CEO Secrets: Riverside Luxury Cruises' Edge Over Competitors

In this exclusive sit-down with Jennifer Halboth, CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises, we are bringing you info about this luxury, relatively new cruise line that's taking the rivers by storm! 

Jen shares how Riverside's definition of luxury goes beyond premium amenities: it's rooted in personalized service and meticulous attention to detail, highlighted by their remarkable one-to-one crew-to-suite ratio. The ships feel more like boutique hotels than traditional cruise vessels, creating an ambiance that appeals to a younger generation of travelers seeking sophisticated experiences. 

We explore how Riverside has positioned itself as a haven for food enthusiasts, with culinary offerings that cater to diverse palates while maintaining exceptional quality. Jen discusses the variety of excursion options, with experiences designed to remain fresh for repeat visitors. 

Our conversation reveals Riverside's service philosophy of creating authentic, familial connections with guests, transforming the typical cruise experience into something more personal and memorable, right down to charming touches like a sweet treat in the lounge that may surprise you!

We talked to Jen while on Riverside Debussy, but we previously sailed on Riverside Mozart, an impressive double-wide river cruise ship. 

New to river cruising? Also check out: 

• Learn the Most Helpful Things to Know Your First Time on a River Cruise
• Listen to the Top Things to Know About River Cruising Part 1 and Part 2.

Want to grab our complimentary Essential River Cruise Budgeting Guide? Head over to Small Ship Cruise Talk, scroll halfway down the page to a blue box where you'll find the signup form, and claim your copy!

Chapters

• 1:09 Meeting Jennifer Halboth, CEO, in the Riverside Debussy Suite
• 3:42 Defining Luxury in River Cruising
• 6:41 Understanding the Riverside Customer
• 11:21 Unique Features of Riverside Luxury Cruises
• 13:49 Experiencing Different Itineraries
• 17:33 Riverside Quality & Service in River Cruising
• 19:40 Riverside Luxury Cruises Doesn’t Take Itself Too Seriously
• 21:22 Final Thoughts & Look Ahead to Next Week's Riverside Cruise Episode

Transcript

Mikkel (00:35)

Welcome to our episode of the podcast talking about our luxurious cruise experience on Riverside Luxury Cruises on board Riverside Debussy. We have been on Riverside Mozart in the past and we are fortunate enough to sail with them again. So we do feel like we have a really great handle on the Riverside experience and what differentiates it.

We are so excited to be able to sit down with this CEO and talk to you a little bit about what she thinks differentiates Riverside. So here it is and thanks for tuning in. We are very excited for this episode of Small Ship Cruise Talk. We are here with Jennifer Halboth, CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises. Thanks for being with us on Riverside Debussy.

Jen (01:29)

Oh, in the Debussy suite, nonetheless, right? So right, we're not just in some cool apartment, we're actually on a ship.

Dan (01:40)

So Riverside Luxury Cruises, Luxury's in the name. Everybody in the cruise industry is Luxury. Right.

Jen (01:49)

I guess everybody, everyone in travel is luxury. mean, everything's luxurious, but luxury is relative. We can get into that. Yeah.

Dan (01:56)

What makes Riverside luxurious?

Jen (02:00)

Luxurious. Well, it's a combination of things. Well, first, I'd like to say people ask why Riverside, you know, I mean, especially in the States, some people equate it to Riverside, California. Just Riverside sounds kind of more like, you know, black and white like tactical. But the parent company is Seaside Collection Hotels. They're a family run business out of Europe. They've been operating since the 70s. They own four and five star properties in Europe.

And one, nearly, it will eventually be six-star property, Private Island, the Finolhu in the Maldives. So the family knows hotels, knows hospitality, knows luxury, but they're Seaside. And Riverside | Seaside: it really works in terms of the whole package deal and introducing Riverside to Seaside clients and Seaside to Riverside clients. And the seahorse, I mean, because people always say as well,

"Like, seahorses aren't really in rivers." I did look it up once and I think there are some seahorses in the Thames, but we're not on the Thames so I don't want to confuse things. But it just borrows the branding, you know, makes it kind of nice and easy. But the things that really distinguish luxury for us at Riverside are three things primarily. One, beautifully appointed ships. I mean, like you said, we're not sitting in an apartment, we're on a ship.

We have less suites on board, largest average suite size. We have a crew to suite ratio of one to one. For every suite on board, we have a wonderful crew member here to take care of our guests. That allows us to have larger galleys, ⁓ more chefs, which leads into pillar number two, which is culinary. And pillar number two is actually pillar number one. 

So when it comes to luxury clients and foodies, because I find that you can have foodie clients that maybe in other aspects of their lives might not be luxury travelers. Like they might not be so about having the biggest and best, most well-appointed, but when it comes to food, they do not mess around. And so that's kind of a segment that we really want to cater to because they want to come on, maybe they only do land vacations because they're like, no, I go to Michelin star restaurants and I go to really high-end hotels where I just know I'm going to get that.

