S.S. Antoinette Review

Made the best of a bad situation

Review for Europe River Cruise on S.S. Antoinette
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NEEDSSUN
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: May 2015

River cruising's dirty little secret- sometimes you don't get to cruise. We knew the day before we left home the ship would not be meeting us in Basal. Met by a bus at the dock and transfer was very seamless. Taken to Kehl Germany, even further up the River than originally planned and sat there for four days (with a Viking Ship lashed to us for 3 days - that means people on that side of the boat had NO VIEW). Bus rides to excursions got longer and longer as we were further and further away from the planned excursions. Wednesday night we were told we were getting off the boat and would be in a Hotel in Weisbadden for two nights. Friday lunch we were told we would be getting back on the boat in Mainz for the next day and a half. A few excursions had to be cancelled or shortened due to extra time spent in buses.

The staff, especially the cruise director Tomas and his assistant, turned themselves inside out to make it work. (Other things at play- a train strike and even a landslide!) When we could not get back to the boat for lunch we were given money to buy our own meal. The bus drivers became our heroes (3 point turns on mountain roads) for their inventive routes around all the traffic jams and we got to see parts of the country we would not have and even local curiosities like the self cleaning toilet seat at a road side rest area. Uniworld went so far as to charter another boat to take us on an hours long cruise through the Castle/vineyard area on the Rhine River. Because we went south to get back on the boat, we got a magical night time tour through the Castles and River towns when they were all lit up.

Before we disembarked we had a compensating discount on a future cruise in our hands. We felt this was not adequate for all the upheaval we experienced. The trip became pretty grueling after spending so much time on the buses and the packing and unpacking was not what we paid top dollar for. Leaving the hotel in Weisbadden was done under a lot of pressure. Through our travel agent, we contacted Uniworld and they have come back with a much more adequate compensation package. I feel they have made good by us.

Cabin Review

Cabin was luxurious and well designed with more than adequate storage. Housekeeping was wonderful. WiFi did not work in Cabin, had to go to public areas to get it to work and even then it was iffy. Food and drink were non stop. Dinning service very friendly. Laundry facility very nice. We felt like we were coming home when we got back on the boat.They even had blankets on the upper deck for night time viewing. Excursion guides were well informed and the audio gizmos were great ( we appreciated them even more when we did not have them on Thursday and Friday).

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