Uniworld River Cruise Reviews

Beautiful scenery, lots of food and food options, lots of exercise options with gym, cycling and wellness worker who offered daily exercises. Hannah at Global Journeys assisted us with booking and organising and was always prompt in her responses and made the process hassle free. Ship was clean and crew excellent.

The cruise was wonderful. The service was outstanding. I believe with feedback from our other companion travellers, we started with the best. Nothing was a trouble. Lots of fun. We knew we where somewhere special when there was a pillow menu. Beds where turned down with little treats each night. For us we know we will only travel with Uniworld if ...read more ever we cruised again. Out of 10 my score is 12!

Luxury from start to finish, nothing was too much trouble and it was like being Queen of the Castle. Would recommend this trip to anyone. Loved Uniworld.

We had a fantastic trip with Uniworld on the River Empress. We booked this short journey looking for a wind down and relax after 4 weeks on the go in Europe and were not disappointed. The staff cannot do enough to ensure your trip is all you want it to be. Nothing is a problem and all of the staff obviously enjoy their work. The rooms are extremely ...read more well appointed and maintained by the vigilant staff. The food is of the highest quality for every meal, with the chef open to special orders. We enjoyed the off ship excursions and rode the complimentary bikes at every opportunity. We have made many new friends as a result of this great cruise and highly recommend Uniworld for river cruising, as well as the capable staff at Global Journeys. Thank you Michelle for organising the perfect trip for our needs.

Global Journeys - especially Hannah - always does a good job. Cruising to all the different markets was fun and we collected all the Gluwein mugs. There were only three Australian couples on board maybe because people don't want to travel too far away from their families so near to Christmas. There were no English on board but there were a lot in the ...read more markets. There were mostly Americans on board and were all very friendly. We became friendly with a Canadian couple who were in the tourist industry and were there on 'a study trip' so we were lucky enough to receive 'a few perks'.

It was an enjoyable holiday with a good variety of people. The service provided by the staff was very good and friendly.

We had a wonderful trip and would happily recommend Uniworld and Global Journeys. Booking was smooth and easy and Georgie was quick to answer any of my queries. This was my second Uniworld cruise and we really enjoy the atmosphere of the ships. The Antoinette was beautiful and the cabin more than adequate (in comparison to our Suite on the River Queen ...read more last year, the Stateroom was barely a metre square smaller). The shore excursions were fun and we had plenty of time to relax on board. We were very lucky with the weather and it was fine all along the Rhine. The ship accommodated all early arrivals with lunch and a comfortable place to relax prior to check-in (unlike some hotels).

Our cruise met or exceeded all of our expectations. The quality and enthusiasm of all staff was a prime factor in achieving this. To maintain the cruise schedule, despite the record low water levels was a credit to the Captains (Michael - Germany and Frank - Netherlands) and their crew.120 passengers on a river cruise made for a far more personal ...read more experience that could ever be achieved on an ocean cruise involving thousands. 80% staff knew us by Christian name ie Mrs Susan, Mr Geoff which made us feel like we were the only ones on board. The high staff:guest ratio made this a luxury holiday. The chefs aboard constantly produced superb meals (especially the pastries) and no request by guests was too difficult.

Having a ships Doctor on board from Austria to Romania was reassuring. The total absence of "gastro" related ailments was testament to the general standard of hygiene on board and in particular the kitchen. As health professionals ourselves, this is to be commended. Our cruise manager, Monika (Netherlands), worked tirelessly long hours to ensure every guest was able to enjoy all aspects of the cruise day and night. Those with mobility issues were thrilled to participate in all activities in the gentle walkers group. After a month of travelling with her we felt like all we didn't want to leave her behind. Tears were shed by many as we bade our farewells. Our travel agent Hannah was fantastic. She was always prompt responding to all enquiries and her organisational skills and professionalism is an asset to Global Journeys. Would we take another river cruise......yes indeed.

Awesome. Fantastic. The best holiday I have ever had, a nice relaxed pace, amazing staff, amazing food and wine, great scenery and very knowledgable, experienced guides on the excursions. 10+.

