India's Golden Triangle & the Sacred Ganges with Uniworld

Will do a semi-live blog like our others...hopefully! Haven't been able to concentrate on this trip too much yet. Getting ready for Madagascar next week!

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Day 2 journal is live: https://www.facebook.com/uniworldrivercruises/posts/10154373784991005

Day 2 journal is live:

I saw! Chris just read it to me while we were coming home from running some errands. :D

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Day 2 journal is live: https://www.facebook.com/uniworldrivercruises/posts/10154373784991005

The day 2 morning matches our trip. We were offered to go on out on our own in our afternoon if we wanted. The hotel would arrange transportation to shopping areas if you were interested. The three afternoon options is new to me but during our whole trip, they kept adding additional excursions to the itinerary.

Although it mentions an option to be “on our own”, note that the guides were with the different groups. Uniworld keeps a good eye on the passengers to make sure they are safe and don’t get lost. It also helps to have someone who speaks the language I believe these new excursions are because of the Tour Manager (Vishal). He is a contractor and I know he was checking options of possible areas for us to see.

I also enjoyed the Welcome dinner but I would have liked an explanation of what the various dishes were so you will want to take small samples to see which ones you like. We do not eat very hot foods and some of the items were not to our tastes. But there was plenty of other good Indian food to eat.

We just completed my husband's e visa and waiting to make sure it gets processed before doing mine. Will let you know when I hear. We are flying into Mumbai and doing an 8 day private tour before we get on the boat.

Day three Uniworld India trip now posted

I noticed that the third day of the Uniworld India trip review is on their Facebook. Here are a couple of comments.

First, I should have mentioned the extra security at the hotel compound in New Delhi. When we arrived at night, we did pass through metal detectors going in the hotel and there were armed guards at the gate coming in. I also noticed armed guards walking the grounds and during our stay, I also saw guards by the pool and spa areas. This did not concern me because I took it meant they wanted to ensure we were safe. I did not see the same level of security presence at the other hotel but I always felt safe. I think they just took it up a level in New Delhi.

The rest stops restrooms were very basic and a number of women who used them were not very pleased. We bring packs of antiseptic wipes to clean our hands and they came in handy in the restroom.

I did not see any beggars at the rest stops but I may not have looked as receptive. Usually, the kids wanted to have their pictures taken and just wanted to see themselves in the camera. I only saw a total of two beggars in all of India. This was in Agra, outside of the excursion to see how they create the inlays. It is amazing how many slivers make up a tiny piece of inlay.

I am not surprised the review didn’t describe going inside the Taj. When you arrive in the afternoon, the crowds are larger and it is very packed inside as well as very dark. You are not allowed to use lights and you can’t see the beautiful details inside.

However, if you go the next morning at sunrise and head directly to go inside, it is not crowded and the sunlight comes in from the side and you can enjoy the detail. I felt sorry for the people who decided not to go again the next morning.

The review also didn’t mention the security at the Taj. We entered a different line to enter than the locals and it was much shorter. It also appeared the locals were searched much more than us.

There are two types of tickets to enter the Taj. One (2 rupees) puts you in a line that winds around the outside of the and then you get back to the front to enter. The other one (20 rupees) lets you enter directly. The 20 rupee one is what Uniworld provides. You can still walk around the outside afterwards but it is much quicker to get in and you are not standing in the hot sun.

Uniworld India trip – Day 5 https://www.facebook.com/uniworldrivercruises/posts/10154393867011005

The Day 5 trip review has posted on Uniworld today. The link is above.

One thing that I noticed that was different was the demonstration of wrapping a turban and the field trips for shopping. Instead, Uniworld had a farewell dinner at the hotel on the last night before we headed to the Ganges Voyager II. At the event, we had good Indian food and entertainment by a lady who danced while adding bowls on her head. Very impressive. They also gave each women a long scarf with beads and they wrapped a turban on every man. There was also a vendor if you wanted to buy any material. Remember the next day, you will fly to Kolkata on the India airline has very low weight limits for luggage. It might be cheaper to have it shipped to your home instead of taking it with you.

Received our e visa in less than 24 hr. Ready to leave 10/31 and can't wait to begin the adventure! Thanks to everyone's posts which have helped in the planning.

I'm on the 19 November departure and perhaps someone can help me with a question about tipping.

