How Riverside Luxury Cruises Perfects Choice & Customization

We explore the luxurious experience offered by Riverside Luxury Cruises aboard the Riverside Debussy, with insights into the Riverside Mozart as well, diving into what makes this cruise line stand out in the competitive river cruise market. 

We discuss the unique features that set Riverside apart from other river cruise lines, including the impressive flexibility of their itineraries and exceptional dining options that cater to discerning food enthusiasts. We dive into Riverside's attention to detail and phenomenal service, examining how they elevate the guest experience beyond typical cruise standards. 

We also compare Riverside with other established cruise lines, highlighting the distinctive offerings that give them a competitive edge as this emerging cruise line establishes itself in the market. We explore the future potential of the Riverside brand and its strategic positioning in the rapidly growing river cruise industry.

Be sure to listen to last week's episode, when we sat down with Jennifer Halboth, CEO of the cruise line, for an exclusive interview. 

See photos of Riverside Mozart in this piece, showcasing various reasons why Riverside Mozart is an optimal choice for cruising on the Danube River.

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

• 1:10 Introduction to Riverside Luxury Cruises
• 2:44 Unique Features of the Riverside Experience
• 5:17 Riverside Luxury Cruises' Itineraries Flexibility
• 7:33 Riverside's Luxury of Choice
• 9:17 Multiple Dining Venues & Options
• 17:23 Drinks That Are a Level Above the Rest
• 20:34 Riverside's Impeccable Attention to Detail
• 23:33 Is There Room for Riverside in the River Cruise Market?
• 27:20 Anticipating Christmas Markets River Cruises

Transcript

Mikkel (00:35)

We are so excited to be recording this podcast in a luxurious suite onboard Riverside Debussy. We are so grateful that you are tuning in and we are very anxious and eager to tell you everything that differentiates the Riverside Luxury Cruises experience from river cruise lines on the market.

If you haven't already listened to our previous episode, we encourage you to do so where we talked to Jen Halboth, the CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises, and she has some fantastic insights and stories into her time with this incredible cruise line.

We are recording in a live quote unquote cruise ship, so if you hear doors opening and closing, that is why, which means we have fantastic microphones, because it's actually not that loud when you're in person. And Dan and I are gonna get into all our thoughts from our firsthand experience on, this is now our second Riverside Luxury Cruises experience. We sailed on the double-wide ship, the Mozart, before, and now we are on Riverside Debussy. If you have tuned in before, you know that we have mentioned that all of the Riverside ships are named after famous composers. They also have the Revel.

So right now they have three ships in the water with more to come, which just means you're going to have more options. And let's get into everything that we know makes this truly the river cruise line of luxury choice.

Dan (02:09)

The thing that stood out to me about Jen's conversation was, and she briefly touched on it, and we didn't spend much time, but the idea of the hop on and the hop off, and you can do a three-day cruise, you can do a 34-day cruise... Our butler is here with our drinks, this is wonderful.

Mikkel (02:36)

No, you're fine. We're recording a podcast so we're podcasting. Oh my god. We're not people to ask for anything but we were like my god this is a great thing for Indra. "That's my job."

Dan (02:52)

Hahaha

Mikkel (02:56)

Thank you so much.

Okay, well, that's luxury for you. And that is why Riverside really makes a difference. Cheers to that. So for everybody listening and not watching on YouTube right now, there was a ring at the doorbell, 'cause all the staterooms here have very subtle, very nice chiming doorbells. And, um,

we have not used our butler because we're very, you know, do it yourselfers, go to the bar yourself. The bar is never that far away on a river cruise ship. But we were in the middle of actually, you know, getting the last of some work done. And the QR code to message the butler was right in front of us. And I said, why don't we just, why don't we just WhatsApp our butler, like Jen said, you know, is a perk of being on here to get the drinks that we want. And we did!

And then we kind of moved to another room to record this podcast and we texted him and said we're actually in this room not the other one we're in 307 not 20 are we in 207? No, 307 not 209. So anyway, he's amazing. That was so sweet. So cheers to that! Anyway, where were we?

Dan (04:21)

So we were talking about the hop on hop off aspect of it and that sort of "Tetrising" or building your own adventure on Riverside, which I think is really an interesting concept find anywhere else really that I know of. I mean, maybe... I'm sure it exists, but...

