Unhappy with Uniworld

[love2read]

We recently returned from Uniworld's Paris/Normandy cruise on the Seine with Uniworld. The good news is that the staff was wonderful, the ship lovely in spite of the tiny cabins, and the food was delicious. The presentation of the food was exceptional. We were on vacation and were determined to have a good time in spite of the problems. The bad news - Many passengers on this cruise were very unhappy and it was a topic of converation all week. I know it has been discussed on this board that Uniworld's ship (but not Viking's) was unable to traverse the full itinerary on the Seine because of a disagreement with the French government. As a result, 80 miles on the river was eliminated from our itinerary and we had to be bused a long way on two days to our destinations. Because we were stuck in Rouen for three nights, the buses returning from our excursions were stuck in horrible rush hour traffic and the bus trips trips just to reach our destination and return was about 6 hours on each day. In addition, the ship was not allowed to make the night cruise on the Seine that was so prominently promised in the brochure. Instead, we took the same river cruise in the morning (not the same) and nothing at all was substituted for the evening. A couple of optional excursions that were included in the brochure could not even be offered.

We all understand that problems arise that are out of the control of the cruise company. However, what makes all the difference is how these problems are dealt with.

1. Uniworld knew about all of these issues since the beginning of the cruise season - March or April. For each cruise, they waited until a few days before people were scheduled to leave before we were notified. One couple booked only a week before the cruise and they were not even told! Yes, according to the fine print of the documents, they have the right to do this. According to their contract, they could have put us on a bus for the full week! We all believe that Uniworld had a moral obligation to give passengers a heads up well in advance of their cruise. Many people said they would have cancelled if Uniworld had informed them of the changes before their final payments were due. Or if this ship was not cleared for the Seine, maybe Uniworld should have tried to substitute another vessel.

2. Some passengers were not informed at all. Imagine their shock at finding out the changes when they boarded. The poor cruise manager sat everyone down that first day to explain. It was not a happy group and I felt sorry for him having to repeat this scene every single week of the summer.

3. We tried to call Uniworld when we received notice to discuss it with them. Their attitude was "that's the way it is". At this point, there was nothing we could do about it.

4. The only compensation was free wine at 2 dinners and a one hour open bar. Most passengers saw this as insulting.

5. The onboard hotel manager and cruise director had to bear the brunt of the complaints and said they were in total agrement with us. They did not understand why Uniworld was not upfront with their passengers about the changes. The hotel manager was writing letter after letter to the home office on behalf of unhappy passengers. I have not heard anything from Uniworld and I would be suprised if anyone else does.

6. Everyone we spoke to on the cruise had the same feelings. River cruising was a delight but we did not do enough of it. Most people felt that if they wanted a bus trip, they would have booked it. The comments I heard were: "I paid for a full cruise but only got 2/3 of a cruise." "Uniworld was dishonest." "I would never book with Uniworld again because they can't be trusted." "Uniworld handled this poorly."

 

For those thinking of a river cruise, it was lovely floating down the river. But think twice before you book with Uniworld.

[CincyAL]

"Buyer beware", cruise lines have to be hit in the pocketbook to make adjustments. THANKS from everyone that reads these boards.

[cruisinalan]

Back on July 8th, you raised this exact issue, which is fine. You raise it again, after the fact, which is your prerogative. You have a right to your opinion and I respect that. But did the other passengers elect you their spokeperson? I do not think that you can speak for all the other passengers. Why did the Hotel Manager write all those letters to the home office? The Hotel Manager on our ship simply called the home office, as did the Cruise Director. I'm sure Uniworld is not happy with the situation either and is trying to resolve it. I am sorry you did not have a good experience, and as I said, you have a right to your opinion. But it is only your opinion, not necessarily that of all the other passengers you mention and of the ships staff. And if you will notice on thes boards, recently there have been many very positive reviews of Uniworld cruises.

