Uniworld Rhine Amsterdam to Basal-which side of ship?

[IowaCruisers]

For those who have sailed the Rhine - We are about to book Uniworld's Castles Along the Rhine for 2018 - our first river cruise. We will be sailing from Amsterdam to Basal. Going in this direction, is there a preferred side of the ship for a balcony cabin? We realize we will probably be up on the sun deck for most of this, but are the majority of the castles on the east or west side?

 

Thank you for any advice!

Brenda

[acwmom]

The majority of Castles will be on the side of the odd numbered cabins, going that direction.

 

Robin

 

 

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[IowaCruisers]

The majority of Castles will be on the side of the odd numbered cabins, going that direction.

 

Robin

 

 

Hi Robin, thanks for the info. For clarity, we will be on the SS Antoinette, looking hard at cabin 431. The Uniworld catalog shows the "odd" numbered cabins on the starboard side, which is opposite from other Uniworld super ships. Can you confirm this advice is for the Antoinette?

 

https://www.uniworld.com/en/ships/ss-antoinette/deck-plans/

[acwmom]

We were in 332, going from Basel to Amsterdam, on the Antoinette. Most of the castles were on our side, not that we were in our cabin:-). So, yes, in your direction, odd is what you would want.

 

You will be right next to the spa, in that

 

 

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[acwmom]

Sorry...cabin, so you might hear some opening and closing of doors during the day. OTOH, you're also right next to the pool and extra shower, if you like the luxury of having an extra shower:-). Otherwise, the cabins on the middle deck are exactly the same, and we heard no noise from our neighbors above. On the top deck, you may hear noise from the sun deck, either from passengers, or crew, doing their duties

 

Robin

 

 

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[IowaCruisers]

Robin, thanks again for the clarification. Being next to the spa might be a plus (quiet at night), and we are early risers. One flight up to the bar and the juice bar might be interesting. Did you ever visit that?

 

Brenda

[acwmom]

We were across from the fitness center (ice machine:-) ) and the back stairs up to the pool and Leopard Bar were very convenient. The bar is only open 4/7 nights, however..... it's also great exercise, being at the end of the hall!

 

Robin

 

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

Hi, We sailed on the Uniworld SS Antoinette. What I can tell you is that the closer you are to the front, the better the WIFI is. We were in 401 and basically, we found the WIFI was the absolute best in the lounge (Salon du Grand Trianon) and OK in our cabin, but others essentially had no WIFI.

 

In terms of the view, 431 or any of the odd numbered cabins on that deck are the best as the SS. Antoinette will almost always dock on that side. We had no noise from above whatsoever. On the day you sail the castles, everyone goes up top and the chef puts on an Oktoberfest type buffet - it's absolutely great - something to really look forward to! There was always something to look out along the river from our cabin.

 

If I can give you one piece of advice, you will be sorely tempted, but do your best to refrain from buying every single optional excursion so that you can actually spend an afternoon aboard enjoying the ship! We bought all 3 of the optional excursions so we were off the ship all day every day except the morning cruising the castles during which we were up top and glued to the scenery! I must say, I felt truly blessed to have purchased the excursion to Schloss Vollrads as I had been aware of that place for more than a decade and it was just amazing to see it in real life and know all that had gone on there in the not so distant past. I guess if I was going to skip one it would have been the tour to Marksberg Castle - which, if you have been in a lot of castles before (like we have) is pretty much the same deal with around 180 steps to climb up to get up there and a lot of uneven cobblestones as you enter the castle gate (not a problem for us but for someone with difficulty walking, it would be a major challenge). If you have not been to a lot of castles, then I would say this one is worth seeing. The third optional trip was to the Black Forest and it was gorgeous up there! Just gorgeous! They took us to a Cuckoo Clock Factory where others from our ship were buying up lots of Cuckoo clocks. Hopefully their adult kids actually want one because these were VERY expensive as they were very high quality. Those clocks really would not work in our house, so I just satisfied myself watching demonstrations, eating Black Forest Cake, watching others buy clocks - in some cases as many as 6 and looking around the shop. Next they took us to a recreation of a Black Forest village with authentic thatch roof homes. Guess what? Bees love to live in the thatch! Also, no chimneys, so all the homes smell like smoke! I'm allergic to bees and asthmatic - great combination for me! LOL! But I was able to go into one of the homes and view several of the buildings from outside. I decided when I started to feel like I was struggling to breathe that maybe I better stay outside in the fresh air. Even so, it was very interesting to see how people traditionally lived there and then I just relaxed outside and enjoyed the beautiful scenery while my husband went in all the buildings.

