Emerald Cruises UK Reviews 

This was our first river cruise and we chose the Rhine and Moselle with Emerald. We are so glad we did. From the moment you step aboard you are made to feel welcome and special. The staff were all brilliant -helpful, friendly, efficient. The food was excellent and the tours, informative, interesting and well organised. We would not hesitate to recommend to others.

Being welcomed warmly and looked after from beginning to end. Excellent food as well. There was a very happy atmosphere among the Douro crew and staff which added to the warm welcome onboard.

Jewels of the Rhine was our first river cruise and we were not disappointed. It was well organised, the staff were all very friendly, the food was amazing, rooms ideal. Lovely scenery.

First time river cruising, couldn’t fault a thing! Staff were friendly and very efficient, boat was immaculate, food was delicious and itinerary was peefecty

Ship of a very good standard .
Staff excellent. Enjoyed the open seating space in front of lounge.
Excellent tour guide 'Harry' andc activity/ entertainment manager.
We found food bland and a limited choice of main course in comparison to other cruise companies. Good selection of wines.
All excursions were excellent with a good variety of options.
Great care by tour director to ensure accessibility for all.
We have travelled with you before
and will.be considering other river cruises for 2026.

From start to finish this river cruise with Emerald Cruises on the River Duuro was five star.
We were picked up from Porto airport and whisked off to our star-ship. Check-in was easy and then we were shown to our cabin where our luggage was already waiting.
Our cabin (a panorama balcony suite) was spotless, very bright and tidy with no signs of wear and tear.
The intinerary had been well put together. There was plenty of time for relaxing as we passed the river's landscapes, plus daily tours in the surrounding areas, also activities to keep you busy (if you wanted to).
The food on this cruise was outstanding and varied. there were two special dinners on board, a welcome and fairwell gala dinner. For me though the outstanding meal of this cruise was a rural lunch at a Quinta on the banks of the Douro,a brilliant experience.
However what really made this holiday 5* was the crew. Every single one of the worked as a team to make our journey extra special. Thank you to to crew on the Emerald Radiance.

We are taking our fourth Emerald cruise this winter.

We like the Emerald product. Small yacht. Very good crew. Very nice food.

This is our second cruise with Emerald. Accommodation and staff excellent. A more varied vegetarian meal option would be appreciated. Veggie lasagne as an option every night! Farm trip was not very well looked on. Could elaborate further but no space. Would have been good to have better direction for solo Budapest tours. Buses and tram access to tickets would have helped. Other trips undertaken were very well appreciated

Sadly air conditioning failure for 3 days plus did not help. On board team did everything and more to try and resolve.
On our return customer service team continued good customer care.

Great boats, great food, great entertainment, great accommodation and great excursions. But if you are a poor walker beware some excursions offer limited travel assistance into town, book early, especially when the weather is hot!

We were impressed with the whole experience,from airport to ship, trips, food and entertainment

We enjoyed the river cruise experience as far as the places we visited and the scenery from the ship. However the on-board experience was disappointing. The quality of food was average, both in terms of quality, choice and service. I was expecting more flexibility around dining times rather than one sitting each evening.

Well where may I start?
First off the entire package was tremendous with the 2 hotels at either end being absolutely first class. Brilliant locations for each of them and staff who were really friendly, polite, helpful and would stop at nothing to make our holiday.

Secondly the ship and our cabin. Thanks to the excellent enterprise of the voucher scheme operated by Emerald & Scenic from our last holiday with them, we were able to book an Owner's Suite. What a surprise. The cabin itself was big with plenty of room as you would expect but the balcony/ veranda was unexpected- a jacuzzi and plenty of room to relax on the recliner and chairs.

Our butler was really good and respectful catering to our needs and had ESP when it came to us returning from an excursion- the jacuzzi was ready to go after being cleaned thoroughly that morning.

Three the food, entertainment and restaurant staff - big shout to Lin, Alex and Richard who really looked after us and gave the impression they enjoyed their work.
The chef too was fantastic being on hand every meal time to explain what he had conjured up ( did he ever get a moment to himself?)
Fourthly- the excursions. These included The Killing Fields, a Tuk Tuk ride, The Presidential Palace and The Tunnels. There were others but these stood out. The Killing Fields was made quite poignant as our guide had relatives who had perished there. Certainly gave us an insight as to what really went on.
Fifthly- the weather 🤔 it was the rainy season after all. Yes it did rain every day but only for about 20 minutes or so and the temperatures were always around 32* or above with humidity never below 65%.

Six - Ab our Cruise Director He was superb and in my opinion went above and beyond as I unfortunately got bitten quite badly on my legs. We asked whether there was a” sick bay” aboard but as there was not he directed/ asked a crew member to go to the nearest pharmacy and later that day I was supplied with a 10 supply of antibiotics which did the trick within 2 days. Also they were inexpensive Thank you Ab

There so many highlights and a contrast in each of the 2 countries of Cambodia & Vietnam- one of which was the introduction each day of a local delicacy at mealtime- so I ate deep fried tarantula, grasshoppers, locusts and grubs 😋 delicious 🤤 mainly because they all tasted like beef crisps 😂

Emerald- especially “ Harmony “ is to be recommended as the way to cruise and we’re looking forward to the next one
Oh did I mention we received many souvenirs in our cabin and we’re looking forward we were blessed by monks in a temple and visited a school
Well done all and thank you for a wonderful holiday 👍

The cruise itinerary was good but the dining experience spoilt the experience. Nothing wrong with the food or service, just the lack of noise damping in the dining room. Too many people in a confined space with no noise absorption. If you want to shout at your fellow diners then this is the cruise ship for you.

The ship, crew, food, tours were all great.
We were looked after really well.

There was not one aspect that could be faulted. The organisation was great; the staff on the ship were all friendly and the service was excellent; the food was superb; and the excursions (and friendly guides) were also excellent.

Everything from the yacht to the staff, amazing all 5 star. Looking forward to our next trip

The river cruise was truly wonderful. All the staff were helpful, pleasant and considerate. The guided tours were very interesting and the onboard entertainment created a happy atmosphere. We thought the food on offer was really great. One thing that needs to improve is the overall approach to 'free from' but if you asked, the serving staff were very helpful in sourcing gluten free items. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience - well done.

No complaints - the journey / food was excellent - would recommend this trip to all our friends