[love2read]

I wrote earlier in July before I took the trip because I personally was not happy with the arrangements. I did not know until I boarded that there were so many unhappy passengers. Nobody "elected" me as spokesperson and I cannot speak for all of the passengers. I can tell you that in our exchanges with at least 20 other passengers (out of the 100 on board), I heard all of the above quotes. The hotel manager did write letters to the home office for each passenger that discussed it with her and she showed me a copy of the letter she wrote on my behalf. Other passengers wrote their own letters that the hotel manager was sending to the main office. She was very upset as was the cruise director. They told me directly that they didn't think Uniworld handled it well. We understand that things happen in travel but it was the responsibilty of Uniworld to inform its passengers when it was aware of the potential problem - not months later when it was too late for us to reconsider if we still wanted to stay with the cruise. I don't think there is any excuse for that. The choice to stay with Uniworld should have been ours after we were advised of the situation. Uniworld may be a fine company to cruise with if all goes smoothly. Sometimes the test of a company comes when there are problems because there are right ways and wrongs ways to deal with them.

[tobes]

Alan, If you look back at my posting on July 16th following my week on the River Baroness, you will see that my sentiments are the same as Love2read. I was not the "spokesperson" for that week but it was certainly the general sentiment of my fellow passengers, only 75 of us, all of whom I had a chance to meet. I also wrote to Uniworld and my travel agent, neither of whom will ever get my business again. I questioned the travel agent about changes and he told me Uniworld said "not to worry, everything is going as planned." Whether he was innocent or not, I can't trust either of them again.:cool:

 

 

 

 

Back on July 8th, you raised this exact issue, which is fine. You raise it again, after the fact, which is your prerogative. You have a right to your opinion and I respect that. But did the other passengers elect you their spokeperson? I do not think that you can speak for all the other passengers. Why did the Hotel Manager write all those letters to the home office? The Hotel Manager on our ship simply called the home office, as did the Cruise Director. I'm sure Uniworld is not happy with the situation either and is trying to resolve it. I am sorry you did not have a good experience, and as I said, you have a right to your opinion. But it is only your opinion, not necessarily that of all the other passengers you mention and of the ships staff. And if you will notice on thes boards, recently there have been many very positive reviews of Uniworld cruises.

[letsgo39]

Back on July 8th, you raised this exact issue, which is fine. You raise it again, after the fact, which is your prerogative. You have a right to your opinion and I respect that. But did the other passengers elect you their spokeperson? I do not think that you can speak for all the other passengers. Why did the Hotel Manager write all those letters to the home office? The Hotel Manager on our ship simply called the home office, as did the Cruise Director. I'm sure Uniworld is not happy with the situation either and is trying to resolve it. I am sorry you did not have a good experience, and as I said, you have a right to your opinion. But it is only your opinion, not necessarily that of all the other passengers you mention and of the ships staff. And if you will notice on thes boards, recently there have been many very positive reviews of Uniworld cruises.

 

Why are you so offended by this post. I for one am grateful to learn about problems like this. I had read the original post and I am now interested to find out the problem has not been resolved.Hopefully it will keep others from booking this same cruise before the matter is resolved. The purpose of these boards is to inform. One would almost think that you have a personal interest in this company. :D

[pacmom]

Uniworld has had problems in the past sailing the Seine. There are some strange maritime laws in France. Have taken 5 of their cruises and loved them all. Think if I had found out before the cruise, I would have cancelled--that's what trip insurance does. We just went on a Viking cruise in Germany, hated the cabins--beds terrible, carpet dirty and furniture all scuffed. Will that stop me from another Viking trip, don't know. It's wonderful that we have so many choices and can try different cruise lines. Yes, we are all entitled to our opinions, but nastiness to one another can only get the initial critique tanked by the moderators. Travel safely and enjoy whatever line you choose. Pat

[Coventry]

Cruisinalan:

By scolding love2read you missed the point. Uniworld is not trying to resolve the situation. They are hiding it! The concealment is the issue because it is unethical behavior on the part of Uniworld. They could do this to you in the future if the power of the internet is not applied to help them see the error in their manner of handling this problem. Your response dilutes the strength of the message.

 

Back on July 8th, you raised this exact issue, which is fine. You raise it again, after the fact, which is your prerogative. You have a right to your opinion and I respect that. But did the other passengers elect you their spokeperson? I do not think that you can speak for all the other passengers. Why did the Hotel Manager write all those letters to the home office? The Hotel Manager on our ship simply called the home office, as did the Cruise Director. I'm sure Uniworld is not happy with the situation either and is trying to resolve it. I am sorry you did not have a good experience, and as I said, you have a right to your opinion. But it is only your opinion, not necessarily that of all the other passengers you mention and of the ships staff. And if you will notice on thes boards, recently there have been many very positive reviews of Uniworld cruises.

