Authentic Danube River Cruise

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Food and service were great, cabins were comfortable, tours were interesting with knowledgeable guides. A few things I may not have mentioned earlier; Wifi is free. Connection is usually pretty good, especially in the lounge area. There is a launderette, free of charge.  There is a gym, and exercise classes each morning with a wellness instructor.  24 hour room service, free of charge.  Coffee station in the lower lounge with computers, books and games available. When weather permits, there is sometimes a barbecue on the top deck. I would not recommend a River Cruise for anyone with limited mobility. There is quite a bit of walking involved, and often on uneven ground. When ships are rafted up there can be a lot of steps to go up and over. Bathrooms are compact.  Cabins have lots of storage room, and lots of plugs. Beds are very comfortable. If you request 2 beds they will be right beside each other. Unless you have a sui...

Uniworld includes airport transfers if you're flying out the day the cruise ends. I didn't expect this car and driver that came to pick up myself & one other person! I had a fairly long journey, Nuremberg to Frankfurt to Calgary to Vancouver. Nuremberg airport wasn't busy, but Frankfurt was a gong show. For some reason we had to go through passport control again, and the line-ups were incredible. Luckily I had a 2 hour connection. It was very disorganized, especially in comparison with Munich. I was in Premium Economy with Air Canada, very comfortable and surprisingly good food. Calgary Airport was not busy, and baggage was checked right through so I didn't have to pick it up there. Flights were all on time, and we even landed early! So a good ending to a great trip.

As you can probably tell, I tend to do my blog posts in the late afternoon. In consequence I haven't written much about our evenings onboard. (I've been too busy enjoying them) Of course dinner is always a highlight. Food has been excellent. Breakfast and lunch are buffet, dinner is sit down. I've generally been going with the "local choice"; starter, soup, main course and dessert. All with matching wines of course! (and now you know why I've been biking or walking every day!) We've had 2 nights where people dress up a bit, but mostly it's smart casual. The majority are American, with a spattering of Canadian, Australian, New Zealand etc. People are relaxed and friendly (the open bar helps!) There is always a cocktail hour before dinner where the cruise director talks about the next day. On 2 nights there was entertainment brought onboard. First a singer with a guitar that could play almost anything (Mr 2000 songs), then a Brass Oomph band. Fo...

I hadn't expected Nuremberg to be such a lovely city. I knew it had been heavily bombed in World War 2, but hadn't realized that they had re-built the old town in the original style. A beautiful morning as we disembark in Roth to catch the coach into town. About a 45 to 60 min drive. We first saw the Congess Hall  on modeled on the Colosseum in Rome (which was never finished) Then to Zeppelin field, familiar from old pictures and newsreels. We then had a drive through town ending at the castle, or Kaiserburg at the top of the town, the battlements are very well preserved. Then down through the winding cobblestone streets past many churches, restaurants and shops. The main square or Hauptmarkt is very busy with a market in the middle with both food and handicrafts, the Glockenspeil which preforms at noon, and a Gothic church as well as a gold gothic fountain. It's about 23C today, which seems extremely warm after the weather we've been having! It's Saturday s...

Yesterday was very busy with 2 tours, and of course the weather made the bike ride challenging. So it was nice that my tour started a little later this morning. I still woke up about 7am, but didn't have to rush out. I had a relaxed morning, then walked down to Regensburg city centre. A very pretty town, not damaged in the war because the industry was further away. There is an old steam powered paddle-wheel tug that is now a museum, the "Wurstkuchl" or sausage kitchen that is basically an old hot dog stand from the time when the stone bridge was being built (1135). The stores weren't open yet when I had my walk, but the boutique stores looked fabulous. Back to the ship for the 10:00am bike ride tour to Wallhalla. Only 3 of us, and this is by far the nicest day! A little cool to start, but glorious sunshine and warming up to about 18 by the afternoon. Our ride was on bike paths along the dike along the Danube. Peter the wellbeing coach led the ride. Nice and flat...

Last night was a late night as we had music and dancing. At one point I think we had everyone from the lounge up on the floor! Our  8:30am tour seemed very early. It took about 45 min by bus from Deggendorf up through the hills covered by pine and birch forest. Low clouds with the temperature about 6C "warming up" to 9C. This area practices sustainable forestry, so only a few trees well spread out are cut each year. We stopped at Theresienthal glass factory, one of the few places where they still make glass the traditional hand-blown way. Interesting, and some incredibly beautiful glass! There was a glass museum as well, which had examples of glass from Versailles, the Romanov court, and the German Royal family. We then drove to a National Park with a nature preserve. They had aurochs, which are the ancestors of modern cows, wild horses, and wolfs. These are the animals that originally roamed the forests. The preserve has a series of trails through the forest with viewing...

After lunch we had our walking tour of Passau. The weather isn't much warmer, about 8C with a wind off the rivers. Passau is at the confluence of 3 rivers, the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz. The Inn River, coming from the Alps is the one the causes flooding in Passau quite frequently. When we were standing beside the Inn River we could see hundreds of swallows swooping over the river. I walked down to the point where the Danube and the Inn meet, and the swallows were only flying over the Inn! Passau has always been a wealthy town, first from trading in salt, then pilgrims coming to Mariahilf Church. It's a very pretty town, with ornate buildings in Italian style. It's dominated by the castle above the Danube. There are lots of small winding streets, including one called Hollgasse or Hell. St Stephens Cathedral in the center of town has fantastic baroque frescoes, and the worlds largest cathedral organ. Luckily we had a great guide. Even the man wearing shorts, and the la...

There were 25 brave souls who signed up for the 30 km bike ride this morning, despite the weather forecast. (5 C and rain). Luckily I had lots of layers, and except for a few spits the rain held off. The ship dropped us off in Engelhartzhell before 9am. We had 3 support people Ilse to show the way, Lars to fend off the traffic (he must have been 6 1/2 ft with thighs like tree trunks) and another fellow to make sure no one got left behind. We were mainly on a bike path along the Danube, nice and flat. It was a lovely ride, through trees listening to the bird song, going through small villages and past farms. (including a deer farm). We were riding on the Austria side of the river, the other side is Germany. About 1/2 way we stopped for a coffee or beer break at a nice little cafe. At noon, with all the bells chiming we crossed the bridge over the River Inn and met the River Princess. We really felt we had earned our lunch (and beer) today!

We sailed away from Vienna at midnight, heading up the Danube. We woke up after a wonderful sleep to be greeted by sun! Very chilly though, only about 5 C to start. After breakfast we went through a large double lock, quite different from the ones I saw in Burgundy last year!Apparently a lock that we went through in  the night was broken, which delayed us several hours. Because of delay we disembarked in Krems, and took a coach to Weissenkirchen where the ship would catch up to us. The weather is still changeable, quite warm when the sun is out, but then the sun goes behind a cloud and the wind comes up! A very pretty village with different colored houses, some from the 16th century. Lots of apricot and other fruit trees, and of course surrounded by vineyards.We walked up the winding streets to the "White Church" that gives the village it's name. A great view from the top. Then back down to the village for the tasting part of the tour. The village is famous for it...