2006 European Christmas Markets on Uniworld River Queen

[cdgibbons]

This is a rather long and detailed review and includes links to our pictures. If you have any questions, please email us at cdgibbons@comcast.net.

 

We have just returned home from our European Christmas Markets Cruise aboard Uniworld¿s River Queen and are so excited about our cruise that we wanted to share our experience.

 

First, let us brag a little about the ship. The River Queen was spectacular. She only holds approximately 136 passengers and is VERY classical in design for a river cruise Ship. Actually, she is the only river cruise ship to have a freestanding fireplace in the main lounge that we welcomed with open arms when we returned to have a nice glass of wine before dinner. The ship is beautiful and has one main lounge / bar on the Main Deck forward and a beautiful 2-tier dining room on the fourth deck. Staterooms were located on decks 1, 2, 3 and 4. Our stateroom was on deck 2 just above the waterline that we quite enjoyed. Our stateroom was around midship and we were never bothered by any noise, etc. Our stateroom was made up of one queen size bed that was very comfortable and had excellent linens. We also had two windows that gave us a beautiful view, a small sitting area, and a GREAT bathroom that was larger than most major cruise line bathrooms. We did get to see staterooms on decks 3 and 4 that had the larger windows (floor to ceiling) and they were very nice too and just a bit larger than ours. Although, I must say there was plenty of storage space for all staterooms.

 

Service was impeccable in every area of the ship. The first night on board there was an introduction of the entire crew staff. Immediately I thought how could such a small staff handle everything with out any issues. Much to my surprise and appreciation, NEVER did this staff miss a beat in any area. The two bartenders within a day both knew what we drank and even our stateroom number. Dining service was just as wonderful and the wait staff knew exactly what our expectations were whether it was a special breakfast request or favorite salad dressing.

 

Our Captain, Roland Oost and Cruise Manager, Wouter Vercruysse were very visible and there for us everyday. Nothing that we requested was beyond their control to fulfill those requests. Their attention to detail and response to requests from passengers were met with exemplary professionalism and a warm smile. Every night prior to dinner, our Cruise Manager gave a talk of what to expect for the next day with lots of suggestions for the various ports that we were visiting.

 

The dining room had open seating for all meals. Breakfast was set up in a buffet style but there was a new special offered every day that was served to you if you wanted it. Lunch was done the same way with a new daily special. One of my favorite lunch specials everyday was a great hot soup waiting for us to warm us up after returning from a city walk excursion. Dinner service was more formal and served based on your choice of starters, entrees, and desserts. The food was excellent and had a European flair in favor and presentation. The open seating gave us a great opportunity to dine with several of our fellow passengers giving us some time to get to know everyone just a little more.

 

Our trip started out in Cologne, Germany with a guided walking tour of the city through the Old Town area, passing tiny squares and small churches. Cologne is a cultural city spanning both sides of the Rhine River. The history of Cologne was very interesting starting around 50 A.D. as a Roman outpost. It is very rich in beautiful old buildings and one of the most beautiful Cathedrals in the world. Supposedly, the remains of the Biblical Three Kings of Magi are believed to lay at rest in the Cathedral. Our guided walking tour ended at the Cathedral giving us free time to explore the Christmas Markets and a stroll through the new downtown area. We returned to the ship for a nice relaxing lunch and to warm up a bit. The afternoon was free time again for us to wander and explore on our own. Some of us chose to visit the Lindt Chocolate Factory that was very near the ship. What an experience! It was so magical to watch the production of various chocolate Christmas Santas and yummy truffles. I think I gained 10 pounds just from the wonderful smell of the chocolate. From there, Chris and I visited a River Boat Christmas Market and strolled along the Riverfront until it was time to return for dinner. They had entertainment on the ship that evening of a local Shanty Choir. Chris and I listened to some of it and then decided to go back out to see Christmas lights and the Cathedral lit up at night. We got back just in time to grab a glass of wine and go up on the top deck for the sail away to Koblenz. What a beautiful site to see with all the Christmas lights fading behind us as we quietly sailed away.

