jklc123

I caught the episodes on PBS in Los Angeles. All I saw about Uniworld were the ads!

I just looked at the itinerary and excursion choices. Looks like 3 days cruising with no shore stops — must be very leisurely cruising speed. Several excursion choices have to do with wine. Cruise starts and ends in Sacramento. San Francisco visit seems just cruising the bay, unless I read it wrong.  I do hope someone on the first cruise is reading this thread and will write a review.

I do hope you can add at least one more day. Looking at Tauck’s Seine itinerary, it looks like you’ll be spending a day with Tauck in Paris before cruising, with various excursions to choose from. So of course you need to research what else you’d like to do on your own beforehand. Have fun planning!

I would very much like to read a review by someone who takes this trip.

We had a fabulous time on the Nile with Uniworld back in January 2017. Casual attire every night was the norm, a bit more casual than European cruises perhaps. One night we were invited to buy fairly inexpensive Egyptian galabias or caftans for a special dinner plus local dancers.  On excursions, I often wore short sleeved blouses when it was warm, in case you’re wondering about expected attire in a Muslim country. Western style attire was prevalent in Cairo and Luxor; more conservative clothes in smaller villages. But tourists were welcome whatever we were wearing!

When we were planning for this trip, pre-pandemic, we were emailing back and forth with a guide for 3 days prior to the cruise. Then COVID hit. Oh well.

BeesKate, thanks for your review. After several cruises with Uniworld, this is one itinerary I’m still interested in. I did enjoy Roz’s review a few years ago. If we go (not sure we’re still up to overseas flights any more), we would jump ship, so to speak, to Tauck as I like their itinerary a little better as it includes more time in Romania

We’re set to do this trip a month from now — hoping for the best. I have started looking at the foliage report.

I looked online yesterday and although the excursion we want was still showing all booked up, I emailed customer service and soon received a reply that two spots were open and they booked us in. Very happy so far with ACL!

Thanks SteelMagnolia

Oops! I waited too long to choose excursions—46 days until we sail. One excursion we had particularly wanted is listed as sold out. Is our only plan of action to inquire when we’re onboard to see if there are any cancellations?

We’re booked on our first ACL cruise in October, on the Constitution on the Hudson. We’ll be interested to see if our experience with staffing and food will be similar.

Thanks BaumD. Now we know how to pack. DH not happy about this. 🤨

What is the laundry service like on the Constitution? We will sail on her in October and prefer not to do our own laundry.

5 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

I think this is what you're looking for - the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail: https://www.walkingoffthebigapple.com/2020/08/in-washington-irving-country-walk.html. Walking between the sites on the trail is fairly easy. What you'll need to figure out is transportation to and from the houses to where the ship docks. Public transportation isn't great and you're probably docked in a fairly industrial neighborhood or a yacht club, and there's a main train line (Amtrak/Metro North) running along the river.

Yes, that is the trail I was looking at online. My plan is to see if we can get to the Lyndhurst House with the morning ACL excursion and take the bus back to the port with the afternoon Sunnyside group, paying for the excursions and doing the guided tours arranged by ACL. Of course, I’d have ask the cruise director if that would be feasible. Have you been to either house? 

10 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

Jim - I enjoyed your photos and video. Looking forward to your video of Butchart Gardens! We sailed the Puget Sound cruise last year on American Spirit. Sorry your missed Friday Harbor and going up into Olympic National Park while in Port Angeles. If it's any consolation the folks on our cruise who did the whale watching tour in Friday Harbor saw one whale - which was one more than folks saw the week before.😮 Of course, being 2021 we didn't get to take the ferry to Victoria - Coho sat forlornly at her dock.

 

You're right about this being a very different experience from large cruise ships - and it's all for the good.

 

jklc123 -am I correct that your Hudson River cruise is rescheduled from last year? I'm a local - I've seen the ships out on the river, and can help with questions about the ports.

10 hours ago, nybumpkin said:

nybumpkin:  Thanks. We’re hoping for fall colors, of course.Yes, we were originally booked for last year. Our dates are Oct. 15 - 22. I’m wondering if it would be feasible to walk from the Lyndhurst Mansion to Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. It looks to be just a mile walk. ACL offers excursions for both for a fee ($40 each, per person.) Instead of being bused back to the ship from Lyndhurst to the Sleepy Hollow port for lunch and then bused back to Sunnyside, I’m thinking of asking ACL for a sack lunch and doing the walk. It doesn’t look like time is provided for visiting the touristy part of Sleepy Hollow. Would you advise doing both excursions or missing one to explore Sleepy Hollow on our own?

Thank you for your post. This is a cruise I’m considering — my father was posted in Port Townsend during WWII and my mother was able to join him. I do get seasick so I now know not to take the ferry to Victoria! We have visited Butchart Gardens.

We are booked on an ACL Hudson River cruise in October. Was that one of the 3 ACL cruises you have done, by chance? It’s our first American river cruise after thoroughly enjoying several river cruises abroad.

If I remember correctly, on non-European cruises with Uniworld (Russia and Egypt in our case), tipping was not included and Uniworld provided info. on suggested amounts. I really like not having to have local money ready to tip local guides and bus drivers on excursions.

No discussion about this season in some time. Drama has died down, I suppose, although I expected way more drama from this week’s Housewives episode. This week I totally agree with the choice of the winner and of the designer who had to go home.

The heart ornament.

I meant the star ornament, of course.

 W

We acquired the ornaments on the tree while traveling, mostly on cruises. The star ornament at the top we bought in Bratislava, Slovakia.

On 12/6/2021 at 9:05 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Indulging your patience again, the review of my second Noble Caledonia Hebridean Sky cruise (Andalucian Odyssey) is now available on Cruise Critic [link below].  A more detailed day-by-day blog with lots of pictures is available here:  https://jazzbeauxandalucianodysseyblog2021.wordpress.com/

Fantastic review! I studied in Spain in 1967 and did some travel by car in 1973,  visiting some of these places. But now I’ve added this trip to the bucket list. Would so much like to return. Thanks for the blog.

7 hours ago, vino100 said:

yes, the main reason is the food and beverage was not as I expected. 
this was not a cheap cruise and I was very disappointed . 
Please remember this is just my opinion. 

And I appreciate your opinion. We’re consoling ourselves about the prices of their cruises with at least not having to pay for long flights overseas.

Thanks again for your review and comparison with Uniworld. The dining and evening happy hours seem like the most disappointing parts of the trip, and not very pleasant for sure. Is that the main reason you wouldn’t sail again with ACL? We have a Great Lakes cruise with Pearl Seas scheduled for late spring and Hudson River with ACL in the fall 2022. We’ll see if we’d want to travel again with either line.