Hi. I am new to Just You. Spent rainy afternoon checking out the hotels we will go to September 2015. All look good but Victoria Selena has very bad reviews for cleanliness and food. Any feedback please? I am concerned. Don't want to spoil what looks like a fantastic holiday right at the end.

Hi FranXWP,

I've spoken to my colleague in our Customer Care team who had a quick look on the system and told me that there have been no complaint letters logged in the last year with regard to the Victoria Selena.

I took a quick look on the Feefo review site at reviews for customers who had travelled with us in the past 12 months on this tour and all respondents rated the tour as either good or excellent. For cruise specific comments, one traveller did say:

"The cruise food, after a poor start, was really good as was the cruise. The staff on the cruise are among the best staff I have ever come across. They constantly managed to give a good service without being intrusive. "

I understand that for 2015 departure, an upgrade to a bridge/promenade cabin with Amenity Package is included.

Hopefully a couple of our members who have taken this trip will be able to offer you some reassurance.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Went on the China trip plus Yangtze cruise in Sep from Manchester. not sure which boat but Julia can tell you.. Had a brilliant time. The cruise was the icing on the cake. We all did up grade when we booked but I believe it is included in 2015. Well worth the small extra amount. The food was wonderful and we had our own waiter who looked after us. You get many perks with upgrade like front row seats reserved for shows on boat etc. The cabins were checked several times a day to make sure you were happy with cleanliness. I would certainly recommend the add on. Tricia

Hello FranXWP,

I went on the China trip in October including the Yangtze add-on with the Victoria Selina. The cabins are not what I would call spacious but are certainly adequate, with 2 single beds, a small bathroom and balcony. There is no problem with cleanliness whatsoever.

The food was fine, in fact by far the best that we had on the entire tour. The upgrade entitles you to eat in the executive dining room on deck 6 after the 1st night. This is smaller than the main dining room so you don't have to contend with long queues for the buffet at breakfast and lunch, and dinner is waitress service. You also get complimentary house wine and local beer during dinner. Complimentary drinks are also available in the executive dining room for one hour (happy hour) before dinner (but not on the second day for some reason). Overall, I thought that the upgrade was worth the extra cost.

I hope that I've put you're mind at rest regarding the Victoria Selina. If you have any other questions then just ask.

Julia, I'm glad to hear that you've offered this add-on for 2015 with the upgrade included. Out of 14 people from my group who did the add-on, 4 chose not to take the upgrade and so ate in the main dining room away from the rest of us. I think that an automatic upgrade would have been a much better option in order to keep the whole group together and mentioned it in my questionnaire on my return, so it's nice to see that JY have taken note of that.

Cheers

Mike

I did the cruise on the Victoria last year with the executive upgrade. No complaints, and if you read my posts, you will know I can be picky. Good food, friendly attentive staff. They even noticed I had a birthday while on board, and presented me with a gift. I have done several other river cruises. The thing to remember is that river cruisers, even the five star ones, need to be fairly narrow, and this reflected in the size of the cabins. River cruising is very different from ocean cruising, so don't expect the glitz and glamour of an ocean cruise.

Thanks Julia, Tricia and Mike. Between you my mind has been put at rest. The reviews I had read were certainly not from Just You travellers but had been consistent - hence my worries. From what you have all said I suspect no upgrades were involved. Shouldn't be wishing my time away but ...roll on September!

Thanks everyone. Feel reassured.

Cheers

Fran