Celebrity River Cruises: Early Insights & Expectations

means for river cruising. Find out the biggest announcements so far, including early demand, booking timelines, and Celebrity’s long-term commitment to building a sizable river fleet.

Our companion article (with photos) can be found here: https://sometimessailing.com/celebrity-river-cruises 

We walk through what’s confirmed for 2027 and 2028, which region these ships will sail in, and which iconic rivers and seasonal itineraries are part of the launch plans. We also talk through what we know about the ships themselves, from overall design direction and onboard spaces to how Celebrity is adapting familiar ocean concepts for river cruising.

We discuss pricing ranges, what’s still unclear about inclusions, and how Celebrity River Cruises may compare to established river cruise lines. Finally, we break down who these cruises are best suited for—whether you’re a Celebrity loyalist, new to river cruising, or deciding if it’s better to book early or wait.

If you’ve ever wondered whether Celebrity River Cruises is worth the hype, this episode gives you the big-picture context you need.

If you are new to river cruising, also listen to our episodes about the Top Things to Know Your First Time River Cruising: Part 1 and Part 2

Also, be sure to listen to our Packing Tips: Our 5 River Cruise Must-Pack Essentials episode.

Transcript

Mikkel (00:35)

I'm so excited today because we are talking about Celebrity River Cruising. This is in advance of them actually putting those ships in the water. But there are so many exciting announcements about Celebrity River Cruising from Celebrity Cruises ocean ships that people know and love. It's the same brand owned by Royal Caribbean Group. And we have a ton of information that Celebrity has released to the public that we want to talk about in depth today.

Dan (01:07)

Today we're covering everything we know about the Celebrity River Cruises from where the ships launch, where they sail, and what's confirmed for 2027 and 2028. And ultimately, who are these cruises ideal for?

Mikkel (01:23)

Yup, this is exciting times in small ship cruising. just gets more exciting every year as the years go by. We have an article on our website with photos of the ship renderings that have been released to the media and the exterior and interiors. And we're going to put that in the show description. So don't miss out on that.

So let's talk about where they were a couple months ago and where they're going. a couple months ago, they released their first dates to the public to purchase, and they sold out in under six minutes. Now, we don't know how many rooms were released and how many itineraries, but we do know that there's good demand for this and that 2028 bookings opened with 80% more destinations. 

And the biggest announcement this past week...we are recording this at the end of January, 2026 and more sailings opened yesterday, January 30th. They did not sell out because you can still book them, which is good. You don't want to feel like every time you go to book, you can't purchase it.

But the big announcement was how many ships they are adding to the fleet by 2031.

So they are not only entering the river cruise market, but they are doing so with a bang. They ordered 10 more ships in addition to the 10 already on order, which means that Celebrity River Cruises will have 20 river ships by 2031.

Dan (02:57)

It sounds like a long-term commitment, not just a test for them. So it's gonna be really interesting to see what they do with river cruising, how it's different from ocean, and how they start to transform what the rivers look like. I mean, there's already significant river traffic in Europe, so it's gonna be really interesting when you get all these new ships coming online.

Mikkel (03:21)

To your point, what's exciting about a big name coming is that they have the dollars to put behind being innovative and trying new things because the risk reward is right and ripe for those big cruise lines.

Let's talk about the launch timeline and when these ships are arriving. So you mentioned that they're starting to sail in 2027. Of course, bookings opened in late 2025 and continue into 2026. Launch year 2027 will come out with two ships. So one is Celebrity Compass and the other is Celebrity Seeker.

Dan (04:01)

And then in 2028, the fleet expands to five ships, and those new ships are going to be Celebrity Wanderer, Roamer, Boundless.

Mikkel (04:11)

It's kind of interesting when cruise lines name their ships. I always like to understand the theme. So like Riverside is all after composers and AmaWaterways is all Ama something. Ama name, know, AmaKristina, Ama Zara, AmaLucia. And it seems like Celebrity—tell me what you think—is going after sort of like travel directions? Like Wanderer, Roamer, Boundless, Seeker, Compass. How would you describe it?

Dan (04:45)

It's definitely a wander, yeah, a wanderlust that they're trying to tap into. 

Mikkel (04:47)

Wanderlust. Yes. I love that. Wanderlusting.

The phased rollout is going to happen over multiple years. So again, that reaches the number 20 by 2031. What we know about the onboard experience is things like some spaces that we want to talk to you about and their design approach. So let's get into that right now.

