Dozens of holidaymakers have accused TUI River Cruises of running ships with faulty facilities, including persistently broken air conditioning, after they forked out thousands of pounds for what they thought would be a luxury escape. Earlier this year, passengers on the Skyla, a TUI-operated ship, told BBC Your Voice they were stranded in Budapest during a heatwave with little to no air conditioning. Following that report, more people came forward with similar tales of woe on both the Skyla and its sister vessel, the Isla, criticising TUI's customer service and calling the refunds offered inadequate. TUI has apologised to customers where trips 'fell short of the standards we aim to deliver', which is corporate speak for 'we know it was a disaster'. A spokesperson said: 'We understand the disappointment and frustration caused to affected customers.' Passengers described stifling conditions and plumbing problems after paying thousands 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, 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'. By the end of the week, the air conditioning in the cabins had broken too. On the second-to-last day, passengers were transferred to hotels that Peach described as 'really basic'. He and his wife paid nearly £4,000 for the holiday but were offered only £300 as a refund, with 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.'

While Peach was on the Skyla, Joan Craven saw 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 was working. When she arrived, a holiday rep told her it was not. Craven told the BBC she felt misled. Some people had reported issues with air conditioning and water supply on the same vessel in May. Meanwhile, complaints about the Isla go back even further. 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 in the reception area didn't work. 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, and 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 felt 'fobbed off' when he complained to the cruise director. He accepted TUI's offer of a £140 per person refund for the air conditioning problems 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 that there would be some coach travel in place of sailing. But issues with the ship itself also stood out. 'The common area smelt of sewage, there was water dripping through the ceiling and there were public toilets out of action for the whole voyage,' he said. There were portable air conditioning units onboard, which he said were not effective. Harper said: 'You can't hold it against them for the low river, that's just nature. But it was the way they dealt with that. It was their communication and poor maintenance of the ships, and you can't put it down to anything else other than that.'

TUI River Cruises said it had experienced 'unexpected technical issues affecting air conditioning systems' as well as other challenges caused by low water levels on the Danube. It said extreme heat across parts of Europe had put systems under pressure and extensive repairs and maintenance work had been undertaken, including temporary measures. The company added that it was investing in its air conditioning systems across its European river cruise fleet this winter, including significant upgrades. Because nothing says 'we've learned our lesson' like a winter upgrade when the problem was, you know, summer.