Let's say you want to do land and then jump on the ship for three to 14 nights, whatever it kind of, you know, I'm sure there's a threshold of nights and combinations and things like that, being able to have that flexibility and say, I'm going to do a mini cruise in the middle of a land vacation here in Europe. I think that's really an interesting concept and highlights that idea of freedom.

Mikkel (05:12)

I was also talking to a friend recently who wants to experience Europe in the month of late September, early October to try to coincide with Munich's Oktoberfest. My friend Tracy, if you're listening, shoutout to Tracy. And, as a new to river cruiser, her and her boyfriend were thinking of signing up for something but wanted to combine it with land and I said you have to try Riverside. It's the most luxurious and also if you're not ready to commit to seven days, which a lot of it is, sometimes people don't have vacation if they can't work remotely as easily, they are looking for, like you said, of Tetris together their trip. So I suggested maybe a few nights on Riverside and combine with a land trip for more flexibility. 

And we've had these conversations before that thesense of luxury is changing. Yeah. And that it is a luxury to be able to piece together your trip like that. Another piece of luxury on this trip that I absolutely love is being able to do laundry. Again, the luxury of choice. can send your laundry out, but you can also do it yourself. And we love to pack in carry-ons, which I think is very much a commonality with the affluent and avid travelers.

That they're packing on carry-ons and they would love to be able to do laundry and just throw in a load while they're at the bar listening to a singer, as we did last night. So, another luxury.

Dan (06:46)

Right. But, overall, it seems like they're really leaning into that flexibility and that being the luxury piece.

Mikkel (06:56)

Mmhmm. Hmm.

That's true. I like that about flexibility because another reminder is, you know, we have a, it's not a Nespresso, but their equivalent of a Nespresso machine to make our own coffee in our room. But then we can also walk a few steps to their little - and I was saying to you - the most luxurious 24/seven coffee and tea bar I've seen. They have not just all of the high-end quality teas and you know, a great espresso and cappuccino maker, but they also have not just cookies - they have macaroons. They have a third kind of cookie, they have a bowl of gorgeous looking fruit that looks fake, but it's very much real and you can take from it. And then on top of that, they have a little pot with mint in it. Live mint in it. And then they have another with like a lemon balm for your tea. So really just taking, like you said, the options up to another level.

Dan (07:55)

So you can do all that or else you can just text your butler. So there's like three options to get a cup of coffee. You can make it yourself. You can go to the ⁓ phenomenal coffee bar or you can just text your butler.

Mikkel (08:06)

And it's not overwhelming, it's just.. Like I get decision paralysis when I'm somewhere like Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors, I'm like my god there's too many ice cream flavors, but it doesn't feel like that here, it feels like just a really nice luxury.

Dan (08:22)

Right. Yeah. And it can be as American as you want it to be or can be as European as you want it to be. MSC and their campaign for ocean with Drew Barrymore and ⁓ Orlando Bloom, you know, that European luxury with the American style. So it's kind of interesting that Jen touched upon that, which again goes into that flexibility of like, oh, this is so interesting.

I just don't know any other line that's approaching it like this.

Mikkel (09:00)

Yes. So some others: there's a fitness room, but you can also take their e-bikes out, right?

One is their restaurants. There is the main Atelier restaurant, but then there's also the Bistro that's open for lunch and and early dinner and has snacks out. I mean that's more than most river cruise line ships sure with one restaurant. So they have multiple dining options. Another thing is if you do the all-inclusive pricing that Jen was talking about, you get room service included so can have a fourth option, really with all-the-time room service. And then the other option, which backtracking to the

Let's see we have Atelier restaurant, the Bistro and then the third one I was thinking of was The Vintage Room, which I'll come back to, and then the fourth one is the room service. Okay, so speaking of options they do breakfast and lunch with a buffet and dinner is in the same restaurant every day, but a seated option. Now, this is not including the Bistro option, which is another option and the room service option. But the buffet... everybody who has some sort of preconceived notion about cruising and they don't really know firsthand... Right? Yeah, you can finish my sentence? Yeah,

Dan (10:12)

Well, just, everybody thinks it's just an endless buffet of chicken fingers and spaghetti and chicken fingers. Like, when you say the word "buffet," you're like, ⁓ I don't want that. Or even germs, right? Well, right. And a hundred percent I'm in that camp where if somebody says we're gonna have a buffet, I have like flashbacks of my childhood going to like the grand buffet. Ponderosa?

