This was our 20th river cruise since 2012 but our first with Riviera; we’ve cruised with Viking 15 times, three with Scenic and once on a narrow boat along England’s canals and rivers when Covid prevented us travelling abroad. We’ve cruised the Rhone twice with Viking, from Lyon to Avignon in 2015 and the other direction in 2023.
The reason for choosing Riviera was simple: price.
Pre Cruise
My pre-cruise experience with Riviera wasn’t good and I regretted booking with them. First they didn’t reply to my request for the URL of their USA site, which I wanted for my American cruising chums, then they sent an email to say they’d replaced the advertised wine tasting in Beaune, that I was looking forward to, with a visit to Hôtel Dieu-Hospices de Beaune, which I’ve visited multiple times.
They didn’t phone back with a price when I requested an upgrade to business class on the air-travel and when I phoned again they told me they’d called, got no reply and left a message on my voicemail. I checked the number they’d called was correct. It was my landline which doesn’t have voicemail or an answering machine.
After I paid for the upgrade they refused to give the booking reference so I couldn’t pre-book seating. (In July Viking gave me the air booking reference to a cruise in May 2026 so I booked seating more than nine months in advance.
Shortly before the cruise they emailed to say I had to use their site to pick excursions where there was a choice of two on each of three days. As there were four people on my booking a choice was for all. However Joan & I wanted different excursions from Dan & Krisie. Again time was wasted on emails and phone calls. Their website isn’t capable of handing such choices. As it turned out the office didn’t communicate anyone’s preferences to the boat and every cabin had to select choices on-board.
Two weeks to the day before the cruise started I got an email with a link to a PDF and on-line ‘flip book’
Happily the on-board experience changed my opinion of Riviera’s offering, but their office is a shambles.
The boat – MS Thomas Hardy
MS Thomas Hardy is owned by Scylla AG and crewed by Scylla employees. The only two Riviera staff on board are the Cruise Director and Cruise Concierge.
The main restaurant and lounge at the ship’s front are on a deck between the accommodation floors, so the lift goes to five floors. Odd numbers are accommodation floors, 2 is the restaurant, 4 is the lounge.
We had a port side cabin (odd numbered) near front on middle deck (deck 3). Most times the boat moored with its starboard side to bank, so port side cabins get river views (except on the few times we rafted). River boats usually moor with bow pointing up-river (to protect the propellers from things that might float down-river), the port side cabins will get more river views when moored in either cruise direction.
There were 147 passengers. The boat’s capacity is 169, so there were 22 people fewer than there could have been thus the boat was 87% full. Most of the passengers were from the UK, but there were 10 from the Irish Republic, and a few from Canada and USA.
One could book the cruise only, or with travel by plane or Eurostar with travel to/from the boat. We booked flights from/to London Heathrow and paid a supplement to travel in Business Class.
Fare did not include on-board gratuities; the suggested amount was €8-12 per person per day for the crew, and a separate optional gratuity to the Riviera Cruise Director and Cruise Concierge. These can be paid with credit cards or by cash in a supplied envelope. Only Euros were accepted for the crew; the Cruise Director said she’d be pleased with any currency.
Included for 2025 European river cruises is the ‘Superior Drinks Package’. This meant unlimited free house wine, beers and soft drinks at lunch and from 18:00-24:00 these, plus spirits, mixers, sherry, port, brandy and cocktail & mocktail of the day. Drinks outside these times are charged. In 2026 the package covers 10:00-24:00. The red and white wines we had with meals changed daily and were of good quality.
The sparkling wine was supposed to be Crémant de Bourgogne, wine made from the same grapes as used in Champagne and made by the same in-bottle fermentation method, but a non-listed Italian Frizzante was served as a matter of course. On the second day of being served this dross we spoke to the restaurant manager who confirmed they had the Crémant; he went to the bar, we heard a cork pop and we were served the correct wine which had a deeper colour and unlimited bubbles, and the offending glasses cleared. The screw-topped Frizzante was labelled for Viva Cruises, which is the line owned by Scylla. We asked for Crémant subsequently, but noticed that others were still being served the pale bubble-less Frizzante.
There’s biscuits and hot drink machine station on the middle deck, and a small gym (free), hairdresser, wellness room offering massages on the lower deck. There are bicycles on the sundeck but these were not mentioned and I never saw them off-loaded or anyone using them. There’s a small splash pool and mini golf putting on the sun deck.
Dining
There are two restaurants. The main one has different daily lunch and dinner menus. It has about eight 2-top tables, many 4-top, and some six seater and larger tables.
The second one at the back of the boat on the upper floor is confusingly referred to by Riviera variously as Riverview, Bistro or Brasserie. Bistro is engraved on its glass door and the lift and signs on board refer to it as Bistro, but the daily schedule and its menu calls it Brasserie. It serves a more casual lunch and dinner, the lunch and dinner menus are the same each day.
One needs a reservation for the evening. But they’ll seat people if there are spaces free in the evening. It’s not open in the evening of the first night and evening of the gala dinner.
Breakfast has almost everything. Breads, cold meats, cheeses, fruit, yoghurts, cereals, mueslis are on buffets Hot scrambled eggs, bacon, beans etc are self service. Fried eggs, omelettes, avocado on toast etc can be ordered from waiters.
Lunch in the main restaurant has buffet salads and cold treats, cakes, fruits etc, and a hot menu ordered from waiter. There’s also a hot dish of the day at a station staffed by a chef. This might be pasta, or a leg of lamb.
There is wide choice and the food is generally good. Smaller or larger portions are served on request.
Cabin
We had a Ruby (middle) Deck Suite. Of course, it wasn’t a suite, just a cabin with separate bathroom. It was a French Balcony cabin 17 sq m/183sq ft. I was impressed with the fittings.
Two chairs and a table by the window, Nespresso and cordless kettle with mugs, tea-bags, Nespresso pods, milk and sweeteners in a drawer underneath, and safe and fridge, in the fridge were two wine glasses and two bottles of water. Towelling robes & slippers were in wardrobes and there was an umbrella. There was fridge, safe, a bedside i-Home clock radio alarm & docking station and a flat screen TV, neither of which we switched on.
On the table was a ring binder containing instructions for equipment in the room, plus a glossy folder with coloured street maps and details for each of the towns we stop at along the cruise, plus a fold-out colour map of the Rhone and Saone rivers.
Guests were supposed to have a refillable water bottle, but these hadn’t been delivered to the boat so we had water in plastic disposable bottles.
Bathroom
I was pleased there was a nightlight. There were face flannels and large and smaller towels for two. The shower had a detachable shower head and a fixed overhead rain shower head. I was pleased there was a grab-rail but I disliked that the liquid soap, shampoo and body lotion were fixed to the wall in refillable bottles.
Day 1 – Thursday 11 September 2025
We landed at 13.48 French time at Marseilles, and this occasion we got all our cases. Riviera’s representative met us and we were in the coach at 14:40 and on the boat at 16:00.
There was complimentary afternoon tea in the lounge, with cakes and nice scones. Riviera Lord Byron was rafted on the outside but it left at 18:30.
Dinner was served at 19.30 and the Cruise Director gave a welcome talk at 21:00 and told us about the following day, and that we had to go to her desk and choose the excursions we wanted to go on as our choices had not been sent to her.
There was free Wi-Fi but strangely we had to give our phone/tablets to the reception staff to enable access. Apart from everyone wanting to do it, there wasn’t a real problem as it took seconds and the device was in sight, all the same it is most strange.
Mooring location-Avignon: https://what3words.com/ranted.warrior.jeep
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