First review of Uniworld's SS Maria Theresa

[MaxBuck]

We're huge fans of Uniworld; I'm not really a fan of the decor, but honestly a week or two living with it is hardly something I'd think about, and the notion of choosing another cruise line based on decor I just can't understand. Obviously other people are more affected by design philosophy than I am.

 

With that said, having no storage drawers -- regardless of the cabin class -- is an immense design flaw. I trust Uniworld will get cracking on fixing it pronto.

Edited May 8, 2015 by MaxBuck

[Woodrowst]

You are exactly right. There is a useless piece of Marie Antionette style furniture taking up space in the corner where a dresser drawer could have been. As I said previously, functionality does not seem important to Uniworld. Another way to say that is that the designers of the Maria Theresa seemed to have been more focused on meeting their own interests rather than the needs of the passengers.

 

David

[Woodrowst]

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.

Not a shelf to be seen in the entire cabin.

 

David

[ewizabeff]

Not a shelf to be seen in the entire cabin.

 

David

 

Completely agree that this is absolutely unacceptable. If perhaps you'd been warned, you could bring a closet organizer that would fix the problem (I have one that creates 5' high "shelves" with a collapsible cloth organizer that would I wouldn't mind traveling with if I knew I needed it).

[Mark_T]

... and the notion of choosing another cruise line based on decor I just can't understand. Obviously other people are more affected by design philosophy than I am.

 

If they offered a unique itinerary that we wanted, I dare say we'd set aside our dislike of the decor, but since we haven't yet been faced with that decision it has be easier to look at other lines so far.

 

It is just one of the factors that goes to making a choice and with so many lines competing for business it has been easy to avoid having to live with their choice of decor so far.

 

I'm sure others may like it or decide to ignore it, each to their own :)

[Di Princess]

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

 

You are welcome, Woodrow. This is really ridiculous. Now I am wondering how many of these Drawer-Deficient cabins are on this ship. :confused:

 

This does not seem like good customer relations and I would be upset and seriously consider other cruise lines for my next cruise.

How much do they want for a cabin with drawers?

Did you speak with the Hotel Manager?

[Got2Cruise]

When you live out of a suitcase for two weeks your clothes become a wrinkled mess. If Uniworld did not want to set a precedent and put OP in an upgraded room, the least that they should offer is free laundry to those without proper clothing storage. I'm not blaming the designer. I'm blaming Uniworld management who gave the ok.

[hiccups]

You are exactly right. There is a useless piece of Marie Antionette style furniture taking up space in the corner where a dresser drawer could have been. As I said previously, functionality does not seem important to Uniworld. Another way to say that is that the designers of the Maria Theresa seemed to have been more focused on meeting their own interests rather than the needs of the passengers.

 

David

 

Would you be willing to share any pictures of the room? I'm curious (or nosy, take your pick :D)

[twinkletoes4445]

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

 

My thoughts exactly. I'd much rather have the dresser as in the one photo, vs. the desk/chair and shelf thing (what purpose would it even serve?) in the other photo.

[Woodrowst]

You are welcome, Woodrow. This is really ridiculous. Now I am wondering how many of these Drawer-Deficient cabins are on this ship. :confused:

 

This does not seem like good customer relations and I would be upset and seriously consider other cruise lines for my next cruise.

How much do they want for a cabin with drawers?

Did you speak with the Hotel Manager?

Yes, it was the hotel manager who said that we would need to pay for an upgrade. She did add another piece of furniture in the cabin, but it was yet another non-funtional Marie Antoinette style piece without storage that only added clutter to the cabin.

 

David

[hiccups]

Yes, it was the hotel manager who said that we would need to pay for an upgrade. She did add another piece of furniture in the cabin, but it was yet another non-funtional Marie Antoinette style piece without storage that only added clutter to the cabin.

 

David

 

That is just bizarre!

[JVilleGal]

Wow, the handling (lack of understanding & lack of drawers) kinda changed my image of this company. Silly that such a small issue can affect your perspective....

Drawers who would have thought! I always though that "upgrades" are what empty cabins are used for. That means that past cruisers and other we're not offered upgrades either...ok maybe it's empty cabin that are changing my opinion of Uniworld.

[MaxBuck]

If Uniworld had no extra furniture equipped with drawers on the boat, what could they do to remedy this problem during the cruise itself? Not much, I'd say. Their in-cruise options would seem to me to be limited.

 

Clearly a design blunder, but Uniworld has established a track record of dealing with problems very well; I'd cite their record of addressing river flooding and related unforeseen problems as being first-rate. With all that being said, Uniworld clearly needs to rapidly correct the problem so that future cruisers aren't faced with the unacceptable situation that Woodrowst has had to deal with.

[No Spin]

Silly that such a small issue can affect your perspective....

 

I agree, I couldn't care less where I put my clothes, the closet, the bathroom, on the bed, in my suitcase, out on the sun deck! :D

[caviargal]

I would not care to pay that kind of price and then have to live out of my suitcase. We use packing cubes and they come out of the suitcase and straight into the drawers or onto the shelves. To pull out the suitcases every time I want clothes would be a royal PITA.

