May 8, 2025 • 12 mins
Learn about Uniworld’s first-ever women’s only cruise, exploring Burgundy and Provence, departing August 24th. Designed by women, this unique cruise will have special guests, including comedian Rachel Dratch and Uniworld’s CEO Ellen Bettridge. Hear from Ellen Bettridge and Uniworld Chief Marketing Officer Shirnett Fleet about what makes this cruise an exquisite experience—from lavender weaving and burlesque workshops to wine tastings, candlelit concerts, and a comedy show and Q&A with Rachel Dratch from SNL. This episode explores how women travelers are shaping the future of tourism and how river cruising is evolving to meet their needs—with luxury, connection, and fun at the heart of it all.
Learn more about the August 24th, 2025 women-only cruise sailing through southern France at darley.link/uniworld.
Learn more about the August 24th, 2025 women-only cruise sailing through southern France at darley.link/uniworld.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Beautiful food and wine, fabulous scenery,
(00:03):
and days spent exploring new lands.
It's the beauty of travel,
and so easy when you get to experience it through a River Cruise.
I've been able to take two River Cruises in Europe
with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
So when I heard the news about their upcoming first ever,
women's only cruise to Burgundy and Provence,
I wanted to find out more.
(00:24):
Departing on August 24th,
this ultimate girls trip is high on luxury
with super special activities
and women who come on board will get to cruise
with special guests.
Uniworld's pioneering CEO Ellen Bettridge
will be on board along with Rachel Dratch,
who you may know from Saturday Night Live.
So let's dive in to hear what's on offer
(00:45):
from Ellen Bettridge herself
and Uniworld's chief marketing officer,
Shirnett Fleet.
It's the Travels with Darley Podcast
where we take you to experience hidden gems
around the world and learn how to travel better.
In this podcast, we'll learn about this women's luxury cruise
and get tips on River Cruising
and explore whether this type of unique vacation
(01:06):
is a fit for you.
Going on the Amazon,
going over onto the Mekong,
onto the Ganges,
what's great is we're having a chance to offer
just about all of them these days.
That's Ellen Bettridge, the CEO of Uniworld,
(01:26):
and she gets to travel a lot.
She also has a lot to juggle as the CEO of Uniworld
and as the mother of two girls herself.
Well, you know what? I couldn't pass it up.
But team said, "Do you want to go and host along
with Rachel Dratch?"
I said, "Oh my gosh, I'd be honored."
And I generally make it on once a year,
so this will be my once a year that I get on the ship.
(01:46):
Ellen spoke with me about their first ever women's cruise
along with Shirnett Fleet,
who's been with Uniworld for several years.
So this was a cruise that was really designed,
not only for women, but it was designed by women.
So it was a group of women got together
and really said, "What would we love to see in a cruise
(02:07):
if we were going on a woman-only cruise?"
And we had a lot of fun deciding
on how we were going to make this cruise special.
So for instance, we're going to, again, we're women.
We're like, "What do we love?"
Well, we all kind of love shoes.
I know that sounds really like stereotypical,
but we thought, "How cool would it be to go to a visit
to the International Shoe Museum?"
So something, things like that.
(02:28):
We are bringing on special teachers on board
to kind of teach and lead our guests
on some unique workshops, like building your own perfume.
We have a Burlesque workshop, which is kind of fun.
A lavender weaving workshop.
We're going to do a wine and chocolate pairing lesson
with Valrhona Chocolate is an amazing French chocolatier
(02:49):
in that region. On off the ship, you know,
we're going to take our guests to an evening light show
at an ancient Roman aqueduct.
We've got a candlelight concert happening.
There's just so many fun things that we're doing
that we don't normally do on a typical cruise
that we thought would just make this week fun.
(03:10):
It's not just about wine and chocolate.
Women today are traveling more than ever.
It's a definite trend.
According to a 2024 Women Traveler report from Skift Research,
more than 64% of the world's travelers are women,
with 82% being responsible for making a family's travel decisions.
(03:30):
Solo Women Travel is also on the rise.
Nearly 40% of women travelers say they're planning
a solo trip in 2025.
Ellen Bettridge shares why Uniworld has gotten into this trend.
First of all, it was about data.
We see so many more single women are traveling with Uniworld.
(03:51):
We see them getting younger and younger as well.
It's like, wow, what do we do?
We should do something special just for women.
That was the first thought.
Then you see all these other trips coming out with different companies
who have these women only and they say,
gosh, we need to be in this game because there's absolutely a desire for it.
It's really about what our customers were saying
(04:12):
and then what the industry was saying.