Mikkel (10:17)

Like nausea. Right! Or even germs. That's fair.

Dan (10:41)

And just saying like especially on a luxury cruise line, I don't want that to be my vacation: a buffet. But I stand corrected. Being back on a Riverside vessel - it's a reminder of how to do buffet in a very elevated way.

Mikkel (11:06)

Classy, almost. Oh yeah. Right? Yeah. First of all, the way that the extension of the dining room looks with the buffet area is beautiful. Secondly, you've never seen a healthier buffet. They have the most gorgeous salad bar and you know, I have a huge pet peeve. If I see lettuce that is browning, I want to scream and throw the lettuce overboard or if I'm at a restaurant, like, you know, I only have two things I will send something back for.

One is lettuce that is browning in a salad and the other is an overcooked poached egg. So the most gorgeous lettuce, four kinds of lettuce I've ever seen with the most fresh vegetable options and then pre-made salads. Like, today they had an Asian glass noodle salad, they had a ham and cheese very German salad the other day, they have a broccoli salad. So they swap the salads every day. 

Then on the opposite side is like the most gorgeous set little salads. You had like a tuna tartare today, a broccoli mousse, which was very interesting. It's a great place to try things. Right. You know, so that kind of thing. And then they have another section that's all the desserts. And then on the opposite of the desserts, so kind of picture like a rectangle. So the two solids are on the long ends and then the dessert is opposite the bar.

That had today it was duck, there were crepes with mushrooms and spinach, there was rice, there was sauteed vegetables, you can get minute steak, you know, you can get pasta. They had spaetzle today because we were in Germany. So just options galore and one of our favorite things whether you have it as a starter or you can even have it during your main course or as dessert is the cheese.

Dan (12:52)

Yeah. Well, the cheese cart. So a couple of things. The buffet has a cheese area, let's call it. And the selection is great. And I've enjoyed everything there. But at dinner, they have the cheese cart. Very French.

Mikkel (12:56)

Yeah. You see it when you walk in. But it's very high quality cheese. A great variety. So depending on your cheese likes, whether you're kind of new to the cheese tasting or you like a smelly cheese or you like a blue cheese or you like a parmesan, whatever, soft, a medium, a hard, whatever.

Dan (13:29)

So the selection is very impressive, but also just having it there, like other lines have had like a cheese plate for dessert.

Mikkel (13:39)

But not the presentation. Right. Probably because it's not as high quality, even not only the cheese, but...

Dan (13:44)

again

Mikkel (13:49)

And now I'm sure everybody listening, hopefully if you're a foodie, you are loving this and if not, you are gaining some insight into this. But you know, the vessel for the cheese, now whether you take a bite with the cheese and you pair it with a jam or you had a horseradish with it the other day that you loved, you said cleared your sinuses.

Or a cracker or a piece of bread, even the bread and the crackers on this cruise line are phenomenal. And we've had the opposite on some other cruise lines that we are not as impressed with that, but it really is part of the course. If you're gonna have a cheese plate for dessert and you want a cracker with it, you can't overlook the quality of the cracker.

Dan (14:32)

Yeah, well again it goes back to what we saying about the details. It's about the details, it's about paying attention, but it's also about listening. And like I feel like they're really listening and they take this feedback. You had feedback the other night about the soup and it was like, ⁓ thank you for bringing that to our attention.

Mikkel (14:57)

Yeah, she thanked me when I was walking out. What happened was they plugged in the broth for the soup for the Bistro before we had an event at night. They were giving us little bites and it wasn't hot enough and I thought, they don't know that. Let me tell them. It wasn't a complaint. It was just letting them know for everybody's well-being. And she even thanked me when I went out and I felt okay about that, you know? I don't like speaking up like that, but...

I felt like it was welcomed feedback because she made the point to thank me again. And another thing - we're gonna have to post this to our Instagram account @SometimesSailing and put it in the show notes - but the butter.

If you like butter or even if you think you don't care about butter, wait until you've had the butter on Riverside Luxury Cruises. They do a different whipped butter every night with dinner. A tomato butter, a pesto butter, a lavender butter, truffle butter. And they're to die for not only just the butter, but also the bread. Like you love the salt stick.

Dan (16:01)

Right. Yes. Well, you know, spending spending some time in France, like I definitely have become a snob on bread and butter and...

Mikkel (16:12)

The French hold it in the highest regard so that's okay.

