River Round Up: Latest News on the Rivers

Published 17th of February 2025 | By Claire Benktander

Cruise Lines:

The river cruise industry is booming, with more new routes, ships, and ways to enrich your voyage appearing every year. Here we take a look at the latest news on the rivers of the world.

One of the many new ships launching this year, Uniworld are excitingly due to launch S.S. Elisabeth on the Rhine at the end of March 2025, following the launch of sister ship S.S. Victoria last year - both of which were previously Crystal-owned.

See all our European River Cruises

rudesheim in the rhine valley — Rudesheim in the Rhine Valley

One of our favourite Uniworld ships of all, though, is the luxury 56-guest Ganges Voyager II - recently seen on Susan Calman's Cruise of a Lifetime.

Guests explore beautiful monuments and authentic villages along the Ganges from on board the ship before a journey on the Maharajas' Express train, including calls in at Agra for the Taj Mahal, the Pink City of Jaipur, frenetic New Delhi, Mumbai and more. November 2025 is already sold out with limited availability for 2026, with departures in January, February, March, October and December - so be quick!

Luxury river cruise line Tauck will mark its 100th anniversary in July of this year and to celebrate will host 12 initiatives in 2025 to mark the occasion, including four brand-new land tours.

These include an extension to Italy's Piedmont for truffle tasting and spa hotel stays; tours of Switzerland to explore the lakes with walking trips, rail journeys and chocolate tasting; city slicking in Paris before sampling the wine regions of Bordeaux; and even a quintessentially English sojourn around the West Country -any make an excellent add on to any of Tauck's existing European river cruises.

bridge in Avignon on the Rhone — Avignon on the Rhone

AmaWaterways was the first river cruise line to introduce a wellness programme and offer an onboard fleet of bicycles, and its new dedicated Celebration of Wellness river cruises on 2 August and 9 August on the Danube and Seine respectively allow guests to be even more active - the perfect antidote to onboard indulgence (which we of course encourage!).

Think extended hikes, bike tours and guided runs; guided wellness classes such as Champagne yoga, core strengthening, circuit training, and dance - and a full size Pickleball court on AmaMagna; healthy menus; morning juice bars; and onboard wellness talks, with two dedicated wellness hosts on board.

Excitingly, the line has also just announced its partnership with Smithsonian Journeys, the travel programme of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest group of museums, education and research centres. From April 2026, AmaWaterways will offer Smithsonian-led experiences on board 33 of their European river cruises, providing exclusive excursions and opportunities to engage with experts such as archaeologists, scientists and historians.

budapest parliament building at sunrise — Budapest Parliament Building

Scenic has also just released its 2026 Europe river cruise collection, with flights included, as well as the chance to add on city stays, extensions and land journeys to enrich your journey even further.

Explore Prague, Paris or Lisbon on a city tour or go further afield to the Swiss Alps and the beautiful Lake Geneva; uncover the natural beauty of Slovenia and Croatia including Lake Bled; or explore Transylvania's beautifully preserved medieval towns and dramatic castles.

island on Lake Bled in Slovenia — Lake Bled, Slovenia

Solo cruisers are fabulously well catered for on the rivers, and there are lots of options in 2025 for single travellers. We particularly like Riverside Luxury Cruises' offering, who operate three of Crystal's previous ships - Riverside Mozart, Ravel and Debussy - solely in Europe.

Riverside Luxury Cruises offers a welcome drinks reception for solo cruisers to meet their fellow guests alongside small group excursions, with no single supplements across all voyages in Harmony Suites on Riverside Mozart and Melody Suites on Debussy and Ravel in 2025 (subject to availability).

riverside luxury cruises ship sailing on the Rhine — Riverside Luxury Cruises on the Rhine

AmaWaterways also offers small group tours to engage with fellow travellers as well as the Sip & Sail cocktail hour on European voyages, and limited-time promotions offering completely waived or low solo supplements on select European sailings, as well as no solo supplement on specially-designed solo occupancy French balcony staterooms on AmaCello, AmaDante, AmaDolce and AmaLyra.

Meet the Author

Claire is Marketing Manager at Mundy Cruising, having worked with the company for two years and in travel for over 9 years. Most recently she's cruised on Crystal and she has also sailed with Seabourn, Ponant and Uniworld. Her favourite destination is Sweden however she's also enjoyed holidays in the Galapagos, Mediterranean, Australia, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, South America, Northern Europe, Greek Isles and the Far East. When she’s not travelling she loves camping, hiking, and weekends away in the countryside.

More about Claire

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