UNIWORLD...nonexistent customer service!

[Begete]

6 hours ago, BillPizzaiolo said:

Men’s suit is un-needed. I wore my blue blazer to Capt’s reception and not once after that. The weather was in the mid 70’s but it might be cooler than that. We had free laundry as well. It was very convenient. Four stuffed laundry bags spread out over the trip for the two of us. Friends used the washing machines frequently. If I was doing it again I would just take minimum layers of clothes. I made very good use of a vest that had zip off sleeves and many large pockets. Never used our rain gear though that we would hope changes. If you don’t bring any that might gaurentee rain. Just keep it simple and minimal. You can always buy stuff you need in the many towns and markets. Traveling can be an adventure if you have that mindset. Good luck. 

 

So even with changing boats 3 times, you stayed on one or more boats long enough to have laundry done? How many nights were you on each?

 

Heck...we are planning on wearing water resistant winter jackets and bringing lighter weight rain coats. That is certain to make the drought last! LOL 😉

 

Which 3 ships were you on? Just curious which you liked the best. Was one of them the River Duchess? The Maria Theresa had several washing machines for guests to use, but the River Duchess description says only one set for passengers.

 

Any other advise regarding advance preparations? Do we need to bring a guide book for places not on the original itinerary or did Uniworld prepare/provide info? You made reference to many towns and markets. Last year, when we did Budapest to Passau, there was very little time for shopping. The only port where we did much shopping was Budapest, as the Maria Theresa was docked only about 3 blocks from the huge Central Market. I need to go back there because I lost my translations of the four tubes of paprika paste I bought and want to ask that merchant...who spoke perfect English, what to do with them.

 

I hope other Uniworld passengers reading our conversations can benefit from you kind replies. Thank you.

[bubbulz]

24 minutes ago, Begete said:

I hope other Uniworld passengers reading our conversations can benefit from you kind replies. Thank you.

I've been following all of this closely and it makes me feel much better equipped to handle whatever comes our way, and want to add my thanks to Bill. We are in a suite so I was curious as well about the logistics of having laundry done when swapping ships. On the plus side, by the time we cruise in early December, the Uniworld staff should be experts at making these swaps as seamless as possible. I'm hoping that we just see one swap, between Budapest and Vienna.

[BillPizzaiolo]

Our first swap was Vilsofen/Nurenberg,  River Empress to River Princess.  As I can closely recall we sent a bag of laundry twice before that swap.  Did one bag of laundry on the Princess. Then we swapped, in Frankfort over night, toured us to Koblence, on to the River Queen. Two nights & tours on the Queen and the last bag of laundry before two nights in Amsterdam on the Queen.

In all cases they picked up the laundry in the AM and it was all pressed, folded or on hangers that evening after dinner. Fantastic turn around in my opinion.  We decided not to completely unpack on the River Princess or Queen. That worked out for us and helped us from wasting time packing and unpacking. Just took out what we thought we might need as we needed it.  I think we only missed one tour that we planned on but they substituted a city tour for it.

We must remember that the Captain of a vessel is completely responsible for the safety and well being of everyone on board as well as keeping the boat from being damaged.  The insurance company and the corporate offices also carry similar responsibilities after the captain.  When the Captain says the water is too low to take his/her boat through then changes must be made by the staff. 

At first it was a little daunting as no passengers ever experienced a ship swap except for many of the crew.  When the Captain and cruise Director showed up at one cocktail hour to explain how and why we were going to swap.  We were a bit apprehensive.   After we swapped and saw how easy it was, we became experts.Then a few days later the Captain appeared at another cocktail hour everyone knew what was coming. A second swap and it went off like clock work.  Little or no grumbling by the passengers but our comraderie was built up, making everyone feel as part of the team. The last night on board the Cruise Director (Preston C.) stood up to thank everyone and began to sing in operatic Italian & English, "Con te Partiro".  There wasn't a dry eye in the lounge.  He got a long standing ovation for it and everything.  The next morning we were all headed for the airport in Amsterdam.  Yes, travel can be exciting, interesting, and intense.  That's why we do it.

We vacation at the beach and at home port. 

[bubbulz]

Thanks for all of the info, Bill! It's just about a month until we leave for our pre-trip days in Budapest and all of your details have gotten me excited about the trip once again. Ironically, I'm kind of hoping we do have to do a swap between Budapest and Vienna.  I do wish there were better communication with customers beforehand but I'm sure all of the cruise lines have their hands full with all the moving parts of trying to piece together itineraries that work. 

