Luxury all-adult river cruises are becoming the hottest tickets in the travel industry these days, and a relatively unknown cruise line, Riverside Luxury Cruises, is creating the biggest waves.
The German-owned Riverside has only been on the waters a scant three years, but is already turning the heads of top luxury lines like Viking, Uniworld, Regent, Tauck and the like with its splash of inclusions and pamperings.
“It’s luxury re-defined,” says Riverside CEO Jennifer Halboth.
And that was not hype. Luxury began as we walked up the gangplank to our ship, the Riverside Debussy. We were greeted with champagne and caviar, unburdened of our luggage by crew members and ushered to our suite.
Within seconds, a butler arrived and offered to unpack and arrange our belongings (we declined) and then gave us a tour of our quarters. Understated elegance was everywhere — marble floors, a walk-in closet, a king-size bed that could sleep four, wall-to-wall windows overlooking the river that could be opened, closed and shaded with push-buttons, a large bathroom with top-shelf toiletries and a walk-about shower with push button controls.
Our suite was described as Premium Luxury, and we were told that the suites above were twice our size, upgraded with even more amenities, and only the Lord knows what was going on up there.
Riverside has four ships sailing the Rhine, Main, Moselle and Danube rivers.
Our ship, the Debussy, can accommodate about 115 passengers, but was about three quarters full as it was off-season. Until recently, cruisers were mostly Europeans, but Riverside has now set its sights on attracting clients from North and South America, Africa and Asia. Some 2026 cruises are already sold out.
There were only two other English-speaking couples on our ship; the other cruisers and crew were from assorted parts of Europe. Consequently, we communicated in broken English at best, or the broken language of whoever we met. And you know what — it worked beautifully. Nobody argued, and all broken conversations ended with a smile. (Might be a lesson there for world leaders).
There were probably more staff members and crew than cruisers, so service was everywhere — not in your face, but there when needed. And the little extra touches of decor, even on the walls and ceilings, were signals of a quiet elegance, nothing splashy, everything in harmony.
In fact, we began to play a little game about the third day to try and find a flaw on the Debussy. And we finally did when a maid neglected to refill one of our tissue boxes in our suite one morning. I felt like Inspector Clouseau with his microscope.
Dining was another highlight.
You ate what you wanted, when you wanted, and often when it wasn’t even on the menu. Are you hot for Mexican? Just ask, you’ll likely get it if they have the ingredients. And they most likely will, as all chefs have a daily budget to source fresh local products at each port.
Our all-inclusive was just that, covering hard and soft drinks throughout the day, all excursions, all gratuities including tips for guides on tours. No more awkward fumbling around for cash as you departed the tour buses.
Our cruise began in Cochem, Germany and concluded in Huningue, France, sailing along the Rhine connecting the two countries. There were a number of other ports with jawbreaker names like Ludwigshafen and Breisach that we had never visited or even heard of.
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A colorful shop in Ludwigshafen. (SUSAN MERLE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Residents of the two countries have switched flags many times over the centuries because of wars and revolutions. As a result, they speak a dialect distinct to other parts of those nations. But as our cruise passed through the Alsace region of France and the Riesling wine region of Germany, the center of most conversations on both sides of the Rhine was wine.
We had a number of Riesling wine tastings on the German stops where 90% of the grapes are grown. And along the way during our cruise, we went from sipping Riesling in Cochem where it was born to eating Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest (although it wasn’t actually baked there) at our Breisach stop. Anyway, it makes for a good conversation piece.
In all, we sailed through 13 locks. One of the prettiest sections of the Rhine was at Rudesheim, Germany, another wine village but more known for its Rudesheimer coffee, a combination of flambéed brandy and sugar with coffee and a topping of vanilla-sweetened whipped cream. We also visited a strange music museum featuring over 400 self-playing instruments dating back three centuries.
At Ludwigshafen port, we took a sidetrip to the 2,000-year-old city of Speyer. We walked the tiny crooked streets of the Old Town and had a pretzel-making (and tasting) demonstration. We also visited Mannheim and viewed its massive Baroque Palace.
In the French city of Strasbourg, we took a city tour and visited its beautiful cathedral, and then took a sidetrip to nearby Obernai, a medieval town nestled at the foot of Mont Saint-Odile. We visited its Place du Marche (marketplace) with its historic buildings, and later walked through the town’s charming half-timbered houses and narrow streets. Obernai is a member of the Plus Beaux Détours de France (small towns with undiscovered tourist appeal). It may sound a bit commercial, but truly worth a visit.
We ended our cruise in Huningue, France, where we could have almost walked over to Basel, Switzerland, where we would spend three nights.
Basel, especially in its Historic District, is like an amusement park, free trams running around its winding narrow streets, open air markets, museums, street performers and food stalls everywhere. The city is often overlooked by tourists who head mostly to Zurich, Geneva and Lucerne.
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Parliament House in Basel. (SUSAN MERLE/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
But its location alone makes it worth a visit, because it’s smack in the middle of the three-country point where France, Germany and Switzerland meet. You could figuratively stand in one spot spread-eagled with your feet in two countries and a step away from a third. Residents zip in and out of each country to get the best prices for whatever they need or desire.
We checked in at Hotel Marthof in the heart of Basel’s Old Town. Our room overlooked the vast Marktplatz (market square) where a number of markets and sideshows opened and closed daily. That, along with the trams and tourists, made us feel like we were in a make-believe land. The Marktplatz is dominated by the impressive City Hall.
There are numerous ethnic restaurants along the winding streets, but we found them all-in-one at our hotel restaurant, the Bohemia, which was packed with locals and tourists around the clock. We ended our stay at the Bohemia with French onion soup, bratwurst and Swiss chocolate in honor of the three nations.
At Basel Airport the next morning, we learned that the airport building was split down the middle between Switzerland and France. So from one gate to another could mean crossing a border.
A neat way to finish a trip.
