UNIWORLD S.S. MARIA THERESA...how was your cruise?

We will be on the S. S. Maria Theresa in September and would love to hear from others who have been on this river boat recently. Getting a little concerned that there is just one positive recent review. Would love to hear from other recent past passengers. :):):)

We were on a the MT in 12/17. The ship is beautiful, the food was ok, the service was hit or miss. The tours were very nice. It did not meet our expectations. Not good enough to rebook. Booked on Crystal for our next cruise. I don't want to dampen your thoughts, but you asked, and I am being honest based on our experience.

I'm not sure how much credence you should put into a couple of reviews. Overall, the reviews are overwhelmingly positive (not just on this site, but others as well), and that meshes with our own experience on the ship in December 2016. In fact, our trip was so good overall (service, food, accommodations, tours), that we are scheduled to be back on the boat in a couple of months. I'd love to hear about your experience after your trip.

We were on the Maria Theresa last year (November) from Budapest to Passau and enjoyed it so much, we are about to do another Uniworld cruise this November, this time European Jewels starting on November 9 from Budapest and traveling all the way to Amsterdam.

The Maria Theresa is a bit over the top in decor.....but that added to the fun of the cruise, and was entirely complimentary to our study of the Hapsburg Empire. We found the food to be very good, and the staff exceptional. Indeed, we did not speak with a single Uniworld employee who had been with the company less than 6 years.

I am truly surprised that anyone gave it a negative review. The only “unpleasantness” we encountered the entire cruise was during a wonderful concert in Vienna, which was an included excursion and should not be missed, an American woman married to an Italian talked all thru the concert....non stop...forcing those of us sitting near her to leave our seats and stand in the back. Such rudeness, however, was beyond Uniworld ‘s control.

We also loathed Lufthansa. We paid to choose our seats and the seats we chose were broken, forcing us into an uncomfortable position for the 10 hours back to Seattle. This time we specified we would not fly Lufthansa.

We were on end of July and it was fantastic from start to finish! Great service, delicious food, lovely itinerary, nice people. We loved it

Review: "I hated the non provision of fresh cold water and no fridge, for 6 star I expect a cabin fridge and I am not interested in having to refill a tiny water bottle ever time I go out, then carry it around to bring back."

This would be a deal breaker for my wife if true on Uniworld.

Review: "I hated the non provision of fresh cold water and no fridge, for 6 star I expect a cabin fridge and I am not interested in having to refill a tiny water bottle ever time I go out, then carry it around to bring back."

This would be a deal breaker for my wife if true on Uniworld.

Sadly, it is true. The only cabin fridges are in suites. And, because they established "Treadright" (well, their parent company, The Travel Corporation, did) they very much practice the "no plastic" onboard philosophy. They do provide ice (in an ice bucket) and a carafe of water each day, as well as the aluminum water bottles, for guests to take on excursions, if desired.

We never take them, as they sweat, and don't keep the water cold. And, we never bring them home either, as we will never use them. We also choose a cabin near the fitness center (ice and water machine)

It's one of the few criticisms I have about Uniworld (along with their lowering the age of children allowed for non-Generations cruises)

Robin

Just cruised on Uniworld in Portugal on the Douro & loved it. Yet another difference among many in Portugal (different smaller ship, 95% Portugese crew) is that we had plastic bottled water for our tours. No way is my wife going to lug aluminum bottles around. Bring them back, wash them and refill. Another downside is no in room fridge. Too bad as we were looking at Uniworld for 2020 based on our great experience on the Douro.

We have cruised with Uniworld several times, the last cruise being 2 months ago. Uniworld has had a change for the worse with poor cuisine (for the price point), adequate service, and as the poster pointed out,no refrigerator in the room. We were in the highest class of room before suite and felt it to be uncomfortable. The decor of the Maria Therese is dismal. The original poster was spot on. We found the Uniworld ground service to be lacking, eg making you wait at airport for 2 hr before going to boat (and then you have to roll your luggage to the bus)

We just returned form our first Crystal river cruise. The cuisine is far better as is the service. The tours were an improvement over Uniworld. Crystal ground staff in Europe is a mess to say the least. Passengers were not met at the airport, those taking the precruise hotel package were not given the city tour, the itinerary changed multiple times but no passenger and/or TA notified. Excuse is that the rivers are low which of course has nothing to do with pre-cruise activities.

I have been on enough river cruises to know that situations with high water as well as low are prevalent. It is how the line handles the situation that makes for return passengers.

We will be on the S. S. Maria Theresa in September and would love to hear from others who have been on this river boat recently. Getting a little concerned that there is just one positive recent review. Would love to hear from other recent past passengers. :):):)

Since the OP was due to be onboard this month, I'm hoping they'll be back with a review afterward. I'll certainly do the same after our cruise in a few months, especially if the experience doesn't match up to the fantastic experience we had on this ship less than 2 years ago.