Riverside Luxury Cruises Opens 2028 Bookings, Adds Riverside Mahler to Fleet

Riverside Luxury Cruises has opened bookings for its 2028 European river cruise season, whose main highlight will be the entry into service of the Riverside Mahler. The new vessel will begin operating in May 2028 on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, joining its sister ship Riverside Debussy, while the company's fleet is rounded out by the Riverside Mozart, on the Upper and Lower Danube, and the Riverside Ravel, on France's Rhône and Saône rivers.

The addition of the Mahler will allow the line to increase its sailings through the Main-Danube Canal, which links the Rhine and Danube river systems, to 12 departures in 2028, compared with 4 in 2026 and 2 planned for 2027. The 2028 program will also add 10 sailings from Budapest to Regensburg and another 10 in the reverse direction, along with two itineraries on the waterways of the Netherlands and three departures on the Lower Danube.

Guests who book any 2028 sailing before June 30, 2027 will receive an 18% discount on the cruise fare, applicable across all suite categories and package types. The season will run from early spring through late December, with cruises ranging from three-night getaways to 23-night voyages, and will include themed departures featuring expert-led activities. According to Jennifer Halboth, CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises Americas, the additional ship will allow the line to add more departures on its most popular itineraries and will provide greater operational flexibility to deal with fluctuations in river water levels, including the ability to swap ships when necessary.

The Riverside Debussy will open the season in March with tulip-time cruises through the Netherlands and Belgium, before adding new nine- and ten-night itineraries between Amsterdam and Basel that include the Moselle River. The Riverside Mahler, in its debut season, will link the Rhine and Danube over the summer, connecting destinations in Germany, Austria and Hungary with Amsterdam and Basel, will sail the Lower Danube in September, and will close out the year with Christmas cruises on the Danube. The Riverside Mozart, meanwhile, will add a new seven-night itinerary between Vienna and Budapest that includes a stop in the Wachau Valley, as well as a new call at the Hungarian city of Győr and themed cycling and golf cruises.

The Riverside Ravel will continue its regular itineraries on the Rhône and Saône rivers in southern France, calling at destinations such as Lyon, Avignon and Arles. The fleet expansion is part of Riverside's acquisition of five river vessels formerly operated by Crystal Cruises, of which the Mahler is one, and which the company has been bringing into service gradually rather than deploying them all at once.