Emerald Cruises UK Reviews

We had a great experience with Emerald starting from our first enquiry, through to the end of our holiday. The yacht was beautiful, the staff were lovely and the food was excellent. I only have one suggestion for improvement and that is that we would have liked some type of Christmas celebration on board for at least Christmas Day. Other than that, we are very happy customers and hope to join another Emerald cruise in the future.

Great facilities on board, friendly but professional crew and a good international mix of passengers.

Excellent ships with, listen to this, a decent swimming pool. The lack of with, believe it or not, is the main reason we don’t book with the competing operators. Furthermore, very approachable staff which includes ‘them in the wheelhouse’. A great boon when one writes about transport safety as I do.

Everything from the flight arrangements and bookings were first class, the comfort of the ship and fabulous staff, along with the food drinks and tours were first class. It was my fourth cruise, I need another one.

Excellent service, Attention to detail. Fun professional crew

The delightful staff worked hard to make the whole trip such fun for everyone.

Excellent service & quality holidays

I sent my receipt s from Budapest . We were 24 hours late leaving and we had to find a hotel room .we were offered no refreshments.and I rang easyjet and they said to claim from you because you booked the flight s

We river cruised on the Luna along the Danube. Emerald organisation from the airport meeting point, onboard arrangements, to the organised daily trips was exceptional. We were taken round each town/city guided by brilliant guides. Food was really lovely. The down side for us was that we travelled through the night to the next place, therefore we missed seeing going through any of the locks. Only once did we travel a short time during the day which enabled us to enjoy sitting on the deck. During this time we were given a really good commentary of the area we were passing through. Would have liked a little more of this. The biggest minus for us was that everyone was seated for meals at the same time so you had to sit with other people and sometimes it is nice just to enjoy the meal without having to make conversation. Although unlimited drinks with the meal were included in the package it was hard at times to get a refill. The lounge area, although large enough during the day and evening, when it came to the pre dinner daily information get together, the lounge seating area is insufficient as we to stand on a couple of times. Overall we enjoyed the river cruise and Emerald were really good, but we enjoy entertainment options being available and of course river cruises are different to ocean cruises.

Excellent - great food, great trips , fantastic staff - super comfy bed - this was our 5th trip with Emerald and they never disappoint - we oil d highly recommend

I had to cancel a River cruise starting 30 August 2024 due to the sudden death of David my husband on 3 January. The cruise had been paid in full when booked but a cancelation fee of £1500 was taken which I felt was unfair due to the time of the cruise which would have been easily resold

Our room was lovely & v well maintained by Ionela our chamber maid. The food was excellent as was the wine to accompany all the superb dishes. The staff on board were efficient, friendly & helpful. The guided tours were well organised, informative & enjoyable. The special highlight for us was the evening that Ionela decorated our room with a pair of loving swans, champagne, a box of chocs & anniversary cards for our 50th wedding anniversary. That was the icing on the cake!

The whole experience was first rate and the unasked for compensation for one lost day due to high water was icing on the cake! The crew were attentive and helpful and retained a sense of humour throughout. The food was delicious without being ostentatious. The public rooms and the cabin were immaculate and all facilities worked as expected. The only slight niggle was that most of the cruising on the Rhone was done overnight so one lost a certain sense of "the journey". This was our second Emerald cruise and we would not hesitate to recommend to anyone.

This glorious Douro Cruise was taken last September. We had the most wonderful time, made fantastic new friends and our waiters could not have been more helpful and friendly. The weather was wonderful and I think this is the favourite of all the cruises we have had with Emerald. We have cruised the Danube, Main, Rhine, Mosel, Rhone and Duoro. A number of these rivers we have done twice or three times.

The cruise ship was spotless. The crew first class, very attentive and so friendly. The food was excellent with a good choice of dishes. All the excursions were enjoyable and we were well looked after. High quality service from start to finish.

Fantastic boats ,top notch food and drink

Excellent cruise, great food prepared by potential Michelin chef. Great service by all of the staff.

We had a marvellous 14night cruise on Emerald Sakara Summers 2023. It was an amazing experience with perfect service from all concerned, wonderful choice and tasty food, some bought locally as we sailed. Spacious and well fitted rooms with cosy huge bed. The closest of moorings in small ports made it feel really special. Dean the ship host along with all the crew were really welcoming, nothing was too much trouble. The classic opera singer brought on in Amalfi was stunning, singing on deck to around 90 people was very unique.

I could not fault my experience on the Emerald Explorer whilst cruising the eastern Caribbean in December. All the crew were very helpful. My wife is restricted in mobility but their was always help on hand especially when using the Tenders for shore trips. The entertainment manager summed it up quite nicely. This is not a Cruise ship but a luxury Yacht. The only issue I have with Emerald is that the telephone response to a telephone call was not that good.

Travel arrangements were poor. We were downgraded from a first class return flight including luggage to a flight with no luggage. Had to pay and then reclaim the luggage charge. It was emmbarrasing. The outbound flight was cancelled at short notice and the replacement arrangements took us twice as long to travel lost a lot of time on the first day. Originally scheduled to fly KLM we ended up flying on a lower cost airline. The cabin grade and location on the ship was awful. Extremely noisy in ship manoeuvring, plus every toilet flush in the ship noisily passed our cabin.