Q – We have enjoyed the information on this site and we’re ready to try river boating now or in the near future. But there is one glitch – we’re in our late twenties and early thirties respectfully. Our biggest criticism of what we see in the current riverboat market is that all of the cruises seem to give you too little time in port and absolutely no night life to speak of. Everything seems centered on not being constipated and waking up for an early morning tour the next day. We wonder why no one has thought of all of the 18-30 year-olds who are missing out on doing river cruising. We would hire a Uber driver to drive us up and down the Rhine but we can’t find one who can drive on water..
A – We like you because you can laugh at yourself. So we’re seriously going to try to help you. Be patient. Don’t book anything this year unless G-Adventures, a Canadian-based tour operator that caters to a younger clientele is your style. Instead, wait until March of this year (2017) when sails of Uniworld’s new division, “U by Uniworld” will open up for sales of their new product created for millennials that will begin sailing in April 2018. Uniworld is taking two of its boats, the River Baroness and the River Ambassador, both launched in the late 90’s, and re-launching them as river boat products on Europe’s waterways specifically re-designed for adventurous younger cruisers. Details are still a bit sketchy but you can count on more basic accommodations, more immersive shore excursions, late night departures or overnights, and later morning tour departures so those up late at night can still get some sleep before shlepping to Melk. Uniworld is also promising more and better entertainment, a pledge we would not think is going to be hard to keep.
This is, in our minds, a calculated risk. Re-engineering life aboard Europe’s riverboats means that many potential guests may be turned off. We hope that Uniworld makes a success of this concept. Let’s help them out. Please bring little place cards with you announcing U by Uniworld and drop one on every table each time you stop in at Starbucks during the day. We are actually standing up at the moment in tribute to Uniworld’s guts and vision.
