Riviera Travel Reviews 

The ship, Emily Bronte, the staff, the food and
the Riviera representatives were all excellent. Unfortunately the river levels were low and the schedule had to be changed. We were unable to dock in Manheim and had 75 minute coach journey from Mainz to Heidleberg. Also a 90 minute coach journey from Speyer to Strasberg. Rudesheim was cancelled completely.

This company really looks after its customers and are always very helpful

Having previously travelled with Riviera my expectations were high, I was not let down.
I had 3 phone conversations with 3 agents (Michelle, Jessica and Nick) all were helpful offering lots of advice particularly regarding my travelling with an electric scooter, importantly which of the solo tours would be most suitable.
The final call resulting in my booking 3 tours was handled extremely well by Jessica.
I found your staff helpful, knowledgeable as well as being polite and patient.
Having booked 3 holidays, not easy as there are a lot of interesting holidays to choose from, I'm know looking forward to enjoying the holidays. First one in 3 months time.

Not the 5* Cruise along the Douro & visit Porto you advertised.
As a group of eight who holiday together frequently and are members of a wine appreciation group, this should have been a trip to remember. it was but for the wrong reasons.
The Cruise ship "Douro Splendour" is in fact, not owned by Riviera but leased. There was only one Riviera representative on board, all other staff belonged to the contractor.
The ship was tired, the sun chairs on the deck were old, most did not have cushions. On two occasions the air con leaked in the lounge which meant there were two areas unavailable for seating people in the already over crowded room.
The food was good, the waiters were excellent & the sommelier did well explaining the wines available during meal times, most were very nice, however on our first evening in the bar the wine was undrinkable.
We sent a message to Riviera explaining the problem, the response was that it was only house wine in the A/I package. Considering we were in Portugal you would think they would be promoting good wines from their own country. Clearly not.
The cabins were small but adequate.
During the week we were given talks about the following days trips, most of which were good, the evening out at the vineyard was top class, however we were all looking forward to seeing Porto on the day before we departed, this was not to be. Firstly we were told that due to an unexpected Air Show, we would be dropped just outside of Porto and would have to make our own way into town, not a problem.
However the following day were informed that a visit to Porto was not possible as all roads around were closed off, the rep was adamant the company knew nothing about the air show and was desperately trying to find an alternative trip to offer us. We ended up in Portugal's little Venice with a gondola boat ride, lovely town but not what we had booked for. Very upsetting.
On our return our group complained to the company about all the problems the only one they addressed was the lack of knowledge about the airshow, they offered one couple a sad offer of compensation and ignored the others, we went online to discover that the airshow had actually been made aware to the public in December 2025 and that Riviera along with all other ships that could not dock in Porto over the weekend had in fact received compensation for the inconvenience.
I cannot believe they can say they did not know about it they could have offered us the same cruise a week later but were happy to take our money. Their focus was totally on profit and not on customer satisfaction.
I would not recommend using this company again.

Thanks to the Riviera agent the telephone booking was straightforward and she was very helpful

Good Company with equally good and attentive staff.
Having had three holidays with them I have just signed for next year…..5 stars!!

Booked the Danube river cruise going on Monday so far change of ship change of start point now a 2 1/2 hour coach journey and change of itinerary not happy I have health problems and this amount of travelling will not help. Paid over £6100 for this week really unhappy

Simple to book online.
Helpful staff for any queries

Excellent service as usual from Laurie Maddison. Always replies to emails quickly and makes the booking process easy.

Not due to the office though as I did the whole booking online..

The lady Jaqueline was very helpful, pleasant and she made the whole process very easy

I had a holiday with this company 2 years ago and it was brilliant. I went with them again this year and the experience was so bad it is now a subject of an ABTA complaint.
Firstly they used pictures that seemed to be of another location - showing a hotel with a view of Lake Garda - the actual hotel was on a side street with no view at all. Hygiene standards second rate - my husband got food poisoning. Pictures showed a de lux room when they only booked basic for their guests.
Tour guide hopeless at resolving problems, and then lied and said nothing raised with him, despite Whats app messages.
Riviera has changed hands and now excellent customer service replaced with 'just shut up' attitude.

Michelle and the Customer Service team were very flexible and helpful in efficiently arranging and confirming a necessary alternative holiday for us.
We have enjoyed many holidays with Riviera Travel (since the days of Michael Wright!) and we have encouraged many of our friends also to book holidays with Riviera - they have had similar positive experiences.

Customer adviser knew information regarding discounts we were entitled to due to problems with low water.

Great help on the phone arranging a specific yacht trip to Croatia for us in 2027. Knew a lot about the boat and itinerary and we managed to reserve a good cabin on the dates that suited us best. Very professional service.

We recently returned from our first and last cruise with Riviera Travel. The cruise did not start off very well when we were left stranded (along with 51 other passengers from Manchester) at Düsseldorf airport. Eventually, a member of the party rang the ship to find out what was happening, only to be told that they had sent the transport to Cologne airport. Not a very auspicious start to our holiday after a very early start. Unfortunately, it was only a sign of events to follow - organised by a patronising + clueless cruise host who constantly changed the daily arrangements to suit himself. By the end of the cruise, even the loyal, seasoned Riviera travel enthusiasts were saying they had never experienced such ineptitude on these cruises before. Along with many other passengers who reported the events that happened + contacted the company on return, we have not had the courtesy of a reply. However, the restaurant + bar staff were excellent. We are, also still waiting for the compensation awarded to most of the Manchester contingent soon after arrival.

I recently booked a River cruise, the service I received was first class, everything was explained well in a friendly helpful way, at the same time very efficiently and professionally. I look forward to travelling with Riviera again.

We have used Riviera many times and they have always exceeded our expectations. Our agent Jacqueline was absolutely first class. Patient, diligent, always professional and a joy to speak with.
First class service from booking to the cruise itself.

The simplicity of it all no fuss going through all the stages

We have just booked a 5 night river cruise with Riviera for the coming new year, having just returned from a Rhine cruise during which we experienced excellent service from the Riviera staff, and the on board crew.
This latest booking was made very efficiently by Laurie, following initial email contact, and finalised by a friendly phone call this morning.