Legendary Rhine & Moselle On River Queen

River Queen in Trier, Germany

About the time we first spied the River Queen, two baggage handlers in crisp white shirts and black pants spotted us pulling our rolling suitcases down the street.  They ran over to meet us, smiling warmly, and then insisted on taking our bags to the ship for us.  "So this," I thought, "is what they mean by anticipatory service." 

Had we flown into Basel, a Uniworld rep would have met us at the airport to whisk us to the ship with free transfers, but we had taken the train from Zurich and then electric tram from the central train station to our port on the outskirts of Basel.

Rainbow in Strasbourg

It turned out those smiling baggage handlers doubled as waiters during the cruise and at the end of the cruise helped strip down the bedding in the rooms to make way for the new batch of guests, indicative of the versatility of workers that allowed River Queen to provide outstanding service with a somewhat limited staff.  I'd say another prime contributor to excellent service without a large crew is that essentially everything is included, from drinks to shore excursions, so there's no wasted time settling bills.  On Uniworld, gratuities are included too, so the staff treats everyone like good tippers.

With our baggage handled, we walked onboard to be greeted by more smiling faces, including Nora, who directed us to the buffet lunch in the lounge while our room was being prepped. 

How nice it was to find plentiful vegetables and a delicious pasta dish perfect for guests arriving sporadically.  Our waitstaff was soon offering us drinks, everything from cappuccinos to beer to mixed drinks to Cokes. 

Bassel from the Deck of River Queen

Rather than heading back into Basel, which in this exception to the rule was a bit further than ideal walking distance from the ship, we relished sinking into the comfortable environs of the River Queen, which felt so much like home as soon as we arrived that we could not tear ourselves away to return to the bustling city as planned.

Before we knew it, late afternoon was upon us, and we were joined by Bruce and Janet, another couple about our age, for "happy hour," if such a thing can exist when all drinks are free whenever you want one. 

New Friends Janet and Bruce

"You're going to be our best friends for this cruise," Janet said.  At the time I took that to be a merely flippant comment, but it turned out to be the absolute truth despite the fact that we became acquainted with everyone else on the ship over the course of our cruise.  Janet and Bruce, with their ability to instantly bond with people, were actually sort of stars among the passengers, but at most meals and happy hours onboard, the four of us sat together.  It turns out Janet was prescient, because we had a lot in common.  By the end of the cruise, we knew more about them than many folks we've known for years.


Sunset on the Rhine

How could that be?  To some extent, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because in choosing a particular mode of vacation, you should expect others to be attracted to the trip for similar reasons.  "Birds of a feather flock together."  It turned out Uniworld attracts friendly seasoned travelers, and among the guest list on this ship, I doubt there were many places in the world unvisited.  We were among people who like to travel as much as we do, even if their homes were in Australia, Malaysia, Wisconsin, Arizona, South Africa, Singapore or even California.



Riquewihr

The next thing we knew on our first day aboard, it was 6:45 PM, and our terrific cruise director Rick was previewing ports for the next day, a ceremony he repeated each evening in the lounge before we headed to the dining room for 7 PM dinner.  He advised us to pick up the appropriate number in the morning for our choice between the included introductory excursion to either Alsatian Wine Villages or medieval Colmar from our port in Breisach.  Both sounded terrific, but we opted for the former.  An a la carte excursion in the afternoon to the Black Forest was also available, but at an additional cost.  Rick described the excursion destinations and Breisach in broad, flourished strokes, like an impressionist painter, giving us beautiful pictures in his 15 minute presentation.

From there, it was on to the dining room for a delicious meal accompanied by regional wines that Szilvia continued to refill like punch glasses at a college-age "rent party" at Ziggy's or the Amsterdam Hilton (insider terms for Orange County residents circa 1970s).




Deck of the River Queen

From there, one great experience blended into the next for 12 days, with everything unfolding perfectly with exactly enough planned activity and free time.

If the average vacation is like a good radio station without many commercials, cruising the Rhine and Moselle aboard River Queen is hearing your favorite concept album for the first time, with nothing distracting you from pure enjoyment and discovery. 

Like a classic Moody Blues album, the pieces come together to form complete stories on underlying themes that for each individual may be unique, and each day is a masterpiece in its own right that blends seamlessly with the one before.

It's not just the carefully selected ports, which traditional cruise lines also choose quite well to provide a meaningful panoramic experience. 

Kayserberg bridge

The river cruise includes without additional cost introductory excursions in each port, and with maximum capacity of 130 guests, River Queen quickly organized us into small groups each day, with the port talk by Cruise Director Rick allowing us to simply pick up a number corresponding to the tour we wanted to take on the following morning before filtering off the ship to meet on the sidewalk.

Our guides used Quietvox Audio Systems, the ear pieces for which we each found in our rooms upon embarkation.  This system allows the guide to speak into a microphone, and we can hear the limited broadcast through comfortable ear pieces, rather than having the guide yell only to have her message lost among other noises. 

While traveling in such scenic villages and historic cities, many people naturally lag to take photos, but the Quietvox continues informing us and when the signal gets weak, we know the group is pulling away from us.

When a river cruise ship arrives in port, for the most part it will be near the center of town, but sometimes, we took buses or canal boats to more distant sites, which were boarded just as efficiently, with guides providing interesting commentary about the area as we traveled.



At Home On the River

With a new port every day and delicious meals accompanied by sparkling conversation, you can imagine that we felt almost overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and experiences we had to digest, but following a fantastic morning in the scenic village of Rüdesheim, right about the time it seemed like we needed a rest, we arrived at an afternoon of scenic cruising.  We stretched out on lounge chairs, and Szilvia brought us complimentary Rüdesheimer Kaffees to sip while enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

And we luxuriated in another level of river cruising pleasure....