Riviera Travel Reviews 

My introduction to the RT booking experience was through Amanda. She was friendly, knowledgeable, understood what I wanted from the holiday and was very efficient. After thinking about the holiday, I went back to RT to make my booking. Laurie dealt with my booking very efficiently.
The whole booking experience with RT was excellent.

Riviera Travel have been amazing! I cannot praise and recommend them highly enough. We are already booked on a cruise for 2027!

My partner and I were booked on a Danube Cruise in July/August of 2026, which turned into a ‘Stationary in Bratislava’. But the holiday was awesome. All the staff went above and beyond to make every day as special as possible, given the very tricky conditions they were facing. The boat was a floating 5* hotel of loveliness, with superb food and drink and the hastily arranged trips were superb. We met wonderful people, had a fantastic holiday and will 100% travel with Riviera again. Their compensation offer for the lack of cruising was generous and much appreciated too.

Thank you, Riviera. Our first cruise might not have been what was planned … but it was very special indeed.

Phone answered promptly by Nicky C. She was professional and spoke very clearly.
The booking process was very easy. The details were all repeated to nake sure I understood the processes.

i wish i could have put 5 stars but we havent even gone on trip yet , we are going as 2 couples and requested that 1 couple get extra seat room , my friend Les is over 6ft and its a long trip , my wife has spent over 2 weeks trying to arrange this and all she hets when phoning is music and a promise if you press 1 they phone back (they dont) we have a number which was supposed to connect to Lewis aguy she spoke to at the vey beginning 3/4 weeks ago but his number goes straight to the main number and we can never speak to him or anyone else, sort your phone service out Riviera I will think twice about using you again,terrible service for a first time customer !!!!!!

Very pleasant customer service staff. Very helpful.

I needed to book by telephone and was answered very quickly. Nicky was friendly yet professional and dealt with my queries and subsequent booking very efficiently. She was also very knowledgeable about the holidays I was interested in . Well done again, Riviera.

We've recently returned from a short break to Stockholm & Copenhagen. We're independent travellers by nature - but based on recommendations from friends thought we would give a Riviera escorted tour a try. Very glad we did.

Two fabulous cities, excellent tour manager with some good company too. Trips included walk arounds in both cities. Tip - they are fast paced walk arounds so if you have any mobility issues, bear it in mind please.

Hotel room in Stockholm a little small, but well located and clean. Copenhagen was an upgrade on size. In both hotels, staff were all professional, courteous, helpful & spoke English fluently (so please, don't raise your voice in best British 'tradition' to be understood - it's embarrassing).

Also included trips to Roskilde Cathedral, Roskilde Viking Museum, Vasa Museum, Frederikshaven Palace & Swedish Royal Palace. Couple of others too. Tip - you have a free day and a couple of half 'free days'. I reckon cutting out a couple of trips and making room for more free time to wander about would really help Riviera (subtle nudge).

Flew SAS to Stockholm and back from Copenhagen. Very good airlines. But please note it takes a long time now we've left the EU to get through passport control and the walk to the gates is a trek. Also, you need to use the EES App on your phone when entering Sweden if you want as trouble free and speedy experience as possible. Also - the sign at Stockholm Arlanda passport control for those who've pre-registered entry is pretty small. So look for it and use it when pre-registered. Using the pre-registration and free App, by the way, is really easy.

