Budapest, but when we booked our flights, it wasn’t apparent we’d only have ½ a day in Budapest. One thing I appreciate about Uniworld is the cultural enrichment they bring to the voyage. We had 3 separate folk dancing groups (one on an excursion for lunch, and 2 on the ship). I admit, I’m a sucker for folk dancing -- when I was in high school, I was in the German folk dancing group. I am glad Uniworld supports these groups, not only professional groups but a very good student group. We also had a very interesting 2-part lecture/seminar on the history of Serbia, and how it led to the conflicts in the 90’s. Several of us (of a certain age), admitted we were only vaguely aware of the conflicts and what was happening in this part of the world, but also admitted we were young parents with babies and toddlers at the time and probably didn’t have time to dedicate to the news. One of the most interesting talks was our cruise director, Mirela (remember to roll the “r”!), gave an almost 2-hour presentation on growing up in communist Romania. She has probably given this before, and said it was in response to requests. The guides we had in Serbia and Croatia were very candid about their time during the conflicts and it was very enlightening. Considerations if cruising from Bucharest to Budapest, most of the ports are on the south side (Bulgaria, Serbia & Croatia) of the Danube, so cabins on the port (left if inside looking at the front of the ship) will be against the dock, starboard will be on the river side. Our cabin was 205, which was a complimentary upgrade from stateroom 105, so we didn’t select it and were happy with the upgrade since we’d somewhat hoped it would occur. But that was one of the changes to Uniworld’s River Heritage Club (previous passengers); previously a complimentary upgrade (if available) was listed as a benefit. However, we never received an upgrade prior to this cruise when it is no longer listed as a benefit. I think everyone in the 100’s was upgraded, this may have been a ship-specific thing. Also, looking at the Uniworld website, the layout of the stateroom is slightly different now. I presume they updated staterooms without updating their website. The closets run the across from the bed, with mirrors on the walls. The desk area is next to the bed, and replaces the night stand on one side. The furnishing shifted a bit so the bathroom door opens right at the bedside. We don’t spend that much time in the room, so it’s fine for us. We really barely used all the closet space. There was a lot of bus time on this cruise. The bus tour of Bucharest ended with us being dropped off at the Old Town area… along with several other cruise line buses. The previous day (Wednesday) we were in Old Town and there were no busloads of tourists. I wonder if the port authorities plan to schedule them all the cruises to depart/arrive on the same day? We were unable to tour Parliament (People’s Palace) because it was closed to touring that day. Instead, we toured the presidential palace. It may have been the itinerary, but we did not use Uniworld busses. Each port had local bus operators, and they varied in comfort level. The Croatian bus was the newest and nicest, the Serbian was the oldest and tight. The Bulgarian was somewhere in the middle. There were several days where the ship would drop us off at a port, we’d go and tour, and the ship would be cruising down the river and pick us up in a different location. There were a handful of passengers who stayed on the ship and did not go on the excursions. The scenery on this cruise is really beautiful. Not many castles, but beautiful forests and hills. Has anyone else cruised Uniworld with Stella? She was on our cruise, going the full trip to Amsterdam. This was (she thinks) about her 15th cruise with Uniworld. She is in her 80’s and stays on the ship, the crew takes care of her and she enjoys meeting and talking to the passengers. The crew really watched out her. We met her when one of the waiters in the dining room asked us if it would be okay if she joined us; of course, yes. She’s an interesting lady. Speaking of passengers, on this leg, Bucharest to Budapest, there were 72 passengers. Although there may have been 2 choices of excursions, one always had more people and they would split into 2 groups. This meant the groups for each guide were considerably larger than they’d been for our other Uniworld cruises. Most of our groups were 24 – 30+. Not really what I expected and you don’t realize how important those smaller groups are until you’re all waiting for the one restroom at the venue, and also when the guide is speaking about a room but not everyone can fit into it. There was no option for a “gentle walker” group. Perhaps there was a shortage of tour guides along this itinerary. Two of our guides told us they took a vacation day from their day job to guide us. Prior to boarding the bus in Bucharest, I twisted my ankle on some steps in Old Town. We stopped in a pharmacy across the street from where the bus was picking us up and I was able to purchase wrap/bandage and hobbled to the bus waiting area. By the time we sat on the bus for the hour + ride to the port, it had really tightened up and I was hobbling down the gangplank to board. The crew was great and allowed us to get our room immediately and brought me an ice pack – one of those gel-beads filled ones. I was able to turn it in and get it back again when I needed it (they may have had multiples). Probably bad for my ankle, but I didn’t let this slow me down. The ice pack, some ibuprofen and the wrap helped me get through the week. I did use the Nordic walking sticks for the town of Arbanassi and the Belogradchik red rock climbing. The dining experience didn’t seem as elevated as it had on past cruises, maybe we’re just getting pickier? The Duchess did have a great selection of local wines; however, they need to work on what is a local beer. We were offered Becks, Bitburger and possibly another, but they were all German. While touring on our own in Romania we had several good Romanian beers, but Uniworld missed an opportunity with not bringing on extremely local (Bulgarian, Serbian and Croatian) beers, even in limited supply. The restaurant manager did offer to bring some local beers for my husband, but he brought in one (I mean a single beer), he may have bought them for himself as he said he’d provide them out of his private supply. Then the servers didn’t know where these local beers were kept. My husband prefers the beer at lunch and wine at dinner, but there was a bit of confusion, so when they brought him a local beer, he drank that. Once at lunch, the other person at the table pointed to Greg’s beer when asked what he wanted to drink, but we had to explain that was the only one. I think Greg did get at least one beer from Serbia and Croatia while on board. Where they missed it (again) was presuming only Greg wanted the beer, and I was kind of ignored while they were sorting all this out, to the extent no one asked me what I wanted to drink for lunch. I don’t want to leave this post on a negative note. We really enjoyed visiting the countries, and a river cruise was a great way to do this. I did not think this trip was up to Uniworld standards and previous trips, but I realize Covid took a toll on the travel industry. The bedding is still the most comfortable, and we were just a few doors down from the self-serve coffee machine. The wait staff has several who I felt were up to Uniworld standards, but a few that would have been fine in a restaurant, but really didn’t bring that special touch. The bartender was great, but his server was so-so. This cruise reminded me of both why I love river cruising Uniworld, and also where there are plusses with independent travel. It may be a few years before we do a river cruise again. If you have any questions about this itinerary, or would like to know a great guide for a few days in Romania before your cruise starts, please reply with your questions.

