A Spotlight on Uniworld's Rhine Cruise
The Itinerary
This was a stellar itinerary, starting in Brussels and finishing in Basel. There were stops at Antwerp, Maastricht, Roermond, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Cochem, Trier, Bernkastel-Kues, Koblenz/Boppard, Rüdesheim, Speyer and Strasbourg.
We stopped at many of the ports less travelled including the canals of Belgium and the Netherlands and the picturesque Moselle River, all of which see much less tourist traffic than many other European river cruise itineraries. Many of the picture postcard towns we visited were free from crowds.
There is no way that we could have seen all these towns in fifteen days if we were travelling independently. We could have hired a car but that comes with following maps, trying to work out parking signs in foreign languages and continually packing and unpacking. Also, as Aussies or Brits, there’s the stress of driving on the ‘wrong” side of the road.
Gliding along in six-star luxury with Uniworld was way more relaxing.
Excursions
At least one excursion was included in the cruise fare every day. There was a great range of excursions including: historical walking tours and winery visits. There were also some more adventurous options like bike rides and mountain hikes.
If the tour was a distance from where the ship was docked, there were sparkling, fully branded Uniworld coaches waiting for us. Conveniently, the coaches had a small toilet.
General Ship Review
- The S.S. Victoria has capacity for 110 guests and 51 crew.
- The ship has 55 staterooms and suites, many of which have French balconies. The balcony effect is created by the touch of a button which lowers the window glass halfway. Great for resting elbows, coffees, G&Ts and champagne!
The S.S. Victoria is elegant with lots of white and grey tones, soft lighting, velvet upholstered furniture and polished brass. Contemporary and classy. And in mint condition.
There is a glass elevator which travels between decks but does not reach the Sundeck. This is only accessible via stairs.
Dining Guide
The food on S.S. Victoria was some of the finest food we have enjoyed river cruising.
There is only one restaurant onboard (it’s a small ship after all) but the buffets for breakfast and lunch were ever changing and the four-course à la carte dinners would not be out of place in a fine-dining restaurant on land. There were always regional specialties (and regional wine). If you wanted a quiet meal, room service was available 24/7.
The Restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows on each side. There’s free seating for all guests with tables for 2, 4 or 6 people.
We sat on a table for two most evenings. Sometimes, we had neighbours and had a bit of a chat. Other times, we were solo. We also joined some tables for four sometimes and met some lovely fellow passengers from all over the world.
Breakfast was a full hot and cold breakfast buffet of juices, smoothies, cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, cereals and a range of hot food items including one hot item which was a changing daily special. They also had a cook to order eggs station. Champagne was served daily at breakfast if you wanted it and coffee was barista made.
Lunch was also served buffet style every day. There were quick bites like pulled pork sandwiches or chicken and salad wraps, soups, salads, a selection of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes and a carvery section. The schnitzel and scallopini I had onboard for lunch were some of my favourite meals of the trip.
Dinner was à la carte - an appetiser, a soup, main course and dessert, with several choices for each. Additionally, a cheese plate was available. Meals were always delicious and beautifully-plated.
There is a second dining area and bar called the Bistro which served coffee, morning pastries and afternoon tea.
There were also special, small group dining experiences for an extra fee, namely the Chef’s Table and the Progressive Dinner.
The Chef’s Table dining experience was a private dining room experience of five exquisite courses with matched wines in the Vintage Room. This was a white glove silver service experience for up to twelve guests.
The Progressive Dinner was a really unique behind the scenes experience. We had small bites in different parts of the ship, starting with sabrage (a sabre opening a bottle of champagne!) on the Sundeck before rotating around various parts of the ship, eating in each including the Wheelhouse with the captain, the Galley, the ship’s Laundry and even the Engine Room. Our group of eight then enjoyed our main course in the Vintage Room.
As a Suite guest, we also had the option of being served by our Butler in our Suite. In the name of research, we had to try this so we enjoyed a light lunch served in our room one day. This was another genuine white glove, silver service affair, complete with champagne.
Drinks
There are three bars onboard plus the private in-room bar. I can’t call it a minibar because there were full sized bottles of alcohol in our cabin plus wines and mixers. There is a bar on the Sundeck, one in the Bistro and the main bar is in the Lounge (officially known as the Palm Court Salon).