 

Hopefully you will be lucky on your cruise. We were only rafted on embarkation day and never again after that. It was a great cruise and we enjoyed it so very much!

[IowaCruisers]

Robin and Suite Traveler,

Thank you so much for your informative posts! Being new to river cruising, I am lapping up anything I can find out.

 

Robin, did you have Wifi issues at the back of the ship? You'd think they would have a repeater or a booster in the back, but we're not slaves to wifi, either. No mobility issues, so a bit of a walk will do us good, I'm sure!

 

Suite Traveler, thanks for the detailed description of the ship and the optional tours. I have been looking for just that information. I, too, am allergy-prone, so your info is much appreciated.

 

Could I bother you with another smoke-related question? I understand smoking is only allowed on the aft of the sun deck, and no other place on the ship. Is this strictly enforced? When they close the leopard bar, where do the smokers go to light up? We've had balcony experiences ruined by smokers in the past, so I am a bit concerned. I don't want to bring it up on the main board, as it is such a polarizing subject.

 

Again, thank you both for answering my newbie questions!

Brenda

[acwmom]

Even though the Leopard Bar is closed, you can still walk through it. People on board our cruise were very cognizant of where they could and couldn't smoke, it wasn't a problem. There is no smoking anywhere indoors, and the 2 places on the sun deck were behind the Leopard Bar, and behind the L'Orangerie.

 

The wifi was inadequate, it wasn't better one place more than the other, I had a strong signal everywhere, but with 125 people on board, there just wasn't enough bandwidth. I had AT&T's $10/day package, and used it for my internet needs.

 

I've attached a copy of our cruise overview. A few of what used to be optional "extra" tours are now included. The only one we did was Heidelberg, which we enjoyed.

 

 

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[IowaCruisers]

Thanks, Robin. I can make out some of the photo, but when I blow it up enough to read, it gets blurry.

 

I didn't know smoking was allowed behind the L'Orangie, I thought it was just all the way aft. Thanks for clarifying.

 

Brenda

[acwmom]

I'll try to get you a better shot, perhaps do it in sections.

 

 

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[acwmom]

Here is a. Lose up of the additional charge excursions. Marksburg Castle and Castle Vollrads wee both included excursions

 

 

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[IowaCruisers]

I can read this. Thanks so much for doing this.

B

[SuiteTraveler]

Robin and Suite Traveler,

Thank you so much for your informative posts! Being new to river cruising, I am lapping up anything I can find out.

 

Robin, did you have Wifi issues at the back of the ship? You'd think they would have a repeater or a booster in the back, but we're not slaves to wifi, either. No mobility issues, so a bit of a walk will do us good, I'm sure!

 

Suite Traveler, thanks for the detailed description of the ship and the optional tours. I have been looking for just that information. I, too, am allergy-prone, so your info is much appreciated.

 

Could I bother you with another smoke-related question? I understand smoking is only allowed on the aft of the sun deck, and no other place on the ship. Is this strictly enforced? When they close the leopard bar, where do the smokers go to light up? We've had balcony experiences ruined by smokers in the past, so I am a bit concerned. I don't want to bring it up on the main board, as it is such a polarizing subject.

 

Again, thank you both for answering my newbie questions!

Brenda

 

I was never troubled by smoke onboard the SS Antoinette. I don't know where people were smoking IF anywhere as I never smelled it! So FABULOUS! There are so few onboard, perhaps no one on my cruise smoked? Not sure, but certainly it was never ever an issue.

[SuiteTraveler]

Here is a. Lose up of the additional charge excursions. Marksburg Castle and Castle Vollrads wee both included excursions

 

 

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I guess this was a change from when we went? But anyway, go on the ones you want to - they are great!

[acwmom]

I guess this was a change from when we went? But anyway, go on the ones you want to - they are great!

 

 

In JP's Antoinette trip report, Marksburg was additional $$. On ours, it was not.

 

Robin

 

 

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