Is this vision for this particular cruise line up
with your personal vision?
I know you've traveled with your daughters and being a female CEO
How does it align with your and Uniworld's broader vision?
I want Uniworld to be a place where people feel really comfortable all the time
(04:33):
and want to be on the ship and it's okay if they come alone
or they come with a group of women to me that's important.
But it's also important that we have unique offerings.
What are some of the different benefits that river cruising offers,
especially for women travelers who are seeking to kind of get out there
that could be more intimate and rich.
How would you describe these offerings?
(04:55):
When you're on board, I think it's about safety and security.
First and foremost, I think everyone wants to have that sense of security
when they're traveling.
I think it's the size of the ship right away and river cruising offers that
because the size is very unique.
It's very intimate.
It's a safe place.
You get to know other people.
So it's also very easy to get to know others when you're on board.
(05:18):
It's a little community of people.
And I think it's what's nice is they're all very like-minded
and so people come together and want to be together
and they embrace others who are there.
So I think it's the perfect opportunity for anyone traveling alone
specifically a woman.
We wanted to do something fun.
Women only because you could do a health inspired or you could do.
We didn't want to be boring, right?
(05:39):
So we wanted to have it be really fun.
So first of all, we added a lot of fun.
But we also had some really cool things.
So we're going to go into an international shoe museum.
We're going to have an extra wellness coach on board
to ensure that we have some fantastic yoga classes and stretching classes.
So we'll have that as well.
They can sure whoever wants to get a massage,
can actually get a massage.
(05:59):
We'll have to be having a pajama party at night.
And yes, we have a fantastic guest speaker to make sure the fun is there.
I was able to sail through Bordeaux and along the Brine River previously
with Uniworld
And had some delicious food and wine along the route.
Shrinett Fleet describes the upcoming August 24th cruise in France.
This cruise sails through a well-known wine region.
(06:22):
So if you do love wine, you'll know that the Rhone Valley is a place
where you can find some amazing vineyards like Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape
We love the idea of having the cruise in this region
where our guests are going to get to try delicious French wines, delicious French foods.
And for those who want to mix and mingle with another female powerhouse besides Ellen Bettridge,
(06:46):
I've loved laughing because of Rachel Dratch
and shows like 30 Rock and The Simpsons.
We're incredibly lucky to have Rachel Dratch on board.
She's an acclaimed comedian.
We might know her from Saturday Night Live.
She's Debbie Downer and she's a lot of fun
and we are really lucky to have her on board.
And she's going to be doing an entire act for us one evening
(07:06):
which I think our guests will love.
She's also going to be doing a Q&A with us.
And then she's just going to be sailing with us all week.
And from what I hear from her team, she's very engaging and a lot of fun.
I think it's great when women can be inspired by other women
and you are going to be on this cruise.
What do you hope that you will get to do or bring to the table
(07:27):
or maybe some of the interactions you might have being on this?
On this inaugural cruise.
Yeah, so this is our first ever women's cruise.
You know, I wanted to be there because I was part of the design of this.
And by the way, it was designed by women for women.
Very thoughtful.
A lot of work has gone into it.
I want to be able to connect with the women who chose to do this
(07:50):
and listen to them and find out about how,
what else we can be doing to support women
and to support this industry.
What have been some of the standout moments for you
being the CEO of Uniworld?
You know, I have a lot of them.
I think it was about the first time I took my daughters on board
(08:11):
and just being so proud that I am leading this organization.
I believe it's also like just the christening of the ship
like being at the christening of
my first ship and how that was like that first moment of the first ship
that you're christening.
We just are preparing for a new ship called the Super Ship Emily
that is joining this week in 2026.
And really that is the ship that I got to see from beginning to end.
(08:35):
You know, I got to be part of the design, part of her, you know, her inspiration.
And that's been really special to me.
What would you say for women who are maybe hesitant and saying,
oh, I'm not sure if this is the right fit?
Who would be a great fit for this type of experience?
You know, I think it is somebody, it's all about like my people coming together.
(08:59):
You know, I see that over and over in the universe.
So it's the same with these women, right?
So it's going to probably, my guess is it's going to be very outgoing women
who want to connect with others, who want to learn from each others,
who want to, you know, explore a destination with another group of people
who they can connect with and become friends with.
And over and over on Uniworld Cruises, what we see is people meet each other
(09:23):
and they stay friends, they then travel again together with us.
If you were to share one tip for women and travelers in general
who are going to look at river cruising, would there be a tip that you've seen?
Or like, you take people don't know that they should think about this
or they should bring this or that when they're looking at a River Cruise.