So we're bringing that level of culinary to the river and we are delivering it. I think you guys have experienced some pretty phenomenal cuisine and I'm always continuously amazed every time I get back on I have something new that I'm like, "Wow," you know? But we also, because this is important, can easily cater to a more, what I like to say, plebeian palate. And that's not dismissive, it's just that palate is personal. 

So some people don't like all the extra sauces and the kind of more artistic flair in food but they still want good quality food. So the cuts of meat and the vegetables and the thought and preparation that goes into the meal, even if it's more simple, are magical and delicious. And then finally, it's service, right? We have a butler assigned to every suite, every category. And that's what's nice about also the whole ship. While the suite sizes might be slightly different, slightly smaller, everyone gets the robes and slippers, gets the butler.

If you purchase the All-Inclusive price, which I highly recommend, you have a stocked mini bar. So, and you know you can connect with your butler through WhatsApp. Amazing. I mean, what if you were out on an excursion and all of a sudden you're kind of like, "Oh my gosh, it's so much colder out here. I'm at Christmas markets. It's so much colder than I thought it was going to be. Hey, you know, Alvin, could you please have a hot pot, a tea? I'm going to be back in 20 minutes." It will be there in your suite. That's awesome. 

They can unpack for you, which a lot of Americans don't want to them do. Yet once you do it, you're like, oh my God, everything's organized. It's really cool. So yeah, it is space and design, amazing food and exceptional personalized authentic service.

Mikkel (05:57)

It's for sure authentic and we've experienced all those things. Yeah. Minus the unpacking which maybe we need to next time.

Jen (06:03)

Yeah, give it a whirl.

Dan (06:05)

So who's coming on board? Who's your customer? Yeah. Who are the guests?

Jen (06:12)

Yeah,

Yeah, the guests are coming along. So, you know, we've only been sailing for two years, right? And actually, really only one full year with all three ships. We sailed the Mozart primarily in '23. So we've had a lot of a travel advisors on obviously, because travel advisors are critical in sharing because they're very critical, right? Like they're because they are advocating for their clients. So they really get into if you've ever been on a ship with travel... 

I mean, they're taking pictures of everything. They're taking the notes. So if you don't work with a travel advisor, I highly recommend getting a good one, because good ones are their weight in gold. So they're very discriminating. So getting them on has been key. But this year, we are definitely seeing a lot more. We are seeing the average age younger. This has been, by design, one of our strategies, because there is no reason for people to wait. I know there can be a perception that river cruising is only

for much, and old is also relative. Like get rid of the number. Like I can guarantee you, my internal age is 28. I am not 28. It's okay. I'm taking this to the grave. But we all feel young and young at heart. And for us, we want to cater to that 45 year old who has a good amount of money, yet all their disposable personal income goes to travel. Like they're like, you know what? I drive a modest car. I have a modest place. 

But when I go on vacation, I'm a luxury traveler because it's important to me. Then we have a 70 year old who clearly has enough wealth, can do what they want, they have the time, but they have a young spirit. They want to go on the biking tours, they want to go on the kayaking, they're going to the wine tastings, they'll get out on the dance floor at night, right? We got some of them out on the dance floor last night, right? So it was fun. So it's really not about number for us. It's about a mindset of just really loving travel.

Wanting to have the best things when you travel and coming away with experiences that other people who go, ⁓ we just went to the lake, go, wow, what are we doing? Haha!

Dan (08:21)

So as we've been cruising this week, we've seen a bunch of other cruise ships out there, you know, it's very busy out on the river. What kind of what makes Riverside stand out?

Jen (08:30)

Well, one of my favorites, I mean, stories is when, you know, it's very typical in river cruise to have double, sometimes triple docking. I mean, especially if you're in Cologne on a Saturday in September, like ever, ever though everyone's here for the party. Right. So sometimes you have to maybe walk through two other ships to get out onto land. And I will tell you, every time someone walks through Riverside from another, it's like this. Well, wait, one second, what is this? 

And it really, you really do, especially on the Mozart, because it's an extra wide, you forget you're on a ship. It is, you feel like you're in a hotel. You just immediately notice a more contemporary design, beautiful spaces, kind of a more sense of calm. There's not busyness around. We don't have a gift shop in the lobby. I mean, at the end of the day, you can buy wonderful things in Europe. So everything is just kind of understated but beautiful and then our crew is actually so welcoming. 

