bubbulz

I ended up going in early August. It was beautiful in Porto (in the mid-70s) and I even did a 15km bike ride along the coast. However it got extremely hot (100-105) as we got further east and inland. At least it wasn’t humid. By the time I got to Lisbon in mid-August the temps were moderate. (But by then I had caught covid for the first time, but that’s another story … 🙄)

You might be onto something. 😂 Especially on my last cruise, most of the people seemed to be in the early to mid-60s but they’ve been older on some of the others I’ve been on.

It’s likely a case of it being what you make it. On both of my cruises there were a lot of fun-loving people in general. One older guy came to dinner before the party completely decked out with a blond Afro wig. But regardless of what people were wearing, pretty much everyone got on the dance floor.

I’m almost certain all itineraries this year have the party. They had it on my Belgium/Netherlands cruise in the spring and my recent Douro cruise. Both parties were a lot of fun and some people went all out with their costumes. Regardless of dress, the parties were a big hit.

For anyone else who might be wondering … The Porto bike tour is amazing and very much worth doing. It’s about 15 km along the sea roundtrip on E-bikes so it’s not very strenuous. That said, you should be comfortable on a bike, including a short stretch on cobblestones and in traffic, but most of it is along a bike path. It was a great day! Sintra I’d actually recommend doing on your own as you don’t get to spend much time there. (I didn’t do the cooking class.)

Much appreciate all the terrific info and photos. I’m looking at this for 2024, including the pre-trip extension and then a few days on my own in Tuscany. I’ve been to Venice before but only for a few days. This looks amazing.

I have a Douro cruise coming up also and I am really looking forward to the change of pace. I will do 3 days on land on the front end and then an additional 4 days on land post-cruise. Plus, I love wine. 😉 We had this trip planned for 2020 and had to cancel, so I am happy to finally be doing it. Nowadays I travel solo, so I am definitely not interested in a road trip by myself, and I’m not a group travel kind of person.

I am looking at the optional excursions (Porto bike tour, Portuguese cooking class, and Sintra and Cascais) and was wondering if anyone had feedback on them. I know I want to visit Sintra, but I’m doing a few extra days at the end so that is an option I can also arrange on my own.

Same here. I initially booked my air through them but after multiple iterations of flights that were unacceptable, high deviation charges, and then not being informed of flight changes and an ultimate flight cancellation I decided to book my own air. Much better peace of mind.

+1

And bring some bubble wrap with you. 😉

I can't attest to "best" but my husband and I enjoyed our first Danube Christmas Markets cruise with Uniworld so much that we did a second one. Sailing out of Budapest at night is magical (if you start elsewhere make sure to add some days in Budapest either pre or post, and do a nighttime dinner cruise). On one trip we headed to Bavaria and Salzburg after the cruise for several days, staying in Berchtesgaden (lovely small town and an easy/inexpensive/short bus ride to Salzburg). On the other, we headed to Prague with a stopover in Cesky Krumlov for lunch and a tour. I would go back to both Budapest and Prague in a heartbeat, and really enjoyed all of the stops on both cruises.

I always have booked my own air. For my next cruise, I did use their insurance for the first time only because they provide a full credit for a future cruise if you cancel for any reason. I liked having that flexibility.

Eek. I may be spending my days by the pool. 😳

Any thoughts on August? It looks pretty moderate on the weather sites I have checked, but someone I talked with recently said it was extremely hot when they were there.

That’s probably why they are allowing pre-booking on the bike tour on my cruise.

On my recent cruise they had yoga and stretching each morning. And of course there is always plenty of walking on these trips! I believe they have switched over completely now to electronic boarding docs, etc. Also, I didn't receive luggage tags prior to the trip as I had in the past, but they had them on the bed with the departure docs at the end of the trip.

I’m coming up on my fifth Uniworld cruise, and until now I’ve always had the same experience as others regarding booking onboard. However, when I went on my.uniworld recently and looked specifically at the day-by-day itinerary I noticed that there was one ‘Masterpiece Collection’ item listed for a bike tour. It had this note on it: “Masterpiece Collection Optional Experiences can be added to a booking up to 6 days prior to the cruise/tour start date if space allows. Some venues are limited in the number of guests they can accommodate. Guests can book onboard (space permitting) and pay in Euros. Pre-booked Masterpiece Collection Optional Experiences are refundable up to 48 hours prior to the cruise/tour start date; if inside of 48 hours they are non-refundable. Select Masterpiece Collection Optional Experiences require a minimum number of participants and are subject to cancellation (with full refund) if minimum is not met. Masterpiece Collection Optional Experiences are non-commissionable. Prices are subject to change.” Since there was another tour I knew I’d be interested in but didn’t see it listed, I called Uniworld to inquire. I was told that only certain tours were available for pre-booking and all of the others would be offered once onboard. You may want to go into your specific itinerary and expand each day to check, or just call Uniworld and ask if any are available for pre-booking for your trip.

Apparently it is the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa. Looks quite nice!

Anyone know which hotel Uniworld typically uses these days in Lisbon? I have a question in to my TA, but in the meantime, thought I would ask here. Thx.

On previous cruises, my husband and I always gave an extra Euro or two to local guides who we felt did a good job. But that’s just the way we are. On my recent Uniworld cruise, I noticed some people tipping the local guides but I’d estimate that an equal number did not. In Nuenan, we were told specifically that all of the guides in the Van Gogh museum and doing tours in the town were volunteers so we should consider a small tip for them since they volunteer their time. I always kept Euros on hand, and the staff on the ship were always happy to exchange bills for coins. (FWIW, I always gave extra tips to my waiter and anyone else I felt went ‘above and beyond.’)

I booked a 2 hour cruise with Pure Boats. I had booked it beforehand based on personal recommendations, and they did have very nice boats. The boats could be completely under cover in the case of rain, but also had sections that could be removed during nice weather. It was an impressive operation, and I would recommend them highly.

Photos from my Amsterdam food tour … We started with apple pie at a pub Bill Clinton once visited for several hours and went on from there to chocolate, Brazilian coffee, cheeses, and a stewed meat sandwich (it was described to us more eloquently and was absolutely delicious). We also had bitterballen with mustard and stroopwafels and fresh sausage from a local butcher. It’s all been wonderful but it’s definitely time to get back into my routine with the personal trainer and fresh veggies for lunch. (Oh, and apple pie isn’t just for dessert here.) The red tulips were vibrant even from the air when flying out. And that’s a wrap for this time… Looks like I may be doing the long postponed Douro cruise next.

I did ask about the flower auction and I was told that it is not the same since Covid. Since everything had been shut down, they pretty much moved to doing it all online and even now that everything is back open it’s not the same as it used to be.

We had enjoyed it at Tempo Doeloe the last time in Amsterdam but it looks like that restaurant may have closed.