Uniworld Sale on 2015 Summer/Fall Departures

[ewizabeff]

I'm booked on the Vietnam/Cambodia trip over Christmas and New Year's. Given the holiday I'm sure it's unlikely to go on sale, but seeing that I could save $4,000 on our trip if it was a few months earlier is heart breaking (although it would be a lot more hot & humid). I've got my eyes peeled for a discount though. Since we booked onboard our last cruise we're entitled to the best public offer ... but we have to be the ones to find it and request it.

[hiccups]

I'm booked on the Vietnam/Cambodia trip over Christmas and New Year's. Given the holiday I'm sure it's unlikely to go on sale, but seeing that I could save $4,000 on our trip if it was a few months earlier is heart breaking (although it would be a lot more hot & humid). I've got my eyes peeled for a discount though. Since we booked onboard our last cruise we're entitled to the best public offer ... but we have to be the ones to find it and request it.

 

Good luck, I hope you find something! We were able to take advantage of one of the specials so I can't complain too much. Last time I checked there were still a decent number of available cabins on our trip, so I'm keeping an eye and hoping for a deal on an upgrade since we're in aquarium.

[twinkletoes4445]

I took advantage of Uniworld dropping the single supplement on some of their cruises. I'm booked on the River Beatrice for the 8-day Enchanting Danube (Budapest to Passau) in November. I see paprika in my feature! :D This will be my first river cruise, and I'm excited.

 

Roz

 

That was our first river cruise, except we started in Prague for a pre-stay, then got on the boat in Passau and ended in Budapest. We loved the River Beatrice. You're going to have so much fun!

[Roz]

Thanks, Twinkle. I just got back from a 4-day ocean cruise, so now I need to get serious about my upcoming river cruise. That said, my TA took care of my pre-cruise arrangements - air reservations, airport pick-up, hotel rez, tours, etc., so I can spend my time trying to figure out where to buy euros. :D

 

Roz

[hiccups]

Thanks, Twinkle. I just got back from a 4-day ocean cruise, so now I need to get serious about my upcoming river cruise. That said, my TA took care of my pre-cruise arrangements - air reservations, airport pick-up, hotel rez, tours, etc., so I can spend my time trying to figure out where to buy euros. :D

 

Roz

 

A lot of people will tell you to wait until you get there to get Euros, but we aren't comfortable with that so we'll get some from our local bank. I wanted to order them back in March when they were about $1.06, but DH said, "No, wait... everything I'm reading says they'll be at par later on." So here it is two months later, and they're around $1.12. Not a huge difference, but still, wish I would have gotten them earlier!

[Roz]

Thanks, Hiccups. I like to have some in hand when I land (didn't intend to make a rhyme!). I'll check with my bank and AAA.

 

Roz

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks, Twinkle. I just got back from a 4-day ocean cruise, so now I need to get serious about my upcoming river cruise. That said, my TA took care of my pre-cruise arrangements - air reservations, airport pick-up, hotel rez, tours, etc., so I can spend my time trying to figure out where to buy euros. :D

 

Roz

 

Sounds like you are all set!

 

As for the Euros, if you can't find a place to get them in the places you visit, you can always get an advance on your credit card on the boat. It was expensive, I think they charged 10%, but we were glad they offered this. We ended up hiring private guides in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest, so we needed more than we could pull out each day from one of the machines.

 

For our upcoming Uniworld trip, we're just taking extra with us. I know a lot of people do just fine finding the machines where they visiting, but we found that time is a premium on these cruises and we didn't want to waste the time looking for the bank machines. When you are with a group on a tour, you sometimes don't have time to go off looking for these bank machines. They move pretty quickly.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time!

[Roz]

Thanks for the advice! When I last visited Europe in the mid-80s, ATMs didn't exist. Didn't know there are machines for changing money.

 

Roz

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks for the advice! When I last visited Europe in the mid-80s, ATMs didn't exist. Didn't know there are machines for changing money.

 

Roz

 

It's amazing how far things have come since that time ... and it's not really all that long ago. Enjoy your cruise!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We ended up hiring private guides in Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest, so we needed more than we could pull out each day from one of the machines.

 

Check with your bank before you leave to see if they can increase the daily limits. [You should be checking with them anyway to let their Security dept. know it really is you making those foreign charges!] We have a daily ATM limit of $1,000 which should cover any needs I could anticipate.

[twinkletoes4445]

Check with your bank before you leave to see if they can increase the daily limits. [You should be checking with them anyway to let their Security dept. know it really is you making those foreign charges!] We have a daily ATM limit of $1,000 which should cover any needs I could anticipate.

 

I hadn't thought of that. Thank you! I called our bank from the middle of the Danube and had them move more money over to the account we were drawing off of. We hadn't anticipated the private guides, but we were happy we ended up going that route. However, it was pricey. We spent several thousand on the private guides.

[ewizabeff]

Pardon my curiosity, but you took a Uniworld cruise, with many, many included excursions, and chose to pay additional $$ for private guides? What made you go that route?

[Rebel54]

Thank you. I'm saving for the Vietnam cruise as well. I really want to do that one. I think I'll save up and hope for a nice price cut.

 

I really love your blog. I have one but I keep forgetting to post to it :(.

You inspire me to get back to it.

[ewizabeff]

Thanks! I only wish I traveled more so I had more travel-related updates.

[Rebel54]

Thanks! I only wish I traveled more so I had more travel-related updates.

 

You and me both. Can't wait for DH to retire so we can just go. Doing the overseas stuff while we are both working. Once he retires I want to explore the US more.

[twinkletoes4445]

Pardon my curiosity, but you took a Uniworld cruise, with many, many included excursions, and chose to pay additional $$ for private guides? What made you go that route?

 

I was having knee issues so we went with the private guide so we could customize our outings. It was actually an amazing experience. We got to go where we wanted and the guide was able to park in places that the buses could not. We wanted to see as many of the Sound of Music sites as we could in Salzburg, and our guide came through. We did not like the big group tours. Granted, there were not a lot of people on the tours, but we preferred setting our own pace and visiting the sites we wanted to visit. I know we paid for the excursions, but for us, this is how we wanted to spend our time. :) We did get to see places that many of our fellow passengers wished they had had the opportunity to see.

 

We like coming back to the boat in the evenings. Unpacking once is a big plus for us. We also loved Uniworld.