Dan (16:16)

And it's impressive. Just every meal you're like, okay. Well, it's impressive, but most importantly, it's consistent.

Mikkel (16:27)

It is consistent. And let's take the kind of botanics and crafting of the butter to the bar because they are the only cruise line I know of that infuses their own... sorry, river cruise line because I will say Uncruise, infused their own gins and those were phenomenal.

Dan (16:46)

CJ was...

Mikkel (16:47)

CJ, our bartender. CJ, from Buffalo, was amazing. Dan's from Buffalo. But they're the only river cruise line I know of that infuses their own alcohols and makes their own botanicals, like their syrups and everything. And it really makes their, not just their cocktails, but their mocktails when they're making fresh ginger for the drinks, a cut above the rest.

Dan (17:08)

It's that attention to detail. Yes. That we keep going back to. Cheers to  that. That's what they do best and I'm going to be really excited to watch them kind of lean into that as they more ships in the water. They feel like they're in their teenage years a little bit, right?

Mikkel (17:31)

But killin' it. Like a really responsible teenager. Right. Because we all know other teenagers that are not responsible.

Dan (17:37)

That fills the car up with gas and you know every time right and they borrow it.

Mikkel (17:41)

And thanks their parents for paying for a new pair of shoes.

Dan (17:44)

But it feels like they're kind of coming into their own. And I truly think they're just going to attract those like-minded people. Right? So ⁓ we've heard the term

working affluent, right? So I think that's perfect for that, but you don't have to be affluent. You can say this is where I'm gonna splurge this year and they give that experience that is unparalleled but also fresh river

Mikkel (18:18)

So that Vintage Room is an additional cost for a multi-course, multi-hour, multi-drink pairing dinner in a private room. But it is another option, and people really like that.

Dan (18:31)

Right, so let's talk about that just a little bit. We did that on the Mozart. It almost was a three and a half, four hour dinner experience. It was an experience. It wasn't just dinner, right? So multi-course pairing, wine and food pairing, the sommelier is on board.

Mikkel (18:41)

when you have nowhere to be. Right.

Dan (18:51)

Also, the chef comes out, has the conversations about what he or she was thinking and what you're eating and why it works. The sommelier talks about why the pairing works. And it was truly an experience. And, well, we're going to experience that on this ship.

Having that option of just completely elevated dining experience right here on the ship, you don't have to go off ship to do that. Or else you can ignore it. You wouldn't even know the room is there. It's kind of tucked in. You would not know the room is there. It's tucked in. It's not even labeled as... It's labeled but it's very small, to your point. It's on the door.

Right, it's subtle. So to your point, there's so many options that can go full on amazing experience or else you can just grab a bite the Bistro as you're walking through.

Mikkel (19:48)

Also an experience, just…It's a great, wonderful dining experience. The dining room is one of the nicest I've ever seen. I don't know if you agree.

Dan (19:59)

Yeah, I mean it's... Yeah, it's it's impressive. Well, so not to go off on another tangent of a tangent, but it's what Riverside ...the level of detail and or just attention to detail is extremely impressive. I think across the board across the board

Mikkel (20:01)

The finishes. Are you saying that in interiors? Yeah.

Actually, to your point with the details, when I was throwing our load of laundry in last night, they have two different pods. They have pods for like kind of universal, a load of laundry, and then they have specific color pods. And I thought even that was really thoughtful. Yeah. In the details.

Dan (20:39)

Yeah.

Mikkel (20:42)

And then also on the note of being up to date with the technology, like we've been able to message the front desk team that some of them come on the excursions with us. We've been able to WhatsApp them to communicate if we need to, you know, during free time or to ask them a question. And that's been really valuable to us, particularly on this trip. And it's just been a fantastic level of service that I think really makes them kind of a cut above the rest.

Dan (21:12)

Yeah, that is we've had great service on other lines. That's for sure. And the personalization that we've had has been phenomenal with other lines. But there is just something slightly elevated here. And it's not like one thing. It's just sort of everything is just one or two steps above the other lines.

Mikkel (21:42)

It builds on itself. Yeah.

Another favorite thing I love that we noticed when it was a gorgeous day is that we opened our panoramic window, which is what a few river cruise lines have this, not just Riverside makes your glass window a balcony essentially, because half of it lowers. But what I thought was phenomenal was there's a screen that you can put down. Other cruise lines don't have the screen. Literally, there's a little bug on the label because it's a screen to prevent bugs from coming in your room.

