Call out to those having taken Uniworld's Burgundy & Provence this year

[horatio123]

I am sure my captive audience will be very very small, but it would be nice to hear from those who have completed this river cruise. It would be nice to know how the tours and optional excursions went for them. The included usually morning tours walking through the towns are great but often one is left for hardly any time to discover on one's own. Double edged sword..you don't want to miss the good "stuff" either.

[amd1234]

Last year we cruised Burgundy & Provence our first cruise with Uniworld and absolutely loved every moment. We stayed in Paris three days precruise on our own taking the train to Lyon to board our ship. We stayed four nights post cruise also on our own in Aix Provence. You will be on Umiworlds brand new ship the SSCatherine.. We loved the excursions especially the truffle farm. The small quaint little towns. I especially like Beaune. We had lunch went shopping loved it all..I will answer any questions...

 

We loved Uniworld so much we booked a trip Castles on The Rhine leaving June 29..

[horatio123]

You will love the Antoinette! Catherine was modeled after her some. The Rhine cruise was fantastic. Loved Alsace, stops at Strasbourg, Colmar...also Rudesheim and Heidelberg...Likewise, feel free to ask me.

Re: Burgundy and Provence....did you do the optional cooking class at La Mirande that they are advertising this year? On Day 2 did you opt for the optional excursion through "picturesque hamlets" to a Burgundy wine estate in the afternoon the day of your visit to Beaune or are you docked so that you can wander more on your own? Uniworld's tours are pretty good but then sometimes you are only given maybe 45 minutes of free wandering which is not always enough.

[amd1234]

Last year we didn't have the option of a cooking class it must be new this year. We toured a great winery it was magnificent I know it was run by a wonderful family and we had an opportunity to meet them. Honestly can't remember the itinerary but we spent the days staying in the town after walking tours were over. We had a choice of staying in town or walking back to ship on our own. If I remember we had two tours most days. :)

[beesKate]

Glad to see this message! We're booked in fall of 2015 and I was wondering how much time you had to explore the towns on your own. We enjoy the tours to give us an overview, but I do like to poke my head in the shops or try some local specialties.

Were you docked in towns (walking distance) any nights?

We're going the opposite direction as amd1234, and plan to end our trip with a train from Lyon to Paris and spend about 5 days in Paris.

[amd1234]

We had plenty of time to poke through the stores after our walking tours. I think a few nights you have an opportunity to go back to the town .. We never did after dinner we had a drink relaxed maybe listen to the music from the piano bar and off to bed. If I remember correctly we had to stay in Lyon overnight for some reason and a few people went back in town. We had one really glitch and a word of caution. We had tickets (second class) for our train Paris to Lyon. My husband after talking to a Parisienne he misunderstood her! She informed him that we could board our train at 9 our ticket stated 10... We thought we could sit have coffee and leave at 10... The train pulled out we were on the 9 o'.clock train..bottom line not only were we seated in first class we were on the wrong train. Very costly mistake!! We had to buy new tickets at the cost of 82E apiece. I purchased our tickets months ago for 25E each. We couldn't explain the situation to the conductor he was really rude. It was our mistake but we didn't let it spoil our vacation..

 

:mad:

[KarBear910]

We just returned from the SS Antoinette Basel to Amsterdam cruise. I can't give high enough praise for the ship, crew, food and excursions. So much so, we booked the Catherine for the Burgundy and Provence cruise July 2015.

My husband has Parkinson's, so we did the very gentle walking tours of the towns and went directly back to the ship to enjoy her.

 

Will the same be possible on the Burgundy cruise - gentle tours then back to the ship?? Any specific recommendations regarding "choice is yours" tours, or optional?

[amd1234]

I am sure that they have easy walking tours. Contact Uniworld they have an email address and will gladly answer any questions. I have the Uniworld book in front of me to refresh my memory of what tours we took last year. We are avid walkers so we took advantage of all the walking tours. I know one town just can't remember but they had a small train like a cho cho train for the people that had difficulty walking. It could possibly have been Avignon.We took the walking tour in Arles.. Avignon we didn't tour the Pope's Palace we took off the beaten path walking tour. Viviers we did the village day and organ tour. Lyon we did the city walking tour..Beaune was lovely especially enjoyed the quaintness of the town. You will tour the hospices de Beaune .. We also had time for a very delicious lunch. You will also love the vineyards and take the Truffle farm tour it was so interesting.. :)

[Tinkindling]

Just a couple of observations: The Antoinette is a great boat, and our cabin/stateroom was large (195 sq ft) for a river cruiser. Crew/food and tours on the Amsterdam to Basel cruise were all excellent.

 

We are thinking of the Burgundy/Provence cruise, but since we've recently been to Beaune, Pommard, Meursault, etc, as well as to Orange, Avignon, Nimes, Arles and Les Baux, it's not a priority. I cannot say enough good things about Beaune and the towns in Provence. Really full of character, great Roman ruins, and of course in Burgundy, there's the wine, and Boeuf Bourginon!

[amd1234]

Well if you have visited all these towns probably book with a different itinerary. We leave Wed boarding the SS Antoinette next Sunday... My mind is always working thinking of my next itinerary. This will be it for awhile we love River cruising this will be our third second with Uniworld. A few years back we cruised AMA on the Danube..I have read Viking :rolleyes:will have 14 more ships so I guess River Cruising has exploded. We are very happy with Uniworld don't think we would change unless we got a fantastic deal on another line..