Uniworld China

Can anyone provide some insight into Uniworld for me? I am looking at booking their 11 Day China tour for April, 2017. Originally I was looking at Viking but have had several people tell me to go with Uniworld, who until last week, I had never heard of. The reviews for them are scarce, especially for China. I realize that only 3 of the 11 days of this trip are spent cruising the river but would appreciate any comments about Uniworld in general. We have been on 15+ Ocean Cruises but never a River Cruise or tour of this type. Thanks!

You'll find quite a few Uniworld fans here on the board. We've sailed twice with them in Europe and were totally satisfied. Viking gets a huge percentage of China travelers...you'll want to check out the Viking China thread that has hundreds of posts. Several years ago we decided to go to China, and I did a spreadsheet comparing Viking and Uniworld, and decided to go with Uniworld. After all my research, my husband decided he couldn't stand the idea of the long flight to China, and we didn't go...

We leave on May 1st for our Uniworld China trip. Will be able to give you a lot of info upon our return on 5/24. We are going to Beijing three days early and doing the extension to Guilin and Hong Kong. Our trip includes Tibet.

I have personally spoken to several people that made the Uniworld China trip within the past year, and all of their reviews and remarks were exceptional.

Having taken both lines, on different river cruises, Uniworld is worth any price differential one might have to pay on numerous levels, imo, over Viking. We booked and paid early and had no price differential with Viking. Additionally, Viking's extra river day to the school had minor appeal to us, we were happy to fly on to Shanghai and spend the time there.

I've cruised with Uniworld in Europe and Southeast Asia. The Vietnam/Cambodia trip was about 50% land, and they handled it wonderfully. Can't say enough good things about them.

I travelled to China with Uniworld in 2007 (Beijing to Hong Kong in 21 days). It was my first trip with Uniworld and I was quite favourably impressed--Uniworld is now my choice of river cruise lines. Hotels throughout China were all 5 star and the tour guides were very good.

The Yangtze Cruise portion of the trip was 4 days with a ship from Victoria Lines, Victoria Anna I believe (Uniworld does not operate ships in China) and our tour made up only part of the ship's total passengers. I thought the accommodation and facilities on board were first class. I see now that Uniworld is using Century Lines. Their ships seem to be about the same size as Victoria Anna, but the cabins are larger and even better appointed.

Given my experiences with Uniworld over the past several years, I would not hesitate to choose them for a China tour.

i look forward to hearing about the trip. I hope it is as fabulous as it looks!!!! Have a great time!!!

My thanks to all of you for responding. This is making my decision to go with Uniworld much easier.

That's why I love Cruise Critic

I went to China/Tibet with Uniworld Sept 2014. Had a wonderful time! Hotels were first class. Guide was very knowledgable and spoke English well. I will be happy to answer any questions....

Just thought I'd check back with you and see how your trip was. I bet it was fabulous!!

We got back from our cruise on May 24. The trip was spectacular. The hotels are all first class staying in the Ritz in Beijing and the Shangri-La in all the other cities.

We were fortunate enough to have Kevin as our tour director. He is the greatest tour director we've ever had with any cruise or with any company. Incredible! All of our local tour guides were extremely knowledgable, friendly, and all spoke excellent English.

As Kevin pointed out, this is an Adventure, not a Vacation! ;) One is on the go, all the time. From early tour departures, to dinner shows in the evenings, so expect it. In fact, the time on the boat was welcomed because as you sail through the gorges you do get a chance to sit back and relax. Some people choose to not do all the tours so to rest more. Except when they are going from a tour to the airport, it's an easy task to let the TD know.

Warning, Uniworld will spoil you! For the multiple flights, you place your checked bagged outside your hotel room/ship's cabin door and it's delivered to your next hotel room or the ship's cabin. They take care of all the baggage for you and you only have to worry about your carry ons. They check you in for your flights and give you the boarding pass. It spoils you. The luggage goes in a separate vehicle and you don't have to think.

A lot of walking is entailed in most of the tours, along with steps, stairs, and etc. If you have significant mobility issues, I probably won't recommend this trip. Our TD had to put some of our fellow cruisers into cabs and send them back to the hotel because the walks were to long. We didn't travel at a fast pace, for me a bit slow, but a lot of distance is often traveled and not all in rickshaws!

