S.S. Beatrice

Should you be interested in visiting a less frequented part of Europe this is the one. The Uniworld experience was excellent. The crew was great, the food first class and the ship top rate. But watch cabin sizes as the SS Beatrice cabins come in two sizes. The French Balcony doors do not open very wide. This part of the Danube is now starting to be ...read more busy, so you are likely to find another ship docked alongside at most ports eliminating any views - a problem as this area becomes more popular. We had two full days off ship touring into Croatia and Bulgaria and interesting excursions at other stops such as Belgrade with lectures on the history of the region including the genesis of the Balkan conflict in the 1990's. Bucharest was a pleasant surprise, an attractive city with its own interesting history. If you have an interest in learning more about this region and its history, this is a most pleasant way to do it.

Christmas markets were a treat, the staff on the "Beatrice" were wonderful, the food outstanding, cabins are a little small and we were on the top deck. The water levels caused a few problems resulting in us being "detained" at the most dreadful place you can imagine ashore. We had to remain at the Bavarian barn that was not a barn until 0100 in ...read more the morning. This was a shore excursion disguised as a dinner in a barn but allowed the ship to reposition; it was disgusting (the venue) and we would not be cruising with Uniworld again as a result. However, this is my view only, all the other shore excursions were brilliant with wonderful guides particularly the Bavarian forest horse carriage ride. This is why you will see an outstanding for shore excursions. The booking experience with Hannah was seamless as usual and we will always use Hannah for this type of travel.