Cruising The Capital Cities Of The Danube On Uniworld’s Newest Ship (2026 REVIEW)

Cruising The Danube On Uniworld’s Newest Ship

By Sue Bryant

In the space of a week, I’ve come face-to-face with Klimt’s The Kiss, descended into the sewers of Vienna in pursuit of The Third Man, peeked inside Mozart’s mind (with the help of AI), explored a Serbian fortress by night, and enjoyed a close encounter with a princess.

Welcome to Uniworld’s newest itinerary, Capital Cities of the Danube, and its newest “Super Ship,” the divine 154-passenger S.S. Emilie.

S.S. Emilie, inspired by Emilie Flöge, the fashion designer muse of Gustav Klimt, launched in March 2026 and sails the Rhine, Main, and Danube. What’s different about this new Danube itinerary is that it bridges a gap.

Let me explain. Danube itineraries on the whole fall into variations on two themes.

There are those that operate upstream of Budapest or Vienna, so for example, Vilshofen-Budapest, or Nuremberg-Vienna, or the cross-continent voyages from Amsterdam to Vienna or Budapest.

Then, those that sail east from Budapest, across the Balkans to either the Bulgarian port of Russe or all the way to the Danube delta and the Black Sea.

Capital Cities of the Danube, however, takes in a little of both, sailing from Vienna to Bratislava, Budapest, Vukovar in Croatia, Novi Sad in Serbia, and Belgrade, the Serbian capital. So it’s something different.

I joined the ship in Vienna with my husband, David, sailing in May, a delightful time to travel when the fields are scarlet with poppies, asparagus is in season, and cities are buzzing with al fresco drinking and dining.

How Does Uniworld Fit Into the European River Cruise Landscape?

Uniworld, famed for its lavishly appointed ships, is right up there with the most luxurious lines to sail Europe’s rivers. It doesn’t really have an equal, as its ships are so distinctive with their art collections, sparkling chandeliers, sumptuous fabrics, and attention to design detail. They’re more opulent than those of, say, AmaWaterways and Scenic, while Uniworld includes more than the rival Riverside Luxury Cruises. Having said that, prices match the product.

Fellow guests are almost all from the USA and the experience is tailored to this audience — there’s a wide range of pre- and post-cruise tours and hotel stays, for example, and almost all excursions are included.

RELATED: Sue Bryant compares the 19 top river cruise lines in Europe.

READ MORE: Heidi reviews her Uniworld Douro River cruise.

Is This an Itinerary for First Timers?

I probably wouldn’t recommend this itinerary for first time river cruisers in Europe. I think new-to-river passengers want big hitters like the glorious Wachau Valley and Melk Abbey and overnights in both Vienna and Budapest. (Here are more QuirkyCruise reviews about Danube River cruising that cover the classic ports.)

This cruise is more for experienced river fans who’ve sailed the popular section of the Danube and want to delve deeper into the challenging geopolitical history and cultures of the Balkans.

David and I sailed from Vienna to Belgrade. Doing it this way means you see what for most are the bucket-list places first, like Vienna and Budapest, and then head into what for many are lesser-known places. But if you start in Belgrade, you build up to the big reveals at the end of the cruise.

S.S. Emilie: First Impressions

I’d wondered how S.S. Emilie would look as she’s the first new launch for Uniworld since the line’s parent company, The Travel Corporation, owned by the Tollman family, was sold in 2024 to asset management firm Apollo.

Much of the decor of the line’s previous ships was down to the keen eye of Toni Tollman and matriarch Bea, whereas Emilie’s interiors are by Liane van Leeuwen, owner of design firm Studio L.

I needn’t have worried, as Emilie is absolutely beautiful. There are what feels like acres of marble, oak parquet, velvet upholstery, and bevelled mirrors. Klimt pictures (prints, not originals, of course) are everywhere, giving a sense of sailing in an art gallery, as well as nods to fashion designer Emilie Flöge, Klimt’s muse, depicted in a magnificent portrait in the double-height white marble foyer and in black-and-white photos in the Aft Lounge.

The Lounge is the social hub of the ship for briefings, entertainment (which included a Rockabilly band, a DJ, and in Belgrade, a classical quartet), and pre- and post-dinner cocktails. It’s exquisitely designed, in dusky pink, blue, and pale gold, with Art Nouveau detail everywhere from the frosted glass light sconces to the tassled brass-domed lights on the burgundy marble-topped bar.

There’s a small gym on board and an attractive spa with gold mosaic detail on the wall. Emilie also has a very chic private dining room on the lower deck, done out in black-and-white geometrically patterned tiles and scarlet velvet upholstery. It’s used for Chef’s Table tasting menus — but you’d pay €145 per person (about $170 USD)  for the privilege of eating here.

