May 8, 2025 • 12 mins
Join host Darley Newman for an inside look at the growing world of river cruising. From her scenic journeys through Europe with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises to expert insights from Uniworld's CEO Ellen Bettridge and Chief Marketing Officer Shrinett Fleet, this episode covers everything from top destinations and packing tips to the rise of women-only and multigenerational travel. Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or new to the idea, get ready for a relaxing, immersive way to explore the world—one river at a time. Learn about Uniworld’s first-ever women’s only cruise, exploring Burgundy and Provence and departing August 24th, 2025. Special guests include Rachel Dratch from SNL and Uniworld CEO Ellen Bettridge.
Learn more about the August 24th, 2025 women-only cruise at darley.link/uniworld.
Learn more about the August 24th, 2025 women-only cruise at darley.link/uniworld.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Over the past two decades, the river cruise industry has been rapidly growing.
(00:05):
As a super frequent traveler myself, you may not be surprised to learn that I've taken two recent river cruises.
One swept me through Germany, France, and into Switzerland, and the other through Magical Bordeaux.
Both were with the Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
I recently heard about Uniworld's first ever all women's cruise,
sailing through France starting August 24th.
(00:28):
And this also being the month of May and Mother's Day.
I thought I'd enlist Uniworld's CEO Ellen Bettridge
and their Chief Marketing Officer, Shrinett Fleet, for a deep dive into river cruising.
So if you've ever thought about taking a river cruise, listen up.
Because in this podcast, we're sharing all you need to know to prepare for your next voyage,
including travel tips and frequently asked questions.
(00:50):
So let's roll down the river on the Travels with Darley Podcast,
where we take you on immersive adventures and help you learn something new.
[Music]
On my Uniworld Rhine River Cruise, I enjoyed sailing by castles and countryside
as we traveled through Germany and Alsace,France, ending our journey in Switzerland.
(01:13):
In Bordeaux, great wines were paired with excursions to places like St. Emiliano,
and a retro side-car tour of the city of Bordeaux.
It's such a fun way to see Bordeaux.
Shrinett Fleet is an expert on river cruising.
She's been working with Uniworld for almost a decade and shares what you need to know about river cruising.
For listeners out there who have not taken a river cruise,
(01:37):
you know, I've actually gone to do a few Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
But how would you describe the experience, especially for people who are maybe familiar with ocean cruising,
as compared to river cruising?
Yeah, well, like ocean cruising, river cruising is a great way
to sample several different cities or countries on one trip.
(01:58):
Similar to ocean, we always say you travel all over and unpack once, which is great.
Also like touring, so people maybe who've taken land tours, who've never taken a cruise before,
it's the same concept, right, where you can kind of travel over and see multiple places.
What we love about river cruising is a little bit smaller, more intimate groups than you would see with an ocean cruise.
(02:20):
Ocean often takes you to a destination where river cruises take you through a destination, right?
Rivers run through the heart of cities and countries, so it's a really great way to just really be in a city and a country and engage in it
in a very different way than you would if you were on land or if you were on an ocean cruise.
What I really liked about river cruising through Europe is that in many locations when we docked,
(02:44):
we often docked right in the town or city.
Meaning I could just step off the ship and I was in the heart of the action, super convenient.
What are your top tips for people who are new to river cruising?
So my top tips for new river cruisers would probably be, number one, enjoy the ship as much as the destination itself.
River cruising is great, it's going to bring you to all these great destinations.
(03:08):
And people may initially think, great, I'm going to get off, I'm going to go do this, I'm going to go do that,
I'm going to do this and it can be very busy and very active. But at the same time, the ship itself is fantastic.
And I encourage people to also just take that time to sit in the lounge or sit in the top deck with like a coffee and just enjoy the sailing.
You know, just sit there and enjoy the scenery as it is. It passes you by.
(03:31):
It really is beautiful.
You know, oftentimes on ships, especially on you know, Uniworld ships, there's always things going on.
So there's yoga classes in the morning.
You know, there's different things happening. Enjoy it. Enjoy the ship itself. Have that extra dessert.
You know, indulge in the food. It's all included. You know, so enjoy the ship.
