ACWMom "Official" Trip Review-Uniworld SS Joie de Vivre-Paris to Normandy

[acwmom]

Thank you. I am sure I will be asking more questions as I continue to plan.

 

Hi Robin,

I keep referring back to your review as I step up the planning for our trip, only 6 weeks to go! Thanks again!!

 

Happy to help in any way I can.....you both will certainly have warmer weather than we did!!!

 

Robin

[jskcak]

We are going on the Uniworld Paris-Normandy  SS Joie de Vivre in April have a few questions...Ive never used this forum so I apologize if this isnt the appropriate way? 

What time of year did you go? , the golf pics look wonderful! What was the timing of that excursion (time  you left, returned? did y ou eat lunch there?) wondering if time to do the afternoon bike ride they give as a "pm" choice same day..golf listed as an "am " choice?; Any thoughts on the Chefs dinners?  I think your comments said you hadnt talked to anyone who had done? I realize its an extra cost. DO you suggest we rent one of the portable wifi units ( we should be to the cruise by 10 am unless they change ports like did!) Did you participate in any of the Paris tours offered by Uniworld (DO as the locals? Montmatre? we have been to Paris but traveling with some who have not considering getting a private guide for the day..sorry for all the questions! 

[acwmom]

50 minutes ago, jskcak said:

We are going on the Uniworld Paris-Normandy  SS Joie de Vivre in April have a few questions...Ive never used this forum so I apologize if this isnt the appropriate way? 

What time of year did you go?

We went on the first sailing of the year. I believe we departed on March 18th. We were in Paris for St. Patrick's Day.

50 minutes ago, jskcak said:

, the golf pics look wonderful! What was the timing of that excursion (time  you left, returned? did y ou eat lunch there?)

wondering if time to do the afternoon bike ride they give as a "pm" choice same day..golf listed as an "am " choice?; Any thoughts on the Chefs dinners?  I think your comments said you hadnt talked to anyone who had done? I realize its an extra cost. DO you suggest we rent one of the portable wifi units ( we should be to the cruise by 10 am unless they change ports like did!) Did you participate in any of the Paris tours offered by Uniworld (DO as the locals? Montmatre? we have been to Paris but traveling with some who have not considering getting a private guide for the day..sorry for all the questions! 

 

The golf excursion left between 8:30 and 9am. It was about a 30 minute ride. They will take up to 28 passengers, we had 6 golfers and me, the photographer:-) We had the kitchen on the ship fix us sandwiches, but there was an opportunity to eat at the clubhouse, if desired. I believe we got back to the ship around 2pm. There wasn't a bike excursion last year, but you can always take out the bikes and go for a spin on your own.

 

We were content with the included dinners, including the tasting dinner, which was held on 3 nights (no extra cost)

 

Wifi......was terrible. We have ATT, and I used my $10/day service. I also have a Skyroam hotspot which costs about the same per day. I'm not sure what the ship charges for their units.

 

We have also been to Paris and did our own thing.  The metro is easy to navigate. We had no problem knocking out a lot of sights, but I'm a planner, and have an idea of what I want to see, when the best times are to see them, and map out the best route:-)

 

The ship is beautiful. There isn't much daytime sailing on this itinerary (like the Rhine or Danube) this cruise is all about the ports.

 

Enjoy!

 

Robin

[pully8]

loved your detailed review and pictures. 

[acwmom]

On 3/1/2019 at 8:03 PM, pully8 said:

loved your detailed review and pictures. 

Thank you! We are taking a year off from the river this year, but are already looking for our 2020 trip.

 

Robin

[jpalbny]

22 hours ago, acwmom said:

Thank you! We are taking a year off from the river this year, but are already looking for our 2020 trip.

 

Robin

 

Hi Robin. We don't have anything booked either, though we'd like to. Any particular reason? For us, it is just that we have too much other stuff planned and our vacation time is limited. But Normandy is really pretty, and we did a little bit on the Seine last year, when we cruised from Rouen to Honfleur one morning aboard Silver Wind. So maybe we will do this trip some time.

 

Thinking of doing the Douro River region this fall. But we would like to go independently by land through the region, rather than by boat. For example - fly into Lisbon and drive up the coast to Porto, stay a few days, do day trips to the wineries and other cool places in the area, then drive to Salamanca and finish up with a visit to Madrid. Looks like there will be plenty to keep us busy in the area.

 

PS - like your profile pic!

Edited March 4, 2019 by jpalbny

[acwmom]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

 

Hi Robin. We don't have anything booked either, though we'd like to. Any particular reason? For us, it is just that we have too much other stuff planned and our vacation time is limited. But Normandy is really pretty, and we did a little bit on the Seine last year, when we cruised from Rouen to Honfleur one morning aboard Silver Wind. So maybe we will do this trip some time.

 

Thinking of doing the Douro River region this fall. But we would like to go independently by land through the region, rather than by boat. For example - fly into Lisbon and drive up the coast to Porto, stay a few days, do day trips to the wineries and other cool places in the area, then drive to Salamanca and finish up with a visit to Madrid. Looks like there will be plenty to keep us busy in the area.

 

PS - like your profile pic!

 

My husband switched jobs last fall, and as a result, lost some vacation time, so we are now limited to one big trip/year. I have a few American Academy of Pediatrics obligations, so I'll have some pseudo-trips.

