Leaving Friday for Uniworld Paris-Normandy

[tulok]

We decided to go to Paris for vacation on Tuesday. Saw Uniworld was starting back up while we were in Paris. Called my travel agent and she was able to get us on the 7/11 cruise. This will be an adventure. Going into this trip a little blind but sometimes it’s fun to be spontaneous. I will report back with info. This is my second Uniworld and third river cruise. First one from Paris.

[notamermaid]

Really short notice!

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

Have a great time! Please report back when you can!

[Babcia7]

Have a wonderful time!  Our first river cruise was the Paris - Normandy trip with Uniworld on the Baroness.  We'll be on that cruise again in August as part of our Grand France cruise.  Looking forward to reading your report when you return.  I'm wondering how different the excursions might be with covid protocols in place...

[trickylibrarian]

Love Uniworld!  Enjoy.

[mskaufman]

Yes, we have this booked for next year and would love to hear all about your trip.

[Xerxes10]

We are booked on this itinerary in September, so we're anxious to read your comments.

[SHIP TRAVELER]

please post your remarks.  No information about how things will be on river cruises, excursions, masks, buffets etc.  We are considering a Sept cruise and want to know.  Thanks so much.

[need2travel1]

I hope you're having a great time!  Please post a review when you get back!   

[Lois R]

Oh wow...sounds fantastic.😃.......are you back home? How was the cruise?

[need2travel1]

Hi Tulok,

How was your cruise?  Hope you had a blast!

[tulok]

Sorry for the last review. I had a wonderful time. Uniworld is trying to get back to normal. Only 41 guests on board so we were spoiled. After our trip the passenger numbers were up to 91 so it is starting to get back to somewhat normal. No one got sick, excursions were good, food was okay, staff was excellent.

I will make the reviews short and answer any questions you may have. I came home to a house full of out of town guest so I am just now getting back to normal myself.

[tulok]

Food was the most disappointed from past Uniworld cruise. Hard to complain when someone is serving, cooking and cleaning but I thought the choices were just okay. The every menu sirloin choice was very thin and not the best cut. The buffet is served for you so you have to wait in a line as they have a staff person help you. With 41 it wasn’t much of a wait, with 91 it will be a long line.

[tulok]

Great excursions. One for active and one that is easier. The cities and towns visited were awesome. It is a long bus ride to the beaches and national cemetery but worth it. A lot of time to explore considering we saw a lot that day. I was exhausted when we returned back to the boat. They had a low key dinner and it was perfect. I had French Onion soup and salad. 

The weather was chilly but not going to complain as I came home to 101.

[tulok]

The other Uniworld was Southern France cruise. I would have to say that is still my favorite from these two. Rhine is my favorite overall, not in Uniworld but loved the towns the best. I don’t regret the quick decision to take this cruise at all. I wouldn’t take it again and I wouldn’t say that about the other cruises I have taken. I do want to try the Burgundy one next. We had guests that just came from the Burgundy cruise to ours. Something of a back to back.

[tulok]

My biggest complaint was the temperature of the pool. It was a nice option after a walking tour to soak in the pool. It was freezing. When a few of us decided to meet in it, we couldn’t stay but a few minutes. We asked the fitness person if he could heat it up and he told us only the captain could do that and it would take a few hours. We would have been icicles.

 

But it was nice to have a 
pool especially if it would have been hot outside.

 

NOT SURE WHY PICTURE IS UPSIDE DOWN 

[tulok]

Stayed at the Citizen Hotel on the CDG airport grounds and it was a perfect end of the trip hotel. We took the Uniworld bus to the airport the last day but our flt didn’t leave until the next day. We were tired so we enjoyed the relaxing day. You can take the bus to a large mall that has a grocery store in it and just purchased a couple of sausages and cheeses for dinner with wine from the hotel. You walk to the hotel from terminal 3. We could have stayed in Paris but had an early flt and didn’t want to get up even earlier with Paris traffic to the airport. This cruise gives you Paris time.

[tulok]

6 minutes ago, tulok said:

My biggest complaint was the temperature of the pool. It was a nice option after a walking tour to soak in the pool. It was freezing. When a few of us decided to meet in it, we couldn’t stay but a few minutes. We asked the fitness person if he could heat it up and he told us only the captain could do that and it would take a few hours. We would have been icicles.

 

But it was nice to have a 
pool especially if it would have been hot outside.

 

NOT SURE WHY PICTURE IS UPSIDE DOWN 

The window opens half way and a screen can come up. Excuse the messy bed. I had just washed my airport clothes for the plane ride back. Yes you can still use the washer/dryers. 

[tulok]

Masks indoor, not outdoor. Masks on bus for excursions. Paris stores and museums required masks. Outdoor market did not. Took mask off once in restaurant and saloon. They had entertainment at night and we danced a lot. Everything seems pretty laidback. We did take a covid test to come back to US on the boat. They didn’t have it set up so we didn’t know until 2 days before the end of the cruise. It costed us 45.00 and you could get at local pharmacies for free but I guess we paid for convenience. Pharmacies are on every corner. They schedule the test during the farewell dinner which was a pain because you had to leave the dinner and go have your test and come back to finish. The results were sent via email that evening. You had to sign up for the test in your phone which was hard to read. Bring your reading glasses.

[Lois R]

Welcome back and thanks for the photos🙂 sounds like overall you had a really good time.

41 guests, 91 guests? That is is still quite small compared to a normal river cruise!

[tulok]

One last advice: where and who you sit with is your table for the entire cruise. Pick wisely my friend. We made friends with people we could not sit with and had someone at our table that we would have liked to vote off the island. But didn’t ruin the trip as we just met upstairs for after and before dinner drinks every evening.

[tulok]

2 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Welcome back and thanks for the photos🙂 sounds like overall you had a really good time.

41 guests, 91 guests? That is is still quite small compared to a normal river cruise!

This boat is a smaller one and I believed they said only holds 130ish.

[PhD-iva]

Thank you so much for the review and for the photos and for all of the good advice. Thank you so much! I will, hopefully, be embarking on the Uniworld River Duchess on 10 August. Possibly in Budapest, although at this point who knows. Really looking forward to the adventure, which I’m sure it will be.

Edited August 1, 2021 by PhD-iva
Edit

[tulok]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

Thank you so much for the review and for the photos and for all of the good advice. Thank you so much! I will, hopefully, be embarking on the Uniworld River Duchess on 10 August. Possibly in Budapest, although at this point who knows. Really looking forward to the adventure, which I’m sure it will be.

I hope all goes well.That trip is on my to-do list. Let us know how it goes.

[PhD-iva]

17 minutes ago, tulok said:

I hope all goes well.That trip is on my to-do list. Let us know how it goes.

Will do!