Just back from Uniworld's River Beatrice: Passau to Budapest

[funtwotravel]

This was our first river boat cruise. (We have taken two big ship cruises.) Our prior trips to Europe have been either small group tours or independent travel.

The River Beatrice is an absolutely beautiful boat! Uniworld clearly has an excellent training program in place because every single staff member was friendly and helpful.

The food was good, the dinner wine plentiful and informative local guides all contributed to a positive experience. The cabin was gorgeous and the 110 outlet was a very nice feature. Although the daily temperatures hovered between 95 and 103 degrees, the boat's air conditioning was able to keep up.

We were lucky that our cabin always faced water even when we were tied off with other boats. After going under one of the first bridges, I can understand why they have to close the river to boat travel during high water. Everything on the sundeck is lowered or removed...even the table umbrellas! As we went under the bridge I could have touched it and I am only 5'2" tall!

I would estimate that 80% of the travelers were over 65 years old. The majority of people did change for dinner each night. Most of the men did wear jackets and ties for the Farewell Dinner and the women were dressed-up but not formal wear.

The transfers to and from the airport were very well organized. We were very impressed with Uniworld's attention to detail and service level. I would not hesitate to book with Uniworld on subsequent trips.

[Wineart]

Glad to hear you had a great time - I was supposed to leave today for the same itinerary, but had to cancel due to unexpected surgery last week so I was very jealous reading your posting. It was going to be our first river cruise, and we were so looking forward to it......

[bchbum4000]

Thanks for the great review. We are scheduled to go on the Enchanting Danbue October 10, 2010. We will be traveling from Budapest to Passau. Would you be kind enough to tell me something about the tours that are offered from the ship. Do you have to take buses to get to the heart of the Cities? Do you have free time after the tours? We want to book some tours on our own, but the ship does not give out a schedule of times in each of the towns.

 

[funtwotravel]

Dear Wineart...sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope you can make the trip as soon as possible.

 

Dear Bchbum 4000,

I'll give you a overview of the times on our trip which was Passau to Budapest.

 

Sun. 7/11 We boarded the ship about 12:00. A lunch buffet is set-up in the lounge for the passengers as they arrived. The rooms were ready at about 2:30. (You don't handle your luggage at all.) The boat was docked away from Passau. At 7:00 PM the boat was repositioned to a Passau dock.

 

Mon. 7/12 9:30AM - 12:30 scheduled walking tour of Passau

3:00 PM - Boat sails to Linz (port for Salzburg)

 

Tues.7/13 8:30 AM - Bus to Salzburg (it's almost 2 hrs.) Walking tour of Salzburg. Free time from about 12:30 - 3:00 then back on bus to boat. Midnight the boat leaves for Melk.

 

Wen. 7/14 8:45 AM - Melk - Tour of the Melk Abbey

1:00 PM Boat sails for Durnstein

2:30 PM Arrive in Durnstein for Wine Tasting at Domaine Wachau

Midnight the boat leaves for Vienna

 

Thurs. 7/15 9:30 - 11:30 AM Vienna City Tour

Afternoon free

7:15 PM Depart for optional Vienna Concert ( we didn't do this but the people that did really enjoyed it except it was so very hot in the music hall that many people left.)

 

Fri. 7/16 8:30 - 12:30 Optional Schonbrunn Palance tour ( we did this and enjoyed it)

1:00 PM Boat leaves for Budapest

 

Sat. 7/17 8:00 AM Boat arrives in Budapest..be sure to be up on deck..it's gorgeous! Because it was Saturday and the stores close at 2:00 PM ,the free time to wander was in the morning. We did not take the optional Szentendre visit and didn't talk to anyone that did.

1:30 - 5:00 Included bus and walking tour of Budapest

 

Sun. 7/18 We had an 7:00AM flight so we were gone by 4:30 in the morning!

 

Ports: Passau - close enough to get off boat and walk

Budapest - close enought to get off and walk- we needed to take free water taxi to get across the river, but you are right in the center.

Vienna - need to use the subway

 

Point to Consider: Dinner on board is at 7:00 PM and it is not "fast food". We generally never got out of the dining room until 9:00 PM.

 

Hope this info helps. Feel free to ask me any other questions.

[bchbum4000]

Thank you funtwotravel for the wonderful reply to my posting. Needless to say we are looking forward to a great time on the River Beatrice.

[gbond3]

Looking for someone who recently traveled from Budapest to Passau without additional days in Budapest. I'd like to know about free time in Budapest before and after city tour, time of sailing, and the airport to River Beatrice experience. We are supposed to be picked up at the airport by Uniworld and I'm curious how long you had to wait at the airport?