I mean, I've personally walked through other river cruise ships at time and not been like, why are you here? I'm like, well, I have to get out there. You know, so I just think they immediately, you know, I told this to advisors when I was at the ASTA River Cruise Expo, pay attention the very first minute you walk on a ship. It's kind of like walking to a hotel. You know, immediately the vibe it strikes. Like, are you enchanted, are you disappointed, are you kind of like meh? But every time someone walks on Riverside, I see their face goes, it's like this childlike wonder and I'm like, we got him, you know? And so that really helps set us apart when people don't even know about us.

Mikkel (10:15)

That's so well said and we've talked to some of the other guests and it's their first river cruise and we've said well...

Jen (10:23)

There's nowhere to go from here, so you're Riverside for life.

Mikkel (10:26)

Yeah, exactly. We're like, well, if you go to another line, it's going to be very hard. So yeah.

Jen (10:32)

And so, you know, one of the challenges of course with being smaller and new, we only have three ships. We are not going to have the variety of departure dates and number of sailings, but I think that's okay because at the end of the day we want to really cater to a smaller selection of travelers. I mean luxury is niche on it when you're delivering true luxury is niche in any sense, but we don't have to have as much. We will be adding more ships. We'll have a fourth ship, the Bach coming back to our fleet in '27, and the Müller in '28. So five ships by '28, I think for a luxury line. And the way we build our itineraries, three plus four night. 

I mean, you can do it just the three or four night with us. That's very rare on the regular with us. A few lines do offer a few shorter, but it's like hit or miss. You can regularly pick a three or four or five night on all our rivers. The three plus the four builds the seven, maybe you add on three it gets to ten. And it does allow different varieties of days of the week you're leaving. 

So that does by design give us more variety and choice. And then once we get the other ships back, I think, you know, we will have enough variety. But I think people will really be coming back for the Riverside experience for river cruising.

Mikkel (11:47)

I think also with the amount of excursion options that Riverside offers, we're on the Romantic Rhine, but there's so many options that are appealing, but you can only do one excursion in the morning. So if you even do the same itinerary again, all different excursions.

Jen (12:01)

and do all completely and you figure the menu is not going to be exactly the same. mean, I've been on now, let's see, I think this might be my sixth or seventh Riverside, right? Since I started. And every time I get on the mix of people are a little different, but you do have your anchors because of course we are still developing our crew. We do have people that may be sailed on the Mozart are now in the Debussy this year or vice versa. But that helps us kind of cross train, cross pollinate and make sure that by the time we add another ship, every time you step on Riverside, that same level of authentic service - they remember your name, they remember things, it's kind of creepy at times how they do it. 

But you know, you're always going to see a smiling face, you're going to get that same level. And so you're going to have different people, you're going to have different food, you might go to a slightly different port. I mean, I've done the Rhine.

I think this might be my seventh Rhine cruise across the different lines that I've sailed with. And we're going to some different ports that I never went to on the Rhine before. So it's very cool.

Mikkel (13:10)

And the different seasoning can make the scenery look completely different.

Jen (13:13)

Totally, totally, which is like why Christmas markets is so amazing. That's a whole different. I know some people say I'm not a cold weather person. Listen, get a really good jacket because there is something so magical about Europe and, know, especially if go to a Christmas market at night and the lights. I went ice skating with my son at a Christmas market in Cologne. It's like seriously one of my trip highlights of my life.

I was like... And we were hauling because it's not just like a little square. It was like a loop so we could get going. It was awesome. So, I mean, it's just moments like that and you don't... I think so many people, you know, kind of say, I don't want to do this kind of trip because I don't like this aspect of the weather, the cold. You know, don't try and have your vacation be like what you love at home.

I'm talking to you Californians and Floridians. I know, I get it. Bring your Uggs, bring your scarf, we'll make sure you're comfortable. Crank your heat up in your room. But you just never know what kind of experience you're gonna have that you didn't know you were gonna love. Get out of your comfort zone. And if you're really out of your comfort zone, run back to the ship, get a hold of your butler, bundle up in a blanket, have your tea, and you're gonna be okay.

Dan (14:35)

So what's your favorite itinerary?

Jen (14:37)

You know what, that's like the question of like what's your favorite kid. But I will say one of the itineraries that a lot of people are not aware of is the Moselle. The Moselle. Tomato, tomato. It's a smaller river. You usually embark in Luxembourg or maybe Trier. And it's like half the size of the Rhine. So talk about itinerary. I mean, when you were sailing, because you can see right now, we can see, I mean, it'd be half the distance to the shore.

So you feel like you're kind of on this like really big ship. You're like, I've got the biggest like yacht going like, you know, if any of you like have, you know, go like Michigan, you go on these canals and stuff, you'd be like on your big bad ass ship. Like, yeah, we rule. But it is so picturesque. You go to some of the oldest towns in Germany. I mean, it is an old world build. I mean, it's just like castles and timber frames, you know, and you go to mustard factories and it's just…you really get into this real way back history of Europe, which is really nice. 