 

I agree ... "Travel can be exciting, interesting, and intense." That's why we do it, too. 

[RDC1]

On 10/24/2018 at 10:15 AM, many cruises said:

Many of our issues with this trip were not caused by low water levels, and some were.  The major issue is that Uniworld has been unresponsive to letters and phone calls.  There is no reason for this unresponsiveness from this company.  Obviously, their guest relations department has been swamped, but you would expect common courtesy from a company that ranks where they do.

An alternative view, might be, depending upon the nature and tone of the communications, that they might have written you off and do not see a benefit in further communication. Especially if the file indicates that the communications with you have already communicated the companies official response.

[BillPizzaiolo]

7 hours ago, RDC1 said:

An alternative view, might be, depending upon the nature and tone of the communications, that they might have written you off and do not see a benefit in further communication. Especially if the file indicates that the communications with you have already communicated the companies official response.

+1

[BillPizzaiolo]

On 10/25/2018 at 2:46 PM, BillPizzaiolo said:

Our first swap was Vilsofen/Nurenberg,  River Empress to River Princess.  As I can closely recall we sent a bag of laundry twice before that swap.  Did one bag of laundry on the Princess. Then we swapped, in Frankfort over night, toured us to Koblence, on to the River Queen. Two nights & tours on the Queen and the last bag of laundry before two nights in Amsterdam on the Queen.

In all cases they picked up the laundry in the AM and it was all pressed, folded or on hangers that evening after dinner. Fantastic turn around in my opinion.  We decided not to completely unpack on the River Princess or Queen. That worked out for us and helped us from wasting time packing and unpacking. Just took out what we thought we might need as we needed it.  I think we only missed one tour that we planned on but they substituted a city tour for it.

We must remember that the Captain of a vessel is completely responsible for the safety and well being of everyone on board as well as keeping the boat from being damaged.  The insurance company and the corporate offices also carry similar responsibilities after the captain.  When the Captain says the water is too low to take his/her boat through then changes must be made by the staff. 

At first it was a little daunting as no passengers ever experienced a ship swap except for many of the crew.  When the Captain and cruise Director showed up at one cocktail hour to explain how and why we were going to swap.  We were a bit apprehensive.   After we swapped and saw how easy it was, we became experts.Then a few days later the Captain appeared at another cocktail hour everyone knew what was coming. A second swap and it went off like clock work.  Little or no grumbling by the passengers but our comraderie was built up, making everyone feel as part of the team. The last night on board the Cruise Director (Preston C.) stood up to thank everyone and began to sing in operatic Italian & English, "Con te Partiro".  There wasn't a dry eye in the lounge.  He got a long standing ovation for it and everything.  The next morning we were all headed for the airport in Amsterdam.  Yes, travel can be exciting, interesting, and intense.  That's why we do it.

We vacation at the beach and at home port. 

To finally follow up on this trip.  Once we got home a letter from the CEO of Uniworld stated that we would get $1000 credit each on a future cruise.  The adventure on board was very interesting as to how things are done when a river runs out of water.  The extra $$$$ offered is a bonus.  No complaints here.

[bubbulz]

4 minutes ago, BillPizzaiolo said:

To finally follow up on this trip.  Once we got home a letter from the CEO of Uniworld stated that we would get $1000 credit each on a future cruise.  The adventure on board was very interesting as to how things are done when a river runs out of water.  The extra $$$$ offered is a bonus.  No complaints here.

Glad to hear it! Our cruise is just under 2 weeks away and I have to say I've been amazed by how promptly my phone calls and questions have been addressed by Uniworld. I have contacted them both by phone and via FB messages and although I was always assured that the river levels might be fine by the time we sail, they also explained the types of deviations we might experience based on what they've been doing on prior cruises.

[DC0743]

On 10/23/2018 at 9:53 AM, acwmom said:

Why not post something on their FB page, or Twitter, or Instagram feed? 

 

Their CEO is Ellen Bettridge, perhaps someone has a direct contact for her. (She has her own twitter and IG feeds as well)

 

Robin

I have 8 cruises with Uniworld and ever since she took over, customer service has dropped significantly.  They are now focused on one time cruisers and have no loyalty to past passengers. Example they lowered their River Heritage (past passengers) promotion from 5% to a whopping $100. 

