Babcia7

We've never had a whole day of river cruising "at sea", but we've always appreciated the relaxing mornings on the river, or afternoons sailing past beautiful scenery while relaxing in the pool!

Deec, as I recall, the only long bus rides were from Madrid to the port where we embarked on the ship (and this was broken up by a pit stop overlooking the beautiful walled village of Avila and several hours in Salamanca, where we had a great tour and delicious tapas lunch); and our trip to Lisbon from Porto, in which we had three stops, one just a pit stop, one at Nazare for the views and a drink and one at Obidos for a tour and lunch.  None of the bus rides on the Douro seemed long, perhaps because the scenery is so spectacular.

We were on the Douro last summer with Uniworld and had a fantastic time.  Our trip began with 3 nights in Madrid (which I highly recommend) and ended with 2 nights in Lisbon, with a 7 day cruise on the Queen Isabel sandwiched between.  We had great guides in Madrid and wonderful included excursions to Toledo and a very passionate Flamenco dinner show while based in Madrid.  On our way to the Douro, we spent several hours in Salamanca. The Douro River is beautiful, and in our travels has probably some of the prettiest scenery we've had on any of our river cruises.  If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to answer.

Thanks for all the advice!  Texas Tillie, I'll be interested to hear what you think of the Bach.  Have a wonderful time! What cruises are you going on?

Thanks for your helpful reply, Coral! 

For those of you who've had the experience of taking a river cruise with Crystal, I have a couple of questions.  I've already pre-booked most of our excursions, but is it possible to add an excursion once we're on board the ship (we'll be going on the Crystal Bach)?  Also, a couple of you have mentioned that excursions were added after your cruise was underway.  Can you share what they were? I've checked in with the Priority Planning over the months, and there have been some additions and changes in excursions, so I'll continue to take a look periodically.

Crystal also states that each ship has an "excursion yacht". Does anyone know what sort of excursions are offered on this yacht?  We'll be going on the Rhine and Moselle, but if any of you have had any experience on the yachts, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.  We have some ship board credit to use, so an outing on the yacht might be an option!  

Thanks for sharing!  Made me all the more excited about our upcoming trip on Crystal Bach!

We went on Uniworld's Madrid to Lisbon trip last July with a week on the Douro.  The Douro is absolutely beautiful, and we loved our time in Madrid and on the ship, even though we we were there during the scorching heat.  It was refreshing to have the pool on the ship!  This summer we'll be on Crystal Bach's Rhine and Moselle.  Although we have always enjoyed our trips with Uniworld, Crystal's itinerary was a better fit for us.  

Shaking my head too.  Since the change of command at Uniworld, I think the company has made some changes that will not fair well for their product.  My husband and I loved our 5 river cruises with Uniworld on their more traditional itineraries, but we'll be trying a Crystal river cruise this year.  It will be interesting to compare.

We were on two river cruises with Uniworld, then gave Viking a try. After that trip, we subsequently went on three more Uniworld cruises. Maybe our experience with Viking was a fluke, but it didn't compare with the customer service, staff, food, drink, shore excursions, etc. that we have experienced on all of our trips with Uniworld. 

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! This board and forum provide so much great information from fellow travelers, and I value and appreciate your insight and answers to my questions.  

Thank you, Fuel Science! Just checked out the website for the Rheinesches Landesmuseum.  The collection of artifacts is amazing, and we will look forward to visiting that museum.  I agree, it sure looks like a "must see" in Trier. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks Notamermaid,

I always value your input on this site, especially since you have the perspective of a "local".

One reason we chose Crystal's cruise over Uniworld's was that Crystal included stops in Bonn and Dusseldorf (neither of which we've ever visited), and Uniworld's itinerary stopped in Cologne and Frankfurt, both stops on previous trips we've taken.

I enjoy researching the places we'll be visiting and have always enjoyed our independent time at various ports. Any suggestions for how to spend our free time in Dusseldorf, Cochem, Trier or Bernkastel would be appreciated!

We will be taking our first Crystal river cruise (Enchanting Moselle) next summer.  Although there are included excursions in every port, we will have free afternoons/evenings in several ports (Dusseldorf, Bernkastel, Trier, Cochem), as well as virtually a whole day in Amsterdam upon our arrival.  For those of you who have traveled with Crystal, have you planned your free time independently, or does the concierge onboard provide suggestions? We've traveled with Uniworld in the past and are used to a more structured itinerary that usually fills up most of our time in port.  I like the idea of exploring on our own, but need to know if I should research possibilities before our cruise. 

Nothing better than Gluhwein on a cold winter's day! I was hooked after sampling several mugs worth at various Christmas markets in Austria and Germany.  A recipe I love includes a dry red wine, a bit of brandy, a little sugar, lemon slices, oranges slices, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves.  The citrus helps to cut the sweetness, and the brandy provides additional warmth! An added bonus is the aroma as the mixture is heating up...

