I traveled solo on the River Royale through Provence and Burgundy from April 29-May 6, 2012 and couldn't have enjoyed myself more. I am sold on Uniworld and river cruising. I kept a blog during the trip; if you are interested in reading about the shore excursions, meals, and my impressions, go to http://www.riverroyale.weebly.com. I also wrote a five-star critique on cruisecritic.com but it's a bit repetitive with the blog. http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=102349 This was truly a trip to remember.

My partner and I recently experienced our first river cruise last month on River Royale through Burgundy and Provence. A fabulous trip and kudos to the fantastic crew and the wonderful guides who together helped make it so special. To view my blog with commentary, photos, video interviews with Captain Emanuel, cruise manager Emmanuelle, hotel manager Eric and more, visit garythetravelexpert.blogspot.com

I can only give the highest of accolades about our river cruise through Burgundy and Provence trip this past month! This was our first cruise of this type and with Uniworld to celebrate a milestone anniversary and all our expectations were far exceeded! The transfers, the crew, the decor, the epicurean meals, the tours, the tour guides - everything - was first class all the way and has given us forever memories. Eric, A.J., Jeanette (our tour guide)and especially servers like Tibor, Tobor made our trip so enjoyable and fun. Thank you Uniworld and we'll see you next year - ... along with some friends - for a different itinerary and we can hardly wait to go again! Read More...

We selected this Uniworld cruise mostly because of the French itinerary. It was our first river cruise and our first trip with Uniworld. We were very impressed with the staff, the accommodations, the itinerary, the local guides, and of course the food and wine. Uniworld had thought of everything and all of the staff and crew worked very hard to make sure that their guests had a memorable experience. Our cruise manager Alexandra was wonderful. She seemed to be everywhere tending to all of our questions and needs. The fact that so many of our cruise-mates were repeat customers spoke ... a lot for the Uniworld reputation. The River Royale was a lovely ship. The rooms were small but well-designed with plenty of storage space and room to stow your suitcases under the beds. The bathrooms were roomy and well-appointed with L'Occitane products. The guided walks in the various ports were led by very knowledgeable local guides who lived in the towns we were visiting and had lots of tidbits to share. And the small group size for the walking tours was just right. There were about 20 or so in each group. We only signed up for 2 of the 4 afternoon optional trips and in retrospect we probably should have done all 4. We took the afternoon tours in Avignon to the aquaduct and in Arles to the olive farm and Baux en Provence and they were both excellent. But we also found that just sitting on the deck slowly cruising down the Rhone on a sunny afternoon was very relaxing. In Tain L'Hermitage, a group of us early risers got to walk up to the vineyards at 8 a.m. one morning with our fitness expert Nicola. We liked having the Audiovox (sic) system so we could easily hear our tour guide. We thought the food selection was also quite good. The menu focused on the specialties of the region we were traveling through and was complemented by the wine selections. There was always the option to have plain chicken or steak or fish. The portion sizes were just right so that we could enjoy all of the courses including dessert. And the wait staff were very attentive. English was the language of choice as many of the staff did not speak French. We would certainly take another cruise with Uniworld. Read More...

I traveled with 3 other girlfriends and we can thoroughly recommend this cruise for a wonderful holiday, the crew & staff were very friendly and most helpful, in fact we had loads of fun with the crew - there was a mixture of mostly Australians, Canadians & American passengers, who all mixed in well together on most nights together, the tours that were included were mostly interesting and the land tour guides had very good knowledge of the local areas, and could answer all queries..... whilst back on board, crew/staff members Eric, AJ, Istvana, Ivana & Daniella ... & others were great fun & most informative...........will definitely do another river cruise later on.....Amanda, Kate, Les & Cathy October 2009 Read More...

My wife and I had a wonderful time on the "River Royale."  All of our expectations were exceeded. The service, food, tours and accommodations were of an exceptional quality.  Your commitment to customer service was fully demonstrated when I left ALL of my prescriptions on the taxi that took us to the airport at Marseilles. The help you provided in locating our taxi driver and having my medications delivered to me at the airport brought a perfect end to a grand experience.  

My words are inadequate and do not fully represent my appreciation.

Merci,
Irv Rollins

My wife and I just completed the Provence/Burgundy river cruise on October 19th with an extension in Paris. I just wanted to write to let you know how much we enjoyed the cruise and your entire staff, from the cruise director to the housekeeping. Everyone was always courteous and friendly, providing the service for which Uniworld in known.

As much as I enjoyed this trip, I did however, start having some respiratory problems while in Lyon which worsened when I arrived in Paris. On Monday, October 20, I needed to go the hospital. Your local host, Betsy Dryer, was ... absolutely outstanding in the help the she provided. She took us to the American Hospital and stayed with us for several hours while I was being evaluated. Fortunately, after 5 hours in the emergency room, the problem was identified and resolved over the next few days with medication. Betsy in an excellent representative for Uniworld in Paris, and we can't say enough to truly indicate our appreciation for the help she provided. She is genuinely committed to assisting the Uniworld guests and you should be proud and honored to have such an employee.
– Sincerely, Richard Beauchemin Read More...