Emerald Cruises Reviews

The staff and crew of the ship was fantastic. Christmas Markets are not to be missed.

Fabulous experience! As usual I was extremely nervous about traveling and all of the things that “could” go wrong. Everything that AffordableTours.com promised was executed without a hitch! It was a wonderful trip and incredible service from AffordableTours.com and their team members. Thank you!

Land and river tours were excellent. Emerald was extremely efficient in all manners.

Although this is my first river cruise, so I cannot compare with other companies, I was very happy with Emerald with a few exceptions. They advertise that it is all inclusive and do offer several free tour options at each port, but that also sell Discovery options that are more money. We did 4 of those which increased the cost for 2 by $600. If you like to workout, forget the gym, which had one rowing machine, an exercise bike and some dumbbells with enough room for 3 people at most. The staff were all great, the food was very good and the itinerary was excellent. They have a small swimming pool and late night activities. Good diversity with most people from US, Canada, Australia and new Zealand.

This trip was all we expected and more. The booking and planning by Affordable Tours weas very helpful. The Emerald Radiance was a joy. The ship and crew were unbelievable. The Douro Valley is so very beautiful and Portugal an amazing destination-just need to explore it further.

Great cruise. Congenial group. The weather cooperated. Food excellent. Service efficient and polite.

Great river cruise, the operator Emerald Waterways did not disappoint. On board service was exceptional and the tours were very good. Only thought would be that having a little more free time during site visits would have made the excursions good to great.

Emerald provided a very memorable experience. Everything went according to plan. There were many activity options to pick from. The food and drink and staff were excellent. I liked the pool and bikes which gave us additional activities to enjoy, which Viking Cruises did not offer when I went on a previous river boat cruise with them 3 years ago.

Generally this was a very pleasant Emerald cruise. Just seemed a little off to what we've experienced on previous cruises with the same company.

The price for this trip expensive but the quality of services was excellent.

All accommodations were excellent. The dudes were very knowledgeable and took very good care of us. The excursions were informative and entertaining

first emerald waterway tour was excellent ! excellent and unique excursions included plus good optional tours offered loved the Vespa ride, ox cart and rickshaw ride Hoi Ann and Halong bay are highlights emerald staff very welcoming to us

Emerald was awesome. It offered us cultural experience that was unusual and authentic. We felt like we got to know the countries we visited. We are looking to book with Emerald again in Europe. Local and tour Director was the best

We had a great cruise with no issues whatsoever.

We had an outstanding trip down the Danube on Emerald Waterways. The food was amazing, the service was absolutely top-notch, the places we stopped (Passau, Linz and Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest) were all wonderful in their own way. The options provided by Emerald (active vs. included, and the add-on activities) were just right. Our Cruise Director and the Activity Manager were very knowledgeable and attentive throughout our trip. As alway, Affordable Tours helped us book, and provided great follow-up care when we needed it. 

Was great, food was good, cabin small but nice, excursions were good.

I absolutely loved the cities and towns we visited. I met mant new friends on this trip. The staff were very friendly, professional and attentive to my needs.

This trip was wonderful, with only 160 passengers we were treated royally. Everyone on board the ship worked with only one thing in mind to please the customers.

We were fortunate the trip went as planned. A lock was damaged and the ship we were scheduled for was unavailable. Emerald provided a different ship and we completed our full itinerary. Great job Emerald. The trip wonderful. Great staff, tours and food. Our Affordable agent Allyson fulfilled all our needs efficiently providing excellent customer care.

Derek was very thorough and easy to work with. Our trip was what we expected.

Unfortunately because of the high water level in Rhine we got off the ship from Wazburg and continued the trip by land. Not as comfortable and convenient as when we were on the ship but the staff of Emerald gave the best accommodation they could get.

Our third river cruise but found the baths on this particular ship to be very small. The crew, though, was excellent, especially the director!

Good experience for first river cruise. Excursions were okay but it was a little difficult getting help if we wanted to venture out on our own; particularly when we were in a port for a full day. Would like travel provider to be a vit more helpful in aiding in transportation e.g. metro, hop on hop off or other methods of travel. Bottom line is you have to be flexible but travel provider need to realize it's our vacation too!

On the river cruise, the water levels were too high for the ship to go under bridges. Henceforth, we were bussed for over 3 hours round trip to see sites. Was a waste of time and tiresome at the end of the day. We didn’t see several destination sites that were a highlight of the tour. It was extremely disappointing!!! Being that we weren’t sailing to those sites, we were bussed for over 7 hours to our final destination and extension tour. Again tiresome and a waste of time!!!

The staff of the Emerald was excellent, and the ship was nice, but the cabins had inadequate space and storage for 2 people. Land excursions were exceptional, until we got to Bucharest, where there was a great deal of confusion and delay. The dining room on the Emerald ship was too crowded and loud and made dinner conversation very difficult. Emerald's accommodations were inferior to Avalon's. Hotels and were not as centrally located, and simple things like the paper products and towels were of a lesser quality.

Administratively inept; cheap cruise ship quality, changed tour guides like throughout the journey with no logic mixing together groups that paid different amounts for the tour - I would never use them again.