Merry Christmas to you too!  Thanks for sharing the picture of the Christmas tree and the article about the wonders and joys of Christmas markets. Visiting several Christmas markets in Austria and Germany a few years ago with family (and having a few close encounters with Krampus) remains a highlight of all my travel experience memories! Hope your cold is better.  Looking forward to a healthy new year.

Have sailed with Uniworld 5 times.  With Viking once.  And done.  Perhaps we just had a poor experience with Viking and the staff on board the ship, but Uniworld is consistent with good customer service and product.  I liken Viking to Carnival with their marketing schemes and I know they have quite a following, but find that Uniworld and other river cruise lines have more to offer and stand by their customers and concerns.

Ditto about Uniworld. On our 5 cruises with them, we've had no problems with cabin noise (even at the aquarium level), luggage handling, etc. We took one Viking cruise, and had a much less positive experience. As many other Uniworld passengers expressed about Viking: "one and done". They look like a deal, but their customer service and product in general (at least on our cruise)was/ is lacking.

Thank you, johng! Good to know that Luxembourg is and included excursion. Did you enjoy your time on the Bach? Were there any other excursions on your trip that you particularly enjoyed?

Looking into taking the Enchanting Moselle cruise on the Crystal Bach. Does anyone know if this itinerary includes an excursion to Luxembourg? The brochure lists that 2 nights are spent in Trier, but other than a concert I can't find any other excursion options. If anyone has any info about the Crystal Bach, it would be much appreciated. My husband and I are avid fans of Uniworld, but we're considering "jumping ship" to take this cruise!

Roz,

I believe the ships are currently owned by Douro Azul. Maybe the ships will all be upgraded when the independent cruise lines are the actual owners, not just the operators. As I said, my husband and I didn't have a problem with the ship being "old and tired", but other passengers made comments to that effect.

I don't know if the couple who complained about their room brought it to the attention of the staff. The wife showed me a cell phone picture she took of the dirt she found in their cabin while we were on the bus to Lisbon.

A few weeks ago my husband and I returned from a wonderful trip on Uniworld's Queen Isabel, flanked by 3 nights in Madrid and 2 in Lisbon. Overall it was a great experience. Here are a few of my thoughts:

Pros:

• Our time in Madrid. Beautiful hotel in a perfect location that provided a delicious and huge breakfast buffet each morning. The Uniworld hosts at the hotel and all of our guides were top notch. Our excursions were interesting, the sights amazing. A highlight was the Flaminco show and dinner. We also loved exploring on our own and having a variety tapas at recommended restaurants. We enjoyed the trips to Toledo and Salamanca, and the transition to our Portuguese hosts while in Salamanca was flawless.
  
• The crew aboard the Queen Isabel. While in Salamanca, we met some of our Queen Isabel staff, including the cruise manager, Ricardo. He was the cruise manager on one of our previous Uniworld trips, and he remembered us, along with 2 other couples that had been on that same cruise! Like all of Queen Isabel's crew, Ricardo is from Portugal. This was very different from the crew members on other river cruises we've been on, whom are mostly from parts of Eastern Europe. Although we have always thought Uniworld's staff have been excellent, it was refreshing that the crew on Q.I. were all Portuguese. Their pride in their country, and their eagerness to share its beauty was evident throughout our trip. The entertainer on the ship, Miguel was by far the best we've ever experienced on a river cruise. He played the keyboard beautifully, and sang equally well. Although he was dealing with a somewhat lethargic crowd in the evenings, he was very engaging and tried his best to get people out on the dance floor, or just to sing along!
  
• The food. Generally I thought the food was very good to excellent. I always love how Uniworld incorporates local, fresh food on the menus. Drinks were plentiful, wines decent and the port wonderful. I became a big fan of Vino Verde and Port tonics while on board (especially when the weather became sultry).
  
• The ship. Although it definitely is not as fancy as other Uniworld ships we've been on, it was fine for us. Others thought it was "old and tired" and one couple on the ship thought their room was rather dirty. Not the case in ours.
  
• The Douro River itself. Some of the most spectacular scenery we've experienced on any river (We've been on the Rhine, Danube, Main and Seine in Europe, and several in the States). We also loved the fact that the river is not a major thoroughfare and there is little industry along the route. It is not yet inundated with river cruise ships (I think we only saw TWO Viking ships along the way)!!
  
• Our guides and the excursions while on the Douro. All were wonderful. On our walking guide through the historical part of Port, there were only eight in our group! On other excursions the numbers in our group varied, but I believe they were always less than 20. We loved the trips to the vineyards and the included wine and port tastings. One day we were served lunch in a wine cellar, surrounded by huge barrels of wine!
  