Drinks are unlimited and whatever you want. Be it a champagne at breakfast, a barista-made coffee, cocktails on the Sundeck, a Belgian craft beer, a selection of wines with your meals or mixed drinks in your cabin. We sampled over a dozen different cocktails on this cruise.
The staff went out of their way to remember our favourite drinks and cocktails – just one example of the luxe service onboard this ship.
Evenings settled into a lovely pattern of pre-dinner drink (a cocktail usually) from 6pm with our new friends in the Lounge, a port talk by the Cruise Director and a sommelier talk about the wines to be served followed by dinner in the Restaurant. Some nights, it was back to the Lounge for post-dinner entertainment.
The Lounge has floor-to-ceiling windows and a part-glass ceiling. It also spans the ship, maximising views and light.
Facilities onboard
- Heated indoor pool with swim jets
- Spa
- Small fitness centre
What's included in the cruise fare?
- A choice of guided excursions every day using Quietvox machines. We love these (we’ve used them on Viking cruises too). You can hear the guide and you don’t disrupt the place you’re visiting.
- Some included excursions are guided bike rides but there are also e-bikes and helmets onboard. We took the bikes out a few times to cycle along the scenic and flat bike paths that lined the rivers.
- Nordic walking poles.
- Self-service laundrette.
- WiFi
- Unlimited drinks (not just with meals) including: fine wine, beer, spirits, specialty coffee and tea. Some wine and beer changed according to the regions we travelled through.
- A daily yoga and stretching class.
- A self-service tea and coffee station with cookies.
- Double charcoal filtered water stations where you can refill your insulated (and gifted) Uniworld-branded water bottles.
- Some Suite guest benefits:
- a bag of laundry per day;
- a fully-stocked and continually replenished minibar; and
- a personal butler
Our Cabin
This was the most opulent room we had ever had on a river ship.
Our Suite was 23.5 sq metres (253 sq feet) with a cloud-like King Size bed, walk in robe and huge ensuite bathroom.
Elegant and luxe, our Suite was also very functional. For example, the “magic” window which lowered half-way had a flyscreen and the curtains were layers of pretty sheers and heavy silver fabric which kept the light out.
Other functional elements included: reading lights and lamps plus several power and USB outlets. We had a desk and a little table which extended so that two of us could rest our laptops on it.
We also had a bar fridge, a Julius Meinl Inspresso machine, a SMEG kettle and an ice bucket together with a selection of Althaus tea, a cookie jar, and a chocolate jar. We even had our own white Phalaenopsis orchid (white orchids were scattered throughout the ship!)
The bathroom was elite. There were dual vanities, two hairdryers (one portable and one wall fixed), fluffy towels (2 per person), a marble vanity, a huge mirror and a magnifying illuminated mirror, a huge shower with a button control for rainfall or hand-held. There were drawers to stow all our stuff and a long shelf too. Toiletries were Asprey from London.
Our favourite spot on the ship
Other than our luxurious Suite, it was the Sundeck on Deck 4. This featured lounges and deck chairs, some undercover for shade and others in the open for sun lovers. It was a great spot to sit back and watch the amazing scenery glide by.
The Sundeck also featured a full bar serving any drinks you wanted. The bar actually lowered completely into Deck 3 when the ship was passing under low bridges which was a great design feature.
Dress Code
We found dress to be pretty relaxed but guests did change into smarter clothes for dinner. In the evenings, men are requested not to wear shorts.
Uniworld suggests a sport jacket for men and cocktail wear for women for special events.
Fun facts
- S.S. stands for Supership
- Uniworld Boutique River Cruises was founded in 1976 but it was under the luxury hotelier Tollman family that the brand grew and developed its premium positioning. The Tollman family’s vision for Uniworld, particularly the vision of Bea Tollman, was to create a fleet of luxury boutique floating hotels. The Tollmann family sold Uniworld to a US-based asset management firm in 2024.
If you'd like to experience this cruise, take a look at all S.S. Victoria sailings here.
Leonie and Andrew Jarrett cruised the “Rhine, Moselle & Belgium Grand Discovery” cruise from Brussels to Basel in August 2025 as guests of Uniworld Boutique Cruises.
Leonie and Andrew are Panache Ambassadors and you can follow them on socials here:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/we_like_to_cruise_and_travel
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@weliketocruiseandtravel
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/We-Like-to-Cruise-and-Travel/100088926722798/
