bubbulz

In the past, I had always done my own air arrangements directly with the airline. But I can see an advantage of booking through the cruise line in that the insurance purchased from the cruise line would cover the air as well as the cruise. Otherwise I would need to get separate insurance for the flights, and any unforeseen changes would not be handled in a coordinated way by the cruise line. However, at this point the cruise line’s contract fare is $330 higher than if I book directly with the airline. Thoughts?

Thanks for that reminder! They offered a better rate plus the nice extras like the rather pricey breakfast.

Travel planning has always been one of my favorite things to do and it definitely helps me a lot to have a big trip to look forward to. I spent my birthday and my husband's (spring and autumn) in Italy and for the river cruise I'm planning to fly to Brussels on my birthday. Thanks for the hotel recommendation, JP. It looks great!

Thanks, Arlene. Hope you enjoy your cruises. Amsterdam to Basel on Uniworld was our first cruise and the one that got us hooked.

Thank you both. Spending a total of about six weeks in Italy this year has definitely helped. It was not quite, “Eat, Pray, Love,” but did show me that I can do this.

After Covid and cancer rained hell on my life in 2020 I wasn’t sure I would ever do another river cruise. My husband and I had enjoyed several Uniworld cruises and had another one planned for November 2020 but that was not to be. Since his death at the end of 2020 I have continued to travel, but river cruises really weren’t an option since I wasn’t finding too many attractive solo options that worked for me and weren’t exorbitantly priced. I also wasn’t sure how I felt about going on my own, but I’ve traveled to Europe this past spring and fall, and although it is much different on my own, I have enjoyed it. For some reason I had not received an email an email from Uniworld about their current specials, so thanks to Roz I saw the post on here regarding the 2023 specials that Uniworld has. So today I booked Holland and Belgium at Tulip Time. I plan to do a couple of nights before the cruise in Brussels so if anyone has any hotel suggestions, please pass them along. I’ll also do three nights after disembarking in Amsterdam and already have already booked my hotel there.

I think the biggest thing for me is that the windows in the FB cabins open and being able to look out the windows from the bed (don't laugh; we always enjoyed lying in bed resting after the tours and watching the river go by.) I'm not sure it's worth the price difference, though.

One more question about the staterooms on the River Queen: It appears that both the Deluxe and French Balcony staterooms are the same size, with the main difference being the size of the windows (with a considerable jump in price for the French Balconies). Is that correct?

Thanks for posting. I do hope they add some others.

I saw that Uniworld just announced their mystery cruises for next year. I had seen a few threads leading up to this year’s cruises, but nothing came up in a search after the fact. I was curious what people thought of the cruises that were completed this year. For those who went this year, is it something that you would do again in hindsight?

Yes, Jay the owner was terrific… Great communication. We also used him and his company for a private tour of Prague. And once again everything was great.

We used this company a few years ago at the end of our Uniworld cruise and going in the opposite direction, with a stop in Cesky Krumlov. Everything was terrific and I highly recommend the company. https://www.private-prague-guide.com/passau-cesky-krumlov-prague-tours/