 

IMO that is a big design flaw and would be very annoying.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I agree, I couldn't care less where I put my clothes, the closet, the bathroom, on the bed, in my suitcase, out on the sun deck! :D

 

I think you mis-read JVilleGal's meaning, unless I mis-read your emoticon.

[JVilleGal]

Hummm better go back and see exactly how I worded things??? But a cabin with zero storage would certainly irritate me. Also don't think I like how it was handled on board, at least based on how the OP described the events.

Unworld is a very expensive option when taking a River Cruise. Not a company you would expect to allow poor cabin design.

Certainly would rather suffer in any Uniworld cabin than staying at home and reading CC!

[cruisecriticmember]

Hummm better go back and see exactly how I worded things??? But a cabin with zero storage would certainly irritate me. Also don't think I like how it was handled on board, at least based on how the OP described the events.

Unworld is a very expensive option when taking a River Cruise. Not a company you would expect to allow poor cabin design.

Certainly would rather suffer in any Uniworld cabin than staying at home and reading CC!

 

"at least as the OP described the events" is a key phrase for me as my experience on the first voyage of this ship was the exact opposite. I must say it answered a question I had had, namely why did Uniworld give my wife and I a free upgrade from a level 5 to a level 2 cabin months before our sailing? Obviously the company did not want us to experience what the OP did. It's unfortunate that this flaw, which would annoy anyone, spoiled his entire cruise. Our experience in every facet was the polar opposite of his including the dining room staff who from the Maitre D' on down were extremely attentive, accomodating, and pro-active to my wife's food allergy restrictions even to the point of preparing variations on meals (especially desserts) that she could safely eat. Yes the wait staff asked whether we wanted coffee with our dessert at dinner but why should they assume that I wanted the same beverage every meal and bring it to me without asking? Maybe I want tea tonight, cappaccino, another beer, etc. There were design flaws on the ship when we sailed especially the handles for the door inside the cabin which as one fellow passenger stated "were chosen by decorators not engineers" as they were too large and round and notched so that they extremely difficult to turn. In fact twice my wife could not turn the handle and had to have the door opened from the outside! The staff said they would be changed during the next cruise and I can only assume they were since the OP did not comment on them. The other misstep was the duvet on the bed was just too warm for us and contained down which is another allergen for my wife. A simple request to have them changed to "American style" bedding (top sheet and blanket) fixed that one. I do agree that the light and air conditioning controls were complicated and took a few days to completely master. We suggested they include written instructions in the booklet describing services which was in our stateroom and apparently that was not done, or not done yet. Please don't let the OP's bad experience sour you on this extravagant ship, this cruise itinerary, or this cruise line. But caveat empetor do check that any cabin you book has drawers for your clothes.

[Mark_T]

If Uniworld had no extra furniture equipped with drawers on the boat, what could they do to remedy this problem during the cruise itself? Not much, I'd say. Their in-cruise options would seem to me to be limited.

 

Move them to a different cabin that had drawers...?

 

They had the space to do this apparently but declined to do so.

 

If others had complained then they should have done the same thing for them as well until they truly had no options left...

[JVilleGal]

Mark T - "they had the space to do this apparently but declined to do so" maybe this is what caught me by surprise ?

[Mark_T]

Mark T - "they had the space to do this apparently but declined to do so" maybe this is what caught me by surprise ?

 

Me too.

 

Although I dislike the decor I had always mentally put Uniworld in the same category as Regent when it came to service and customer care.

 

We enjoy Regent for ocean cruises and I can't imagine them being able to fix a customer service issue like this but declining to do so.

 

This has been a most unsettling thread in many ways...

[JVilleGal]

Agree about all you have said and Mariner is still my favorite ship at sea... Wish Regent hadn't pushed pricing to the ridiculous point!

[Los_Pepes]

Not to sound jaded or cynical, but am I the only one who finds this entire thread silly? I read through it thinking I would get a review of the entire ship and experience and I am stunned at the percentage of this thread dedicated to drawer space.

 

Got it..... There are no drawers in your cabin category. We now know. Also if I were at the front desk and a passenger demanded compensation (or upgrade) due to lack of drawers I too would decline. I looked at the cabin descriptions and see no mention or promise of drawer space. It is not as if they promised it and failed to deliver.

 

This entire issue is trite and petty. You are on a $6,000+ ( I am assuming) vacation that most of the free world would kill to experience and the primary topic at hand is lack of drawers. If you are in a Cat 4 or 5 there is a free laundry on your same deck with an iron.

[MaxBuck]

Not to sound jaded or cynical, but am I the only one who finds this entire thread silly?

I certainly don't think the thread is silly, but the notion that one should qualify for an upgrade to a suite because one's own room lacks a chest of drawers is a bit over the top IMO.

 

It's a problem, but I think those who characterize this oversight as some huge indictment of Uniworld are going way overboard (to coin a phrase ...).

[Los_Pepes]

I agree Max, it is a problem and not a catastrophe.