 

Koblenz was a much smaller town but again rich in history and known for the famous Ehrenbreitstein Castle that sits up on a cliff looking over the town. The Ehrenbreitstein Castle is one of the largest castles in Europe. Our day started out with a guided walking tour of the old town through many tiny streets and narrow alleys that brought us out to some very unusual squares surrounded by very beautiful buildings such as the Jesuit¿s Square. Koblenz is also known for its rather amusing fountains that you can see in our pictures. The tour ended with an option for us to visit their Christmas Market on our own. By noon, we were back on the ship for lunch and started our journey for an afternoon cruise of the Rhine River Valley toward our next stop in Rudesheim.

 

The Rhine River Valley between Koblenz and Rudesheim is well known for its beautiful landscape and stunning views of fairytale castles, quaint towns and sloping hillsides of beautiful vineyards. Unfortunately, that afternoon it rained for most of our journey so it was somewhat difficult to stand out on the top deck to get pictures of all the castles, etc. Wouter, however, gave a very informative narration over the ship's PA system throughout the afternoon cruise telling us about the various castles and their history. Due to the bad weather, Chris and I chose to return to our stateroom and sat off with a bottle of Champagne taking in all the views from there. Fortunately for us, our stateroom was on the port side where many of the castles were located so we got some excellent photos along the way. One of the highlights along this part of the cruise was passing by the famous Lorelei rock. According to legend, the Lorelei rock was named after a young maiden that threw herself into the Rhine River over a faithless lover. From that point, the story goes that she sang continuously from that spot causing many sailors to become lost in her song, causing them to crash into the rock, sinking their ships and losing their lives.

 

Around 6:00 p.m. that evening, our ship pulled into Rudesheim. Rudesheim is a beautiful little town with a long history going back to the Roman times again. Arriving just in time for dinner, our first excursion from the ship was an evening out for a very special dinner and entertainment at a local restaurant called the Schloss Restaurant, found tucked away in one the town narrow alleys. A special Christmas goose dinner with all the fixings was served to our group and it was very tasty. Wine and beer flowed freely and everyone got up to dance and sing along with the local band that was playing traditional German songs and Christmas carols there. It was quite the evening of fun!

 

The ship stayed over night in Rudesheim and had a tour of the Mechanical Instrument Museum. Time and all the excitement caught up with Chris and I and we decided to sleep in a couple of extra hours instead of going on the tour. We did hear from many of the other passengers on board that it was truly worth seeing so maybe the next time. We went for a short walk to see the famous shopping street of Drosselgasse that is only 6 feet wide and peeked into many of the shops but it was very busy and we were just happy to settle for window-shopping in the end. Rudesheim was probably one of my favorite towns on the cruise just because it was so quaint and beautiful. We were due back on the ship by noon for a great and relaxing lunch and a short sail to Mainz.

 

We arrived in Mainz mid afternoon and departed for a guided walking tour of the town. Like many other towns along the Rhine, Mainz suffered near total destruction during World War II but has rebuilt many parts of the town back to its original ¿half timbered¿ buildings and was quite a pleasant town to tour. Mainz is famous for the ¿Gutenberg Museum¿ that we visited during our tour. It was started by Johannes Gutenberg who was the inventor of the first movable-type printing press in the late 1400¿s and is highly recognized for his priceless 42-line bible. Gutenberg produced only 200 copies of this priceless bible that have mostly disappeared but there was one of the remaining bibles displayed at the museum. It was quite impressive to see the demonstration of how much work went into the creation of his press and this bible. After our tour, we were given again free time to wander through their Christmas markets. That evening we went back to the ship for another great dinner and the ship had on board a local band called ¿Showband¿. They were actually very good and we all relaxed and enjoyed their music for the evening. Long before the ship left that evening for Speyer / Heidelberg , we took advantage of an early night¿s rest.