Yeah.
(09:44):
Well, first of all, make sure you being good walking shoes.
I am amazed by the amount of people who show up with these really cute shoes
but they're not the right ones to be walking.
Because it's cobblestones and you know, you want to get out there and explore.
I think it's about being very open-minded to trying all the different food.
I think that, you know, we do offer an array of different things that people can try
that are, you know, from that destination and to explore them.
(10:07):
It's about being open to meeting other people.
It's the perfect environment, right?
So come in with the attitude of I want to meet other people and learn from them.
And it's, to me, River Cruising is, it's still an education for us.
Like we're constantly learning from everyone who's ever been on.
I love going on the excursions and learning about the destination, about the people, about the environment.
(10:33):
And I think that's something that people might not realize.
One thing that stood out for me when I was on my Uniworld Cruises in the past
is that there's, there was really amazing art on, at least the ship I was on.
And I was on the SS Antoinette on one of them.
It was like, I was seeing, I think a Monet.
And there was maybe also, like, for women looking at this cruise coming up,
(10:57):
are there, there are things like that in the decor or the art or the design that you would point out?
Yeah. So, you know, all of our ships have amazing art on them.
It is, you know, a part, it's one of our hallmarks.
We believe that, you know, we're trying to make, each ship is designed after the destination.
And it really does when you're on board, you will feel as though you are in the South of France.
(11:19):
She, this ship in particular has the most beautiful horse that's built out of glass at the base of her elevator that's actually a waterfall.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
We have the most amazing chandeliers throughout every one of our ships.
It's kind of also a hallmark of all of the Uniworld ships.
So you've got the arts, you've got the chandeliers.
(11:41):
You've got a lot, you've got a lot, you're juggling, and I know how you're going on this cruise coming up.
Now, where am I going to be on August 24th?
And how about you?
It's so special to float down a river and wake up in a new location.
And to be able to do that with a cool group of women travelers is super special, too.
People that, you know, you were in college with and they live in the other side of the country,
(12:02):
and you haven't seen them in years, and you want to get together and you're doing a girls trip.
So I think you're going to have a really good mix of women coming together.
And, you know, just given the events, the activities that we have scheduled on board the ship,
I anticipate, I think we all anticipate by the end of this,
there's going to be a lot of new friendships formed between women.
We hope there will be.
Thanks for sailing with me on this Travels with Darley Podcast.
(12:25):
We debuted this special episode in May, in honor of Mother's Day,
and the women who have lit up our lives as moms, sisters, and friends.
Thanks for traveling with me.
If you want to learn more about river cruising, stay tuned for my next episode,
taking a deep dive into all things river cruising,
including great travel tips for first time cruisers,
(12:46):
and those seeking to return again.
[Music]
Beautiful food and wine, fabulous scenery,
(00:03):
and days spent exploring new lands.
It's the beauty of travel,
and so easy when you get to experience it through a River Cruise.
I've been able to take two River Cruises in Europe
with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
So when I heard the news about their upcoming first ever,
women's only cruise to Burgundy and Provence,
I wanted to find out more.
(00:24):
Departing on August 24th,
this ultimate girls trip is high on luxury
with super special activities
and women who come on board will get to cruise
with special guests.
Uniworld's pioneering CEO Ellen Bettridge
will be on board along with Rachel Dratch,
who you may know from Saturday Night Live.
So let's dive in to hear what's on offer
(00:45):
from Ellen Bettridge herself
and Uniworld's chief marketing officer,
Shirnett Fleet.
It's the Travels with Darley Podcast
where we take you to experience hidden gems
around the world and learn how to travel better.
In this podcast, we'll learn about this women's luxury cruise
and get tips on River Cruising
and explore whether this type of unique vacation
(01:06):
is a fit for you.
Going on the Amazon,
going over onto the Mekong,
onto the Ganges,
what's great is we're having a chance to offer
just about all of them these days.
That's Ellen Bettridge, the CEO of Uniworld,
(01:26):
and she gets to travel a lot.
She also has a lot to juggle as the CEO of Uniworld
and as the mother of two girls herself.
Well, you know what? I couldn't pass it up.
But team said, "Do you want to go and host along
with Rachel Dratch?"
I said, "Oh my gosh, I'd be honored."
And I generally make it on once a year,
so this will be my once a year that I get on the ship.
(01:46):
Ellen spoke with me about their first ever women's cruise
along with Shirnett Fleet,
who's been with Uniworld for several years.
So this was a cruise that was really designed,
not only for women, but it was designed by women.
