Savvy Traveler: From Vienna to Bucharest in two fascinating weeks

Passengers on the mega ships plying the waters of the Caribbean, Europe or Asia have been accustomed for many years to stopovers in multiple ports. Today there are boutique cruise lines, such as Uniworld, that offer comprehensive multi-port trips.

They have one thing in common…luxury.

Cruise passengers, mega ship or boutique, have virtually all the amenities of home plus maid service and dining rooms.

In port, the walk to tour buses is only a few steps from the gangway and guides are very knowledgeable about their destinations.

The two-week Vienna to Bucharest Uniworld tour traversed nine ports in seven countries in a most relaxed and pleasurable journey. Several ports stops were for more than one day, giving passengers an opportunity to take guided tours (some included and others optional) or simply wander city streets on their own.

One the third day out of Vienna, the River Princess docked at Vukovar in Croatia. This country — that suffered so much in its war with Serbia — has made an amazing comeback.

An included tour from Vukovar Port was by comfortable air-conditioned bus to Osijek where passengers were treated to lunch in the home of a local resident. While the “grandmother” who was in charge of preparing the meal for perhaps a dozen guests (each bus was spread out over several different homes so as not to overcrowd the experience) spoke not a word of English, her granddaughter, a college student, was fluent and described all of the local foods being prepared and was a font of knowledge about local customs.

This “people to people” program offered the cruise passengers a beautiful insight to the lives of Croats.

That night, the river ship slipped its moorings for a day in Belgrade, Serbia, and then, the next day, on to Kostolac, Serbia, where passengers boarded buses for the short ride through the countryside to Viminacium, the site of an ancient Roman complex.

From a walk above the covered dig, visitors can view the remains of homes, baths and even see several skeletons of long-gone Romans who populated the region thousands of years ago.

But the best was yet to come.

The passengers were permitted on ground level where they could get up close and personal with the artifacts. They were then led through a tunnel to see art works that survived the millennia as the city was covered over by perhaps 20 feet of earth.

Back above ground were remnants of columns and other pieces of buildings that archeologists and student assistants were slowly and lovingly uncovering.

A gift shop adjacent to the dig (isn’t there always a nearby gift shop?) had unique items on sale. Most were recreations of artifacts found on site, such as pottery shards, amphora and plates.

River Princess built in considerable down-time, giving passengers an opportunity to relax, and take in the amazing scenery on the banks of the Danube between Kostolac and Vidin, Bulgaria.

The ship sailed through the so-called “Iron Gate” section of the Danube and every camera on board was busy clicking away.

Passengers crowded the deck to see the canal locks as the ship traversed from the upper Danube to a lower level of the river. It was like a mini-version of the Panama Canal as the ship lowered between the walls of the locks and then sailed off.

The stops ahead included Vidin and Rousse in Bulgaria, with the final destination the beautiful city of Bucharest, Romania. Many opted for the optional tour from Bucharest to Bran Castle, the legendary home of Count Dracula.

Some hired a driver and car to visit local sights such as the Holocaust Memorial or simply walked through the city and sampled local restaurants and taverns.

The third morning in Bucharest was a very early rising for transfer to the airport. Uniworld has this down to a science and it resembled a military maneuver with every possibility covered.

Uniworld has a large fleet of ships that has recently been expanded, serving Vietnam and Cambodia with a stop at the World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat, as well as cruises through Western Europe and an expanding itinerary. For information, go to Uniworldcruises.com.

Bob and Sandy Nesoff are members of the American Society of Authors and Journalists