Written 26/08/26
Would have given 4* but. . .
This was our 3rd cruise with Riviera - July 2026 - Douro, 2019 and Danube, 2024. We have always recommended Riviera, & until this trip would have been unlikely to travel with another company. Several people have booked trips with Riviera as a result of our endorsement. On this cruise there were too many instances where Riviera fell short. We have found ann alternative river cruise company for our next one. Major complaints are:
1. 13 days before departure I ‘phoned Riviera on an unrelated matter & was informed on day 8, all passengers with onward travel or flights departing at lunchtime or later would leave the ship at 10.45. I asked why we couldn’t stay on the ship until leaving for the airport - as on the Douro cruise in 2019. I was told Riviera changed their policy c. 15 months ago, & everyone had to go so cleaning could be completed for the next group.
I don’t understand why we couldn’t stay on the ship until being taken to the airport. My main complaint is: Riviera are selling an 8 day, 7 night cruise, with an all inclusive drinks package. I quote, ‘Enjoy your all-inclusive drinks package from 16.00 on embarkation day, and from 10.00 am until midnight on all other days. . .’
That is, except day 8, when everyone on the ship, irrespective of flight departure time, has to leave shortly after check-out, & be taken to a hotel in Cologne / wherever. Buy into an 8 day river cruise & get 7!
On day 8, we would be taken to the Hilton Hotel in Cologne, and kept supplied with ‘refreshments’. The manager I spoke with advised I should have been informed about hotel transfer when this booking was re-scheduled in March / April 2025. I wasn’t.
2. On day 1, we were told to attend a compulsory safety briefing, when the Captain made very misogynistic remarks about ‘lipstick, high heels and silly little girls’. I’m not on holiday to be insulted, and don’t appreciate - other passengers felt the same - insulting remarks, when we were all paying him to do a job.
All other staff - one we recognised from the Danube - were extremely polite and helpful.
3. Day 8, we got to the Hilton Hotel in Cologne. Underwhelming is an understatement. It was a rather pathetic attempt – being generous – at a ‘continental’ breakfast - i.e. that day’s breakfast leftovers. Given the amount of money Riviera charge per day, I expect better. 90 minutes before our transport to the airport, these ‘refreshments’ were withdrawn, apparently at Riviera’s specific written instructions. Riviera should be instructing any hotel to provide drinks - alcoholic or not - as this is the package their customers have bought into. If they aren’t given this, they are being short changed.
4. A company like Riviera should not be using low-cost no-frills airlines i.e. EasyJet, Ryanair, and Eurowings.It prides itself of being 5* so should not be cutting corners in this way.
5. When the time arrived for the airport transfer, 10 individuals had transport booked for the Manchester flight. As we went to the taxi, we found it full, with 8 people. We were on the pavement, wondering why a taxi for 8 people had been ordered when there were 10 requiring it. The transfer guide ‘phoned Riviera operations but no satisfactory answer was given. She called us another taxi, which she said we would have to pay for, but to get a receipt & we would be reimbursed by Riviera. The tour guide told me she was ‘speechless’ - it wasn’t the first time she had been put in an awkward position with this transfer group. Earlier in the day 2 groups travelling with Eurostar & on the Edinburgh flight had to wheel their cases to the train station as the taxis didn’t turn up at the hotel.
6. When we got to the airport, we asked the driver for a receipt. He informed me this had to be downloaded by the person who ordered the taxi. As I didn’t know who had done this, & had no means of communication with the local guide / the hotel, I said I couldn’t do that. The driver had 3 minutes to drop us off without a charge, so I hastily wrote a note, and asked him to sign it, so I had a receipt.
7. I communicated all the above to Riviera upon our return and asked for a half day refund given the shambles it was. All they did was quote ‘Terms & Conditions’ at me. However they admitted, ‘For those with later flights or onward travel arrangements, a complimentary hotel room is provided, together with light refreshments. . . .' Riviera did not provide this, so they are in breach of contract on this alone. But they won’t admit it.
It will be their loss. I have already sourced another cruise company for 2 years time.

Edit 27/08/26. Is this an AI bot reply? It was our 3rd not 4th cruise. I have been thanked for my ‘wonderful’ review. It is almost wholly negative!
Further edit 28/08/26. Riviera have responded and apologised, clearly via a human & not an AI bot.

The River Cruise as advertised didn't provide the full itinerary due to low water levels. While we appreciated that Riviera wasn't to blame for this, they should have offered a refund or future booking discount. We lost 75% of destinations and received a 15% future booking discount. I appealed and was told that is all they would offer. I had no issues with the boat or their cruise staff but the head office responses were very poor. I would not recommend Riviera Travel purely on their poor customer service.

Excellent support from Hayley

I can't thank Sharon Inge enough for the friendly, professional help and patience she's given me in paving the way to booking a holiday to Lake Maggiiore/Orta/The Matterhorn next year. She's an asset to Riviera Travel.

The booking process was straightforward and all the information we needed was easily found.

Had come back from excellent river cruise on Seine to find that our next trip to Sicily had been cancelled. However a couple of days later we decided to book the Classic Sicily tour in its place and Linda was so patient going through everything with the booking process and using existing information which made my life so much easier. Always find the staff are so thorough and somehow make us feel we are on the way and really looking forward to the next trip, and hopefully more!

All the staff on board were extremely helpful and made the holiday such a pleasure.
I would highly recommend this holiday.
Rivera also helped my sister, who broke her wrist in Amsterdam and couldn't make it to the cruise.

Very friendly and helpful lady booked my holiday

My booking was carried out with the Rivera sale agent Laurie Matheson who I have booked holidays with in the past few years. This will be our 12th holiday with Rivera and the booking was made easily with Laurie's help and knowledge. Last year he held another river cruise holiday option for us until we returned home,
Laurie always treats me with courtesy .

Booking process was exemplary. The agent was friendly professional and efficient. All questions answered immediately.. Nothing was too much trouble. Second time with Riviera (river cruise) and will struggle to use anyone else.

Very easy online booking process

I booked my river cruise yesterday with Jane Faulkes , she was very efficient and combined professionalism with friendliness. She provided good customer service and followed up my query about booking a door to door pick up service promptly the following day.