Dan (05:14)

It's interesting from the renderings I've seen, it seems like things are very brown and very neutral-toned and a little bit of Great Gatsby-esque, right? So you can see some of those photos on our site, we have an article about this on Sometimes Sailing.

Mikkel (05:25)

Yeah, mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, and we're going to post some on our social media as well. If you are listening to this a couple of months in, scroll. We're going to put Celebrity River Cruises as the cover image so it's very easy to see. We are @SometimesSailing on Instagram. And in addition to that Great Gatsby feel, I would also say that it is elevated and luxurious. It is those neutral tones you mentioned, but also like tans, golds without being gaudy. Right. I think

Dan (06:02)

Right, right.

Mikkel (06:03)

like “cosmopolitan” is how I always describe their ocean ships. And I do feel like it is continuing that tone onto the river ships, but like with a nice warm touch.

Dan (06:18)

Right, like slightly elevated, I would add in there.

Mikkel (06:20)

Mm-hmm. Right.

Dan (06:23)

Also what we do know is they will feature eight onboard restaurants and bars. So some familiar names from ocean. So there's the Martini Bar, which, I think, Mikkel's personal favorite, right? The Sunset Bar,

Mikkel (06:33)

A personal, I'm clapping for this, personal favorite. Yep.

Dan (06:38)

Cafe El Bacio, which that's the coffee bar on the ocean ships. And then the other piece is breakfast room service will be complimentary. But if you're in the suites, you get all day room service 24/7, complimentary.

Mikkel (06:48)

Mm-hmm.

Right, which to us indicates that if you're not in a suite class and you want lunch or dinner room service, there's going to be an added fee. So to reiterate, breakfast is complimentary for all. And then the suites are the ones that receive complimentary room service for the other meals.

Dan (07:13)

Right. And you know on Celebrity Ocean they have the Magic Carpet that goes up and down? Well they have something similar that they're gonna try something similar called the Magic edge. Not sure exactly what that means. They've kind of hinted at it cantilevered dining pods. Yeah, should be interesting.

Mikkel (07:17)

Yes, so cool.

Mm-hmm. Not only interesting is the announcement, but also interesting: is that going to be retrofitted out of the design? Is it going to be proved to be, who knows, too much of an operational issue on these rivers or a cost issue? We don't know. To be determined. But we're definitely intrigued. So stay tuned for more news on how those are going to look. 

But what I can say is the renderings have these almost umbrellas on the top deck that we imagine will be mechanical and kind of shrink back into the deck. If you've never been on a river cruise and you're new to river cruising, then what you need to know, and we have some great information that shares more about this, but the top deck railings and such, the crew very often needs to collapse them and close the top deck if you are going under a low clearance bridge for safety reasons And this is why river cruise ships don't have as much for how wide they are. They need to be a very specific dimension to clear these bridges and the width of these rivers. So that's why Danube River ships are not the same size as Mekong River ships because they are very much going through different challenges when they navigate these rivers. So these umbrellas are interesting because my first thought was, "Well, how are they going to get them down every time they have to go under a bridge?"

Dan (09:05)

Right, yeah. So for any of you that have ever seen any of the Transformer movies, the ship kind of does that when it needs to go under a low bridge. Plus the water levels also will dictate how

Mikkel (09:11)

yeah.

Dan (09:17)

much clearance they have and what they need to take down or fold down.

Mikkel (09:21)

Right. And that was something surprising, too. When you first enter river cruising, the water levels very much affect if you can sail that day, let's say, or not. I mean, I remember we went on a Christmas Markets river cruise a couple of years ago and the rivers were flooding, which means that the water levels are too high. Like you said, you can't clear those bridges. So you have to bus from one location to the next. 

And I was referencing before our top things to know your first time river cruising. We have a part one and part two audio episode, as well as on YouTube @sometimes-sailing is our channel. And we also have corresponding articles on our site about that. Our site is: SometimesSailing.com.

Another thing about the renderings is that it shows on the aft of deck two... Again, something to

know is that river cruises only have like three decks, river cruise ships, right? So deck two in the renderings is showing that there is some sort of lounge area, which I think is really nice. But there's been no announcements about it. So, is it the crew smoking area? There's always a crew smoking area on these European river cruise ships. I don't think they'd have crew without it. Very European to smoke cigarettes. Is it guest access? You know?

Dan (10:35)

Right, to your point, the renderings look like it's a great outdoor space on the aft and hopefully it is available for guests because it does look like a phenomenal space.

