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By John Pond. Uniworld is one of my favourite River Ship lines and this is exciting.  In 2013, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (www.uniworldcruises.com.au) will add another extraordinary river cruise destination to their collection of itineraries: Italy, the Po River, and the Venice Lagoon. The 13-day Splendours of Italy itinerary combines a 7-night river cruise along the Po River and the Venice Lagoon with a 2-night land stay in Florence and 3-nights in Rome.  For those travelers who only wish to do the cruise portion, Uniworld will also offer a cruise-only option for 8-days, Venice & the Po River itinerary.

John Molinaro, General Manager, Uniworld, said: “As the leader in the river cruising industry, Uniworld remains committed to offering its guests an unrivalled travel experience as we continue to identifying new opportunities and unique destinations adapting our itineraries to meet their travel desires.  “As a result, we wanted to give travelers the chance to experience the best of Italy, giving them the option to do a cruise only or a cruise and land program offering additional time in two of world’s best known and loved cities, Florence and Rome.”

Uniworld’s new Italy program is designed to bring the region’s art, architecture, music, cuisine, landscapes, culture, religious and political history together like pieces of an exquisite puzzle, creating an immersive and enlightening journey for each of their guests.

Uniworld will be moving one of their award-winning boutique cruise ships, the River Countess, to Venice and the Po River in 2013. The River Countess is being completely refurbished to reflect the spirit and heart of this great destination with all the elegant touches and finesse of a finely painted Italian masterpiece.  Molinaro added: “Uniworld made the decision to move the River Countess from her current location along the Rhine, Main, and Danube to Italy. While this is a costly venture to move her, it’s the right decision as we wanted to provide our clients with itineraries to one of the most highly sought-after European destinations onboard one of our prizewinning river cruise ships, especially as many of our past guests have been asking us for a long time to offer cruises in this area.”

Molinaro added: “There is no place in the world like Italy, and Uniworld is the only major river cruise line to offer river cruising here.   Cant wait to cruise in Italy. JP