Riverside Ravel Review- Luxury Cruising Every Nautical Mile of the Way
From beautifully designed interiors to exceptional service, spacious accommodations, extraordinary menus, and free-flowing wines, this Riverside Ravel review highlights how the ship embodies Riverside Luxury Cruises’ gift to Saône and Rhône River cruising.
Riverside Calls All 3 Ships “Boutique Hotels”
The owners of Riverside are the Gerlach family. Hoteliers with vast experience in luxury hospitality, their Seaside Collection stretches from the Canary Islands to the Maldives. Co-owner and C.E.O. Gregor Gerlach is passionate about making Riverside the ne-plus-ultra of European river cruising.
He started with a distinct advantage. Its fleet of vessels were purpose-built for luxury cruising by Crystal Cruises. When Crystal was hard hit by the pandemic and its river fleet was laid up, Gerlach swooped it up. Renaming his fleet “Mozart”, “Debussy” and “Ravel”, Riverside took on the most popular itineraries on Europe’s rivers—the Danube, the Rhine, the Main, the Moselle, the Soane and the Rhone.
And, in the opinion of many, there’s no finer place to be than on one of Riverside’s ships.
Every Stateroom is a Suite
In a business prone to over-promise, Riverside’s accommodations truly stand out. Even the smallest of Riverside’s offerings dwarf all competition. And aboard Ravel, you won’t find a any suite below the waterline, which is standard on most river cruise liners. Instead, every suite has wall-to-wall window that lets you see the river even while lying in your king-sized bed. And the décor is soothing and stylish and the perfect place to come home to.
Photo Credit: Monte Mathews
Butler and maid service are at your beck and call. And, of course, there’s a television, a coffee and tea maker, a stocked in-room refrigerator, delicious sweets delivered nightly. The closets are wonderfully large and — wonder of wonders — the bathrooms are full sized! And the dual-head showers make bathing a delight about.
But with all that’s on offer outside the door of your suite, it would be a shame to miss out.
A Gastronomique Tour-de-Force
There are no less than four restaurants aboard Riverside Ravel, presided over by a true French Chef, Chef Benoit. Hailing from Brittany, he is the scion of a culinary family: Three of his uncles owned restaurants. And his grandmother was his culinary teacher from an early age. His background is truly international. France, Mexico and Venezuela are all on his resumé. Chef Benoit loves what he does and shops local markets at every port. For instance, when we toured the Lyon Market named for Paul Bocuse, he dashed between stalls choosing specialties that would later appeared in Ravel’s Waterside restaurant that very night.
While not themed as such, Riverside Ravel’s Soane and Rhone itinerary could certainly be called a culinary cruise. Virtually every stop had a culinary component. That guided tour of Lyon’s Bocuse Market, the Truffle hunts–two of them in one 8-day trip—the visit to La Cite du Chocolat Valrhona, and lunches at 4-star restaurants ashore.
On board, Riverside Ravel is dedicated to the handmade. Every element, from the morning’s flaky croissants to the house-made preserves and fresh-baked bread, is crafted on board with meticulous care. And French cuisine is celebrated at every meal. Whether it’s a perfectly caramelized Tarte Tatin, a soulful Boeuf Bourguignon, each dish tells a story of the region we are gliding through.
Photo Credit: Monte Mathews
Raise A Glass!
What river cruise to one of the great wine-growing regions of the world could possibly ignore its noble vintages? Even there, Riverside outdoes itself. Every day our glorious lunches and dinners were paired with Rhone valley vintages— perhaps a Grenache-led blend that sings of sun-warmed fruit, a spicy Syrah, or a brooding Mourvèdre—you’re not just dining, you’re traveling through terroir.
Ashore, virtually every day, oenophiles were treated to shore excursions encompassing their favorite subject. Some were accomplished aboard Ravel’s electric bicycles.
Brought on-board, professional sommelier Jezebel conducted a wine pairing class the even neophytes to the wine world were intrigued and fascinated by. My partner, not truly a wine drinker, enjoyed every minute of these activities.
The culmination of our Wine experiences had to be a sunset visit to perhaps the world’s most famous wine destination: Chateauneuf du Pape. One of Riverside’s Signature Events, this glorious trip to the ruins of the Chateau was followed by a full-on tasting at Maison Bouachon’s Pavillion where the wine flowed along with the conversation of our now great friends and fellow passengers.
Pleasures Aboard
The beautiful light-filled lounge with its glass ceiling is called the Palm Court. It is the setting for everything from port talks to wine tastings to nightly entertainment – which on this most French of itineraries included wonderful Chanteuses and their accompanists. The Bar creates every possible kind of cocktail which is, of course, included in the fare. Immediately adjacent, the Atelier (formerly called the Bistro), has an all-day procession of ‘treats, nibbles and small delicacies’ for round-the-clock temptation.
Photo Credit: Monte Mathews
One flight up is the Vista Deck, which delights with its canopied seating and Riverside’s signature Vista Bar. The latter magically disappears when the ship needs to clear any low-hanging bridges –which on our high-water adventure, it did frequently.
It’s hard to imagine a ship more beautifully decorated or more stylish than Riverside Ravel.
Handling the Bane of River Cruising
Like all river ships, too high or low water on the rivers drastically affects the ability of these craft to stick to their promised itineraries. In the case of Riverside Ravel, docked at the confluence of the Soane and Rhone rivers just south of Lyon, high water made it impossible for us to pursue its itinerary north on the Soane. Against the Captain’s hopes, the ship would have to remain in Lyon.
But, only after just an extra day in Lyon, the Captain prevailed.
The Guest Experience team then approached us about our planned shore excursion to Burgundy on the Wine Trail: Destination Beaune. We were the only passengers who had signed up for it.
For me, this was the lynch pin of the entire experience. I wanted my partner to share in this incredible medieval town dating from the 1400s. While other river cruise lines might have simply cancelled for ‘lack of interest’, Riverside did not. Riverside delivered in style and substance on its promised shore excursions.
The next morning, we were ensconced in a Mercedes van with our expert driver William and our guide, Severine. Coming along for the ride was one of Ravel’s Guest Experience personnel, Marko.
We made our way to Beaune where the two of us were guided on a walking tour, a wine tasting and a 4 star lunch at Beaune’s Le Cheval Noir. After lunch we visited Beaune’s premiere attraction—its extraordinary Hôtel-Dieu, magnificently explained by Severine.
Riverside goes above and beyond to make their passengers wishes come true — come hell or high water.
