Stifling heat and broken toilets: TUI River Cruise passengers tell of their holiday hell

Dozens of people have accused TUI River Cruises of operating vessels with faulty facilities including persistently broken air conditioning, after they spent thousands of pounds on holidays.

Earlier this year passengers on the Skyla, a ship operated by TUI, contacted BBC Your Voice to say they had been stranded in Budapest during a heatwave with little to no air conditioning.

Following that report more people got in touch to say they faced similar problems on both the Skyla and its sister vessel, the Isla. They criticised TUI's customer service and said the refunds offered were inadequate.

TUI apologised to customers where trips "fell short of the standards we aim to deliver".

A spokesperson for TUI, said: "We understand the disappointment and frustration caused to affected customers."

Passengers described stifling conditions as well as problems with plumbing after paying thousands of pounds for European cruises, including on the Danube River.

Andy Peach and his wife booked a seven-day trip on the Skyla in June, travelling through Budapest, Vienna and Linz.

It turned out to be "the worst TUI holiday we've ever been on", he said.

Instead of air conditioning, Peach said there were "big blowers" on board, expelling hot air.

"One was in the middle of the corridor, blocking the exit," he said. "It didn't seem to cool the place down."

Temperatures onboard climbed as the holiday went on leaving him "exhausted", he said. By the end of the week, Peach said the air conditioning in cabins had broken too.

On the second-to-last day passengers were transferred to hotels, which Peach said were "really basic".

He and his wife had paid nearly £4,000 for the holiday but they were offered only £300 as a refund and given 72-hours to accept it.

He said: "TUI know there's problems on these boats, but continue to sell them to people as a full luxury cruise."

During the time Peach was on the Skyla, Joan Craven came across complaints on social media.

She was due to take the ship's next sailing from Budapest a few days later and was worried.

TUI's customer services assured her by email that the air conditioning on board was working. When she arrived, however, a holiday rep told her it was not. Craven told the BBC she felt misled.

Some people had described issues with air conditioning as well as problems with the water supply on the same vessel in May.

Meanwhile, complaints about the Isla go back even further.

'A tropical house at a zoo'

Wendy Charnley and her husband Rob had "pushed the boat out" to celebrate his retirement by booking a cruise on the Isla in April 2025 departing from Amsterdam.

It was like "being in a tropical house at a zoo" Charnley said, with no sign of air conditioning.

"Some areas were really, really hot." she said. "There wasn't really anywhere that you could go that you could cool down."

A couple of months later, Kevin Darvill boarded the ship in Frankfurt.

He immediately noticed the toilet didn't work in the reception area. Portable fans and air conditioning units were also visible.

Darvill said the ship became "really hot" with "no respite".

"It was intolerable because there was literally no air circulation," he said. "The worst places were the restaurants."

He struggled to sleep. Meanwhile, his shower alternated between freezing cold and "scalding hot".

He said passengers were initially offered a 15% refund due to the air conditioning problems, which was increased to 40% when the cruise was cut short on the penultimate day.

But he thinks the holiday should not have gone ahead in the first place.

"Had I known that the air conditioning wasn't working, having gone on river cruises before, I wouldn't have gone," he said.

Problems with the Isla have continued this year.

John Welsh, who boarded in June, said some toilets were out-of-order and also reported issues with air conditioning.

"The whole ship was a sweat box," he said, with some passengers in cabins that had no windows resorting to sleeping on the ship's roof.

Welsh said staff were "soaking to the skin with sweat working in the restaurant", and he also needed to change his sweat-soaked clothes after eating there.

He said he felt "fobbed off" when he complained to the cruise director. He accepted TUI's offer of a £140 per person refund for the problems with the air conditioning but said he would never travel with the company again.

By July, low river levels due to the heatwave were severely affecting European cruises.

Tony Harper was informed a few days before his trip began on 20 July there would be some coach travel in place of sailing.