Arrival and departure from the ship both chaotic and a total farse. Cruise promoted itself as 5 star, however it came nowhere close to that.
Ship looks quite luxurious on first arrival, but cabins are very small, especially en suites which are quire claustrophobic. No where to sit comfortably, dining very cramped. No air con in Lounge or Restaurants. Top deck restricted by lack of shade and constant low bridges. Service and food sub standard compared to sea cruises we have been on. It took 12 nights before I was presented with what I actually asked for at Dinner. Our Wedding Anniversary was ruined by very poor service , table and greasy food served in specialty kitchen restaurant and when returned to our room after Dinner it hadn’t been cleaned or bed turned down. Food constantly served to the wrong table, wine either spilled down the edge of glasses or on table or napkin on lap. Poor inattentive bar staff, who constantly forgot orders altogether or served wrong drinks.
Poor organisation of tours generally and tour guides were generally overloading everyone with too much information and paid little attention to passengers varying abilities, or how many guests they had in their group during or at the end of the tour, which was exacerbated by poor description of what tour included as far as walking / hiking ability. A lot of he coaches for the tours were located too far away from the ship for many guests to comfortably walk to.
To top it all and despite tips already being included in the cost of the holiday, the ships hotel manager at the end of the cruise was asking for extra tips for the crew and Riviera Director and host, suggesting that around £450 per cabin would be appropriate. We didn’t oblige on principal.
Overall experience has put us off river cruising ever again.
We have traveled with Riviera Travel on Tours before with little issues and it has not put us off going with them again on that type of holiday
I could go on and on, but i guess you will get the gist that this holiday did not match our expectations on any level. Only redeeming part of the holiday was friendly and delightful fellow guests and the fabulous places we visited along the way.