[hobse]

I have to agree with cruisinalan. love2read could have canceled as notification was given prior to departure, as pacmom said, that is what trip insurance is for. For the long timers on this board, it's funny, these posts from love2read and coventry (who just registered to post complaints) remind me so much of cindiloowho that constantly beat up GCT on another board and here to some degree.

 

But, as pacmom said, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion !

[love2read]

With only four days notice before I left, Uniworld did not give me the opportunity to use my travel insurance. This change in itinerary is not covered by travel insurance. The notice we received from Uniworld was undated because it was the same one they used every week to notify their passengers as they were packing up to leave. There is not excuse for that kind of unethical behavior. Uniworld had a moral obligation to tell their passengers when they were aware of the problem at least 5 months earlier - before our final payments were due. Why dodn't they tell us then?

[land lover]

I think this type of behavior is becoming more common place in all industries. Employees are taught not give out more info than necessary or management choses not to inform the employee so he/she as well as the client is left in the dark until everyone has to deal with it. It is unfortuante that Uniworld did not inform you at final payment and give you options. I am glad you made the best of it.

 

And as you stated most travel insurance does not cover this situation, and still if you had one that did you are out the travel insurance cost and then you only get a credit. Big Help...especially when it is with the company you just had the problem with.

 

Could you give us more details on the reason why the ship could not sail...was it not registered or pass inspection or just a disagreement with Uniworld....and how long has this gone on for?

 

Thanks

[Studebaker59]

I believe it's been this way the entire season. We sailed the River Baroness May 13-20. We received the change of itinerary notice on the Tuesday before the Sunday departure.

 

The trip turned out great. We look at the bright side of things, and found the motorcoach rides let us see more of how the people actually live.

 

We had a great time on the River Baroness. This was our first riverboat cruise.

 

Perhaps, Uniworld should inform passengers earlier, but doesn't in hope of resolving the problem. I really don't know if it's a "cover-up".

[ChefPeg]

I wonder how long this has been going on.

 

No matter how you want to look at it, if they already know there is a change in itinerary, the customer should be informed. And not a mere few days before sail away if they knew from the beginning.

 

It does sound underhanded:eek: . I'm glad I didn't book with them.

[spindrift]

I had narrowed down my choices between two--one being Uniworld, but after reading this thread, I think Uniworld has been eliminated. Thanks for all of the input. I'm sad to read it, but I want to travel with a reliable company. If they were dishonest about this, what about other things.

[pacmom]

We have never had anything but good dealings with them times 5 cruises. The French waters are difficult to sail. Personally, I would avoid the Seine with them until this mess is straightened out. If you are looking for waters other than French, don't count them out. Pat

[H2Otstr]

Last year we took a Viking cruise from Chalon to Avignon and this year we took a Uniworld cruise "Castles Along the Rhine." We were the first trip for this season and there were numerous items that had not been worked out yet. I have corresponded with other CC members who have taken the same trip and by the time they went it seems that all of our complaints had been resolved. We had no maps, no menus (we didn't have any idea what we were eating untill we sat down), poor service in the dining room, no way we could get seconds because we barely got served our main meal in a timely manner, poor or wrong info on the cruise ship. But, I would take Uniworld again because each boat experience and trip is different. I understand that there are problems that crop up, but to know ahead of time that there is a problem and not inform the client is wrong.

We all pay generously for these trips and to know there is a problem in advance is like bait-and-switch. Maybe one would like to book with Uniworld, but switch rivers.

[aneka]

We would like to do a Provence cruise (Arles to Chalon) in the fall of 2008. We have been leaning toward Uniworld since we had traveled to China with them in 2003, and the River Royale is a new boat. We are also considering Viking. The itineraries are identical. Does Uniworld have any trouble sailing on the Rhone or Saone rivers?

