First review of Uniworld's SS Maria Theresa

My wife and I are on the fourth day of our cruise on Uniworld's SS Maria Theresa. Since I have not seen a review of this new ship on the CC river cruise forum, I thought I might post my initial impressions. I will hit the highlights of the good, the not so good, and the unacceptable.

The good:

The best part of the ship has been the food and drink. The food is outstanding and on par with the best cruise ships have to offer (my point of comparison is Crystal). We have enjoyed every meal and appreciated the ties to local cuisine. The chef has taken a light approach to sauces and that has been much appreciated. The breads and croissants are to die for. The complimentary wines have been wonderful. Coffee is french press - the first cruise line that we have been on that has taken the time to do that.

The staff is very nice and the service has been of a generally high quality. The dining service quality has been fine but not of the the very highest quality. The difference is that cruise ships with the highest level of dining service anticipate your needs; they bring you coffee without asking, they offer a second breadstick before you request it, etc. On the Maria Theresa, we have found that we need to ask - they do not anticipate needs. It is not a big deal as the wait staff bring you what you ask for in short order.

The little alcove for coffee on the lowest floor is delightful. It is a wonderful luxury to head there in the morning in my slippers, get a coffee and croissant, and take it back to the room.

The not so good:

I understand that everyone has different tastes in decor, so the following simply reflects the taste of myself and my wife. We had read reviews about Uniworld's decor being over the top and now we know what they mean. This ship seems to reflect Marie Antoinette on a really bad "let them eat cake" day. The philosophy is that more is better - if some glass looks good, add a lot more. If some marble in the bathroom helps make it wall to wall. If a pouffy drape and flowery upholstry and carpet work, add more. The result to us is not positive. There is so much glass that parts of the ship such as the downstairs hallway and the bathroom outside the dining room make you feel as if you are in a fun house. There are so many pouffy curtains that if the colors weren't subdued you could almost imagine that you were on a floating brothel.

I was quite suprised to see that the MT does not have any inside forward views. The lounge is quite nice, but the forward view is blocked off. Sure, you can go up on the Sun deck, but if it is cool, the weather is inclement, or the Sun deck is inaccesable due to low bridges, then you cannot look out the front of the vessel.

The Maria Theresa boasts the latest technology, but that is a two edged sword. On one hand it is kind of neat that the TV is built into the mirror. On the other hand, I didn't really want to spend my cruise figuring out how to adjust the lights, air conditioning, TV, etc. After hitting the glowing round thing that is supposed to turn on the cabin lights for the fourth time in order to get them to turn on, I started longing for a simple light switch.

The cabin is cluttered with nonfunctional furniture. You would think that with space being a premium on the ship, that efficiency would be a priority. Not on the SS Maria Theresa.

The unacceptable:

When we got to our cabin, we called the front desk to ask where the drawers were for our clothes. After all, the ship is taking a 14 day cruise, so we figured there must be a hidden chest of drawers. The answer we got back was that there were cabins that did not have any drawers and ours was one of them. We were floored. You go on a cruise to not have to live out of a suitcase and now we were being forced to...well.... live out of a suitcase. When we talked to the hotel manager, she apologized and said it was a design flaw. But she didn't offer any useful remedy.

Closing remarks: So based on our four days so far on the Maria Theresa would we book another Uniworld cruise? No. I do not want to cruise with a company that has so little regard for me that they would give me a cabin without a single clothes drawer. I want a ship that has more tasteful decor and provides an interior frontal view. But I do want a cruise line with food this good and staff this nice.

Since there are not any other reviews of the Maria Theresa, I would be happy to respond to any specific questions.

David

Wow....

The lack of drawers is a bit odd. Was there a closet to hang your clothes? If so, I would have requested more hangers and hung up as much as the closet could fit.

I think some river cruise line needs to find a sweet spot between what can be viewed as the sparseness of décor on some lines versus the tendency towards overdoing it on Uniworld.

The lack of drawers is a bit odd. Was there a closet to hang your clothes? If so, I would have requested more hangers and hung up as much as the closet could fit.

 

I think some river cruise line needs to find a sweet spot between what can be viewed as the sparseness of décor on some lines versus the tendency towards overdoing it on Uniworld.

I think several river cruise lines have done so. We find the decor on AMA to be in that sweet spot, and our cabin even on their older AmaCello was very functional. Also their food struck us as being as good as David describes here for Uniworld (and the Berlitz Guide rates AMA even higher than Uniworld for food). So I would suggest the next line to try should be AMA.

