This was our first river cruise and we chose a cruise that included The Mosel River as we had heard how beautiful it was. That certainly was the case and the itinerary for the Legendary Rhine and Mosel was excellent. Our first choice was Tauck but we planned too late to sail with them but Uniworld was available and we had heard they were similarly considered luxury lines. In our case, aboard The River Queen that proved to be an over-statement. I would consider the cruise line more "Upscale Light" in terms of accommodations, food, beverages and service. The age range seemed to encompass mostly late 60's to mid 70's, much older than we had anticipated. Fellow cruisers were very friendly and many were very interesting but it would have been nice to travel with a slightly younger crowd.

The stateroom was very small and the red decor was almost disturbing. Seating was so uncomfortable we just used the chairs for storage. The bathroom was tiny but very functional although more shelving would have been appreciated. The bed was comfortable enough but the pillows were very hard and still not supportive. There was a menu of pillows to select from but our steward said they were the same that were already on the bed. Our cabin steward did a great job of keeping everything clean. But, I was surprised that there was never a treat left on the pillows at turndown, something we always experienced on Silversea and The World and something I equate with a more luxury level line.

The public areas were pretty enough but the seating in the lounge was very uncomfortable. My husband could never relax on the sofas and the chairs were basically dining chairs. The lounge was also too warm during the evening port talks so we usually just stood in the doorway. The bar and waitstaff usually did a great job but sometimes we waited forever for a cocktail and there never seemed to be enough snack trays for every table...they were just distributed randomly throughout the lounge. This area was also used for a light lunch and tea time both of which were not that interesting in terms of food selection. We loved the coffee machine in the patio and the always available iced tea. The "gym" was tiny but did have good cardio machines but the free weights were all too light and there wasn't room for a bench. Read more