River cruises like Uniworld's are all inclusive. And as Univworld CEO Ellen Bettridge shares, that can make for a more stress-free vacation experience.
(03:59):
To me, it feels almost like you're at your own personal country club. And you don't have to sign for anything. Everything's included.
So if you decide you want to have, you know, a latte in the morning, you can have a latte in the morning. It's not an extra charge.
If you want to have it a glass of wine at night, you can have it. And by the way, you can have two.
So everything's included. That is very nice from your drinks. And then also your Wi-Fi is included.
(04:23):
Your gratuities are included. Your transfers are included.
So the idea being is we want to take away any worry that you have. So the moment you step on board, there should be nothing that you need to worry about.
I'm a big proponent of packing lightly on my travels. Even though with film equipment in tow, it's not always possible.
One good thing about a river cruise is that you get to visit multiple locations. And you don't have to move hotels along the way.
(04:50):
This means packing lightly is possible. Don't over-pack.
This is a really good tip. And this is something I've had to learn myself over the years of traveling.
What I absolutely love about a river cruise and we have this on our ships. Some river cruise companies have this on their ships where there's actually complimentary washing machines on board.
So it's great when you're traveling that you can, you know, you actually don't need to pack a lot. Pack fairly light.
(05:13):
And you can quickly just throw in a load of laundry if you want to, you know, re-wear stuff throughout the week.
It's especially nice if you're taking a longer cruise. Maybe it's a 15 day cruise, a two week cruise where you don't want to and you don't need to over-pack.
You all have your first ever women's only cruise coming up this summer. Share with me some details about about this inaugural cruise that you're running.
(05:38):
Yeah, it's very exciting. So we have our first ever women's only cruise. It's going to take place on August 24th this summer and it's an eight day, seven night cruise.
It will start. It's in the south of France who doesn't love the south of France. So it's going to start in our Arles..
And it sails up the Rhone River to Leon.
(05:59):
And it's going to be fantastic. Our culinary team on any Uniworld Cruise, including this one, they always, you know, try to go local. So they pick local ingredients, they plan the menus to try to bring the flavors of the region to life.
It interestingly enough, that was actually kind of one of the many reasons we picked this particular cruise for the women only cruise because of the region.
(06:22):
France is well known for its wines and the women's only cruise will be traveling through Burgundy and Pervance known for its historic vineyards and fascinating cities.
One difference between a river cruise and an ocean cruise is the ship size. If you're heading on a river cruise, you'll be in a more boutique setting.
The benefit of a river cruise is definitely it's more intimate than taking a larger cruise. So on average, you probably only have around 120 guests. So it's very intimate, which is great.
(06:56):
It creates a great vibe and environment on board, typically at the end of a cruise, you know, the guests will have made several friends with other travelers because of just the nature of a smaller, more intimate cruise.
Women traveling together, but also solo women travelers has been a big trend lately and it continues to evolve. How do you see this evolving in the future of women's travel evolving as time goes on? Do you have any predictions?
(07:24):
Yeah, I mean, you're right. I think I think predictions and just based on trends that we are seeing, you're right. I think the two, I think there's the two group of female travelers that we're going to see continue to rise would be the solo, solo travelers.
We're traveling by themselves. We have seen that trend rising for the last several years and we do think it's going to keep going. River cruising is a great option for solo travelers because it provides a safe environment.
(07:50):
You know, you want to get out and see the world, but obviously you have to be mindful of your safety. And so having a ship that, you know, again, there's a safety element that is there, which I think is really appealing for solo travelers.
And I would say is the multi generational families. We're seeing a lot of that. I look two years ago, I was on our ship.
(08:14):
And I saw the most amazing family on board and it was literally a grandmother with her adult daughters and their adult daughters.
Three generations of women spanning probably from early 20s all the way up to, you know, 80s and they they had the best time.
(08:37):
They just it was watching them was just a delight just to see how they were connecting as a family, spending that time together.
But during the day, they kind of each had different ways of exploring the city, right. So the granddaughters and the daughters could explore the city by bike and, you know, ride bikes in the city.
