River Cruises - All Cruise Reviews

As compared to other cruise lines, Uniworld's main perk is free flowing liquor.

I would recommend this cruise with the knowledge that at certain times of year you are taking a risk that the water levels may be too low. We missed Decin for this reason but fortunately, we had no further problems. The Elbe is a beautiful river with very little traffic. We felt like we had it to ourselves.

Proactive, Personable, and attentive service. Amazing food. An amazing way to tour the Danube region.

"John" was the best guide ever, knows all about China, never missed a beat, had everything well organized, made us feel safe at all times, no one could have done a better job, thanks John

We recently returned from our first river cruise selecting Crystal Cruises because of their 5 star rating. We felt taken advantage of because we depended on their representative for booking.  Upon arrival after a 10 hour flight, we were expected to handle our own luggage.The " motor coach" was about a 1/4 mile from the luggage carousel. No assistance was provided.  We were two couples with 10 pieces of luggage total. On other cruises we were met by a representative of the cruise line and next saw our belongings in our stateroom .  To carry our suitcases at our age and with medical conditions was totally unacceptable. Having relied on the Crystal booking agent,  our accommodations were not as promised. We were misled and never told we were paying $12,000 to be situated  in the basement level of the boat, partially submerged at water level.  We spent 12 days at submarine level watching garbage float by our "panorama" windows. The sound of water splashing on the window kept us up all night. In addition when we docked our "view" was of a concrete wall that made our rooms constantly dark during the day when we docked in the ports . To make matters worse, we asked the crystal representative that our cabins be in close proximity. Instead we ended up at the opposite side of the boat with staff quarters between us. All attempts to remedy the situation fell on deaf ears. Nothing was done. For a cruise line with a five star rating, we found the food tasteless and unexciting. Breakfast and lunch everyday was the same for 12 days. There was very little deviation .  It was boring and monotonous.  To make matters worse, one member of our party had severe food sensitivities and had filled out paperwork in this regard prior to departure.  This matter was not addressed until the 5th day of cruising due to our own initiative. This was a HORRIBLE vacation experience.  We would NOT recommend Crystal River Cruises. Definetly Not worth taking off work for. TOTALLY disappointed. DON'T GO

This was my first 'on the water' anything. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone else that is not good at traveling on water. Absolutely fabulous places to see. The staff doing the activities make it a fun experience

My wife and I recently returned from a riverboat cruise to Ukraine. This was our fourth trip with Viking and possibly our last. We have recommended Viking to all our friends and worst of all we invited our very best friends to join us on this trip and they accepted to join us on board. This was by far the worst trip I have ever experienced; not just on Viking but also on any trip we have ever taken. 1. To start with, since our second cruise we have always been recognized as special travelers and have always received a gift, not this time. 2. The communication with the staff was at best minimal. Most of the staff could barely speak English and had trouble speaking and understanding our requests. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we would just point to what we wanted. Requesting wine was impossible, the staff had to get the head maître d’ to decipher. 3. The tours had only one guide that could speak English and that was Anna. The tours were poorly organized. It was really terrible when 200 people show up and one statue or a church at the same time. The Viking travelers were not pleased with such long lines to get anywhere. 4. We paid $100 for the Kiev Jewish tour. We were shown statues/monuments and a ravine where the Jews were shot. In our opinion, that is not worth $100. 5. There were too many optional tours on this cruise. The previous Viking river cruises did not have “optional” tours that cost more money than the expense of this trip. And this trip to Ukraine was “very expensive for what we got.” 6. We have no complaints about the boat, the rooms were very good. The food was nothing out of the ordinary. There was not as large of a selection of breakfast or dinner items on the menu as we have seen on our other trips. The wait staff was less than adequate, very difficult to communicate with. On all of our other trips with Viking and other companies, the staff knew our names and what we always had to drink and most times they would even guess what we wanted to eat. They were always exceptional but not on this trip. This trip was by far the worst we have ever experienced! On “Captains night” The Captain left after just a few minutes and of course he could not speak English either. Yet another disappointment! Finally, our overall impression was one of very poor preparation for the tours, as well as poor advance information. The billing cycle was not explained clearly, I received the final bill stating we were behind on our payments and were about to be canceled if payment was not received immediately! Upon calling I received no explanation. We are not sure how you can advertise this as an English speaking tour when most of the staff did not speak English? Also I can’t even start to explain our air travel, too many stops, too many layovers plus much confusion with all the booking problems. It would take another page to explain all of the problems we had with our air travel. Extremely terrible planning on your part. This trip was definitely terrible, not up to your usual standards. Generally speaking we are not sure if we will ever book on Viking again if this is representative of your current standards. I must say that traveling with Viking is not inexpensive. I am requesting at least a 50% refund in the form of a check. Please respond.

