Uniworld River Cruises

I've traveled extensively around the world, so I feel like I have a base to critique Uniworld. I've booked with the top of the line and I've booked with so so good.

Previously, before my trip on Uniworld, I did my first river cruise with a friend on another cruise line No comparison. The service, the attention to detail, the food, the decor, the all inclusive program, and the staff's attitude to make your trip enjoyable went beyond all expectations on Uniworld. Not so on the other line.

Needless to say we've booked another trip on Uniworld coming up in Oct.. You won't be disappointed if you book with Uniworld.

I am concerned about what appears to be misleading advertising in Uniworld’ s River Cruise brochures, and online advertisements.

I chose the Uniworld River Cruise, having never been on a river cruise before, because of the Reviews and Awards Uniworld had received, for the itinerary offered, and more importantly because of the Terms and Conditions, in particular the additional offering of the available purchase of the “Peace of Mind Program”. I wanted to purchase the program simply because of the itinerary and the fact that Egypt has sandstorms in the spring, and there is always a possibly of disruption and delays given the particular location of our tour.

This cruise is to be a first time River cruise, although we have travelled on many cruises before. We are traveling to Egypt on the River Tosca. I purchased the cruise in February 2018, as a University Graduation Gift for my son. My son is graduating with a degree in Ancient History and Archeology. He is pursuing a career in Heritage Law next year. Thus, the significance of the Egyptian itinerary.

My concern is that Uniworld River Cruises has been advertising since I booked in Feb, 2018 the availability to purchase the Peace of Mind Program for an additional fee. This program touts itself as "safeguarding your vacation investment" and can be added up to 30 days prior to the cruise-tour start date".

On December 3, 2018 my travel advisor was told by “Ben” at Uniworld that I was able to purchase the Peace of Mind Program up to 30 days before the start date of my tour. The second week of January, I was ready to make my purchase for the Peace of Mind program and my travel agent was turned down saying the program no longer existed and without further explanation. I pursued and contacted my Senior Travel Advocate to look into this further. He pursued this to the District Management Level at Uniworld, and again we were turned down. There has been no reason given for dropping the program, except to say that the program was dropped in December 2018 .

Today I am really struggling with the ethics of Uniworld, in particular Page 05 of the 2019 Boutique River cruises Brochure entitled “Your deserve a masterpiece”. I certainly feel I have made a poor choice when there are so many other river cruise lines to choose from. I have worked in many areas of customer service for 30 plus years, and was taught from a young age to respect customers and honor your mistakes. If the sale sign is still up, you give the customer the sale price to generate good will. If the Peace of Mind program is advertised, up until 30 days before departure you honor the customer’s request to purchase it.

I simply wanted "Peace of Mind" and instead I have been left uneasy. It is very obvious that Uniworld does not feel its customers "Deserve the Best". Page 05 of the 2019 Brochure states "Throughout this brochure, you'll read about the many promises. Promises to provide you with...A promise to go above and beyond to make sure even the smallest details are exactly the way you'd like them to be"..."Everything included in the following pages is our pledge to you to deliver a travel experience beyond compare." I certainly feel from these published words that Uniworld has no intention of standing by its “Promises” motto. In fact I am wondering if this is simply a ruse used to falsify a person's hopes.

I truly feel others should know about this misleading information, and I caution you to carefully consider whether you will have "Peace of Mind" when you book with Uniworld River Cruises.