Just Back From Uniworld's S.S. Bon Voyage: A New Super Ship In Bordeaux

[Host Jazzbeau]

New article on Cruise Critic:

Just Back From Uniworld's S.S. Bon Voyage: A New Super Ship In Bordeaux

[Roz]

The upgrades look great.

 

Roz

[acwmom]

Beautiful renovations! But, with regard to plastic water bottles, Uniworld has had the  metal ones since at least 2013....that's nothing new. (and the metal ones aren't great, they aren't insulated, and they leak)

 

Robin

[travlr21]

We have just returned from the first ever cruise (for paying customers) on the new Bon Voyage, Apr 14 -21. There was a 4-day cruise with execs etc. as the first sailing out of dry dock.

 

We spent the previous week on Joie de Vivre. I must say that there was a world of difference between the service on the Bon Voyage as compared to the J de V. Had we only cruised on the Bon Voyage, I would have immediately knocked Uniworld off our list of acceptable cruise lines. 

 

In short, the ship was just not ready for passengers. Many issues, elevator not working, TV system not working, electrical issues in cabins, alarm buttons duck-taped to the wall. Our cabin reeked, I suspect due to glue, new carpet and furnishing etc, kinda like that 'new car' smell but not a pleasant place to be. As compared to the J de V, the B V French balcony cabin was extremely small. We, along with many others, had the large chair removed from the cabin to make a bit more space.

 

The service provided by the crew was lacking. Blame it on first sailing / fresh out of dry dock? We initially booked when it was the River Royale, not the Bon Voyage so had no idea it would be just out of dry dock. We paid for a luxury experience and did not get it. They appeared under staffed and the crew poorly trained. There was a slight improvement over the week, but still not close to the J de V.

 

Just one example of an awful dinner sevice. We made a reservation for supper one night in brasserie. We were finishing our pre dinner drink in the lounge prior to entering the brasserie. We saw one couple enter and seat themselves, we entered shortly after and seated ourselves, as did a third couple who entered shortly after us. There was a chef behind the counter, and one server. At one point I noticed someone opening a bottle of wine for that first couple, expected them to come and serve us. Not to be. After about 10 minutes of waiting we managed to get the waiter's attention to serve us some wine. On the J d V there is a chef in the bistro who actually seems to cook there. On B V he maybe adds garnishes, but the meals come from the kitchen below. As a result, food was not overly hot. 

 

At one point during the meal, a crew member came up the back stairs and thru the brasserie with a vacuum. He started vacuuming in the lounge, just outside the brasserie. Luckily, the cruise manager and hotel manager had come into the brasserie for dinner and the hotel manager put an end to the vacuuming so we could enjoy the rest of our meal in peace. Then, one of ceiling panels dropped from the ceiling, scaring the **** out of us. Luckily, it was tethered so did not fall far.

 

Our Bordeaux cruise was a connoisseur cruise and all the excursions were wonderful