The documentation I have from Uniworld gives suggested gratuity amounts in US dollars and says that they must be paid in cash; ie, they can't be charged to your account on the ship.

Question: can the gratuities be paid in US dollars or can/should they be paid in rupees?

Thanks.

I'm on the 19 November departure and perhaps someone can help me with a question about tipping.

 

The documentation I have from Uniworld gives suggested gratuity amounts in US dollars and says that they must be paid in cash; ie, they can't be charged to your account on the ship.

 

Question: can the gratuities be paid in US dollars or can/should they be paid in rupees?

 

Thanks.

We also were told to pay in U.S $ so we brought enough cash to do that. We did give some extra rupees and U.S. cash to our stewards. I wasn't sure they could handle the US bills but it was not a problem for them.

Golden Triangle & the Sacred Ganges Cruise – Day Six

Day Six of the trip is on the Uniworld site.

The review talked about the security and it is tight. They really go through the bags and it does take a lot of time. One thing I noticed is after security, people did not have a problem leaving their bags at their seats and leaving them. Big difference from the States.

The seating on the plane is for local populations and is tighter than what Westerners are used to. It was a bit tight for my over six foot height but it was fine.

When ever you come on the boat, they request your remove your shoes so the can clean (disinfect) your shoes. They give you slippers but they didn’t fit my size 12 shoes. I recommend you bring some slippers that fit. You leave these in the bin for your room number at the entrance after you get your shoes back.

The room is spacious for a riverboat so you should enjoy it. The only complaint would be the limited sink space to put things. I am glad to see they now handle toilet paper in their waste system. That was a major complaint from some of the other passengers.

Just called Uniworld and was told tipping needed to be cash and in US dollars

any problem with security in India? Sounds like the cross border conflict with Pakistan and the dispute over the water treaty between the two countries is increasing tensions. There have been several incidents in the last week or so. We're headed to Uniworld in November via ORD-CDG-DEL on Delta/AF

This is our 39th cruise and have never been concerned before:)

any problem with security in India? Sounds like the cross border conflict with Pakistan and the dispute over the water treaty between the two countries is increasing tensions. There have been several incidents in the last week or so. We're headed to Uniworld in November via ORD-CDG-DEL on Delta/AF

 

This is our 39th cruise and have never been concerned before:)

Security was already tight at the Delhi hotel when we went in March. At the time, there were major demonstrations in the city that had closed the major water purification plants. We had no problems at all anywhere.

We also took the ORD-CDG-DEL on Delta/AF. I was surprised that Delta was better than AF in business class, on both going and return. Fyi. If you are in business class, look for the special customs lines at the airport if you move between terminals. We arrived late to Mumbai from Kolkata and would have missed the flight to CDG if we had to wait in the regular lines.

Also day six of the Uniworld review of the trip has been posted on their Facebook.

The only comment is on the picture showing men washing on the street. We were told that Kolkata had erected fountains throughout the city bringing Ganges water into the city so migrants can wash daily in the sacred water. We saw multiple fountains of various sizes as we traveled through the city. They were always busy.

Finally back from Madagascar and ready to start thinking about this trip! Looking forward to catching up with the blog posts.

We are also flying through CDG with AF. We fly DL and AF a lot and I tend to like the AF food and wine selections a little more than the DL ones. But I find that the DL FAs are much more generous with the wine than the AF FAs are... :)

Hope to hear from those who are currently (or very soon) taking this trip!

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Cool! Chris, which sailing are you on? We're on the 2/6 tour.

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Finally back from Madagascar and ready to start thinking about this trip! Looking forward to catching up with the blog posts.

 

We are also flying through CDG with AF. We fly DL and AF a lot and I tend to like the AF food and wine selections a little more than the DL ones. But I find that the DL FAs are much more generous with the wine than the AF FAs are... :)

 

Hope to hear from those who are currently (or very soon) taking this trip!

 

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JP and Chris

Will you be doing a review/posting on your Madagascar/S Africa trip.

I have enjoyed reading about your past adventures.

We will be on the Danube on the River Beatrice next September

JP and Chris

Will you be doing a review/posting on your Madagascar/S Africa trip.

I have enjoyed reading about your past adventures.

We will be on the Danube on the River Beatrice next September

Hi sawtooth, Enjoy River Beatrice! That was a great trip.

I am posting about the Madagascar trip on TravelPod, which is a site that I use to blog about non-cruise trips. Same user name as here. I'm about halfway through the trip.