[DC0743]

On 11/18/2018 at 1:36 PM, bubbulz said:

Glad to hear it! Our cruise is just under 2 weeks away and I have to say I've been amazed by how promptly my phone calls and questions have been addressed by Uniworld. I have contacted them both by phone and via FB messages and although I was always assured that the river levels might be fine by the time we sail, they also explained the types of deviations we might experience based on what they've been doing on prior cruises.

The credit looks great until you try to re-book.  Our Christmas Market Cruise was cancelled and we were offered the same $1,000 PP.  When we went to re-book, we were quoted $2,735 more for the same cruise, same ship, same suite in 2019.  With the "discount" we were still $735 short.  They should have just offered to move our booking to the next year with no increase.

Edited December 20, 2018 by DC0743

[bubbulz]

1 hour ago, DC0743 said:

I have 8 cruises with Uniworld and ever since she took over, customer service has dropped significantly.  They are now focused on one time cruisers and have no loyalty to past passengers. Example they lowered their River Heritage (past passengers) promotion from 5% to a whopping $100. 

We just got back last week from our third Uniworld cruise and I have to say I have noticed no decrease in customer service whatsoever. Everything about our cruise was outstanding, and despite the low water issues preventing the Maria Theresa from sailing beyond Vienna, everyone we spoke to seemed to be happy with Uniworld's response. In our case, we chose not to spend an extra day in Budapest (it would have been our 5th day there) and Uniworld guest relations arranged for a driver to take us directly to the ship in Vienna.

 

Did you try going further up the management chain or using social media to request they simply move your booking to next year rather than giving you the credit? If not, that's what I'd be doing.

[DC0743]

3 hours ago, bubbulz said:

We just got back last week from our third Uniworld cruise and I have to say I have noticed no decrease in customer service whatsoever. Everything about our cruise was outstanding, and despite the low water issues preventing the Maria Theresa from sailing beyond Vienna, everyone we spoke to seemed to be happy with Uniworld's response. In our case, we chose not to spend an extra day in Budapest (it would have been our 5th day there) and Uniworld guest relations arranged for a driver to take us directly to the ship in Vienna.

 

Did you try going further up the management chain or using social media to request they simply move your booking to next year rather than giving you the credit? If not, that's what I'd be doing.

They had immediately sent my money back (the same day they cancelled the cruise) and never gave me a chance to move the booking. Yes I did make a post on social media with no response from Uniworld.  I had contacted two different representatives at Uniworld regarding the new booking and both had the same numbers.  One had previously obtained an additional $500 discount due to my many bookings but this time I was told other than the cancellation credit there was nothing more their manager would do.  The fact that they have lowered the Heritage Club discount from 5% to $100 shows that they are not interested in loyal cruisers.

[Telopea]

My beef with Uniworld is also that they don't reply.

I reviewed Uniworld on Feefo the link Uniworld sends to receive a review. Someone wrote saying they would contact me about my complaint and 12 weeks later not a word.

Last week I emailed Arnelle Kendall who has some superior title for client relations...Nothing so far.

What is my problem? It is the lack of compensation for a cancelled river cruise.

We were in Europe when notified by our travel agent in Sydney Australia that the low water in The Danube meant our cruise could not go ahead. We had arrangements made for Budapest for the days before the cruise so continued there. It was also a cheaper way of filling in time before we flew to Bordeaux for the substitute cruise.

In total we spent more than $5000 in additional expenses from changing international fares, extra days required in Budapest and Bordeaux and the internal flights from Budapest to Bordeaux.

What was Uniworld's offer?

Take another river cruise and then something from another of their companies (TTC) and they would put $2000 towards the latter.

Well there is no way my husband will travel with Uniworld again but we have taken 16 Insight coach tours in the past and have booked and paid for a 28 day Scandinavian tour with Insight later this year.

So TTC will not give us anything. An offer to pay for our options on the Scandinavian tour would be acceptable as they can hardly pay $2000 to the Insight tour as we have paid in full.

Question: Is it compensation if you have to do another cruise before they give you something towards another of their products?

Funny way of compensating...only so they get more out of it.

And by the way our River Royale had the dirtiest shower recess I have seen in any hotel/motel/ cabin anywhere.

There was mould in most of the grout and  on the ceiling and the tiles were stained a dirty yellow.

I have photos on Instagram #katfisha2017 if you want to check.

Altogether I would say Uniworld does not have good client relations and certainly don't try for compensation because you won't get any.

Edited April 19, 2019 by Telopea
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