Whereas maybe the grandmother picked a bus tour or a tour where she didn't have to, you know, go on the bike, but they could all come back together at dinner time and talk about their day and connect.
(09:04):
And so I, you're seeing a lot more of that with especially river cruising of the multi generational families that have, they like the appeal of having like different ways to explore the city, but all come together and be together on the cruise.
Yeah, on my board to cruise, actually, we had quite a few multi generational families, including the cutest grandmother who had brought her grandsons.
(09:27):
Yeah, and I was thinking, wow, I wish I'm a grandmother and take me on a river cruise.
Yeah, Ellen Bettridge shares more about what destinations to look for if you're new to river cruising. And if you've already been on one or more, perhaps where you should go next.
What are your most popular standout destinations?
When someone's new to river cruising, they generally come in and they go on the Rhine, the Danube, you know, that's kind of what people think of traditional river cruising kind of Eastern European destinations.
(09:55):
France is very big.
So whether it's, you know, doing Bordeaux, whether it's doing Avignon to Leon on the Gargone, whether it's going to on the Seine, those are all really, really popular.
And then what's really up and coming right now is, is, is the, is the Nile.
Many new places to cruise are being offered by river cruising companies as the industry continues to grow.
(10:19):
Shirnett Fleet explains.
As you know, river cruising is a, is a fast growing segment in travel and that is exciting.
People are realizing that it's a really easy, interesting, fun, immersive way to travel and to see cities and countries around the world.
I think one of the things I liked about it was the aspect of slow travel.
(10:43):
We all need to slow down and maybe not look at our phones all the time or not be going from one thing to the next and just cruising along and seeing, you know, the beautiful scenery, chateaus and castles and some greenery.
It's such a mix of, of beautiful things for the senses and you really get that sense of place when you're able to slow down and see it in that way.
(11:06):
There is something really special about being on the top deck, sailing, you know, in Budapest at night, sailing past the parliament building when it's all lit up is, is just fantastic.
So whether you grab your best friend or mom and hop onto the inaugural August 24th, women's only cruise in southern France.
Why we wanted to do this was as women, we know that feeling we get when we get together with our girlfriends and we get together with our favorite women in our lives.
(11:36):
Even just for dinner or drinks or whatever and you just always come away with a special energy, feeling your book is full.
And so we just wanted to create that in a cruise.
The site sounds and flavors of new adventures abound.
I hope you've enjoyed this deeper dive into the world of river cruising. If you like this episode, listen to the previous episode focused on the special upcoming women's only river cruise and keep on traveling.
Over the past two decades, the river cruise industry has been rapidly growing.
(00:05):
As a super frequent traveler myself, you may not be surprised to learn that I've taken two recent river cruises.
One swept me through Germany, France, and into Switzerland, and the other through Magical Bordeaux.
Both were with the Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
I recently heard about Uniworld's first ever all women's cruise,
sailing through France starting August 24th.
(00:28):
And this also being the month of May and Mother's Day.
I thought I'd enlist Uniworld's CEO Ellen Bettridge
and their Chief Marketing Officer, Shrinett Fleet, for a deep dive into river cruising.
So if you've ever thought about taking a river cruise, listen up.
Because in this podcast, we're sharing all you need to know to prepare for your next voyage,
including travel tips and frequently asked questions.
(00:50):
So let's roll down the river on the Travels with Darley Podcast,
where we take you on immersive adventures and help you learn something new.
[Music]
On my Uniworld Rhine River Cruise, I enjoyed sailing by castles and countryside
as we traveled through Germany and Alsace,France, ending our journey in Switzerland.
(01:13):
In Bordeaux, great wines were paired with excursions to places like St. Emiliano,
and a retro side-car tour of the city of Bordeaux.
It's such a fun way to see Bordeaux.
Shrinett Fleet is an expert on river cruising.
She's been working with Uniworld for almost a decade and shares what you need to know about river cruising.
For listeners out there who have not taken a river cruise,
(01:37):
you know, I've actually gone to do a few Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
But how would you describe the experience, especially for people who are maybe familiar with ocean cruising,
as compared to river cruising?
Yeah, well, like ocean cruising, river cruising is a great way
to sample several different cities or countries on one trip.
