Cruising from Bucharest to Budapest on Uniworld Oct 2022

[beesKate]

This isn’t so much a review or travel log, but random thoughts.  We recently completed the 10 Day Highlights of Eastern Europe traveling from Bucharest to Budapest, which is 7 nights on the ship, and 2 nights in Bucharest.  We sailed the River Duchess.  It had been several years since we’ve last cruised, with a few land trips in between.  We booked this during Covid when Uniworld was offering a more significant discount than normal.  We were watching water levels on the Danube and thankful we could cruise!  This stretch of river is really beautiful!

Although I really enjoy river cruises, there’s always ports I wish we stayed longer or times I would have liked to have done multiple excursions.  I’ve described river cruising as a sampler plate, you learn where you want to go back and revisit.  However, this itinerary is probably going to be a one-and-done.  This is not a critique of the trip itself; Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are countries it was nice to visit once, but probably won’t return.  I would have liked a little more time in Croatia, even along the Danube which is not as touristic as the Dalmatian coast.  This was our second time Budapest, but it was only ½ a day – docking around lunch time.  In retrospect, we should have stayed an extra night in Budapest, but when we booked our flights, it wasn’t apparent we’d only have ½ a day in Budapest. 

One thing I appreciate about Uniworld is the cultural enrichment they bring to the voyage.  We had 3 separate folk dancing groups (one on an excursion for lunch, and 2 on the ship).  I admit, I’m a sucker for folk dancing -- when I was in high school, I was in the German folk dancing group.  I am glad Uniworld supports these groups, not only professional groups but a very good student group.  We also had a very interesting 2-part lecture/seminar on the history of Serbia, and how it led to the conflicts in the 90’s.  Several of us (of a certain age), admitted we were only vaguely aware of the conflicts and what was happening in this part of the world, but also admitted we were young parents with babies and toddlers at the time and probably didn’t have time to dedicate to the news.  One of the most interesting talks was our cruise director, Mirela (remember to roll the “r”!), gave an almost 2-hour presentation on growing up in communist Romania.  She has probably given this before, and said it was in response to requests.  The guides we had in Serbia and Croatia were very candid about their time during the conflicts and it was very enlightening.  

Considerations if cruising from Bucharest to Budapest, most of the ports are on the south side (Bulgaria, Serbia & Croatia) of the Danube, so cabins on the port (left if inside looking at the front of the ship) will be against the dock, starboard will be on the river side.  Our cabin was 205, which was a complimentary upgrade from stateroom 105, so we didn’t select it and were happy with the upgrade since we’d somewhat hoped it would occur.  But that was one of the changes to Uniworld’s River Heritage Club (previous passengers); previously a complimentary upgrade (if available) was listed as a benefit.  However, we never received an upgrade prior to this cruise when it is no longer listed as a benefit.  I think everyone in the 100’s was upgraded, this may have been a ship-specific thing. 

Also, looking at the Uniworld website, the layout of the stateroom is slightly different now. I presume they updated staterooms without updating their website.  The closets run the across from the bed, with mirrors on the walls.  The desk area is next to the bed, and replaces the night stand on one side.  The furnishing shifted a bit so the bathroom door opens right at the bedside.  We don’t spend that much time in the room, so it’s fine for us.  We really barely used all the closet space. 

There was a lot of bus time on this cruise.  The bus tour of Bucharest ended with us being dropped off at the Old Town area… along with several other cruise line buses.  The previous day (Wednesday) we were in Old Town and there were no busloads of tourists.  I wonder if the port authorities plan to schedule them all the cruises to depart/arrive on the same day?  We were unable to tour Parliament (People’s Palace) because it was closed to touring that day. Instead, we toured the presidential palace. 

It may have been the itinerary, but we did not use Uniworld busses.  Each port had local bus operators, and they varied in comfort level.  The Croatian bus was the newest and nicest, the Serbian was the oldest and tight.  The Bulgarian was somewhere in the middle.  There were several days where the ship would drop us off at a port, we’d go and tour, and the ship would be cruising down the river and pick us up in a different location.  There were a handful of passengers who stayed on the ship and did not go on the excursions.  The scenery on this cruise is really beautiful.  Not many castles, but beautiful forests and hills. 

Has anyone else cruised Uniworld with Stella?  She was on our cruise, going the full trip to Amsterdam.  This was (she thinks) about her 15^th cruise with Uniworld.  She is in her 80’s and stays on the ship, the crew takes care of her and she enjoys meeting and talking to the passengers.  The crew really watched out her.  We met her when one of the waiters in the dining room asked us if it would be okay if she joined us; of course, yes.  She’s an interesting lady.

Speaking of passengers, on this leg, Bucharest to Budapest, there were 72 passengers.  Although there may have been 2 choices of excursions, one always had more people and they would split into 2 groups.  This meant the groups for each guide were considerably larger than they’d been for our other Uniworld cruises.  Most of our groups were 24 – 30+.  Not really what I expected and you don’t realize how important those smaller groups are until you’re all waiting for the one restroom at the venue, and also when the guide is speaking about a room but not everyone can fit into it.  There was no option for a “gentle walker” group.   Perhaps there was a shortage of tour guides along this itinerary.  Two of our guides told us they took a vacation day from their day job to guide us. 

Prior to boarding the bus in Bucharest, I twisted my ankle on some steps in Old Town.  We stopped in a pharmacy across the street from where the bus was picking us up and I was able to purchase wrap/bandage and hobbled to the bus waiting area.  By the time we sat on the bus for the hour + ride to the port, it had really tightened up and I was hobbling down the gangplank to board.  The crew was great and allowed us to get our room immediately and brought me an ice pack – one of those gel-beads filled ones.  I was able to turn it in and get it back again when I needed it (they may have had multiples).  Probably bad for my ankle, but I didn’t let this slow me down.  The ice pack, some ibuprofen and the wrap helped me get through the week.  I did use the Nordic walking sticks for the town of Arbanassi and the Belogradchik red rock climbing.

