New Riviera Travel ship completes inaugural voyage

Riviera Travel’s newest ship Riviera Resplendence has completed its maiden voyage on the Rhine River.

Chief experience officer James Golding and operations director Noeleen Pritchard joined guests on the 178-passenger vessel for a seven-day voyage from Cologne on the Rhine Cruise to Switzerland itinerary

Resplendence is the latest addition to the fleet after Riviera Radiance and will sail a range of cruises on the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, including: Rhine, Strasbourg and Heidelberg River Cruise, Rhine Gorge & Cologne Discovery River Cruise and Enchanting Rhine and Yuletide Markets River Cruise.

Pritchard said: “It’s incredible and quite emotional, because there has been so much hard work gone into the planning. Seeing Riviera Resplendence in all its glory and how beautiful it is, is really, really fantastic.

“Seeing the guests enjoying themselves and seeing the ship come to life is brilliant. The sense of achievement is high, not just for me, but for everybody at Riviera, especially the operations team who make sure those small little touches are in place.

“Having guests come on board for the first time ever was truly spectacular. The evening celebrations were special and having the first guests welcome the ship to our fleet and cut the ribbon was really memorable.”