 

We arrived in Speyer around 8:00 a.m. the next morning for a full day bus tour to Heidelberg. The trip to Heidelberg was wonderful. As many of you may know, it was decided by the USA NOT to bomb Heidelberg during World War II as they had plans to set up their European Headquarters in Heidelberg after the war and still do to this day. So the city castles and original buildings were still very much in tact and beautiful. While on the bus, we were driven up the ¿Castle Road¿ with a tour of the Heidelberg Castle ruins where we got to tour the castle¿s courtyard and went inside to see the famous largest wooden wine barrel. If I remember correctly, it can hold about 50,000 gallons of wine. Unfortunately, it was empty when we were there but we were assured by our guide that during the times that the castle was fully occupied in the 1700¿s, the barrel was full to the top for the people who lived within the castle walls. Our guide said that the wine growers had to pay their share of taxes by delivering wine to the castle as wine was the only thing that they drank because water at that time was unsafe for drinking. Although the castle has fallen to ruins in some areas, it is still used today for private banquets, concerts, theater performances and weddings.

 

Of course, the other highlight of Heidelberg is its famous oldest University. Today, approximately 28,000 students attend University. The town was filled with students speaking in various languages and the University campus is spread throughout the town in various historical buildings.

 

The Christmas Market was one of the largest that we visited during our travels. Because it was an all day trip, the ship provided us with a lovely lunch at a local restaurant in Heidelberg along the Main Street that was very nice. After lunch we were given free time to walk their famous Christmas Markets and wonderful shops until late afternoon when we returned to the ship in time to for cocktail hour and our next port of call talk by Wouter and then prepare for another elegant dinner on board.

 

We departed Heidelberg around 9:00 p.m. that evening for our cruise to Strasbourg. Strasbourg was the first French city for us to visit on our trip. It is situated about half way between Paris and Prague. It is known as the ¿Crossroads of Europe¿ and is the home of the famous Strasbourg Notre Dame Cathedral.

 

After a hearty breakfast on board, we all gathered our belongings and headed off on a private guided Canal Cruise tour of Strasbourg. The canal boat was a fully domed glassed vessel that was very new. It was great for this part of the sightseeing trip. As we started our trip, it was interesting to see how many families actually lived on board their riverboat vessels. Most were huge barges with living quarters that delivered products to many of the ports along the Rhine River. Some even had a car on board to be used for personal transportation during their journey to deliver their goods.

 

Strasbourg itself is a very metropolitan city with both old and new sections of town that we got to view from the canal trip. Most interesting was the 2 or 3 locks that we had to go through on the canal. I had never experienced the transfer along a canal with locks so it was quite interesting to see how it was done. One of the most beautiful areas that we passed along our canal trip was the ¿Petite France¿ area of Strasburg that is a very picturesque old quarter of the town. Our canal trip ended at the Strasbourg ¿s famous Notre Dame Cathedral. It was possibly one of the most beautiful cathedrals that we visited during our trip on the Rhine. If I remember correctly, it took about 3 centuries to build. Beside the incredible stain glass windows in the Cathedral, the astrological clock was also a magnificent sight located in one of the side alters. It was said that the stain glass windows were removed and stored in a safe place during the wars so that they were not destroyed. After viewing the Cathedral, we were on our own to do as we pleased. Chris and I decided to make our way back to the ¿Petite France¿ area to be able to explore more on our own. We could have spent a lot more time there but we had made arrangements to go back to the ship midday for lunch and then on an optional tour of the Alsatian Wine Road and a Wine Tasting at the famous Domaine Schatzel. While it is a interesting tour and the town was an incredible place to visit, on our next visit we will be sure to stay in Strasbourg as long as possible to enjoy more of that beautiful city.

 

Back on board after our wine tour, we set sail for Basel, Switzerland. That evening was the Captain's Farewell Reception and for the first time, the dress code was ¿elegant¿. There were no gowns or tuxedos but everyone dressed a little more formal and most of the men wore ties and sport jackets and ladies wore long skirts with a more formal blouse. The dinner was predetermined and very elegant although there were a number of choices to sample and chose from.

 

Basel, Switzerland, although dating back to the Roman times, was probably one of the most one of the most modern industrial cities of our trip. Our day started after a great breakfast with a short ride on the local streetcar system to the old part of the city. A local tour guide took us for a walk of the old sections of the city including the Town Hall that dated back to the 14th century. Basel is Switzerland¿s third largest city today and is very well known for its banking and pharmaceutical industries and is one of the Swiss cities that have one of the most popular Christmas markets in Switzerland. Again, the ship offered a 2nd optional tour to Lucerne, Switzerland for those of us that wanted to do something different in the afternoon. Chris and I opted in for the tour of Lucerne as we had already planned to stay overnight in Basel on the day of disembarkation.