But then it comes out at Koblenz in an area called the German Corner. So then this tiny little Moselle gets out onto the Rhine and then you're into this bigger and then you sail the Rhine Gorge like we sailed yesterday, which is unbelievable. You like get whiplash from trying to keep up with the castles. You're like, that one and that one and that one and the Rock of Lorelei. And we had amazing weather.

We've lucked out. I it's gorgeous. So I just think that itinerary is ⁓ really special. I I went once and did a cool bike ride in Cochem and we went down and had a nice pastry somewhere and then we were able to ride right along the river back to the ship. And yeah, so I think that that's a very unique itinerary people should check out.

Mikkel (16:23)

More people should know about it.

Dan (16:25)

Do you have one thing you want our listeners to know about Riverside? 

Jen (16:29)

You know, I think I want them to know that we, even though we're new, we are delivering at a level that has even surprised advisors who are working with lines that are 25 plus years old. You know, some of the more back of the house stuff, like our communications and our documents, we're working on those. 

That kind of stuff does take a long time, but we very quickly are delivering a quality of vacation, you know, in destination that is wowing people. So don't be hesitant to give us a try. And really, all you people out there that might think that river cruising isn't for you because you're an ocean cruiser or you're land person, well, I will tell you, a river cruise is closer to land than cruise. Yes. Very much so. So it's a way for you who love land, especially if you think about if you go to Europe, I don't care how much money you have.

If you're trying to do a land vacation in Europe and you are trying to go to multiple places, you will spend so much of your vacation time in logistics, getting to the train station, even if you have first class caps, getting to a plane. Even if you get to fly first class, you're burning hours of your vacation. That time you could have been sitting up on the Vista deck, having a drink at the pop-up bar, or maybe getting a massage, or simply sitting in your room with your bed facing the view and watching these beautiful vistas unfold.

Give it a try because I think you will be more than pleasantly surprised. And it's something you can put into your vacation mix so you're not doing things, you know, the same thing all the time.

Mikkel (18:06)

Well, we absolutely adore Riverside. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

Jen (18:10)

We're so honored you came on and for me it's just I love to watch it unfold. I kind of step back a lot of times and see you know - you, advisors, new guests coming on just really kind of I can tell that they're being like wowed at every turn and I just you know it's the crew I mean I will give shout outs to the crew like I'm here just you know telling you the story of these amazing people that give you an experience that you just won't get even in a luxury hotel. 

You feel like your family instantly. You fall in love with Carolina, who can't fall in love with Carolina, right? You know, our amazing bar staff or you know, even a cabin attendant. They're so sweet. They're so authentic. You want to know their stories. They want to know yours. And there's just no other style like it. And it's very special. And I hope you get to experience it for yourself someday soon.

Mikkel (19:06)

You reminded me of one thing that I think we should close out with because I think that it is a detail that only somebody as fun as you could add to the ship. You might know where I'm going with this. And no matter your age, it gives you a little hint of sweetness and nostalgia. And we all know it's the gummy bears that you brought. 

Jen (19:29)

Gummy bears. So, it's a good story because you know at the end of the day we do deliver a very European style of service which Americans really don't know that they want that they enjoy right but it's not stuffy at all but you you just feel this attentiveness but we can still get a little too European and you know they know what they like and on our very first cruise ASTA River Cruise Expo I went into Vienna and I brought gummy bears and the crew was like, "This is not luxury," right? And I was like, "But it's fun and it's whimsical and people like it." 

And sure enough, like that night they were out and everyone's like, "God, we love gummy bears!" And I'm like, I'm sorry guys, Europeans, I know it's weird for you. I know like, gummy bears came from like Bahn, but like Americans love them. Like we can't get enough. It's like our inner child. And so we will blend really high end stuff, but we have popcorn every night at happy hour.

So you mix the popcorn with the gummy bears with maybe some wasabi peas, sometimes some chips. And it just gets the night off started in a very fun way.

Mikkel (20:33)

Well, the future is bright, especially with somebody like you and all the gummy bears and all the gummy bears for everybody, and ships coming on board, so thank you again.

Jen (20:38)

Thank you guys so much and I hope you continue to enjoy your Rhine cruise with Riverside.

Mikkel (20:47)

So Dan, any final thoughts about Riverside Luxury Cruises?

Dan (20:51)

It truly is a cruise line you have to experience. And I don't know how else to say it because it's something different, right? And we've been on enough cruises to say, we know how this is going to go and there's no more surprises. And I think Riverside continues to surprise, in a good way, and really deliver something that's unexpected and something that's next level.

Mikkel (21:22)

Tune in next week as Dan and I give you our firsthand perspective and insights into our Riverside Debussy experience and the luxury of choice that Riverside Luxury Cruises affords its guests. This is going to be a great supplement to what Jen has already shared in this episode. So make sure that you are subscribed and following the podcast and we will talk to you next week.