I think several river cruise lines have done so. We find the decor on AMA to be in that sweet spot, and our cabin even on their older AmaCello was very functional. Also their food struck us as being as good as David describes here for Uniworld (and the Berlitz Guide rates AMA even higher than Uniworld for food). So I would suggest the next line to try should be AMA.

I'm sure we'll try AMA at some point, but any pictures I've seen of their ships haven't been my style--a bit too plain. Better than Viking, for sure, but not what I'd prefer.

We are doing the Budapest to Amsterdam route in July. Thank you for your review. I also thought the decor looked,well, " a little" garish in the pictures..being the leather/stainless decor person thought maybe I was over sensitive. Guess not! But the drawer situation is weird...is there closet space? We always travel with extra hangers. I'm not sure which room DH booked. But it's good to heard that you're impressed with the food and drink. Hope to see more from your trip..have fun!

We are doing the Budapest to Amsterdam route in July. Thank you for your review. I also thought the decor looked,well, " a little" garish in the pictures..being the leather/stainless decor person thought maybe I was over sensitive. Guess not! But the drawer situation is weird...is there closet space? We always travel with extra hangers. I'm not sure which room DH booked. But it's good to heard that you're impressed with the food and drink. Hope to see more from your trip..have fun!

There is a small closet that has little room in it after you cram in your coat and typical hanging things. There is no way to be able to hang up clothes you would typically put in a chest of drawers.

David

We are doing the Budapest to Amsterdam route in July. Thank you for your review. I also thought the decor looked,well, " a little" garish in the pictures..being the leather/stainless decor person thought maybe I was over sensitive. Guess not! But the drawer situation is weird...is there closet space? We always travel with extra hangers. I'm not sure which room DH booked. But it's good to heard that you're impressed with the food and drink. Hope to see more from your trip..have fun!

stmartins-

I forgot to respond to your question about the specific cabin. It is 207.

As an interesting aside, the ship is only sailing at 70% of capacity. I had assumed such a new ship would be sailing full and was surprised to see so many empty cabins.

David

I am reading this while looking at the heavy silk drapes and embroidered wall coverings in our suite on the Uniworkd SS Catherine. Because it's a suite we have more drawers, shelves and hanging closet space than we need. Got a laugh out of your comments about the mirrors. We do have a lounge with a forward terrace with a few tables and chairs. We were double rafted for 3 days with a Viking ship and thought the decor we saw was rather refreshing. You can see from my signature that we are Uniworkd fans, but we don't travel with them for the decor.

We left the Maria Theresa on Sunday after the Tulips and Windmill cruise.

You must have departed on later that day on the MT.

It was the third voyage for the MT.

I really found the food and service to be over the top. Food and wines were delicious. No compromise there at all.

It's decor is a personal choice. I am not a big fan of it's flowery style but I did not take the cruise to enjoy the window treatments.

Sorry about the drawers...ours had plenty of space.

So far as the ship goes, there have to be glitches in it's beginning stage.

Would be curious how Uniworld handles the issues of it's newest ship.

So far am I am concerned, the cruise was first class and we loved everything except the weather. Should I complain about the weather?

I do not represent Uniworld...and have no financial interest in Uniworld.

UOTE=eyeu;46489193]We left the Maria Theresa on Sunday after the Tulips and Windmill cruise.

You must have departed on later that day on the MT.

It was the third voyage for the MT.

I really found the food and service to be over the top. Food and wines were delicious. No compromise there at all.

It's decor is a personal choice. I am not a big fan of it's flowery style but I did not take the cruise to enjoy the window treatments.

Sorry about the drawers...ours had plenty of space.

So far as the ship goes, there have to be glitches in it's beginning stage.

Would be curious how Uniworld handles the issues of it's newest ship.

So far am I am concerned, the cruise was first class and we loved everything except the weather. Should I complain about the weather?

I do not represent Uniworld...

Eyeu,

If my memory serves you sailed on the Antoinette last year as we did. We are going on the Maria Theresa in December for a Christmas Markets cruise. How would you compare the Maria Theresa experience to the Antoinette? My wife and I actually liked the decor on the Antoinette and from all the pictures of the Maria Theresa I think we will like it as well. We wouldn't decorate our house like that but we thought it was kind of fun for a week. I did see the OP was in a category 5 cabin which I think is 162 sq ft. I believe that category 1-3 are 194 sq ft and we are booked in a suite that is 305 sq ft. What category did you have that had plenty of space. We were in a suite on the Anoinette and had plenty of space for all hang up and folded clothes in addition to lots of space under the bed to store all the stuff we bought along the way.