 

Thanks for your thoughts,

Annette

[pacmom]

We cruised the River Royale last June. It was fantastic. There were only 70 of us. We were pampered. On our return from tours, we were greeted with frozen towels, cold drinks and one day ice cream. The food was excellent and there was plenty. Even tho it was the inaugral season, there were no glitches. All the room have hotel style beds. We were berthed next to a Viking ship and the bottom deck had those horrible pull down beds. I say that because I've slept on one on the Elbe river. I would not hesitate to do that cruise again---but not in late June--TOO hot. Happy to answer any specific questions. Pat

[pacmom]

We cruised the River Royale last June. It was fantastic. There were only 70 of us. We were pampered. On our return from tours, we were greeted with frozen towels, cold drinks and one day ice cream. The food was excellent and there was plenty. Even tho it was the inaugral season, there were no glitches. All the room have hotel style beds. We were berthed next to a Viking ship and the bottom deck had those horrible pull down beds. I say that because I've slept on one on the Elbe river. I would not hesitate to do that cruise again---but not in late June--TOO hot. Happy to answer any specific questions. Pat

[love2read]

I'm sure there are many happy Uniworld passengers because their cruises proceeded without incident. However, the true test of a company comes when there are problems. Here's where Uniworld failed us. They are still selling an itinerary on their web site that they know they can't deliver. Unsuspecting pasengers are still receiving last minute notice (or no notice) that the trip they paid for is not the one they are getting. There is no excuse for that. How can they be trusted?

[MrsDave]

As I indicated before...we had a great trip..there were 76 of us..the food was exceptional and the staff were wonderful..towards the end of the cruise there was an accident on the Rhone..NO ships could pass as a freighter carrying concrete had a mishap...we were also docked along side the Viking Burgundy...I looked through the window and felt the same way as Pat...our beds were hotel style...and...even though I am married for over 23 years..I still like to sleep with my husband and Uniworld is the only carrier that has the sleeping arrangement together...(that might be picky...but, we are paying for this) and..I heard other people remarking about the same...

In the end..it's like having an experience with a doctor...you get well...he's great...you don't...he stinks!

I do absolutely agree that if they know the itinerary ahead of time they should tell the customer..

We had someone on our cruise (a TA) who went directly on the Seine with them the following week...I sure wish I had her contact info...

I would travel with them again...the ship we were on was brand new..the Captain was very visible...friendly and so was the rest of the crew....

We were told our extension to Paris was cancelled and they made special arrangements for us...we took the TGV from Lyon and they arranged for everything.....

Let me know if I can answer anything else..

Tina

[pilotdane]

My parents just returned from doing a couple of Uniworld's cruises in France and also received the fax a week before sailing which described the "paperwork issue with the French government". Well dad got to know the crew quite well and found out the reason.

 

The reason they cannot sail the lower stretch of the Seine is because there is not enough freeboard from the waterline to the windows on the lower level. Uniworld was aware of the situation before the season began and choose not to let the passengers know. The bus trips will continue until the ship enters drydock after the season to have the lower edge of the bottom windows raised (making the windows smaller) to get them further above the wateline.

[love2read]

Amazing! Pilotdane confirmed in the prior post that "Uniworld was aware of the situation before the season began and chose not to let the passengers know." What does this say about Uniworld's truthfulness? Uniworld is still advertising an itinerary they can't deliver and they repeat the deception each week on unsuspecting passengers. I'd like to see them held accountable.

[bildef]

I agree with Love2Read in that they were treated very badly and there is every right to complain, and bitterly. Many companies act very capriciously and expect to get away with it. After reading these posts there is no way I would use Uniworld.

 

We just returned from a 14 night Amsterdam to Budapest cruise with Viking. This was our third with Viking, which included China and Russia and in all cases our beds were together and we had a great time and would use them again.

[donna8022]

We are scheduled for a Uniworld-Paris/Normandy cruise in Sept. and are wondering about the dress code for the 2 captains dinners. We have taken several Viking trips and very few men wore a sport coat and tie for the captains dinners.-- and I don't recall any female wearing a cocktail dress---is Uniworld different? Their brochure mentions jackets, ties and cocktail dresses. We will be spending 2 1/2 weeks traveling by trains after the Uniworld trip so don't want to pack anything we don't have to. Also wondering about the optional tours. We received our ticket etc. today and they mention the optional tours but don't mention the cost or anything about them. Are they offered? Any idea of cost? Are they worth taking? It appears from the info on this board that we will be spending some time on buses--altho our paperwork does not say that. Too bad they don't disclose it before people get upset---had a similar thing happen with Viking one year. Would really appreciate any info anyone can give us. Thank You!!