Ultimate European Journey Reviews

We had a trip of a lifetime on this river cruise from Amsterdam to Bucharest over 24 days. Everything from the ship, food, drinks, staff, free shore excursions were excellent. The staff even remembered your name and bought you what you liked to drink! The Captain was also there each morning and afternoon to welcome you off and back on the ship, with ...read more Natalia playing music in the lounge on a grand piano. We would highly recommend this cruise or any other with Uniworld.

We travelled with Uniworld on the River Duchess on the tour titled North Sea to Black Sea during August. On ship for approx 3 weeks and had a great time. Our cruise was mainly Austns with Kiwis, Canadians and travellers from the US as well. People mixed and got along really well. Crew members were fantastic and really looked after guests. Our cabin ...read more was spacious with a good view. Daily excursions were well organised with excellent guides. Meals on the cruise were amazing and drinks aplenty. A good time was had by all. Only caution is to make sure you exercise to avoid adding too many extra kg's. No hesitation in thoroughly recommending this cruise provided you can cope with 22 back to back Christmas Days.

Cabin Quality
Bathroom very tight but otherwise fine for a river boat (and the bathroom was more spacious and far more functional than the one in our Istanbul hotel!)

Food and Dining
More than enough variety and quantity; quantities well judged to minimise waste, even for a 4- or 5-course dinner; vegetarians and other special diets ...read more well catered for, also non-alcoholic wine/beer etc.; all beautifully presented, served quickly etc. - nothing was too much trouble for waiters or kitchen staff; an added bonus was provision of recipes.

Onboard Entertainment
Specials were excellent (classical pianist, folkdance groups etc.; also most of the guest lecturers) but regular pianists were just 'pretty good'. However in all fairness the people who listened to the regular pianists most nights really enjoyed the music, dancing etc.

Shore Excursions
Satisfaction was very dependent on luck i.e. which small group tour guide - most were excellent but a few were just OK (feedback provided to cruise director where relevant). Each shore excursion offered a 'gentle walkers' group which either did less walking or less strenuous walking than other groups. Our cruise directors (a different one for the two 'halves' of the trip) also catered for people with more severe physical limitations by arranging taxis, rickshaws etc. (at the guests' expense) where the walking tours were not suitable for these guests. The cruise directors were very thoughtful and very helpful in every way.

My biggest disappointment was that several of the shore excursions advertised by Uniworld were simply not offered - I asked about them (e.g. Cesky Krumlov) but didn't really get a satisfactory response from the cruise director (this is different from offering an excursion then not running it due to insufficient takers - I understand the need for a minimum number to make it viable.) I think if something has been advertised in their promo material as being on offer that should be honoured. Several other people expressed the same disappointment.

Value for money
Even with 'two for one' it's hard for me to justify spending roughly $1,000 a day on a vacation! The benefits of cruising over coach tours are obvious but the difference in cost is a huge factor.

Global Journeys
We were very pleased with Yvonne's handling of our booking, especially getting our tickets to us early due to our being in India. The only 'gripe' (and it's minor) was that Yvonne wasn't able to book a 1-night extension for us in Istanbul, even though the Uniworld brochure/website said this could be done and many other Australian guests had made such arrangements through their agents. The only difference, once we'd made our own booking for the extra night, was that we had to arrange our own transport to the airport, which was no trouble at all. So it really didn't matter (although travellers without access to email - if there are any left! - might have had trouble making the booking for the extra night).

Useful Tip
For any guests arriving in Amsterdam by train to join a cruise, it would be helpful to know that the ship is docked just a short 5-min walk from the main train station (though it takes a taxi fare of EUR10 or more because of one-way streets etc.)

I would happily recommend the Uniworld experience to anyone. Everyone from Uniworld was so friendly, the tours well organised and the food wonderful. We were very well looked after.

All staff on ship went above what we would have expected of them. Our cabin on the first half of the journey was below expectations as it was close to the engines and was very noisey at times. We didn't feel it was worth the extra we paid for the upgrade. Then at Vienna we had to change cabins and our 1st cabin was used for staff which would indicate ...read more the quality of the cabin. Overall the cruise was most enjoyable. Enjoyed the local on board entertainment on the 2nd half of the cruise much more than the 1st half. This was because it was more traditional dancing, singing etc.

Thank you Yvonne from Global Journeys as you were extremely helpful and although we live in Melbourne, you were able to answer all my questions in a timely manner and there was nothing you were not able to help me with. So thank you again, it is greatly appreciated. The 27 day Grand European River trip with Uniworld was a trip to remember. The River ...read more Princess is a truly beautiful boat and very luxurious. The food, the service, the staff - all cannot be faulted. Had a totally great time (apart from spraining my hand and ankle 3 weeks in!) and would not hesitate to recommend Uniworld to anybody. We are now saving up for our next Uniworld trip (maybe Russia?). There is no going back to big cruise ship lines now!

Our 27 day Grand European River Voyage river cruise was excellent - it could not be faulted in any way. I must commend Uniworld for their outstanding organisation - everything was very well planned. All staff and crew on board were extremely helpful and polite - nothing was too much trouble for them. I really don't like to single anyone out by I must ...read more make special mention of the Cruise Manager, Heiner Schmidt - he was fantastic. The daily organisation was perfect with all included options giving a wonderful introduction to each country we visited. The optional tours were excellent also. Of course, how can I finish without mentioning the food and wine? A fantastic epicurean treat. I would like to thank Global Journeys for bringing this tour to our attention, and for Yvonne Brooks' excellent assistance with our bookings and travel information. We had a wonderful experience.

Thank you so much for organising the trip for us. We did not have any problems with your organisation. We really enjoyed the river cruise. It is a great way to travel, not moving bags all the time. The boat, staff, cruise director and tours could not be faulted. Nothing was ever too much trouble and we were so well looked after, it took the worry out ...read more of travelling so that we were free to have wonderful time. I would definitely travel with Uniworld again (if I could find a deal that was as tempting). They went out of their way to make sure everything went smoothly and that you did not miss out on a thing.