A Riverside Luxury Cruises review from someone who's been on board

We'd like to welcome another new river cruise line to the Panache Cruises family. Riverside Luxury Cruises are the all-suite, all-inclusive, ultra-luxury river cruising equivalent of Silversea or Regent Seven Seas. We're incredibly excited to finally partner with them and sell them through our Panache Cruises connoisseurs.

Riverside Seaside Hotel Collection operate over 40 hotels across the world. But in 2022, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of Crystal Cruises river cruises, they launched a gorgeous fleet of three ex-Crystal all-suite river cruise ships: Mozart, Debussy and Ravel. Two further ships, Bach and Mahler, are currently chartered and will join the Riverside fleet in the near future. They might be the new kids on the block in terms of river cruising, but these Riverside Luxury Cruises ships are some of the most luxurious sailing Europe's rivers.

We’ve been on board!

Here at Panache Cruises we like to consider ourselves as standalone river cruise experts in our industry. Our cruise connoisseurs know river cruises inside out and can tell you all the best destinations, ships and river cruise lines to river cruise with; and which shore excursions you can do. A large majority have been on river cruises themselves. n the past year alone, they've cruised the Ganges in India, the Douro in Portugal; the Rhine, the Seine and more. We're also off on river cruises to the Mekong and the Danube soon.

So, in typical Panache Cruise fashion, we’ve been on board Riverside Cruises too. I sat down with Cruise Connoisseur and luxury river cruising expert Helen to talk about her time on Riverside Luxury Cruises' ship Riverside Debussy in March 2024.

Hi Helen! We’re all very excited to finally partner with Riverside Cruises. Can you tell us a little about when you were on board with Riverside Luxury Cruises?

I sailed with Riverside Luxury Cruises from Brussels to Amsterdam in March 2024 on board the stunning Riverside Debussy. The itinerary included a stop in Bruges, which is such a great city to visit in a day, and Ghent, which was simply beautiful. We admired the latter from a small canal boat tour, included just for Riverside Luxury Cruises guests. We also made a visit to the famous Kinderdijk Village, which features 19 windmills, some of which are still working today.

Riverside Luxury Cruises are famously high-end. How was your suite? Did it live up to the label?

I stayed in a Seahorse Suite. This was very spacious for a river ship and the great factor for me  was that the bed faces the French balcony window. The bathroom is also large with a great walk-in shower and with His-and-Hers sinks too. The suite also featured a good-size walk-in wardrobe—an unusual feature on a river ship. It most certainly lived up to the ultra-luxury label!

Now for an important one—the food! It looks incredible to me, but how can you describe it having tasted it?

The food on Riverside Luxury Cruises was exceptional. The breakfast was a good buffet selection with an à la carte menu on the table for how we’d like our eggs cooked as well as a few daily specials. The tea was offered as a loose leaf option in a teapot—a nice touch. 

Lunch on board was again a buffet, but with the most amazing varied hot station, as well as the salads and other continental options. The evening meal was an open-seated policy and there were plenty of tables for two which was nice.

An à la carte menu offered up to six courses each evening if you so desire. It was all paired with an extensive wine list as part of the all inclusive—that’s truly ultra-luxury cruising! There was also a Bistro, where light snacks were available all day. It was lovely to take a small plate up onto the sun deck with a glass of champagne while watching the world go by.

And how was the service? Did it match the food?

Definitely, at least 60% of the staff on board were Crystal Cruises staff who knew the ship well and trained to the highest of standards. You could tell they were so excited to be back on board and seeing faces old and new. Staff were always visible, table service in the bar areas and we had our very own butler with every suite on board!

And your final thoughts for anyone thinking about booking Riverside Luxury Cruises?

I would recommend Riverside Luxury Cruises to those who like first class service matched with some of the best dining on the river. The atmosphere on board was friendly, relaxed and happy!  You were always greeted with a smile, no matter where you were on the ship. I think the closest to compare would be Silversea or Regent Seven Seas—they also have the same levels of service on the river in my opinion. Riverside has three amazing ships, one of which being the wider Mozart which was built solely for the Danube River.  It’s certainly for a more discerning traveller who likes the finer things. I understand that there are fare options with no solo surcharge for single sailors on any sailing either!

Interested in learning more about Riverside Luxury Cruises?

Read their brochure below!