I recently returned from my first river cruise in Europe. It was on the Danube aboard Uniworld’s brand-new River Beatrice as I sampled part of its nine-day, Enchanting Danube itinerary from Budapest to Passau.
First of all, I was blown away by the ship itself. Obviously, I knew that river-cruise ships have come a long way in a short time, but I was amazed at the level of comfort and luxury. The cabins are far bigger than I had imagined — not just big for a ship, but actually bigger than some of the hotel rooms I’ve stayed in — and the dining room was beautiful, providing great views of the passing scenery as we ate.
Next, spending so much time in the cities themselves was a joy. In fact, many of my fellow passengers had taken an ocean cruise before and, to a person, they all said how much they preferred the river cruise itinerary. After all, when a big-ship says it stops in “Rome,” for instance, it can actually be over an hour away from the city. When the River Beatrice stops in Vienna, you can just about walk to the opera house.
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Finally, the service on the ship was some of the best I’ve ever experienced anywhere. Of course, European service is generally expected to be pretty good, but the crew of the River Beatrice truly made you feel at home. I happened to be traveling with my 8-year-old son Henry (the subject of an upcoming story), and one day we came back to our cabin to find a DVD player hooked up to the television and a stack of kid’s DVDs next to it. Everywhere we went on the ship, the staff was so friendly and so good at anticipating our needs, it’s a credit to Uniworld’s employee development.
If you have not tried a river cruise, I highly recommend it. Based on my misconceptions, I can say with certainty there’s just no way to accurately sell the experience to your customers without having given it a try yourself. Fortunately, right now there are some excellent deals to be had and quite a few fam trip opportunities out there (visit TravelAgeWest.com for the best of those). I certainly think you’ll find it well worth the time away from the office.