The dining experience didn’t seem as elevated as it had on past cruises, maybe we’re just getting pickier?  The Duchess did have a great selection of local wines; however, they need to work on what is a local beer.  We were offered Becks, Bitburger and possibly another, but they were all German.  While touring on our own in Romania we had several good Romanian beers, but Uniworld missed an opportunity with not bringing on extremely local (Bulgarian, Serbian and Croatian) beers, even in limited supply.  The restaurant manager did offer to bring some local beers for my husband, but he brought in one (I mean a single beer), he may have bought them for himself as he said he’d provide them out of his private supply.  Then the servers didn’t know where these local beers were kept.  My husband prefers the beer at lunch and wine at dinner, but there was a bit of confusion, so when they brought him a local beer, he drank that.  Once at lunch, the other person at the table pointed to Greg’s beer when asked what he wanted to drink, but we had to explain that was the only one.  I think Greg did get at least one beer from Serbia and Croatia while on board.  Where they missed it (again) was presuming only Greg wanted the beer, and I was kind of ignored while they were sorting all this out, to the extent no one asked me what I wanted to drink for lunch.

I don’t want to leave this post on a negative note.  We really enjoyed visiting the countries, and a river cruise was a great way to do this.  I did not think this trip was up to Uniworld standards and previous trips, but I realize Covid took a toll on the travel industry.  The bedding is still the most comfortable, and we were just a few doors down from the self-serve coffee machine.  The wait staff has several who I felt were up to Uniworld standards, but a few that would have been fine in a restaurant, but really didn’t bring that special touch.  The bartender was great, but his server was so-so.  This cruise reminded me of both why I love river cruising Uniworld, and also where there are plusses with independent travel.  It may be a few years before we do a river cruise again. 

If you have any questions about this itinerary, or would like to know a great guide for a few days in Romania before your cruise starts, please reply with your questions. 

[ljandgb]

We did that stretch of the Danube with Avalon, and I agree about the ports mostly.  I think the tourist infrastructure is just not fully developed in most of those countries.  Our Bulgarian guide told us that there were many interesting things to see, but that most of the sites did not have restrooms, sidewalks, etc, to make it easy for tourists.  The Dalmation coast of Croatia is for sure more developed for tourists than the stretch along the river.  

 

I did LOVE Romania, but mostly because we did a 2 day extension to Transylvania.  Bucharest was a very pretty big city, but at this point in my life, I'm much happier in the smaller towns and countryside.

[Roz]

I did this cruise on Uniworld in 2017 (I think).  Eastern Europe is so different than Western Europe, and I could visibly see what 50 yrs. under Soviet domination did to them.  They're still playing catch up, and they're experiencing a brain drain of educated young people due to lack of economic opportunity.  It may not be a cruise I would do again, but I'm glad I took it and now have a greater appreciation for the challenges those countries face.  

[Roz]

@beesKate, thank you taking the time to write such a detailed review of your recent experience on Uniworld and your impressions of the countries you visited.

[jklc123]

BeesKate, thanks for your review. After several cruises with Uniworld, this is one itinerary I’m still interested in. I did enjoy Roz’s review a few years ago. If we go (not sure we’re still up to overseas flights any more), we would jump ship, so to speak, to Tauck as I like their itinerary a little better as it includes more time in Romania

[beesKate]

32 minutes ago, jklc123 said:

... we would jump ship, so to speak, to Tauck as I like their itinerary a little better as it includes more time in Romania

We hired a private guide for 4 days because Uniworld barely included anything in Romania.  Since we are both still working, and the "cruise" started on a Wednesday with free time in Bucharest, we didn't want to waste the weekend prior and flew out on Friday evening.  This was really one of the most interesting trips we've been on.  When you go to most of Europe, you know what to expect; you know the basic history.  This was really learning about a pocket of Europe that is very fascinating and beautiful.   

[jklc123]

When we were planning for this trip, pre-pandemic, we were emailing back and forth with a guide for 3 days prior to the cruise. Then COVID hit. Oh well.

[Rambo_Trout]

Many thanks for your comprehensive review, Kate.

 

We shall be on the S. S. Beatrice in May, from Budapest to Bucharest.

We did Vilshofen to Budapest 18 months ago with Crystal, and have done various River (and Ocean) cruises with Viking. We are very happy with Viking, more so with Crystal, but wanted to see how Uniworld is.

 

Your report is most helpful to us.

[Greysandy]

Thanks for your insight. We are doing a 3 week Bucharest to Amsterdam tour and this segment is the least traveled part but I am very excited to see it, since we really enjoyed our prior land based travels to Budapest and Prague. We had tour guides that gave such an in depth description of what life was like growing up under the iron curtain.

[CastleCritic]

Agreed, Im scheduled to leave for this segment on the AMAMagna in exactly a month with extension to Transylvania.  Ive done Vilshofen down to Budapest already (on a cruise basically the week that a certain soon to become worldwide problem started in China).

 

Budapest and Prague were definitely fascinating when you have a guide who lived through the soviet times. In Prague I had a private guide to walk all the way from the hotel to the castle who was my age who had stories if being in the protests that led to the downfall of the communist regime while STANDING on the square where it happened...we just cant relate in the west.

[ljandgb]

Our experience in Tallinn was the same. Our guide, who was our age, talked about where she would get Levi's on the black market, her grandmother being the only one of her family to survive the Soviets, and how their family has an exit plan to Finland even now.