So it was a group of women got together
and really said, "What would we love to see in a cruise
(02:07):
if we were going on a woman-only cruise?"
And we had a lot of fun deciding
on how we were going to make this cruise special.
So for instance, we're going to, again, we're women.
We're like, "What do we love?"
Well, we all kind of love shoes.
I know that sounds really like stereotypical,
but we thought, "How cool would it be to go to a visit
to the International Shoe Museum?"
So something, things like that.
(02:28):
We are bringing on special teachers on board
to kind of teach and lead our guests
on some unique workshops, like building your own perfume.
We have a Burlesque workshop, which is kind of fun.
A lavender weaving workshop.
We're going to do a wine and chocolate pairing lesson
with Valrhona Chocolate is an amazing French chocolatier
(02:49):
in that region. On off the ship, you know,
we're going to take our guests to an evening light show
at an ancient Roman aqueduct.
We've got a candlelight concert happening.
There's just so many fun things that we're doing
that we don't normally do on a typical cruise
that we thought would just make this week fun.
(03:10):
It's not just about wine and chocolate.
Women today are traveling more than ever.
It's a definite trend.
According to a 2024 Women Traveler report from Skift Research,
more than 64% of the world's travelers are women,
with 82% being responsible for making a family's travel decisions.
(03:30):
Solo Women Travel is also on the rise.
Nearly 40% of women travelers say they're planning
a solo trip in 2025.
Ellen Bettridge shares why Uniworld has gotten into this trend.
First of all, it was about data.
We see so many more single women are traveling with Uniworld.
(03:51):
We see them getting younger and younger as well.
It's like, wow, what do we do?
We should do something special just for women.
That was the first thought.
Then you see all these other trips coming out with different companies
who have these women only and they say,
gosh, we need to be in this game because there's absolutely a desire for it.
It's really about what our customers were saying
(04:12):
and then what the industry was saying.
Is this vision for this particular cruise line up
with your personal vision?
I know you've traveled with your daughters and being a female CEO
How does it align with your and Uniworld's broader vision?
I want Uniworld to be a place where people feel really comfortable all the time
(04:33):
and want to be on the ship and it's okay if they come alone
or they come with a group of women to me that's important.
But it's also important that we have unique offerings.
What are some of the different benefits that river cruising offers,
especially for women travelers who are seeking to kind of get out there
that could be more intimate and rich.
How would you describe these offerings?
(04:55):
When you're on board, I think it's about safety and security.
First and foremost, I think everyone wants to have that sense of security
when they're traveling.
I think it's the size of the ship right away and river cruising offers that
because the size is very unique.
It's very intimate.
It's a safe place.
You get to know other people.
So it's also very easy to get to know others when you're on board.
(05:18):
It's a little community of people.
And I think it's what's nice is they're all very like-minded
and so people come together and want to be together
and they embrace others who are there.
So I think it's the perfect opportunity for anyone traveling alone
specifically a woman.
We wanted to do something fun.
Women only because you could do a health inspired or you could do.
We didn't want to be boring, right?
(05:39):
So we wanted to have it be really fun.
So first of all, we added a lot of fun.
But we also had some really cool things.
So we're going to go into an international shoe museum.
We're going to have an extra wellness coach on board
to ensure that we have some fantastic yoga classes and stretching classes.
So we'll have that as well.
They can sure whoever wants to get a massage,
can actually get a massage.
(05:59):
We'll have to be having a pajama party at night.
And yes, we have a fantastic guest speaker to make sure the fun is there.
I was able to sail through Bordeaux and along the Brine River previously
with Uniworld
And had some delicious food and wine along the route.
Shrinett Fleet describes the upcoming August 24th cruise in France.
This cruise sails through a well-known wine region.
(06:22):
So if you do love wine, you'll know that the Rhone Valley is a place
where you can find some amazing vineyards like Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape
We love the idea of having the cruise in this region
where our guests are going to get to try delicious French wines, delicious French foods.
And for those who want to mix and mingle with another female powerhouse besides Ellen Bettridge,
(06:46):
I've loved laughing because of Rachel Dratch
and shows like 30 Rock and The Simpsons.
We're incredibly lucky to have Rachel Dratch on board.
She's an acclaimed comedian.
We might know her from Saturday Night Live.
She's Debbie Downer and she's a lot of fun
and we are really lucky to have her on board.
And she's going to be doing an entire act for us one evening
(07:06):
which I think our guests will love.
She's also going to be doing a Q&A with us.
And then she's just going to be sailing with us all week.
And from what I hear from her team, she's very engaging and a lot of fun.
