The Avid Cruiser

Click here to read the summer issue of Avid Cruiser magazine in digital format.

The digital issue is GREEN, immediate, up-to-date, portable, features embedded video, spans 100 pages and has no international borders. Anyone, anywhere, can read it, print it, pass it along and archive it for future reference.

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Cruising or considering cruising the river Danube on Uniworld’s River Empress? This “know before you go” guide will enhance your journey and perhaps help you avoid making costly mistakes. It goes without saying that you should check your documents before departing home, but some people miss the fine details even after combing over them a few times.

Moments before this article was posted, for example, I met a couple in the reception of River Empress who had made one big mistake: They arrived a day early. Fortunately, River Empress staff helped them by giving them a room on the ship. The passenger documents clearly stated that their cruise began not today, but tomorrow.

For tips on what to expect and how to prepare for your cruise, read on.

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Uniworld’s River Empress isn’t the newest vessel on the Danube. She was built in 2002 and refurbished in 2005.

There are no balconies gracing the 63 double cabins and four suites. Cabin sizes are fairly standard for river cruisers: 151 square feet; and 214 square feet for the suites.

Generously sized bathrooms feature showers with soap, shampoo and other bath amenities provided, so you can save room in your suitcase by not packing those items.

River Empress features a lounge, fitness center, launderette (laundry services also are offered), sauna, boutique and a beauty salon. For those with mobility problems, there is an elevator.

The restaurant is situated just below the sundeck, with plenty of tables offering a view from the window.

On one day of each cruise, a Bavarian lunch buffet is served on the top deck. Passengers also have the option on one night to be served in the Solarium on the top deck, a pleasant setting just behind the wheelhouse.

I checked into my hotel in Budapest, Hungary, and checked out a week later in Passau, Germany. Each evening, sometimes after I had fallen asleep, my hotel moved, from Budapest, to Bratislava, to Vienna, to Durnstein and Melk on the same day, to Linz and finally Passau. If you’re scratching your head, I’ll let you in on a secret: My hotel was a river cruiser.

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Click To Play Video Slideshow

Immortalized by Johann Strauss in Blue Danube Waltz, the Danube winds from Germany’s Black Forest through Austria into the Balkans before dumping into the Black Sea.

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Of all the jobs in the world, surely Rudolph van der Meulen’s must be among the best. His job, as instructed by his bosses, is to cruise on a river boat and simply to do this: nothing.

While most people might call that a vacation, it’s a tall order for the otherwise-ambitious 37-year-old hotel manager on Uniworld’s River Empress. Nonetheless, on the day when I talked with him, Rudy was living up to his superior’s expectations with admirable aplomb.

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