Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has made a raft of changes to make its holidays more sustainable, including offering more out-of-hours visits to tourist attractions and extending its season into non-peak weeks.
For example, it takes guests to both the Rheinstein and Marksburg castles on the Rhine out of hours, when the crowds have dispersed, as part of its expanding Nights Out programme.
Uniworld’s seven-day trip to Venice docks overnight in Burano when the day-tippers have gone home, and takes guests to experience small ‘grass roots’ places, such as the social enterprise Row Venice, which is empowering female gondoliers, where they can also learn to row.
It has also introduced a pre-Christmas 2025 Parisian Magical Holiday cruise, which extends the Paris season and takes guests into Normandy in the winter.
And new train journeys in partnership with the Golden Eagle Danube Express allow guests to explore deeper into Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Uniworld also offers a growing collection of ‘immersive’ excursions, under the banner Make Travel Matter Experiences, which allow guests to explore more sustainably and enjoy unique experiences that also promote diversity and inclusivity, such as taking a canal cruise in Amsterdam on a former refugee boat. Currently, 71% of Uniworld’s itineraries offer at least one Make Travel Matter experience, but the cruise line is aiming to offer sustainable excursions on all of its cruises next year.
Uniworld, along with its parent company, The Travel Corporation, has released its fourth annual impact report, which details its plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its fleet by 2050.
Sustainability Officer Julie said Uniworld’s ships sailing in the Netherlands are now able to use Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, fuel, which reduces its carbon footprint by 80%. However, in other parts of Europe, there isn’t the availability and fuel costs are higher.
While Uniworld’s fleet is equipped to run off shore power when in port, only 20% of Europe’s waterways have this facility, she said.
“We have to wait for the ports to have the power,” she said. “For example, from Vienna downwards on the Danube, there are no facilities. It is changing, though, and we are equipped for it.”
At the end of 2024, Uniworld reported a 41% reduction in food waste across the fleet since 2021, due to its partnership with food waste monitoring system, Leanpath.
The cruise line has also continued to promote inclusive travel by offering LGBTQ+ cruises, and it will operate a women-only cruise this year.
It says its new ship, the 154-passenger Emilie, will be its most sustainable to date, but Julie wasn’t able to reveal any further details of the vessel, which is currently under construction.