• The passengers on our ship. We had a great group of people on our ship and everyone seemed to enjoy each others company. There were only 80 some people on board, 50 of whom were repeat Uniworld passengers. A good third of the passenger hailed from Australia, some were from Great Britain, a few from South Africa and the rest from the U.S. It was a great mix!
  
• The swimming pool. Though small, my husband and I enjoyed sitting neck deep in water watching the beautiful scenery go by, and when the weather turned steamy, it was a relaxing respite from the heat.
  

The cons:

• As we were heading to the airport to begin our trip, we got a call from American Airlines informing us that our flight from Philadelphia to Madrid had been canceled!! We made a quick u-turn, headed back home, called AA and were luckily able to re-book a flight to Madrid (via Heathrow) later that night. I immediately called the Uniworld office to inform them of our flight change and that we would be arriving in Madrid at noon instead of 6 a.m. (the time of arrival of our canceled flight). The Uniworld rep said the manifest had already gone out, but he would try to contact the Madrid team to let them know of the change. When we arrive in Madrid, there was no Uniworld rep to meet us. After some time spent searching, we finally located some other Uniworld passengers and then were greeted by the Uniworld rep who informed us that we were not on their roster, and there wasn't room for us in the provided transportation. It took many more minutes for them to figure something out with the drivers, and after a less than positive greeting, we were finally on our way to the hotel. As my husband commented, in this day when technology is so advanced and communication so immediate, there was absolutely no reason for there to have been such confusion. I wrote to Uniworld about this mix-up, but have yet to receive a response.
  
• The heat. Although the weather is out of anyone's control, the Queen Isabel had a difficult time keeping up with the high temperatures. As hard as the staff tried (on more than one day at port the captain and crew were hosing down the sundeck in an attempt to help cool the ship). The air conditioning on the ship was not functioning properly, and as temperatures rose so did tempers. We heard a lot of complaining from passengers about the hot, stuffy conditions onboard. I think my husband and I might have been a bit more comfortable, since we were in one of the aquarium cabins, partially submerged in the river and not having as much exposure to the heat and sun.
  
• Lisbon. Although I know this is totally subjective, I felt our time in Lisbon was quite a letdown compared to the rest of the days of our trip. The location of the hotel was a bus ride away from anything interesting to explore. The reception itself the first evening was minimal. Breakfast buffet was very good, however. We had basically a bus tour of the more historic part of the city, but had a fairly mediocre guide. We had the option of returning to the hotel after the tour, or remaining in town for lunch, etc. Uniworld provided shuttles back to the hotel beginning at 3 p.m. Since there was nothing of interest to see around the hotel, we remained in town for lunch, did some walking through town, then got on the first shuttle back to the hotel. We intended to cool off and rest in our room before going out to dinner on our own. As soon as we returned to the room, we heard a jack hammering type noise coming from the room above us. My husband went down to the reception desk to see if the noise could stop. He was given an apology, but the noise would continue until 6 p.m. We ended up leaving our room and the loud noise to sit in a bar area. We told Tomas (the Uniworld hotel rep) about the construction noise and suggested that he might want to make sure that future Uniworld clients were not put in rooms that would be subjected to that disruption. I also wrote my concern to customer service at Uniworld, and have yet to receive anything but their automated response.
  
• Onboard booking. My husband and I signed up for a tentative future cruise with Uniworld. The cruise manager, Ricardo, told us that we would receive a 5% discount for reserving while on board. In addition, the daily schedule stated in writing that we would receive a 5% discount for reserving a cruise while onboard. When we arrived home, I looked at our booking and we were given a 3% discount. I contacted our travel agent and she said Uniworld had lowered its onboard booking incentive to 3% starting in 2019. This should have been conveyed to the cruise manager and to whomever printed up the daily schedules. We weren't particularly happy with the apparent lack of communication.
  

We are avid Uniworld customers and have always enjoyed the time we've had on their itineraries. This is the first time we've had a few less than positive experiences, but overall it was a wonderful journey.

Thank you all so much for your input! Since this is our first time in Lisbon, it might be best for us to explore more of the city itself in the short time we're there. Just wish we had more time in our schedules to spend time in Sintra. Some of the sights sound so intriguing!

We're taking Uniworld's Jewels of Spain, Portugal and the Douro River this summer. At the end of the cruise, we'll be spending 2 nights (only one full day) in Lisbon. Uniworld provides a "city tour" in the morning. They have an optional "TUK TUK" tour in the afternoon. I'm wondering if time would allow for a trip to Sintra ( the Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, and Quinta da Regaleira) in the afternoon and evening. Has anyone done a half day trip from Lisbon to Sintra? Any other suggestions for making the most of our time in Lisbon?

We're taking the Uniworld trip on the Douro this summer, starting with 3 nights in Madrid and ending with 2 nights in Lisbon. While in Madrid, Uniworld has an included day tour to Toledo. I've read a lot of mixed reviews about this trip, but I'm looking forward to exploring a new (for me) part of the old world!