I just finished a Uniworld cruise and although they still provide a great product, I would not recommend them as being top of the line. Perhaps the eastern europe itinerary made a difference, but our tour groups were huge (25-30 people), I don't think the menu options were as extensive or superior as on previous cruises. If the (mostly) all-inclusive alcohol is important, they are a great value, but I don't think they can really consider themselves all-inclusive (although they still proudly advertise that). I'm still gathering my thoughts on a review and post. I suggest looking at AMA Waterways. I think they were able to ride out the Covid downturn better where I think it was evident Uniworld was cutting corners on some of their offerings.

In Budapest there was a WC on Buda hill near Mathias church that had an attendant and cost 1 euro. However, you could easily walk into the Hilton behind Mathias church (act like you belong there... Viking had a table set up in the lobby), and the restroom in on the ground level, left side, across from the window with the ruins. Near Parliament there are big free restrooms on the north east corner of the complex just outside the entrance to the visitor center. We also paid to tour and panoramic dome at St. Stephen's Basilica and there were restrooms in the dome area. But all over Europe, the 1 euro coin will work. However, stop in a cafe, get a coffee and use their restaurant. It won't cost much more and it forces you to take a break.

We've only done Peru and Provincial France, and both time it was nice but not dressy. On those trips there is always a mix of meals on your own or group meals -- if they provided lunch (it was normally casual), then you may have been on your own for dinner. Group dinners tended to be in the (very nice) hotel restaurants when we were outside of a city or town with other options. Even in Paris, at a restaurant we may have cleaned up but it was still a casual evening. Egypt may be different.

Have you tried posting on the Odysseys forums? https://odysseys.forums.net/board/6/africa-middle-east You'll probably have a better chance of getting specific information there.

I don't have an answer, but I would love to hear about this trip. We've travelled with Odysseys a couple times and were just looking at their Egypt offering last night.

We just returned home from our Uniworld River Duchess, Bucharest to Budapest cruise. I plan to write an official review later, but these are some observations that may help others on this itinerary regardless of cruise line. Don't bother worrying about local currency. Someone on our ship said she got a few hundred in currency from each country (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary) we were visiting. Absolutely no need to do this! What I do suggest is using Apple Pay or Google Pay and have a few low denomination euros bills or 1-2 euro coins. EVERYONE except for some small flea markets accept contactless payment. Our guides told us they don't care if it's 50 cents, during Covid all merchants pivoted to contactless. I didn't even carry around my credit cards, as long as I had my phone I was good to go. We did arrive a few days early in Romania and got Lei since we were going to be in Transylvania, however there was really no need. We had to make an effort to use the cash before we left the country. Every place we paid with cash we could have easily used Apple/Google Pay. Also, the non-euro countries readily accept euros if you really need to pay cash. At one street market the vendors quoted prices in euros, the WC attendants requested 50 cents to 1 euro... no mention of local currency. We did notice that at some places the "price" offered in euros was better than USD, for example we saw 1 euro or $1.25 US. Is some cases, the receipt we received had both local currency and euros. All local guides, and bus drivers accepted euros as tips.