I think it's great when women can be inspired by other women
and you are going to be on this cruise.
What do you hope that you will get to do or bring to the table
(07:27):
or maybe some of the interactions you might have being on this?
On this inaugural cruise.
Yeah, so this is our first ever women's cruise.
You know, I wanted to be there because I was part of the design of this.
And by the way, it was designed by women for women.
Very thoughtful.
A lot of work has gone into it.
I want to be able to connect with the women who chose to do this
(07:50):
and listen to them and find out about how,
what else we can be doing to support women
and to support this industry.
What have been some of the standout moments for you
being the CEO of Uniworld?
You know, I have a lot of them.
I think it was about the first time I took my daughters on board
(08:11):
and just being so proud that I am leading this organization.
I believe it's also like just the christening of the ship
like being at the christening of
my first ship and how that was like that first moment of the first ship
that you're christening.
We just are preparing for a new ship called the Super Ship Emily
that is joining this week in 2026.
And really that is the ship that I got to see from beginning to end.
(08:35):
You know, I got to be part of the design, part of her, you know, her inspiration.
And that's been really special to me.
What would you say for women who are maybe hesitant and saying,
oh, I'm not sure if this is the right fit?
Who would be a great fit for this type of experience?
You know, I think it is somebody, it's all about like my people coming together.
(08:59):
You know, I see that over and over in the universe.
So it's the same with these women, right?
So it's going to probably, my guess is it's going to be very outgoing women
who want to connect with others, who want to learn from each others,
who want to, you know, explore a destination with another group of people
who they can connect with and become friends with.
And over and over on Uniworld Cruises, what we see is people meet each other
(09:23):
and they stay friends, they then travel again together with us.
If you were to share one tip for women and travelers in general
who are going to look at river cruising, would there be a tip that you've seen?
Or like, you take people don't know that they should think about this
or they should bring this or that when they're looking at a River Cruise.
Yeah.
(09:44):
Well, first of all, make sure you being good walking shoes.
I am amazed by the amount of people who show up with these really cute shoes
but they're not the right ones to be walking.
Because it's cobblestones and you know, you want to get out there and explore.
I think it's about being very open-minded to trying all the different food.
I think that, you know, we do offer an array of different things that people can try
that are, you know, from that destination and to explore them.
(10:07):
It's about being open to meeting other people.
It's the perfect environment, right?
So come in with the attitude of I want to meet other people and learn from them.
And it's, to me, River Cruising is, it's still an education for us.
Like we're constantly learning from everyone who's ever been on.
I love going on the excursions and learning about the destination, about the people, about the environment.
(10:33):
And I think that's something that people might not realize.
One thing that stood out for me when I was on my Uniworld Cruises in the past
is that there's, there was really amazing art on, at least the ship I was on.
And I was on the SS Antoinette on one of them.
It was like, I was seeing, I think a Monet.
And there was maybe also, like, for women looking at this cruise coming up,
(10:57):
are there, there are things like that in the decor or the art or the design that you would point out?
Yeah. So, you know, all of our ships have amazing art on them.
It is, you know, a part, it's one of our hallmarks.
We believe that, you know, we're trying to make, each ship is designed after the destination.
And it really does when you're on board, you will feel as though you are in the South of France.
(11:19):
She, this ship in particular has the most beautiful horse that's built out of glass at the base of her elevator that's actually a waterfall.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
We have the most amazing chandeliers throughout every one of our ships.
It's kind of also a hallmark of all of the Uniworld ships.
So you've got the arts, you've got the chandeliers.
(11:41):
You've got a lot, you've got a lot, you're juggling, and I know how you're going on this cruise coming up.
Now, where am I going to be on August 24th?
And how about you?
It's so special to float down a river and wake up in a new location.
And to be able to do that with a cool group of women travelers is super special, too.
People that, you know, you were in college with and they live in the other side of the country,
(12:02):
and you haven't seen them in years, and you want to get together and you're doing a girls trip.
So I think you're going to have a really good mix of women coming together.
And, you know, just given the events, the activities that we have scheduled on board the ship,
I anticipate, I think we all anticipate by the end of this,
there's going to be a lot of new friendships formed between women.
We hope there will be.
Thanks for sailing with me on this Travels with Darley Podcast.
(12:25):
We debuted this special episode in May, in honor of Mother's Day,
and the women who have lit up our lives as moms, sisters, and friends.
Thanks for traveling with me.
If you want to learn more about river cruising, stay tuned for my next episode,
taking a deep dive into all things river cruising,
including great travel tips for first time cruisers,
(12:46):
and those seeking to return again.
[Music]
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