 

We were picked up by the hired motor coaches for the hour and a bit travel to Lucerne right after lunch. During the trip there, Wouter gave us a great overview of what to expect of Lucerne. Wouter is by the way a VERY educated young man that speaks several languages, born in Brussels and now living in Rome with his wife and 14-month-old daughter. His family has always been in the travel industry and he continues to do consulting for various cruise companies and does his own private tours in Rome during his rare times at home. He told us that he learned the English language by watching US television shows when he was very small. We cannot praise him enough for his ingenuity and love of travel.

 

After about an hour on the coach, we started seeing wonderful snowcapped peaks of the Alps. Actually, this was our first sighting of snow during the entire trip. All of a sudden we came upon the beautiful village of Lucerne. In Lucerne, a local guide met us to take us up to see the parts of the city that included the Chapel Bridge that was built in the 14th century and was originally formed as part of the cities fortification. The bridge has a series of beautiful 17th century paintings in the eaves of the bridge although most of them had been destroyed during a fire in the 1990¿s. Lucerne has a beautiful Cathedral that was not highly listed on the historical places to see but to us was very bright and beautifully decorated in Baroque style. One of the most important monuments that we visited during our walking tour was The Dying Lion of Lucerne. Our guide said that Mark Twain called it "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world." It was carved into natural rock to commemorate the Swiss that had died in the French Revolution in 1792. Lucerne was a beautiful city that had many hidden treasures that needed more than the time we were allowed to discover. Definitely a place on our trip's "to revisit" list.

 

The next morning was our time to bid goodbye to several of our friends and staff that we had met on the cruise. As always, it is difficult to say goodbye but we still had another night planned at the Hilton in Basel with plans the next day to fly to Prague. The Hilton was beautiful and it was great to be grounded again with no timeframes to meet. Once somewhat relaxed, we headed out again to explore Basel on our own. We took one of the local trains close to our hotel to visit another section of Basel that we had not yet explored. It was an evening spent doing a relaxing stroll through the Basel Christmas Markets and many of its downtown major department stores. On our way back, we found a tiny Italian Restaurant that was run by an Indian couple on a side street. The atmosphere was very home based with mostly locals and the food and wine was excellent. We have found in all our travels to get off the beaten path of tourists to find the tiny places that offer the best service and most delicious food.

 

From there we made it back to our hotel and to get ready for our next day¿s travel to Prague. I had always read and heard that Prague was absolutely one of the most beautiful cities in central Europe and so I wanted it to be part of our trip as we were so close to it. I was right in believing all that I had read. Again, we stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Prague that was about a 15 ¿ 20 minute walk to the Old Town Square where their biggest Christmas Markets are held and many fascinating historical buildings and their well known Astronomical Clock. Our first evening we went out on our own to get a feeling for the city. Along the way, one of the fun things we did was stop at one of their casinos. Definitely not up to US standards but it was fun to play slot machines that were totally unknown to us and the way they worked. After spending $20 Czech dollars we decided that it was time to move on seeing that the machines seem to have a mind of their own. J Totally exhausted and not knowing where we were going or where to find an authentic Czech restaurant, the local TGI Friday¿s looked very inviting for our dinner.