We noticed this when we were on an Odyssey tour in Peru. Our bus arrived at the same time as a Tauck bus to the restroom stop. Although Odyssey is pretty all-inclusive, it wasn't to this level!

mozfoz, they no longer prepare the individual itinerary Cruise Companion but one global general information on that is available on their website. Our TA also emailed us a copy now that we < 3 weeks out. You'd have to know to look for it. Apparently people on the cruises this year were kind of surprised by it. For the bid for upgrade, it's interesting we're still getting emails to bid even though our cruise shows "Sold Out" at all cabin levels.

Roz, I also thought the recommended amount was so minimal, why did they bother to change it. Even with taxes, and these were never employees but contractors... you just build that into what you'd pay them. With the "small groups" how much of a difference would have it really made to the bottom line.

Good points Jazzbeau!

To preface, all the river cruises we've ever taken have been on Uniworld. We have really enjoyed the level of service and the product. This is just for general discussion, but I'm just getting a different "gut feel" for Uniworld in advance of our upcoming cruise. Our first couple of cruises pre-dated their all-inclusive alcohol, but we really enjoyed the all-inclusive nature of their product, mainly the lack of tipping. On this years' cruises, in the Cruise Companion has been updated from all are included to: "Gratuities for onboard staff and crew are included during the cruise. For onshore personnel, we recommend a €2 per person per day gratuity for guides and €1 per person per day for drivers." I realize some passengers tipped anyway before, and these are fairly low compared to some guided tours, but I'm curious about other's impression of this change. I also noticed that on previous sailings there was a heritage club benefit of complimentary upgrades *if available* and now you receive an email asking if you want to bid on an upgrade ($$). Granted, we never received an upgrade, but it still seems like their chipping away at some of what made them stand out from other cruise lines. I realize the covid years were very hard on the tourism industry, and European river cruising has been especially hard-hit this summer with water levels. But I wish there could have been a bit more transparency to their heritage club members. Is it just me or have other's noticed this?

Although we've only travelled with Uniworld; my sister and her husband adore AMA. After listening to podcast, it was interesting to hear that the AMA founder used to work for both Uniworld and Viking. Very interesting podcast if you weren't aware of this history./podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/well-traveled-with-aaa-river-cruising-in-europe/id1491534962?i=1000576289444 As everyone will tell you, the only thing similar about ocean cruising and river cruising is that you're on a ship and moving through water. One thing to consider on the north/south south/north option is that the weather tends to travel northwest to southeast, so if you start in less than ideal weather, it may follow you the remainder of the cruise. For airfare, we've done both ways. I believe both AMA and Uniworld provide transport from the airport if you provide them with flight arrival times, even if you don't use them to book the air. Cabin selection is not as big an issue, because unless you get a suite, they're all the same size. Also with rafting, and this year low water, your view out the window when docked may be another ship rafted to you or the concrete pier. There are no "sea days". You are much more active on a river cruise, more similar to bus touring in that you're in touring a location for a few hours each day (and walking quite a bit), but your "hotel" moves with you. Not like a bus tour because as you travel you can walk around, enjoy a drink or snacks, walk on deck, etc. The da's touring may start early, the entertainment is more limited, but still enjoyable. You get to know your fellow passengers better. There are set meal times, it's not like there is somewhere to eat 24/7, but in all honesty, there wasn't time for that. Although you mostly dock in town and can walk off the ship and explore, be aware that sometimes it may be a bus ride into the scenic or touristic areas... it all depends on the itinerary.

Fran, I'm right there with you, we're a week+ after you, boarding Oct 6. Our ship (Duchess) was stuck in Passau, where it could have made it way back to Romania, but now it's moved up towards Nürnberg. Lifting a stein (this time of day a coffee cup) to a wet Oktoberfest season 🙂

I'll just add that we've been on a few cruises where we've met people where one of the travelling partners had extremely limited mobility. In some cases, they chose to stay on the ship while the rest of us were out touring, especially the walking tours. Other times when we were bussed, they may walk to a meeting area then sit and wait for the walking group to return. The crews are very accommodating and will be able to assist with your decisions when you're on the cruise itself.

It will vary depending on where you are docked. Which section of the Danube will you be cruising? People with experience with those location will be able to reply with more information. Also be aware there may be rafting where you will need to walk through another ship. There may be ramps or steps that will need to be navigated.