The meals are all very good with huge selections! Everyone can find something every meal that can eat and like. The dumpling meal in Xian and especially the dim sum meal in Shanghai were incredible!!! A few nights we ate the buffets in the restaurants which we all exceptional.

Tibet is a really great experience and such a lovely place. Do the hike up to the Palace, it's well worth it. Options are available for those that suffered from oxygen shortage problems and the staff at the hotel and your TD will take care of you. It takes a little time to become accustomed to long stays at 12,000 above sea level!

The ship is extremely comfortable. We stay in large suites and eat in a private VIP dining area separate from most all the Chinese cruisers. Those areas of the ship may be shared with other cruise lines, but you have segregated eated areas even within the VIP lounge.

The hardest thing to get used to is the traffic. Everything takes awhile. Even their "small" cities have 4-8 million people. Beijing has 22 million inhabitants and 6 million cars. Accept it and move on. Nothing Uniworld can do to help it out other can scheduling.

We went to the zoo in Beijing first thing in the morning on our last day, instead of going to the Park in Chongquin. Reason, the Pandas are out feeding in the early morning and you get to see them. If you go in the afternoon most anywhere, you will probably miss them. We saw multiples of the Pandas including the new baby! :D

This is an exceptional Adventure and Uniworld makes it easy to enjoy to the maximum. You read about other tours where people are lugging and tugging around luggage or waiting in lines. Not with Uniworld.

Only 11 days in China. That is not enough to see the highlights.

We did the Vantage China, it was 21 days and fantastic (only four on river).

You only need four days on the river.

Here is my review of our wonderful China trip.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1718320

If you go in the afternoon most anywhere, you will probably miss them. We saw multiples of the Pandas including the new baby! :D

For what its worth, we went to see the pandas in Chongqing in the afternoon and they were all outside wandering around and happily eating, so don't worry if your schedule has you making an afternoon visit.

Glad you had a wonderful time.

We did three full days in Beijing, pre cruise, with a private tour guide, plus we did the five day Guilin-Hong Kong extension. We were in China touring 20 days.

We did Vantage China in fall of 2012 with 21 days of touring/cruise at a total cost, airfare included of about $10,000 for two. We stayed in beautiful five star hotels had super tour guides and our program manager was great.

We've looked at the Uniworld China trip for a few years now. I agree that 11 days is barely a taste, and seems not long enough. But it does allow us to get there and back in 2 weeks, which is important. We both have to work, so we can afford these trips! It will probably be a while before we find the time for China.

Some must see places are of course, The Great Wall, Beijing (forbidden city), Xian and Terra Cotta Warriors, Shanghai and of course the Three Gorges cruise and dam.

It is seemingly a nice overview for a first visit - which is what we'd need. Someday!

Uniworld will not disappoint you in any phase of the Adventure. They meet and exceed most expectations.

For anyone taking this or any of the Chinese adventures, especially those going to Tibet, I would advise you to be in good physical health and very mobile. There are long walks and lots of stairs/steps everywhere. You are not in America with ACA rules, but in historic Chinese landmarks. Uniworld attempts to accommodate all cruisers, but the trip is rigorous.

The Uniworld river cruise was wonderful. The cruise portion is about 1/2 the trip. Best trip ever.

@pinotlover  We are considering a trip to China and are searching for the company we will use. We have done Viking Europe and Russia in the past and have been very impressed with Viking. However, we want to make the best choice for this trip. Thank you for your review. I do have 1 question. Do you share the ship with non- Uniworld passengers?  It sounds like there were separate areas for different people on the ship. Can you explain further on this subject?  Thank you!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth;

Our river boat did have other groups. However, we were all on a single deck together and ate in the VIP lounge together. We had own own guides and tours. 

If I remember correctly, Princess ocean cruises had a cruise extension, with about 12 cruisers, that was with us three days on the ship. Likewise, one of Uniworld sister companies, Tralfagra I believe had a few with us for a couple days. Even though we shared the VIP Lounge for meals, we all did everything separately. The ship is extremely spacious so having the extra parties was never an issue. The Chinese tourists aboard had their own dining facilities and we rarely ever saw them.