E M P LOY E E TR AV E L J O UR NAL
EMPLOYEE TRAVEL JOURNAL / PATRICIA PRADO Patricia Prado is the Manager of Uniworld’s Product Development Department. An employee for 14 years, Patricia and her department work closely with Uniworld’s European office—as well as vendors in Asia and Egypt—to develop Uniworld’s collection of itineraries. Last year, Patricia traveled with her husband and two sons on a Generations family-friendly departure of “Castles along the Rhine.”
Planning The Trip
our staterooms, the excitement built. During a short tour we were
Each year, my husband Sam and I talk about our plans for the
given, it didn’t take long for each of them to decide which
summer. Most years we choose an amusement park vacation, as
stateroom they wanted. As the door closed, the first thing they
we are sure our boys (Sammy, 13 and David, 10) will enjoy it. But
did was throw themselves on the bed, as if creating a snow angel,
last year we thought it was time to do something new,
and say, “This is so soft.” At that moment, we knew the trip was a
adventurous and educational, as the boys are at a good age to
great idea.
appreciate and understand other cultures and their history.
Onshore Excursions
Though I have been with the company many years, this was our
The excursions we took were enjoyed by both our teenager and
first international family trip together with Uniworld. We had
our 10 year old. While in Koblenz, we took the aerial tram to
several Generations family-friendly itineraries to choose from, but
Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. As we were taken up, we had a unique
we decided on “Castles along the Rhine,” sailing from Amsterdam
view of where the Moselle and Rhine rivers meet, which is also
to Basel.
known as Deutsches Eck (“German corner”). Later that afternoon,
First Impressions Sam and I had already been on several Uniworld ships, so we
we were taken to Marksburg Castle—this was one of their favorite excursions. As we were guided through the castle, we saw several cannons, the dining room, bedrooms and even a torture room.
knew exactly what to expect, but the boys had not. As we walked towards the ship, slight smiles formed on their faces. They didn’t
Speyer’s Technik Museum was also a highlight—the museum has a
say a word; they just followed us onto the ship. As they entered
huge collection of fire engines, locomotives, vintage cars and an
the lobby, they said, “Wow! This is cool!” As we were guided to
airplane that the boys could walk up and then slide down. One of
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