The river cruise line introduced a stop-sale approach to “ensure we're only selling holidays that can deliver the authentic Riviera experience our guests expect”.
It told TTG it believes it is “one of the very few operators” to have stopped selling certain river cruises owing to low water levels. Sales have been paused until 13 September, Riviera said.
River lines operating on the iconic waterways have been forced to amend or cancel itineraries throughout the peak summer months as a result of low water levels.
To date, Riviera has cancelled 17 sailings on the Rhine and Danube while other itineraries have been altered to reflect the low water levels on both rivers.
“While water levels on the Rhine are showing signs of improvement, there remains uncertainty, and we feel it's important to be transparent with both customers and travel agent partners,” Riviera said.
“Our priority is always to deliver the best possible holiday experience. Taking a cautious approach now means we can continue to operate with the honesty, trust and guest-first mindset that Riviera is known for.”
Riviera has launched an enhanced River Cruise Update Centre, featuring a 72-hour outlook and a Five-Point Promise designed to “provide greater clarity and reassurance during periods of low water on the Rhine and Danube”.
'We will take a different course of action'
The Five-Point Promise includes the pledge to “not turn your customers' river cruise into a coach holiday”.
“We will always do everything possible to keep coach journeys to a minimum, including if plans need to change while your customers are on holiday,” Riviera writes.
“What we will not do is replace significant sections of their planned river journey with repeated, long-distance coach journeys simply to keep an itinerary running.
“If river conditions mean we cannot deliver a genuine river cruise experience, we will take a different course of action and give you clear options to relay to your customer.”
Riviera investment
James Golding, Chief Guest Experience Officer at Riviera Travel, said: "River conditions can change quickly, particularly after prolonged periods of dry weather.
“That’s why we’ve invested in a much more sophisticated way of monitoring the rivers we sail, combining live readings from official water level gauges with rainfall mapping across the Rhine and Danube catchments, detailed weather forecasting and our own AI-powered monitoring dashboards.
“Together, these tools allow our teams to track changing conditions across entire river systems, not simply at individual ports, and build a clearer picture of what may happen next.”
Riviera said affected guests and travel agent partners are contacted directly with the latest information and available options when any itinerary changes are made.