I love technology so I think I'm going to like the TV/Lighting situation. How did you find those features?

The only think I don't like from my research is the pool being next to the lounge. We actually utilized the pool on the Antoinette but not sure we will want to walk through the lounge to get to it even though I understand the glass tints when you go in it. Did you experience the pool? Or is there in entrance other then walking through the lounge?

Glad to hear you had a good experience and that the OP did enjoy the food and service.

I would not consider no drawers for clothing to be a "gliche". That would be considered a mistake in design.

Since we had plenty of drawers in our room, can't really add to his evaluation.

The bathrooms I thought were very adequate with the shower appeared to be larger than I remember from past cruises.

The technology is a challenge. Have to play with the touch buttons...and insert your entry card to keep lights on...like in most European hotels.

I must say that when I am on vacation, really try to enjoy..which I did immensely.

The other ships were fine...this one is just a bit different. Lots more technology for sure. The dining room is also set up differently that other ships. No big deal.

The internet worked very well..not sure if that is because of the ports or the ship.

I know lots of resources went into this ship...enjoyed it but not to the point that I would have to return to this particular ship. It has lots of bells and whistles...with a gorgeous nighttime look.

stmartins. I forgot to respond to your question about the specific cabin. It is 207.

As an interesting aside, the ship is only sailing at 70% of capacity. I had assumed such a new ship would be sailing full and was surprised to see so many empty cabins.

David

David:

Ask for (Demand) :eek: a cabin change to one with drawers! ;)

David: I hope you will continue your post as your cruise progresses. My wife and I will be boarding the Maria Theresa in Budapest upon the conclusion of your cruise. This will be our first river cruise so your observations are very interesting. We'll be in cabin 303 so I certainly hope we have some drawers for storage. No drawer storage, even in a smaller cabin seems like a design flaw to me. I too am wondering about the decor after seeing pictures of the ship. I hope it won't be too over the top.

Well starting today (May 8th) Ralph Grizzle of rivercruisecritic.com will be boarding the ship for the rest of the voyage. I will be interested in the review of a professional.

David:

Ask for (Demand) :eek: a cabin change to one with drawers! ;)

Di Princess-

Thank you for the suggestion. I did ask them to provide an upgrade given the number of empty cabins. The response was that we would have to pay for the upgrade. When I asked why they couldn't give us a complimentary upgrade given the signficant design flaw of no dresser drawers, the response was that they would then have to do it for every cabin that did not have any drawers and that they were not prepared to do so.

David

Di Princess-

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I did ask them to provide an upgrade given the number of empty cabins. The response was that we would have to pay for the upgrade. When I asked why they couldn't give us a complimentary upgrade given the significant design flaw of no dresser drawers, the response was that they would then have to do it for every cabin that did not have any drawers and that they were not prepared to do so.

 

David

I'd still file this as completely unacceptable.

It is normal in the cruise industry to make clear which cabins suffer from a deficiency such as a restricted view or lack of a safe etc. it is hard not to see a complete lack of any drawers as a similar problem that should be made clear before booking.

Maybe now is a good time to use the internet to reach out to Head Office to suggest that they mark the cabins lacking in such a basic element on their marketing material so future customers will not be similarly surprised and suggest that a complementary move would be a good solution given their lack of forewarning.

Doing it now gives them a 2nd chance to 'fix' the problem for you at least while they update their material for future guests.

I'd also have to say that I agree with your assessment of the decor. When comparing the various lines, this has always caused us to remove Uniworld from consideration.

I'd still file this as completely unacceptable.

 

It is normal in the cruise industry to make clear which cabins suffer from a deficiency such as a restricted view or lack of a safe etc. it is hard not to see a complete lack of any drawers as a similar problem that should be made clear before booking.

 

Maybe now is a good time to use the internet to reach out to Head Office to suggest that they mark the cabins lacking in such a basic element on their marketing material so future customers will not be similarly surprised and suggest that a complementary move would be a good solution given their lack of forewarning.

 

Doing it now gives them a 2nd chance to 'fix' the problem for you at least while they update their material for future guests.