I was surprised by the sundeck. There are plenty of cream canvas chairs and loungers, and shade, but no other features, when other luxury ships have giant chess sets, splash pools, herb gardens, and hammocks. It’s very stark in comparison to the lavish interiors.

Our Deluxe French Balcony Stateroom

Uniworld’s cabins always have a wow factor and ours was no exception, with a color palette of gold, chocolate, cream, and dark, polished wood. Luxurious textured wallpaper, a stylishly framed Klimt print and a bathroom lined with grey and white streaked marble and a panel of shimmering gold mosaic tiles added to the sumptuous feel.

Big bottles of toiletries from Asprey mean you can leave the shampoo at home. A bottle of red wine had been left as a greeting, as well as fruit, chocolates, and refillable water bottles.

VIDEO: Below is a brief look around Sue's compact but elegant Deluxe French Balcony cabin and its bathroom.

Food & Drink — Mostly Quite Appetizing, With Some Room For Improvement

All meals are taken in the Restaurant. The private dining room aside, there’s no alternative venue, although various snacks and canapes appeared from time to time in the Lounge, as well as afternoon tea on one day. The fact that everybody eats together in the Restaurant means there are hardly any tables for two; just two by the entrance on my cruise, which were always snaffled by people who ran down to dinner early.

The Aft Lounge, I felt, was underused. It’s a beautiful venue but it was empty every time I looked in. We made ourselves coffee from the machine here some mornings, but the desultory display of croissants wasn’t tempting.

Uniworld is trying a new dining concept on S.S. Emilie, where pretty well everything is served à la carte. Instead of one central buffet station, there are two small, enclosed buffet areas at one end of the Restaurant used for breakfast and lunch, where you can get cereals, yoghurt, fruit, and cold cuts at breakfast, and salads at lunch. Everything else is ordered from the menu. (Dinner is all table service.)

Service was rushed at lunchtimes. We’d order our mains, head to the buffet to assemble a salad or fetch soup, and the mains would be plonked down in front of us while we were still eating our appetizer. We’d then be rushing through that to stop the mains getting cold, and eating the mains surrounded by dirty plates. I very much hope this is resolved as it happened multiple times.

Dinner menus are extensive and varied, with three appetizers, two soups, four mains, one of which was vegetarian, and four desserts, as well as an always-available selection of steak, chicken, or salmon. Uniworld celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and we enjoyed a Golden theme night in Budapest featuring dishes like lobster bisque, slow roasted beef tenderloin, herb-crusted halibut and a spectacular gold-dusted chocolate and orange sphere which was so pretty I didn’t want to break it (although I did).

Lunch was a little more hit-and-miss; I eat an almost completely vegetarian diet and some days there simply wasn’t anything beyond the salad buffet — and veggie dishes were rarely labeled.

Having said that, the food was elegantly presented, and I was impressed with the use of local ingredients; plenty of delicious white asparagus, which was in season, and dishes like stuffed pancakes, Serbian bean soup, and traditional Balkan salad.

The wines were exceptional; I had no idea Serbia produced such exquisite wines.

Much-loved culinary features of Uniworld’s ships in the past have included Mrs Tollman’s Salad Dressing and her ultra-comforting chicken soup. Uniworld regulars should note that that both seem to have disappeared from the menu.

Going Ashore Along the Danube

We sailed from Vienna to Belgrade but arrived in Vienna for a two-night stay before the cruise. As the first night is spent in port, as well as the whole of day two and the evening of day two, we effectively had three nights, four days and an evening in Vienna.

First Stop: A Spring Weekend in Vienna

I grew up in Vienna and its beauty, the street names, and even the tram routes are etched in my memory. Our two days of roaming the city were an utter joy. We ate lunch in a sunny café in the Museums Quartier, we strolled through the rose-fragranced Volksgarten, snacked from the stalls of the big Genuss festival in the Stadtpark, selling local honey, cheeses, wurst, bread, and wine, and browsed the quirky shops of arty Spittelberg, where you can buy anything from a designer dirndl to a custom-produced funeral urn.

David is a big fan of the 1949 film noir The Third Man, set in the city, and had pre-booked a Third Man tour, a thrilling descent into the city’s sewers, where the film’s climactic chase scene is set. We spent hours in the fantastic Third Man Museum, too, an astonishingly detailed personal collection of movie memorabilia, props, posters, and equipment, with a separate section dedicated to bombed out, post-war Vienna.

Boarding the Ship to Begin Cruising the Danube On Uniworld’s Newest Ship

The Danube itself doesn’t flow through the old city; it was diverted in the 19th century to avoid flooding. As such, ships dock just to the east of historic center, at Handelskai, or further upstream at Nüssdorf. Boarding was seamless and of course, the ship has an incredible “wow” factor as you step into the gray-white marble-lined lobby, graced with an elegant, floor-to-ceiling Klimt reproduction of Emilie Flöge.

