River Cruise - strange question, maybe 😊

hildasmuriel

I have a long list of reasons why I have never fancied going on a big cruise. One reason is  because I was told  that staff are made to work ridiculous hours and periods of time without ever getting a day off. There is also the suggestion that companies don't register in the EU/UK so that they don't have to adhere to their rules on pay and conditions.

I have now been asked if I want to go an European river cruise - probably with Riviera Travel.

My question.... does anyone know (or how can I find out) if Riviera pay their wait and cabin staff according to EU directives on time off/maximum hours etc.

elsien

They plug themselves as a socially responsible and ethical company, so I’d suggest  contacting them to ask and see what comes back. 

Brie

you might start here.....Riviera Travel unveils ESG commitments; river business flowing well (seatrade-cruise.com)

DullGreyGuy

Generally the flag they fly under will define the legal system that applies on the ship. Looking at two of their ships doing EU cruises, slightly randomly, one was the Netherlands and the other Switzerland. 

Note that even UK law acknowledges that life working on a boat is not the same as working in the local coronership and so certain rules are less stringent 

eskbanker

DullGreyGuy said:

Note that even UK law acknowledges that life working on a boat is not the same as working in the local coronership and so certain rules are less stringent 

Seems a pretty niche choice of sector against which to compare!

Hoenir

When we used Rivieria pre Covid. The crew consisted of 2 French skippers, a husband and wife. The remainder were around a 100 Eastern Europeans who worked 13 week rotas with no days off while on them. Enjoyed the cruise immensely as was a first class experience. But I was left feeling that this was modern day slavery. 

katejo

hildasmuriel said:

I have a long list of reasons why I have never fancied going on a big cruise. One reason is  because I was told  that staff are made to work ridiculous hours and periods of time without ever getting a day off. There is also the suggestion that companies don't register in the EU/UK so that they don't have to adhere to their rules on pay and conditions.

I have now been asked if I want to go an European river cruise - probably with Riviera Travel.

My question.... does anyone know (or how can I find out) if Riviera pay their wait and cabin staff according to EU directives on time off/maximum hours etc.

I have been considering Riviera cruises for quite a while but haven't yet tried them. I was put off by the requirement (by my insurer) to pay a cruise supplement which didn't seem necessary to me for a river cruise. My current policy doesn't include that so I dropped the idea until next year. I am a member of a FB women's solo travel group and several members there have been with Riviera. I might ask if anyone knows about this.

sammyjammy

I think the fact that they have cruises in the fragile ecosystem that is  Antartica ensures I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole

NoodleDoodleMan

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Note that even UK law acknowledges that life working on a boat is not the same as working in the local coronership and so certain rules are less stringent 

Seems a pretty niche choice of sector against which to compare!

A dead end job ?

DullGreyGuy

NoodleDoodleMan said:

eskbanker said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Note that even UK law acknowledges that life working on a boat is not the same as working in the local coronership and so certain rules are less stringent 

Seems a pretty niche choice of sector against which to compare!

A dead end job ?

Well you don't get many repeat customers but not many customer complaints either

hildasmuriel

Thanks for your thoughts and comments, everyone (esp the idea of a coroner shop 😊)

Interesting link also 👍