 

We are doing Athens-Venice on Viking Oceans next month, so we're still doing a trip, just not on the river. It will be a nice change of scenery, though the pace will probably be similar, since we have the included shore excursions and no sea days!

 

There are still a lot of destinations on my list: Antarctica; the lower Danube; the Rhone; Norway, the Nile. And, then there are the land trips we want to do: Belgium Beer "tour"; the British Isles; Switzerland with the Glacier Express; I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting.....I keep looking at Silversea. Might have to try them!

 

The profile pic is from our first trip to Venice. It was taken on the Grand Canal, when we were in route back to the River Countess. I figured since we would soon be in Venice again, it was appropriate.

 

Robin

 

 

[mrs bb]

Hi Robin, we will be on the Portrait of Majestic France in July, Mont St. Michel will be something we want to do, is the climb up the monastery steep and high up? Railings along the way? Hubby may have problem climbing up, would there be enough shops or cafe in town for him to enjoy? Thx

 

Millie 

 

[mrs bb]

Oh, love your review and pictures 

 

[acwmom]

8 hours ago, mrs bb said:

Hi Robin, we will be on the Portrait of Majestic France in July, Mont St. Michel will be something we want to do, is the climb up the monastery steep and high up? Railings along the way? Hubby may have problem climbing up, would there be enough shops or cafe in town for him to enjoy? Thx

 

Millie 

 

We had a guide for the Monastery, and she took her time with everyone, with stops along the way. It is a gradual climb as you wander through the streets on the island. There are some steps, but they do have handrails, IIRC. There was only one long stretch, up to the entry itself. There was a central handrail. There were some steps inside as well, but I don't recall much about them.

That being said, a few in our group chose to pass, as they didn't feel they could make the climb. They stayed behind and wandered around the shops. There is certainly enough to do, if your hubby feels more comfortable not attempting the climb.

Apparently this excursion doesn't always have enough people sign up to "make it happen" so fingers crossed you will have enough participation that you get to go. It was a highlight of our trip, despite the long bus ride.

 

Robin

 

(and, thank you for the compliments)

[mj_holiday]

Thanks for the great review. We are trying to decide on a river cruise. I have a question about dinner. We have been on one river cruise before and for dinner every one came in at the same time, all orders taken then everyone got salad, after everyone in the dining room was finished the salad plates were picked up. Then everyone was serverd main course and so on...  So my question about your cruise is from your description one evening it looks like you can go to the dining room any time while it is open, is that true and do you remember the hours it was open. 

[acwmom]

3 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

Thanks for the great review. We are trying to decide on a river cruise. I have a question about dinner. We have been on one river cruise before and for dinner every one came in at the same time, all orders taken then everyone got salad, after everyone in the dining room was finished the salad plates were picked up. Then everyone was serverd main course and so on...  So my question about your cruise is from your description one evening it looks like you can go to the dining room any time while it is open, is that true and do you remember the hours it was open. 

On Uniworld, dinner is served from 7-9pm. You can enter the dining room anytime between those hours. We usually avoid the mad rush, and wait until at least 7:30. The latest we have waited is 8:15. Every table is on its own schedule, so the only people who will be served at the same time as you will be the ones at your table. If you do tend to start later, the courses come out more quickly, as there are fewer people to serve. On this particular cruise, the night of the Normandy Beach all day excursion, dinner was a buffet (this is not common with Uniworld, but they did this due to the length of the excursion that day, figuring people wouldn't want to sit through a dinner service)

 

Hope this helps!

 

Robin

[boblerm]

Hi Robin,

We just caught up with your wonderful report, so glad that it was "bumped" up to the top as the cruise was a year ago.  We are doing Uniworld's Grand France cruise this May, which is a combination of your cruise on the Joie de Vivre, followed by a Rhone cruise on the SS Catherine, so we were very interested in your impressions.

Question- apparently on certain days there is a buffet in the dining room, you mentioned Normandy day, are there others?  The reason I ask is that we would probably like to make alternative dining arrangements for those nights.

Thanks again,

Bob

 

[C-sea]

On 3/31/2018 at 1:55 PM, acwmom said:

On 3/31/2018 at 1:55 PM, acwmom said:

I will start by saying that the onboard booking discount was an additional 5%, on top of the RHC discount. For us, the RHC discount was a flat fee of $400/passenger. We just booked a Nile cruise, on the River Tosca, for next March.

 

Hi Robin,

Please explain "RHC" discount?

Thanks!

 

[gnome12]

River Heritage Club, for previous Uniworld cruisers.

[need2travel1]

Hi Boblerm,

We did the Normandy cruise on the Joie De Vivre last summer & the only dinner buffet was the day we did the Normandy beaches.  It was a long day & we got back to the ship about the same time as the dining room opened for dinner.  Some people changed for dinner & some just went straight in from the busses.  We spruced ourselves up a bit but not as much as usual & had our "pre dinner" cocktails " after dinner.  Hope this helps, enjoy your cruise!

[boblerm]

On 4/5/2019 at 11:56 AM, need2travel1 said:

Hi Boblerm,

We did the Normandy cruise on the Joie De Vivre last summer & the only dinner buffet was the day we did the Normandy beaches.  It was a long day & we got back to the ship about the same time as the dining room opened for dinner.  Some people changed for dinner & some just went straight in from the busses.  We spruced ourselves up a bit but not as much as usual & had our "pre dinner" cocktails " after dinner.  Hope this helps, enjoy your cruise!

need2travel1, thank you for the info and for your well wishes!

Bob