(01:58):
Similar to ocean, we always say you travel all over and unpack once, which is great.
Also like touring, so people maybe who've taken land tours, who've never taken a cruise before,
it's the same concept, right, where you can kind of travel over and see multiple places.
What we love about river cruising is a little bit smaller, more intimate groups than you would see with an ocean cruise.
(02:20):
Ocean often takes you to a destination where river cruises take you through a destination, right?
Rivers run through the heart of cities and countries, so it's a really great way to just really be in a city and a country and engage in it
in a very different way than you would if you were on land or if you were on an ocean cruise.
What I really liked about river cruising through Europe is that in many locations when we docked,
(02:44):
we often docked right in the town or city.
Meaning I could just step off the ship and I was in the heart of the action, super convenient.
What are your top tips for people who are new to river cruising?
So my top tips for new river cruisers would probably be, number one, enjoy the ship as much as the destination itself.
River cruising is great, it's going to bring you to all these great destinations.
(03:08):
And people may initially think, great, I'm going to get off, I'm going to go do this, I'm going to go do that,
I'm going to do this and it can be very busy and very active. But at the same time, the ship itself is fantastic.
And I encourage people to also just take that time to sit in the lounge or sit in the top deck with like a coffee and just enjoy the sailing.
You know, just sit there and enjoy the scenery as it is. It passes you by.
(03:31):
It really is beautiful.
You know, oftentimes on ships, especially on you know, Uniworld ships, there's always things going on.
So there's yoga classes in the morning.
You know, there's different things happening. Enjoy it. Enjoy the ship itself. Have that extra dessert.
You know, indulge in the food. It's all included. You know, so enjoy the ship.
River cruises like Uniworld's are all inclusive. And as Univworld CEO Ellen Bettridge shares, that can make for a more stress-free vacation experience.
(03:59):
To me, it feels almost like you're at your own personal country club. And you don't have to sign for anything. Everything's included.
So if you decide you want to have, you know, a latte in the morning, you can have a latte in the morning. It's not an extra charge.
If you want to have it a glass of wine at night, you can have it. And by the way, you can have two.
So everything's included. That is very nice from your drinks. And then also your Wi-Fi is included.
(04:23):
Your gratuities are included. Your transfers are included.
So the idea being is we want to take away any worry that you have. So the moment you step on board, there should be nothing that you need to worry about.
I'm a big proponent of packing lightly on my travels. Even though with film equipment in tow, it's not always possible.
One good thing about a river cruise is that you get to visit multiple locations. And you don't have to move hotels along the way.
(04:50):
This means packing lightly is possible. Don't over-pack.
This is a really good tip. And this is something I've had to learn myself over the years of traveling.
What I absolutely love about a river cruise and we have this on our ships. Some river cruise companies have this on their ships where there's actually complimentary washing machines on board.
So it's great when you're traveling that you can, you know, you actually don't need to pack a lot. Pack fairly light.
(05:13):
And you can quickly just throw in a load of laundry if you want to, you know, re-wear stuff throughout the week.
It's especially nice if you're taking a longer cruise. Maybe it's a 15 day cruise, a two week cruise where you don't want to and you don't need to over-pack.
You all have your first ever women's only cruise coming up this summer. Share with me some details about about this inaugural cruise that you're running.
(05:38):
Yeah, it's very exciting. So we have our first ever women's only cruise. It's going to take place on August 24th this summer and it's an eight day, seven night cruise.
It will start. It's in the south of France who doesn't love the south of France. So it's going to start in our Arles..
And it sails up the Rhone River to Leon.
(05:59):
And it's going to be fantastic. Our culinary team on any Uniworld Cruise, including this one, they always, you know, try to go local. So they pick local ingredients, they plan the menus to try to bring the flavors of the region to life.
It interestingly enough, that was actually kind of one of the many reasons we picked this particular cruise for the women only cruise because of the region.
(06:22):
France is well known for its wines and the women's only cruise will be traveling through Burgundy and Pervance known for its historic vineyards and fascinating cities.
One difference between a river cruise and an ocean cruise is the ship size. If you're heading on a river cruise, you'll be in a more boutique setting.