Wonderful reception staff, Helene the cruise manager is engaging but not pushy, self effacing and fun and always aware of her guests and their needs

My first river cruise and it will not be the last. From the moment we booked till we got on the plane to come home we were taken great care of. Picking is a class act company and has customer service down .they are good it was trip to !ale us happy

Traveled with two other couples and had a great time. Our travel agent, Jennifer Martin with , was very helpful. This was our second Uniworld river cruise. We’ve done several ocean cruises.

Most of the passengers were 55+ yo, which we wanted. No children. Staff treats us like Royalty. Food was fabulous. Highly trained Chefs.. Waiters would get you what ever you wanted on menu. Cooked to perfection. Program Director knew about all sites and ports. Gave preday talks about what to see. You could go off on your own for museums. Trip guides at ports were residents thar talked about history of their towns. Had a Fantastic time. We are pkanning our next Viking trip soon.

It was not a cruise. Minimal cruising with inconvenient parking spots. Food was a disappointment and totally not memorable. The highlight was the Art Historian who was spectacular. This was our second visit to Venice and she pointed out things that we did not notice before. Venice is made up of 8 or 9 islands which I did not realize before the trip. A few of the islands were again not memorable so I don't know if visitation there was worth it. If this is your first trip to Venice I think there is probably better ways of seeing it without visiting all of the islands. Our opinion!

Crew was amazing with realy good service. food and drinks were very nice!

If it were not for the excellent company of my girlfriends this would have turned into a nightmare. We thought that ghis was an excellent wat to celebrate us all turning 40 this year, but what a disappointment. Poor food and soft drinks included in price and drinks available for sale expensive and poor quality. The beverage packages are sly way to make you think you are saving whilst half the time the deals offered are not available. Manynof the staff members were surly and rude. To top it all off one our friends had irregularities with her cruise card being used to make purchases by someone else for large amounts of money . I have been on a few other cruises with other companies before which I found enjoyable. I can never recommend MSC to anyone.

Overall a terrific experience & well worth the price

Was just okay! Did not help to start with a very negative due to KLM flight and personnel.

Viking gives you a more personalized experience both on and off the ship that just cannot be matched by the ocean cruises. The experience on "Passage to Eastern Europe" was a real eye opener for us.

The cruise gave you an excellent understanding of the history and culture of the Netherlands and Belgium. We are an active couple that enjoys walking and exploring on our own. This gives us comfort, the optional tours, and plenty of freedom to explore on our own at the same time.

A ruinous experience. Old badly maintained ship. Staff was unsympathetic to plight of passengers sailing through smoke and fire. Way too expensive for what they offer. Wrote a letter to President of company. On the phone we were offered future cruise credit which I assumed would be price we paid. Ended up with $1000 per person. I would never suggest this cruise to clients!!

I totally loved this cruise. I had done a Viking Rhine river cruise last year and enjoyed it enough to book another cruise for this year. But if I were to compare the 2-the AMA waterway experience on the AMA CERTO was superior-the cruise director, the attentiveness of the staff, the variety of excursions each day with very few additional costs except in Vienna were exceptional. Of the two, I think the AMA cruise in the long run was the better value.