We soon learned that two excursions are included in every port but some are restricted on numbers. Sign-up sheets are handed out on the first evening, so be in the lounge for the briefing when these are distributed, or you could end up on a waitlist.

A Day of Music & Art

Ou first excursion was to Mythos Mozart, a mesmerizing, immersive Mozart experience that’s a mixture of surround sound, interactive displays, and glimpses (created by AI) into the mind of the young genius and into 18th century Vienna. Somewhat prosaically, the venue is under Vienna’s Steffl department store, but it has significance: this is the location of Mozart’s former house, where he died in 1791.

I could have stayed in the first room, lit by 1,500 LED candles, the hauntingly beautiful Requiem flooding the darkness, for hours.

The evening, though, was the true highlight, a private view of the Klimts at the Belvedere Palace. This is such a treat. The museum docents took us round in small groups, explaining the nuances of the work of Klimt and his Secessionist contemporaries.

I was fascinated to learn that Klimt’s most famous work, The Kiss, depicted on everything from fridge magnets to souvenir mugs and socks, may have sinister undertones. Look closer and the woman may be resisting the man, her hands clenched across her chest, head turned away, toes curled.

Chilly Bratislava

So much for those idyllic spring days; Bratislava was freezing cold and windy as we huddled in a group while our guide pointed out tiny architectural details like little figures of dogs, bats, and lizards carved on buildings to ward off evil.

Most of the old center is beautiful, all cobblestone streets and handsome buildings in Baroque and Art Nouveau style. Some are still in a terrible state of disrepair; the communists seized them and left them to rot, the elegant old houses now sprayed with graffiti, with cracks in the walls.

A Visit to Budapest

River cruises can be pretty busy, with early starts and tours every day, so I forgave myself for being lazy in Budapest, having “done” all the main sights. David and I wandered to the neo-Gothic Central Market Hall to admire colorful displays of meat, cheese, paprika and glossy vegetables, as well as honey, lavender, and weird herbal digestifs best left in Budapest.

Later, as the sun had appeared, we strolled along the river to the poignant Shoes on the Danube, commemorating the Jews who were murdered here in 1944-45.

A Different Face of Croatia

David and I joined a full day tour to Vukovar, in Croata’s Slavonia region, a landscape of rippling wheat fields and vast skies. During the Homeland War in the early 1990s, Vukovar was surrounded by 40,000 Serbian troops and defended by just 1,800 Croats, a siege that ended in mass murders and almost complete destruction.

The town today is a happier vision of colorful houses, cafés, and in late spring, fruit vendors selling mountains of strawberries, but the excellent Vucedol Museum delves deep into those troubled times.

Underground Again

We crossed the border into Serbia, docking at buzzy Novi Sad, the country’s second city.

David and I joined an included tour into the Fruska Gora national park just outside the city, a region of magnificent mature forests of beech, linden, and ash, steep hills, and rushing streams.

We dropped into the Novo Hopovo monastery, where nuns produce honey, wine, and raki, the walls of the church covered in priceless 17th-century icons, although even this bears the scars of conflict; in the second world war it was occupied by Nazis from Croatia, who stabled horses in the church and burned the iconostasis for firewood.

We paid €140 (about $162 USD) for a special after dark excursion, heading underground again to the network of defensive tunnels that honeycomb the rock under the mighty, 18th century Petrovaradin fortress, gazing over the city from a tall bluff. The complexity is astonishing; layer upon layer of tunnels, some of which are lit, but the blackness of the side corridors is eerie.

A Royal Encounter

Our tour of the Royal Palace in Belgrade came with a surprise bonus. While Serbia is a republic, it still has a non-political royal family, who live in private apartments in the palace — and Crown Princess Katherine Karađorđević herself paid us a visit, delivering a rousing speech about love and peace. Admittedly, there was an undignified rush to snap selfies with her afterward, but I could see my shipmates were in genuine awe.

What’s Next for Uniworld?

Three more Uniworld Super Ships are launching in 2027 and I’ve no doubt the decor will be as stylish and spectacular as that of Emilie, and the itineraries as creative as ever.

Just be aware that Uniworld’s ship design has changed a little; the days of the much-loved Bar du Leopard, the indoor pool, and the alternative dining venues seem to have gone. And I really missed Mrs Tollman’s salad dressing.

Interested in Cruising the Danube on Uniworld’s Newest Ship?

Uniworld's Capital Cities of the Danube cruise starts at £2,549 per person (about $3,500 USD), and includes all meals, open bar and daily excursions.

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