Celebrity River Cruises plans to double fleet as 2028 bookings open

Guests will have more chances to experience a sailing with Celebrity River Cruises after the brand revealed plans to double its fleet size by 2031.

Celebrity River Cruises, which is set to launch next year and sold out its debut Danube and Rhine sailings within minutes last year, has unveiled plans for 10 new ships that will expand its European river cruise fleet to 20 vessels by 2031.

The cruise line has also opened bookings for its 2028 season, offering more than 160 sailings to over 50 destinations across Europe.

Guests can sail the Rhine to the vineyards of Alsace, follow the Danube to Budapest’s old market halls, or wake up in Prague and end the day at a café in the heart of Vienna

The 2028 sailings will visit 80 per cent more ports, the cruise line said.

These include Straubing during Germany’s Gäuboden Festival, and there’s the opportnity to sail during the Dutch tulips season and to visit Christmas markets.

Prices start from £2,115 per person based on a six-night sailing from Nuremberg, Germany, to Vienna in Austria departing on 16 November 2028.

“Guest demand for Celebrity River Cruises has exceeded our expectations, and expanding the fleet allows us to bring this highly anticipated experience to even more travelers,” said Jason Liberty, chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Group, parent company of Celebrity Cruises.

“Whether guests already love the Celebrity experience or are discovering it for the first time, they now have new ways to enjoy it along some of Europe’s most iconic rivers.

“With Celebrity’s expansion into river, we’re strengthening our connected vacation ecosystem, offering more choice, more access, and more reasons for guests to stay with us — turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations.”

Construction of the new fleet has already begun, with the first steel cut for Celebrity Compass – the line’s debut river ship – last week.

Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises, said: “Our inaugural 2027 Celebrity River Cruises season sold out in under six minutes – a testament to how much guests value the unmatched hospitality and service Celebrity delivers.

“To meet this extraordinary demand, we’re thrilled to open 2028 sailings featuring 80 per cent more European destinations, five ships, and more than 160 itineraries. There are now more ways than ever to experience Europe’s rivers ‘The Celebrity Way’.”

Read more: Inside Celebrity River Cruises’ first ships