The benefit of a river cruise is definitely it's more intimate than taking a larger cruise. So on average, you probably only have around 120 guests. So it's very intimate, which is great.
(06:56):
It creates a great vibe and environment on board, typically at the end of a cruise, you know, the guests will have made several friends with other travelers because of just the nature of a smaller, more intimate cruise.
Women traveling together, but also solo women travelers has been a big trend lately and it continues to evolve. How do you see this evolving in the future of women's travel evolving as time goes on? Do you have any predictions?
(07:24):
Yeah, I mean, you're right. I think I think predictions and just based on trends that we are seeing, you're right. I think the two, I think there's the two group of female travelers that we're going to see continue to rise would be the solo, solo travelers.
We're traveling by themselves. We have seen that trend rising for the last several years and we do think it's going to keep going. River cruising is a great option for solo travelers because it provides a safe environment.
(07:50):
You know, you want to get out and see the world, but obviously you have to be mindful of your safety. And so having a ship that, you know, again, there's a safety element that is there, which I think is really appealing for solo travelers.
And I would say is the multi generational families. We're seeing a lot of that. I look two years ago, I was on our ship.
(08:14):
And I saw the most amazing family on board and it was literally a grandmother with her adult daughters and their adult daughters.
Three generations of women spanning probably from early 20s all the way up to, you know, 80s and they they had the best time.
(08:37):
They just it was watching them was just a delight just to see how they were connecting as a family, spending that time together.
But during the day, they kind of each had different ways of exploring the city, right. So the granddaughters and the daughters could explore the city by bike and, you know, ride bikes in the city.
Whereas maybe the grandmother picked a bus tour or a tour where she didn't have to, you know, go on the bike, but they could all come back together at dinner time and talk about their day and connect.
(09:04):
And so I, you're seeing a lot more of that with especially river cruising of the multi generational families that have, they like the appeal of having like different ways to explore the city, but all come together and be together on the cruise.
Yeah, on my board to cruise, actually, we had quite a few multi generational families, including the cutest grandmother who had brought her grandsons.
(09:27):
Yeah, and I was thinking, wow, I wish I'm a grandmother and take me on a river cruise.
Yeah, Ellen Bettridge shares more about what destinations to look for if you're new to river cruising. And if you've already been on one or more, perhaps where you should go next.
What are your most popular standout destinations?
When someone's new to river cruising, they generally come in and they go on the Rhine, the Danube, you know, that's kind of what people think of traditional river cruising kind of Eastern European destinations.
(09:55):
France is very big.
So whether it's, you know, doing Bordeaux, whether it's doing Avignon to Leon on the Gargone, whether it's going to on the Seine, those are all really, really popular.
And then what's really up and coming right now is, is, is the, is the Nile.
Many new places to cruise are being offered by river cruising companies as the industry continues to grow.
(10:19):
Shirnett Fleet explains.
As you know, river cruising is a, is a fast growing segment in travel and that is exciting.
People are realizing that it's a really easy, interesting, fun, immersive way to travel and to see cities and countries around the world.
I think one of the things I liked about it was the aspect of slow travel.
(10:43):
We all need to slow down and maybe not look at our phones all the time or not be going from one thing to the next and just cruising along and seeing, you know, the beautiful scenery, chateaus and castles and some greenery.
It's such a mix of, of beautiful things for the senses and you really get that sense of place when you're able to slow down and see it in that way.
(11:06):
There is something really special about being on the top deck, sailing, you know, in Budapest at night, sailing past the parliament building when it's all lit up is, is just fantastic.
So whether you grab your best friend or mom and hop onto the inaugural August 24th, women's only cruise in southern France.
Why we wanted to do this was as women, we know that feeling we get when we get together with our girlfriends and we get together with our favorite women in our lives.
(11:36):
Even just for dinner or drinks or whatever and you just always come away with a special energy, feeling your book is full.
And so we just wanted to create that in a cruise.
The site sounds and flavors of new adventures abound.
I hope you've enjoyed this deeper dive into the world of river cruising. If you like this episode, listen to the previous episode focused on the special upcoming women's only river cruise and keep on traveling.
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