Uniworld River Cruise
We got back exactly a week ago from a Uniworld River Cruise, Budapest to Amsterdam. It had been at the top of the bucket list for a while and we decided to do it.
It is a GREAT way to see Europe, you unpack once instead of packing and unpacking as you would on a bus trip. It is expensive, but if you work out the cost of staying 15 days in a first class European hotel along with the cost of traveling from country to country, with all meals and wine, entertainment every night and excellent guides, it is a good deal.
We were on the Empress, which is not one of their new ships, but was way above expectation. We had a stateroom on the top deck with a Balcony, which is basically sliding glass doors with bars so that you don't fall out into the River. The room was excellent, the bathroom was very small, but we are not big people so that was not a problem. The staff were incredible, everyone spoke perfect English, and most of them spoke several languages. The staff we spoke with were all college educated and had to work the ships because they either cannot get a job in their own country, or cannot make enough money to live decently in their own countries. The staff on the Empress were all from Eastern Europe.
The food was incredible, breakfast and lunch were buffet style, dinner was from the menu with plenty of choices.
My own personal opinion of the trip was that it was basically educational, Cathedrals, Churches, Palaces, Monuments and detailed history lessons etc., and I got to the point where if I never saw another Monument it would be too soon. My other half is a photographer and he was in heaven!
We had a daily excursion off the ship which usually entailed plenty of walking, and I do mean PLENTY of walking; but we liked the fact that the ship pulls up into the center of most of the towns and you can just walk off and explore on your own if you want to.
We probably would not do another River Cruise, but I would highly recommend this type of travel to anyone who wants to see Europe in style.
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