Nice! Me too. Feb. 6-18. Coming in a day early to recover from jet lag.

We are arriving a day early as well. Definitely did not want to arrive in Delhi after midnight, and start touring the next morning. The extra day will be very nice! Looking forward to cruising with you.

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We are currently on the GVII and a couple of things you should know if you are doing this trip within the next couple of weeks. India has discontinued the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. No one will take them so make sure you do not have that currency. My understanding is that they have put in a new 500 rupee and a 2000 rupee. The ATMs run out of money plus there are long lines for the ATM. At this point don't depend on being able to use ATMs. The banks also have long lines. This is hurting the locals - people can't shop because they can't get money. We changed money at the airport when we arrived which I'm told you still can do. We were told we couldn't get rupees outside of India but several people on board got them through AAA and Wells Fargo. Great trip so far. Delhi has severe pollution but we survived. You a can flush toilet paper. If you have questions, I will try and answer.

Thanks for your insights.:D

Sandyk923, thanks for the info! Hope you're having a great time and thanks for posting.

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We have a dilemma regarding gratuities for the cruise part of this trip. First I’ll try and explain why we’re concerned about an amount of money that many will regard as petty cash.

My wife and I are on a departure early next year. It was the only date and cruise available because it ends just before another (low cost!) trip that my wife is doing solo. But we had to book a cabin two price brackets higher than what we’d usually choose. So together with Uniworld’s pricing being considerably higher than for other cruises we’ve done, cost was a big factor when making our decision to do the trip.

All our research said that on-board gratuities were included. The only info we found on Uniworld’s website was in the FAQ for Europe. Along with other FAQ it says all gratuities are included and under FAQ for all other regions it just says “We're here to answer your questions”. At that time we’d found no contrary evidence so we assumed that what applied for Europe applied for all their cruises and we never thought to ask about it. Googling “Uniworld India Ganges Voyager II gratuities” has six hits on the first page from cruise sites, including this one. They all say that all gratuities are included for this cruise. Only a travel company’s site (that we’ve only seen now) says otherwise. (Google’s page two also has a New Zealand and an Australian site that say “included”.)

So we made our decision based on this apparent clear fact. As it had been for our only other two cruises with other cruise lines. (Last year Cambodia/Vietnam and this year the Danube.) Only once we had committed did we get Uniworld’s “customer confirmation” document that said on-board gratuities were additional.

We’re unwilling to spend more than we budgeted and we’re unhappy about Uniworld’s lack of clarity on their website. Not giving gratuities will hurt the staff not the company. But we think Uniworld should clearly state in their advertising what is and isn’t included. And ideally also try and counter the almost universal perception on cruise sites that all Uniworld cruises have gratuities included.

Since booking I have found the “2016 Cruise Companion” for the India trip on the Uniworld website. This says on-board gratuities are not included. But that document is in the section “Already Booked”! And of course when we made our decision we hadn’t booked. It “recommends” as a “guideline” $8 to $10 per person per day for the “Cruise/Tour Manager” and the same amount for “Ship staff and crew”. Aside from that being a significant increase over what we expected the trip to cost, I certainly don’t want to give one person 50 per cent of the gratuities and the 36 ship staff and crew less than 1.4 per cent each on average! Does that reflect what they are paid as a salary?

So what do we do? Are those Uniworld recommended figures the norm? The one website on that Google first page that says that gratuities are not included suggests for the Ganges Voyager II $4 pppd for the Manager and $6 for Crew. So still that huge disparity but in total half of Uniworlds’ figures. That is a U.S. site. A UK site recommends just a single figure of 8 Euros pppd for “crew”, which is even less.

Apologies for the length of this post!

This may seem harsh, but when you saw this...

...and under FAQ for all other regions it just says “We're here to answer your questions”.

...why didn't you just ask them?

Seems like you put more effort into looking everywhere else rather than just asking the one place that could give you a definitive answer...

As for the other question, the "Cruise/Tour Manager" on these ships does not usually receive a salary, he is an independent contractor who depends entirely on tips for his income. The rest of the crew are paid normally and that is why the suggested tip is lower.

I know it may be hard to believe right now, but if the Manager is like any of the others we have been with on other lines in China or Vietnam/Cambodia you are going to feel like the suggested amount has been well earned by the end of your trip.