Dan (22:18)

Yeah, and you know, we live in Florida, so we're used to bugs. Right.

Mikkel (22:23)

We're also used to our screened-in porch, so it is really nice. So that's a great option.

Dan (22:27)

Right. Yeah, it goes back to it's truly those small details. And some of its service, some is just ship design. Some of it is just ship architecture in and of itself. But overall, it's an experience. Right. And in a previous episode, we talked about, like, if you're going to go on a river cruise that everybody has gone on, you're gonna go on a Viking, right?

Mikkel (22:58)

Yes, and I will say just we really, I mean, I can speak for myself, but I've had conversations with you and we've had them on the podcast. I really like Viking and I think it's an amazing introduction to river cruising and I'm so grateful Viking exists to introduce people to it.

Dan (23:15)

So, but that's interesting. So you've got a entry level, let's call it - a Viking cruise. Sure. But you can do that on Riverside because maybe you're on land and you just want to do a three day or something like just jump on a cruise. As

Mikkel (23:31)

…an introduction? Right.

Right. I think it's a marketing thing and Viking has decades on Riverside. And as Jen said, Riverside's team and foundations are in hospitality and they've ventured into river cruising in the past two or three years. So it's truly still a hidden gem, but the service and the options and the excursions - they're in line with everyone else if not a cut above the rest in certain regards within that.

Dan (23:58)

Yeah, yeah, it is. I'm going to be really interested once they get those other ships online, get those in the water, you know, like under their banner and in the water and just see where they where they take it and what it looks like for river cruising with anticipation of Celebrity entering and the new players entering into it. And more ships

Mikkel (24:21)

with the bigger names. Sure.

Dan (24:23)

Yeah, just more ships. Everybody's building ships. So yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how they continue to carve out their own space within the cruise industry.

Mikkel (24:34)

Yeah, I think what's nice about Riverside in regards to that is that I do feel like they're offering something unique and it's not just another river cruise line. So another hospitality brand can jump into something that's becoming even more popular. I do think that they have a purpose in this. What's going to be interesting is what the other new to, you know, Celebrity coming into river cruising is going to do to differentiate themselves because of all this. And it might just be bringing an ocean cruiser from Celebrity into river, which also, you know, is meaningful to the space. 

We live in Orlando and Epic Universe just opened and I saw Disney has a tradition of congratulating them and vice versa because the rising tide lifts all ships so that would be great. I mean, we're so passionate about the small ship cruise industry. I'd like to think there's room for everybody to differentiate themselves but in regards to Riverside I do feel like they do differentiate themselves in the decor, in the luxury options and such, in the flexibility of the schedule.

Dan (25:41)

Right, right.

see them lean into that even more and kind of explain it a little bit more. I think, yeah, I think they've got some interesting value propositions that set them apart from the other boats on the river.

Mikkel (26:00)

I think that's a great place to land for now. Thank you so much for tuning in. It has been amazing discussing this cruise line and bringing this to everyone's attention that is out there listening. If you have any questions about Riverside Luxury Cruises that we haven't answered, don't be shy. 

Please send us a text message, which you can do if you're listening from Buzzsprout or DM us on social media. That is in the show description. I'm looking forward to a future episode where we discuss our Romantic Rhine itinerary specifically because it has been very romantic on Castle Row as Jen kind of touched on and it's opened my eyes to an itinerary that I would suggest as a first time one to new cruisers. So let's talk about that in a soon to come feature episode and cheers to sailing on Riverside Debussy.

Dan (26:54)

Prost!

Mikkel ending (26:56)

There you have it, our take on Riverside Luxury Cruises and our experience on Riverside Debussy, filled with so many options and enough choice that you feel like you have options but not to overwhelm you. This is a truly phenomenal river cruise line. And as Jen mentioned in the episode before this one, the CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises, of her favorite experiences of all time on any vacation was on a Christmas markets river cruise. 

So if you can hear those faint jingle bells in the distance, that's because we're going to celebrate a little bit of Christmas in July as we bring in July next week with a Christmas markets river cruise episode. This is a popular topic and we are so excited to bring you all the information about cruising on Europe's rivers during this magical time.

So make sure that you are following Small Ship Cruise Talk so you don't miss a beat or a bell and hear about the Christmas markets river cruises. Speak to you then.