[bchbum4000]

We got back from our cruise on October 19, 2010. All I can say is that Uniworld is very organized with all of their tours in the ports and with all of the transportation to and from airports. We took the extended Prague tour and the bus was right there as we disembarked the cruise ship and drove us, with an english speaking tour guide, to Prague. When we left Prague, the taxi cab was at hour hotel at 7:30 a.m and drove us to the Prague airport on time. We arrived at the airport at 8 a.m. for a 10:35 flight to JFK. I could not say enough about the care and concern of everyone on board. Of course, you will find those that always find fault, but that can happen on any cruise line. Relax and enjoy your trip. It is truly a great experience. :)

[Jesterscourt]

Fonwotravel, thank you for the good synopsis. We will be going from Passau to Budapest leaving next week. I don't think we'll have the problem of the Viennese Concert being too hot! The question I have is about Passau. We arrive at noon and it would be nice to go out for lunch or walk around town, and yet you say the boat is docked out of town until 7 PM when they move it. Maybe we can unpack, and take a cab into town and meet the boat at it's new dock in time for dinner. Does that sound feasible? Is the ride from Munich airport to Passau scenic or boring and are the vans comfortable?

[bchbum4000]

We got off the boat in Passau where a guide met us on the dock. We walked from the boat all over the town. The town is not that big. The guide will take you to the Church for an organ concert. The concert was a half hour and then you will have free time to continue your walk through the town. Compared to the other cities there wasn't all that much to see.

[Suesan Jean]

We got back from our cruise on October 19, 2010. All I can say is that Uniworld is very organized with all of their tours in the ports and with all of the transportation to and from airports. We took the extended Prague tour and the bus was right there as we disembarked the cruise ship and drove us, with an english speaking tour guide, to Prague. When we left Prague, the taxi cab was at hour hotel at 7:30 a.m and drove us to the Prague airport on time. We arrived at the airport at 8 a.m. for a 10:35 flight to JFK. I could not say enough about the care and concern of everyone on board. Of course, you will find those that always find fault, but that can happen on any cruise line. Relax and enjoy your trip. It is truly a great experience. :)

 

Thank You for your post.....!!!

I would love to read more about it....!!! :D

I am making myself CRAZY about trying to figure WHICH cruise line I should pick for our Danube River Cruise......!!!???

AMA, Avalon, Uniworld, Scenic, Vantage, etc......

[bchbum4000]

I read the review in USA Today. They gave Uniworld and the River Beatrice their top rating. Also, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection was Awarded Top in Conde Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards. Even Cruise Critic says its the best river cruise line. The River Beatrice is a new ship. Built in 2009. ONLY fault.. internet service is not that great. I was very happy with my decision to take Uniworld.

[Suesan Jean]

I read the review in USA Today. They gave Uniworld and the River Beatrice their top rating. Also, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection was Awarded Top in Conde Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards. Even Cruise Critic says its the best river cruise line. The River Beatrice is a new ship. Built in 2009. ONLY fault.. internet service is not that great. I was very happy with my decision to take Uniworld.

 

By, "not that great Internet service", how bad is it?

Because, Internet service IS IMPORTANT to me, so that I can keep in touch with my DH and see how things are going on the "home front".

What did Internet service cost on Uniworld? Is it by the cruise or by the minute?

[bchbum4000]

It was $15.00 for the whole cruise, but they didn't charge anyone because everyone was having trouble. If you have a Blackberry, no problem. You can get on line with an ipod, or i pad or computer in the lounge. Uniworld is very aware of the problem and said, they were looking into fixing it. When you are cruising through the Wachau Valley there was no service.

[Suesan Jean]

It was $15.00 for the whole cruise, but they didn't charge anyone because everyone was having trouble. If you have a Blackberry, no problem. You can get on line with an ipod, or i pad or computer in the lounge. Uniworld is very aware of the problem and said, they were looking into fixing it. When you are cruising through the Wachau Valley there was no service.

 

Thank You for the reply.......

The price is VERY reasonable. It SURE BEATS regular cruise prices that are VERY, VERY expensive.....!!! :eek:

What were your favorite things about the cruise?

What were your least favorites?

What is it like going through all the Locks?

Is it noisy?

[bchbum4000]

I don't have one favorite thing about the cruise. It was all wonderful from the time we got on the plane in NY until the time we got back to JFK. We have traveled all over Europe, Spain, France, Italy etc, it was nice to see a different part of Europe. Going through the locks was another experience, we have not done the Panama Canal, so this was interesting. We went through 20 locks. It was not noisy.