TUI River Cruise Tips From Someone Who Worked There!

[@EmmaCruises]

Great video, really interesting to hear about it from the other side. I went on the first sailing of TUI Skyla at the start of the season, and the lady at the reception desk said I was very good at feedback, and she wasn't even kidding. I was just saying stuff like oh by the aircon doesn't work in my cabin for example and they said it was good I said rather than just complaining, then they fixed it for the next guests. Woohoo! 😀❤

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Aw amazing! Feedback is genuinely so important - especially as TUI is still quite new to river cruising and learning what works and what doesn't. Obviously it also makes a big difference whether someone is complaining for the sake of complaining or just being a decent (and understanding) person faced with a slight hiccough in their holiday! I hope you were still able to enjoy the holiday despite having no air-conditioning! 😅💕

[@MH-rx7tn]

Thank you for your information. I am planning solo tui river cruises in the future. Looks relaxing

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Yes it can definitely be incredibly relaxing and a great way to travel! Do you know which area you'd like to visit?

[@MH-rx7tn]

@MyNameIsRaquel So many to do. Start with the Rhine , Danube, Douro and Seine

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

@@MH-rx7tn All sound incredible! I would love to do the Douro and the Nile at some point as I've not had a chance to visit either of those areas ☺

[@MH-rx7tn]

​@@MyNameIsRaquelSounds great 👍 I need a travel companion 😊 , travelling solo can be expensive

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

@@MH-rx7tn That's true, it sometimes can be, but it can also be very freeing!

[@mickeyuk1]

Thank you. Very informative.

[@PaulTaylor-g8f]

Thanks for the videos. We're on the Maya right now and TUI appear to have taken your suggestion on board your suggestion about distinguishing between TUI run excursions and independently run excursions.

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Oh I'm very happy to hear that!! Thank you for letting me know 😊 I hope you're having a great time! x

[@robertsrodulski9438]

So true! We sailed Skyla in 2022 and 2023, the north and south Danube cruises and thoroughly enjoyed both trips. On both we were the only Americans onboard and enjoyed our British counterparts and all of their different accents. Food, entertainment and tours were great. All Staff were friendly and very professional. Incredibly it was within our budget to fly premium economy from the states to Heathrow, stay overnight in a hotel, catch our TUI flights and river cruise and then return home. All this was cheaper than booking a cruise on one of those premium cruise companies. We like the small passenger count, smooth sailing and, did I already mention this, the wonderful food. Especially breakfast in the Bistro (limitless coffee and cookie station too). Looking at an Amsterdam to Basil trip in 2025. Thanks for the site Kelly and best wishes for the future.

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Aw I'm so happy to hear that! That's the itinerary we always recommended to people who asked what to do next - even though we'd never been on it! Hope you're able to make it happen :)

[@tdm2298]

I am American, and have tried to go to the Tui web page, but I am blocked/denied each time. How do I get to their web page?

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

@@tdm2298 I'm not too sure, to be honest - I didn't actually work for TUI directly - but I think most American customers had to ring a number in order to book their cruise (although I could be mistaken). Might be worth seeing if there's an email address you can contact otherwise? Alternatively, if you have Facebook, you could join the community on there and see if anyone on there has experienced the same thing? Sorry I can't be much of more help!

[@catherineanderson5355]

very helpful! the ranking of escursions would be handy - we're mostly happy to wander around ourselves (and visit pubs/food/shopping places over churches) so be good to see which are recommended (the vienna one seems good value for 4 hours as a starting point, when we are there for 2 days)

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Aw thanks! I have actually filmed a video about the excursions already and it should be going up in about two weeks or so, but spoiler alert - I definitely recommend the Vienna City Tour 😅

[@mamakins5123]

I’m assuming Tui is more affordable than the better known lines. Can you estimate a percentage difference?

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

@@mamakins5123 yes it is! I'm fairly certain the average cost per person for a week with TUI is about £1000, with competitors coming in around £3000, although I really can't say that with much confidence 😅

[@marielco]

Hi Kelly thanks for the video very helpful. My husband and I have done many ocean cruises but are booked on our first river cruise end November. We are on the TUI Isla for the five day Mistletoe and Rhine cruise. Two questions I hope you can answer. Is it possible to get taxis/Ubers from where the ships dock? And is any if the cruising done during the day or all at night? Thank you.

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Hiya! Oh how lovely, enjoy! You can usually get Taxis/Ubers from where the ship docks, and often reception will be able to give you a number for a reliable taxi company (although not always). It does depend a little bit where you are as sometimes it may be in the middle of nowhere but usually it's not a problem and regardless of where you are reception can usually help you. On the winter cruises, the ships usually only sail at night and there is very little (if any) daytime sailing, so I probably wouldn't count on it, sorry! Hope that helps 😊

[@marielco]

Many thanks. I don’t think cruising at night will bother us too much as it’s a winter cruise. If we enjoy it we plan to do one next year in the summer. Cost has been a stumbling block in the past to trying a river cruise but TUI has made it possible. We don’t need the bells and whistles just the basics are fine with us. Thank you for your help.

[@jameschetwynd]

Sounds interesting

[@cruisecrazy7066]

I prefer to SEE stuff, not get a lecture.

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

Hey! That's absolutely fine - you don't have to watch this video if you don't want to! If you do want to SEE stuff, as I mentioned in the video, I vlogged my entire experience whilst on the ship and you can find all my vlogs of my time on the ship on my channel 😊 (but if you think my channel/style of video isn't for you - again, that's fine, you're under no obligation to stick around!)

[@cruisecrazy7066]

@@MyNameIsRaquel No problem, but the comment was meant as constructive.

[@MyNameIsRaquel]

@@cruisecrazy7066 ah that's alright, I'm always trying to improve my video editing and see what works 😊 hope you were still able to get some useful information out of the video 😅

[@cruisecrazy7066]

@@MyNameIsRaquel Absolutely. And I look forward to your next video. (Without the lectures) LOL