Overall this River Cruise with Uniworld was brilliant. We both had a fabulous experience as we expect everyone did. The quality of food and services provided was second to none. Every request made was carried out without question. The river level was a concern but with improvisation they managed to overcome this problem unlike other cruise ships. We ...read more heard of many complaints from disgruntled customers regarding the manner in which the river levels were handled. Cheers to Uniworld for a unforgettable cruise.

The Uniworld people were very professional and executed their duties with due thought and care. The excursions were well handled and the breadth of experiences was greatly appreciated. I enjoyed the free time worked into the excursion program as it allows personal exploration and the chance to meet and deal with local people. Thank you for a wonderful ...read more time!

We have travelled before on this type of cruise in Europe with another leading company . We had heard that Uniworld was a good company to travel with. We spent 15 days on this tour of Vietnam and Cambodia with not a single stone left unturned to ensure we had a fabulous holiday. From the experienced tour guides to the staff on the boat we had excellent ...read more service. We stayed in top 5 star hotels and our food was nothing less than fit for a king. The River Orchid was a spectacular boat and we could not fault a single thing with the accommodation, tours offered and staff on board. Even our bus drivers we professional and we felt safe travelling with them. Every detail was looked after and the tour went very smoothly. Our experience will certainly encourage us to look at Uniworld for further tour offers in the future.

We would like to add that our whole trip had been booked by Yvonne Brooks who ensured that all our information and travel details were correct and taken care of. Yvonne also took the time to search out great airfare deals. This is the second time we have booked a holiday through Yvonne and we do recommend her to our family and friends. She is a knowledgeable and experienced in her field and we felt confident with all the information and details she gave us.

The cruise was fantastic as were the staff. The staff were professional, helpful, courteous and obliging. However we were informed that the age bracket was 45-55. This was not the case - the average age was moe like 65-75 plus. As such we believe this impacted on the type of activities available on and off the ship. We think having and all inclusive ...read more price (ie gratuities, excursions, etc) is a good way to go, however we believe this should be acknowledged early in the cruise. We were made aware by other travellers that certain guides (an on-shore guide) formally acknowledged and thanked the travellers for the gratuity. It would have been highly desirable for all travellers to have received this acknowledgement by on-board management.

Cruise ship very good. All staff excellent,friendly and helpful. Excursions well timed and planned. Thanks Yvonne for all your help. Because we had been with Uniworld before they gave us a bag of laundry free, a nice touch. Transfers worked well to airport. Good to have an inclusive price. Our tour guide was good, but repeated everything 3 times - once, ...read more for us anyway, would have been enough!

We had the most relaxing and enjoyable holiday ever. Will definitely do it again soon. Will highly recommend to family and friends.

The staff were excellent and could not fault them, the rooms were cosy and boutique style with a large balcony. The food was superb and service was great. The excursions were good with excellent guides although we're think some extra free time at some of the excursions would have been better. We were lucky with the weather, no rain but some fog caused ...read more delays in sailing missing a few stops but uniworld offered an optional excursion free of charge to compensate. We had a wonderful holiday and would highly recommend the uniworld ship river Victoria.

We thought the tour was great just the right pace and having only 20 in the group was great we got to know everyone and had a fantastic time. The tours were interesting and just long enough, & the local guides were good. The only things we went on were 2 different silk tours. 1 would have been enough, it was admittedly in different city's the second ...read more was the best. The cruise was good having our own dinning room was also good so we did not have to wait in line. Our tour leader Cheers was very good helpful and friendly she was full of all kinds of information well done.

First time with Uniworld and it turned out better than expected. Compared to APT river cruise ships it was much better, especially staff, facilities, attitudes, flexibility, service, food, presentation, and all the extras in the Suite were truly magnificent. Yvonne Brooks of Global Journeys again gave us prompt and friendly service right from first ...read more contacting her re the cruise until completion of booking. She will always be our first point of contact for our next holiday.

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.