Uniworld Seine cruise

[love2read]

We are booked on an upcoming Paris-Paris cruise on Uniworld's River Baroness. We were very recently informed that the River Baroness is not certified to sail past Rouen because the French authorities do not think it is able to withstand the currents in the English Channel. This means we will have to stay 3 nights in Rouen instead of sailing to Le Havre as promised. Becasue of this, we will have to spend more time on buses to reach our destinations as promised in our itinerary. Uniworld knew of this problem since at least April but they waited until a week before sailing to tell us about it. In addition, the River Baroness is not allowed to sail the Seine at night as prominently advertised in the brochure. They are substituting a day cruise of the Seine - not exactly the same in a city that is named "The City of Lights". This is another long standing issue that they did not bother to inform us about until the last minute. Their solutions? To compensate for hours of additional bus travel (and probably less time in our intended destination) Unworld is promising free wine during 2 dinners and a one hour open bar. We think this is insulting compensation. We are not really drinkers, so we were told we could have soft drinks. Wow! Is anyone else upset about this issue?

[pacmom]

Back in April, this same topic was discussed by someone who had just returned from that cruise. They had their nite cruise but on one of the regular Seine boats. Do a search of "Uniworld Seine" and you'll be able to read all the threads on this subject. The Seine will help make you forget about this. Travel safely and enjoy. Pat

[Studebaker59]

You have no reason to be upset. This happened to us on the May 13, 2007 River Baroness sailing. We also were informed a few days before the trip. I don't know the real reason for not sailing beyond Rouen. I guess Uniworld keeps on hoping the permit will be granted. In any case, this has been happening for the entire season.

 

We were thrilled with the whole trip! The bus rides were fine, and we got to see the countryside.

 

As for the first evening's sightseeing, Uniworld gave us dinner, and then put us on a motorcoach to a Bateau Mouche sightseeing boat. This was fine.

 

We had a great trip, and wouldn't hesitate to use Uniworld again.

 

Go with a more positive attitude, and enjoy every moment. We did!!! :)

[Janet524]

We cruised with Uniworld a couple of years ago on a combo Seine / Soane / Rhone cruise. Never again with them. The entire cruise was disorganized, the staff rude at best, insulting at worst. (Of course they did the insulting in French - unlucky for them I'm fluent in the language.) I certainly hope they have improved and that your experience will be far better than ours. I'm not willing to take the chance with them again.

[tobes]

Where to begin - First of all, I had a wonderful time and the staff and crew were fabulous. This past week probably had the most changes in itinerary of any week. We knew about not going past a certain point and taking the buses (which did lead to a couple of days of long bus rides). What I didn't know was that because of July 14th being Bastille Day the entire itinerary was changed because if the ship did not get back through the locks at a certain time, they would have been unable to get back to Paris. So, the consequences of these changes were that at the end of the week, Versailles became an included morning excursion with the highlights of Paris excursion in the afternoon. The Louvre was no longer offered as an optional excursion. Some of us chose to skip the Paris tour and go to the Louvre on our own. The city was so crowded with people jamming in for Bastille Day festivities, you could hardly walk and many train stations were closed. The upside of that day was that we sat on the sundeck at 10:30pm with a glass of wine and watched the fireworks. These changes were certainly not the fault of any staff member, all of whom went out of their way to make us happy. Yes, they opened the bar and we drank free almost every night with champagne or whatever. I had no bar bill at the end. Travelling is always an adventure and we frequent travellers learn to "go with the flow." I made some wonderful friends, laughed a lot, saw places I had never seen before and came home ready to go back on my diet! What more could I ask for? Judy:) p.s. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are booked on an upcoming Paris-Paris cruise on Uniworld's River Baroness. We were very recently informed that the River Baroness is not certified to sail past Rouen because the French authorities do not think it is able to withstand the currents in the English Channel. This means we will have to stay 3 nights in Rouen instead of sailing to Le Havre as promised. Becasue of this, we will have to spend more time on buses to reach our destinations as promised in our itinerary. Uniworld knew of this problem since at least April but they waited until a week before sailing to tell us about it. In addition, the River Baroness is not allowed to sail the Seine at night as prominently advertised in the brochure. They are substituting a day cruise of the Seine - not exactly the same in a city that is named "The City of Lights". This is another long standing issue that they did not bother to inform us about until the last minute. Their solutions? To compensate for hours of additional bus travel (and probably less time in our intended destination) Unworld is promising free wine during 2 dinners and a one hour open bar. We think this is insulting compensation. We are not really drinkers, so we were told we could have soft drinks. Wow! Is anyone else upset about this issue?

[Studebaker59]

tobes- Welcome home! Traveling is such an adventure!!!

 

Was Emmanuele your Cruise Manager? We enjoyed her so much.

 

The fireworks must have been spectacular.

[tobes]

Emmanuele was our cruise director! We all fell in love with her, she was so charming and gracious. I gave her my address because she said she is going to be in California for a month, so I hope she calls me so I can take her for dinner. Not only were the fireworks great but while people were crowding the bridges around us, we were lying on comfortable lounges with a bottle of wine.:) :)

 

 

 

 

tobes- Welcome home! Traveling is such an adventure!!!

 

Was Emmanuele your Cruise Manager? We enjoyed her so much.

 

The fireworks must have been spectacular.