 

I'd also have to say that I agree with your assessment of the decor. When comparing the various lines, this has always caused us to remove Uniworld from consideration.

Mark-

I did e-mail Uniworld. While they responded promptly, they blew off the lack of drawer space saying thisis what happens in a small cabin. Needless to say, I am not impressed.

David

Mark-

 

I did e-mail Uniworld. While they responded promptly, they blew off the lack of drawer space saying thisis what happens in a small cabin. Needless to say, I am not impressed.

 

David

I'd also leave a comment on Uniworld's FB page stating exactly why you were unhappy with the cabin. You'd be doing others a favor letting them know about the deficiency.

That's disappointing. Though I've found Uniworld's main office to be much less responsive or willing to help, compared to the crew on the boat.

We've only sailed in Category 1 rooms but I wonder if this is a design common to all Cat 5 rooms on the other super ships? Here's the schematic of a Cat 5 room on SS Maria Theresa; the closet space is indeed paltry.

Here is a floor plan for Cat 4-5 on SS Catherine. The layout and amount of closet space seems similar, but on the wall opposite the bed, there seems to be a difference in that there's a larger countertop:

The difference seems to be (from looking at pictures, not personal experience) that on SS Catherine, the larger countertop under the mirror has a bunch of shelving where you could stack up your clothes somewhat like a chest of drawers. SS Maria Theresa has a fancy decorative table that doesn't look to have any built-in shelving. OP - is that the case?

Compare (the orientation of these photos is reversed from the floor plans):

Sounds like quite an oversight... I'd be bummed too, living out of a suitcase; agree that the advantage of a cruise is unpack once, visit a different city each day. There are probably a few microscopic drawers in the bedside tables, but that might be enough to store a few pairs of socks... I suspect if enough people have issues with this, they'll eventually fix it, but unlikely before next year. Sorry for the OP...

What kind of boudoir doesn't have drawers to keep your "unmentionables"? Those pictures show a designer run amok.

I did e-mail Uniworld. While they responded promptly, they blew off the lack of drawer space saying thisis what happens in a small cabin. Needless to say, I am not impressed.

Glad you tried, but that answer is ridiculous.

This is what happens in a badly designed small cabin perhaps.

I spent some years in the hotel industry and we had to keep a tight rein on designers in new hotels as they had a tendency to create rooms that looked stunning but were completely worthless as hotel rooms.

No flat surfaces, nowhere to work, bathrooms with nowhere to store the things the guests brought with them, no drawer space etc.

It looks like nobody had their eye on the ball this time...

I know it is no help to you, but it would be a great service to future travelers if you were able to determine if it is a particular class of cabin that has the drawer problem or if it is random cabins across classes.

At least that way people can be warned on here at least before they bump into it as you sadly did.

I know if we had been faced with the problem I'd be apoplectic, the whole point about river cruising is to be able to unpack and put the suitcases away, not live out of them like a traveling salesman for the duration and especially not at the prices they charge either...

There's not even anything on either side of the bed that has drawers or enclosed shelves? (I trust you, this is more of an expression of disbelief).

I remember not having much, if any, drawer space on our low-category cabin on the River Ambassador, but there were multiple shelves on either side of the bed that were hidden by a mirrored door, so we were fine putting our stuff there since it was out of the way.

I have now been on 2 Uniworld cruises, and neither had a proper "dresser".

The first was the River Countess, 150sf cabin with French balcony. We had 3 closets (instead of the 2 shown on the MT floor plan), 2 drawers that pulled out from the foot of the bed, and I think some smaller drawers in each nightstand.

The second was the River Baroness, 128sf cabin with fixed picture window. 2 closets, and 2 very small drawers on either side of the bed. That cabin was small…too small! However, from a clothes storage standpoint, we were able to utilize the bedside drawers for socks and underwear, and the closets for the rest of our clothes. For what we packed, we had an adequate amount of hanging space, and used the shelves in the closets for pants and folded shirts. We also utilized the free bag of laundry a few days into the cruise, so we didn't overpack as much as usual:D I travel with packing cubes, and can manage to keep things fairly organized with them.

As far as decor, it's certainly NOT how I decorate my house, but, it is what it is. There are plenty of pictures out there, and what you see is what you get. The bedding was very comfortable, as was the furniture in the dining room and lounge. We honestly spent so little time on the boat, that it really wasn't a distraction. When we were onboard, we were focused more on socializing with our fellow passengers than paying attention to the decor.

Robin