 

The following day we were up and out early to join up with a private tour company for a 6-hour walking tour of Prague. This is a company that we would highly recommend to our client. Our guide, George, was excellent in his knowledge of the history and culture of Prague. We met him at the Astronomical Clock in the center of Old Town Square. George described in detail how the clock worked which was very interesting. On the hour, at the top of the clock the two doors open for the procession of the 12 Apostles. From there we toured many alleys in the Old Town and visited the Tyn Church that was absolutely beautiful. It has multiple steeples and dominates over the Old Town Square. Inside is a beautiful pipe organ and the church today is still used for many concerts. Before leaving the Old Town area, we climbed many stairs to the top of the town hall for an incredible view of Prague from all angles. The sites were breathtaking! After leaving Old Town area, we walked through the Jewish Quarter that was filled with historical milestones. Here, we stopped at the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest Synagogue in Europe that survived World War II, and is still in use today and the Jewish Cemetery where 100,000 people are believed to be buried. Our next stop was for a short narrated cruise around the sites of Lesser Town, upfront views of the famous Charles Bridge that connects Lesser Town with the Old Town and views of the Prague Castle from many angles. After the cruise, we then got a chance to walk across the Charles Bridge to view the various statues along the way. It is now only used as a Pedestrian walking bridge. Once on the Lesser Town side, our guide took us to an authentic Czech restaurant where we got our choice of the main dish, some Czech wine and a great Czech desert with coffee. It was a tiny little restaurant that was very beautiful inside in a small alley that I¿m not sure we could ever find again. After lunch our final destination was the Prague Castle. It is probably the most popular sight visited in Prague and is the largest ancient castle in the world. At the Castle we walked through some of the courtyards, viewed the Old Royal Palace and the St. Vitus Cathedral. There was just so much to see at the Castle and not enough time to do it all. Prague is one of those cities that will sit high on our list of places to visit again. From the Castle, Chris and I took a leisure stroll back to our hotel taking in the beautiful Christmas lights that adorned the city. It was a beautiful day.

 

The following morning we went back to Prague airport to fly to London our final destination. Unfortunately, the Holiday rush had begun and our plane was delayed for several hours. By the time we got to London we were just too tired to do much more than have a nice dinner and prepare for our final flight home.

 

One of the great things about a European River Cruise with Uniworld is that ALL our excursions were included so there was no additional out of pocket expense. Chris and I have been to Europe several times on Ocean Line Cruises but we are now convinced to really see Europe is only on a River Cruise.

 

We have posted several of our pictures on the Web that you can view at your leisure. They can be found at the following links: http://travel.webshots.com/album/556569469aiOEKd and http://good-times.webshots.com/album/556568641nMGojX

[scottam]

What a great report and lovely pictures. We are considering going on the same tour/cruise in Dec 2007 and now I'm inspired and ready to book. Your review provided us with a lot of good information. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

[Bohemian]

A very enjoyable reading, thanks for posting this great review of your trip. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

 

We did the Rhine Valley from Frankfurt to Koblenz by car in October, it's an amazing place to visit with its fairytale castles and medieval towns. We're going back in May for another look.

[bcrcornet]

I concur with your comments re: Wouter. He was our Cruise Manager aboard Uniworld's "River Countess" on our Budapest - Amsterdam cruise from Nov. 08 - 23. He was a significant factor in making our cruise such a totally wonderful experience.

[cdgibbons]

Thanks everyone for all the great comments.

 

bcrcornet I have Wouter's contact information if you are interested. We will be in Rome next October and I am hoping that he will be our escort for our group of friends that will be with us.

 

Did you write a review on your Budapest to Amsterdam trip in October? I would love to here your feedback as that is most likely the one that my husband and I would like to do next. Although I think we would like to try a Spring / Early Summer River cruise.

 

scottam you should definitely book this cruise. I believe Uniworld has an early bookings savings sale going on now through the end of January that you may be able to take advantage of.

 

Debbie

[bcrcornet]

bcrcornet ... Did you write a review on your Budapest to Amsterdam trip in October? I would love to here your feedback as that is most likely the one that my husband and I would like to do next. Although I think we would like to try a Spring / Early Summer River cruise.

Sorry, no, I didn't write up a review of our Uniworld "European Jewels" cruise on "River Countess" from Nov. 08-23. I would have said much the same as your fine writeup about how much we enjoyed everything about this cruise - the ship, the crew, the food, the places visited, ... everything! The late Fall sailing worked out just fine - all the local tour guides said we were experiencing unusually good weather, as it usually was colder (and perhaps snowier) at that time of year. One risk to bear in mind about a Spring sailing is that river levels may be high or flooding, making passage under low bridges difficult or impossible.