British tourists travelling on a TUI River Cruise endured a holiday from hell after suffering 40C temperatures on board a vessel plagued by broken air conditioning.
Dozens of holidaymakers were left stranded in Budapest amid a scorching heatwave with little reprieve while travelling on the Skyla ship operated by the travel firm.
Other tourists who had travelled on Skyla and her sister ship Isla on other voyages told the BBC they had faced similar problems during their holidays.
The customers slammed TUI's response to their concerns, accusing the company of poor customer service and offering insufficient refunds.
The German firm apologised to holidaymakers who endured voyages that "fell short of the standards we aim to deliver".
"We understand the disappointment and frustration caused to affected customers," a TUI spokesman said.
In June, Adam Peach booked a week-long trip aboard the Skyla travelling on the Danube with his wife, sailing through Budapest, Vienna and Linz.
The Briton blasted his experience as "the worst TUI holiday we've ever been on" after enduring extreme heat on board.
Mr Peach told the BBC that "big blowers" were installed on the ship instead of air conditioning - causing passengers to suffer through hot air being expelled.
The holidaymaker said: "One was in the middle of the corridor, blocking the exit.
"It didn't seem to cool the place down."
Mr Peach said he was left "exhausted" by the end of the trip after enduring seven days of soaring temperatures.
The tourist also said TUI put passengers up in "really basic" hotels on the second-last day of the trip.
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Mr Peach had forked out almost £4,000 for his stay - but was offered just £300 as a refund by TUI.
He said he and his wife were given just three days to accept the offer.
"TUI know there's problems on these boats, but continue to sell them to people as a full luxury cruise," Mr Peach said.
In April 2025, Wendy Charnley and her husband had booked a trip on the Isla departing from Amsterdam to celebrate his retirement.
After air conditioning units on the ship failed, Mrs Charnley said it was akin to "being in a tropical house at a zoo".
"Some areas were really, really hot." she told the BBC.
"There wasn't really anywhere that you could go that you could cool down."
TUI River Cruises said it had seen "unexpected technical issues affecting air conditioning systems" and a host of other challenges during the voyage on the Danube.
The travel firm said extreme temperatures which have swept across Europe this summer had put systems under pressure, with repairs and maintenance now carried out on vessels.
TUI added that updated conditioning systems across its European fleet will be installed - though over the winter.
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