U by Uniworld Danube Flow
We chose ‘The Danube Flow’ from Budapest to Regensburg on The A. These cruisers are unique on the rivers as they’re elegant jet-black boats with neon running lights that cast a friendly glow to the shore at night to guide you back to your home from home. The cabin seems quite small, but once you’re unpacked you realise that there are lots of clever space saving cubby holes for everything you might have with you. The bed was King size and my husband, and I slept extremely well every night. The bathroom was also a very clever design and easier to use than some on the bigger ocean cruisers. As expected, the food on board was very good, and each meal is open dining. One of the unique things with U by Uniworld is that they encourage you to mix with other passengers at the earliest opportunity. The table are set around the restaurant and there are booths, round tables, square tables and a long breakfast bar style table that will seat around fourteen people. If you don’t want to get to know your fellow cruisers – this isn’t the cruise for you! If you arrive at the beginning of dinner service and are seated as a four or a six, one of the courses of your starter will come as a sharing plate for four or six, which is a great ice breaker.
We joined our cruise in Budapest and as we were due to be docked overnight the options for the first excursion were to go to the famous Szechenyi Baths for a party night or join your host on a pub crawl through the city’s world-renowned ruin bars. Our U hosts were keen to take us out for a walk around the city the next day and there were also optional trips to the Holocaust Memorial Center and Dohány Street Synagogue or a trip to the Hungarian countryside for wine tasting. For something completely different—you could also sign up for wild white-water rafting on the Cunovo River. We didn’t do the rafting and also didn’t make it up in time for the early morning yoga on the deck – but it was a nice idea and lots of the US and Canadians made it due to their jetlag. As we left Budapest in the late afternoon we had a saxophonist play us out of the city.
Next day Bratislava - what a lovely city! We took the obligatory picture of Cumil the ‘man at work’ but had an interesting walk around with our host who gave us an insight to the history of Slovakia and why they parted company from the old Czechoslovakia.
Many of our passengers took an evening trip to Klosterneuburg Abbey, a 900-year-old Augustinian monastery just outside Vienna, for a classical music performance by a professional chamber orchestra. Everyone who did it said it was an unforgettable evening. You could also do an after-hours guided tour of the Schönbrunn Palace which was also very popular. Again, there’s a guided walk during the day and plenty of time to venture off on your own. During the summer evenings there’s a performance on a video screen on Herbert-von-Karajan Square, next to the opera building and we were lucky enough to watch the Vienna State Opera perform for free! We used the rail system to get to the main sights of the city and were surprised that there weren’t any ticket barriers, you just hop on and off the buses, trains and trams.
As we sailed on through Dürnstein, the Wachau Valley & Melk the scenery changes and you’re into the slower pace of life that a river cruise brings. There’s no pool on board, so for the times when you’re sailing during the day it’s a nice chance to read up on where you’re going or just relax on deck with a cocktail and watch the world go by. I lost count, but I think there are around 16 locks to contend with on this trip and it’s interesting to see how they work. You must book your lock space so there could be four cruisers in the lock together and you can easily talk to passengers on the other boats as you’re virtually standing next to them!
Our cruiser had a selection of bikes on board and there were several days when there were bike trips organised. We would see the cyclists set off early and then we’d play cat and mouse with them along the shore. As the river meanders they might be on a bridge above us or we’d see them sat at a riverside beer garden in front of us and then we’d reunite around 20 miles upriver. Durnstein was a really pretty town and we also hiked up to the Kuenringerburg Castle ruins. There were more bikes than cars on the streets here and it seems that electric bikes are the way to go. This town offers several artisan shops where you can get apricot-based delicacies and gourmet products, as well as wine and spirits. There are free samples outside and it seems that it’s never too early for a tipple!
In Passau we climbed to the Veste Oberhaus high above the river. Today the castle is home to the local museum but the views across Passau are wonderful. On a good day you can clearly see the different colours of the rivers where the Danube, Inn and Ilz meet.
Our cruise ended with an overnight stay in Regensburg. Before we were let loose on the city we were entertained on board by a local beer mixologist who explained the difference between Bockbier, Weissbier, Radler and Russbier. As it happens it was the beginning of their May Fair and we walked to the famous stone bridge in the evening to watch the opening firework display. Once that was finished we walked to the fairground among the throngs of people wearing traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses. There were two marquees with live music and steins of local beer being drunk everywhere. Half-metre sausages, roast pork, weißwürste (white sausages) with pretzels and original Regensburg sweet mustard were the joined by the more traditional candyfloss, gingerbread hearts, popcorn and ice cream stands. There were all the popular fairground rides and a good evening was had by all. The next day started early for some who had to leave for the airport around 7am. For the rest of us we had a leisurely breakfast and were able to stay on board until the new guests started to arrive. The A crew had been brilliant and had sometimes joined us for the evening drinks and daily walks ashore. It was a sad farewell.