Mikkel (10:46)

Right.

Also thinking about something that they're doing in terms of giving guests different options for suites is that they have three distinct options. So they have a suite, they have an infinite balcony, and they have the riverview, which is kind of on the lower deck, and the windows are very much higher. So you can't exactly see out of them.

The interesting thing right now is that I realized when I looked up a lot of these sailings with you before, noticed that it was a lot of November dates. So again, if you're new to river cruising and you are a Celebrity loyalist and you are excited to try River with a brand you know and love, if it's November, you're probably not going to sit out on your balcony a lot because it's cold on the Danube and the Rhine. I was intrigued that some of the balconies are sold out already. And I thought to myself,

Dan (11:18)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (11:38)

well, you could sit outside with a jacket on and a blanket maybe, but it could be windy and it could be snowing in some cases. Who knows? So if you are going to kind of have a little sticker shock at the price, and it depends because Celebrity Cruises, you could go on a two week cruise in Europe and it could be way more than the $3,000 starting point of the river cruise for a lower deck cabin, consider it because it would get you on board.

Additionally, as I said that, if you're new to this river cruising business, there are no inside cabins. They're all facing outwards. So that's something that's good to know, too. And then the last thing I'll say is that they have an infinite edge plunge pool, and skylights in the first ever Skylight Infinite Balcony Suites.

Dan (12:13)

Mm-hmm, right. That's a good point. Right. You know, they're taking pages from their ocean and kind of like transforming it or retrofitting it for river. So it's gonna be really interesting to see what they do and those different levels and perks that are available.

Alright, so in 2028, where are they sailing? I'll just give you a quick overview. Right now as of recording, there's around 160 sailings that are scheduled. 50 destinations, 24 new ports for 2028 and then the core focus on all of these is Europe and

Mikkel (12:44)

Mm-hmm.

Dan (13:03)

the most popular rivers in Europe.

Mikkel (13:05)

Yeah, when we see a cruise line enter the river cruising space or just a new river cruise line, we notice that they kind of hit the most popular things, which is the Danube and the Rhine. So right out of the gate, of course, Celebrity is offering that. I'm a little concerned with how crowded these rivers are going to get, but that's a conversation for another day, which we should

Responsible travel is important. So they are going to sail on the Danube—the upper and the lower, which is really interesting. Let's come back to that in a minute. 

The Rhine River, which is famous for being Castle Country and great for wine. They are also going to do Dutch tulip season cruises and Christmas Markets cruises. Again, these are two of the most popular seasonal cruise types, but it's very limited. So Christmas Markets cruises are typically just last week of November or first week of December into the third week of December. Once Christmas hits, those markets close in most places for good until the next year. 

And then the Dutch tulip season, one of my all-time favorite experiences, was going to Keukenhof Gardens, the famous tulip gardens. So much so we went back another year just to do the gardens for multiple days by land. The Dutch tulip season is typically only April until mid-May. Now Keukenhof Gardens does open in March, but it's a little risky for river cruises to run cruises in March because the tulips are likely not in bloom until April even though Keukenhof has other flowers in bloom at the end of March. So that's all to say that that's very limited. Now the Upper Danube is the most popular destination on the Danube.

Dan (14:54)

The Upper Danube is going to give you all the European hits such as Nuremberg, Vienna, Budapest. If you're new to Europe or new to river cruising, this is a great place to start.

Mikkel (15:07)

The famous blue Danube as the waltz says from famous composer. Is it Johann Strauss? 

Dan (15:14)

Strauss?

Mikkel (15:16)

You know, I think it's really interesting on the Upper Danube cruises from Celebrity River Cruises that they are going to do something I've never heard of, so much so I had to look it up. But they're going to sail during Germany's Gäuboden Festival, which is the second largest festival in Bavaria, second to, of course, what everybody knows and hears about, Oktoberfest, which actually happens in September.

Gäuboden Festival is held in August for just under two weeks, 11 days. And it's been happening since the 1800s. And it's actually named after the area where it takes place in Bavaria, which is just northeast of Munich. So I think that's an interesting differentiator that they've very purposefully chosen as well. I'm sure there was a lot of research that went into that.

Dan (16:07)

Well, like we said earlier, I think they're trying new things. They're trying to bring a different energy to river and kind of bring that American audience into or introduce, I should say, the American audience to Europe and to river cruising. I mean, they have such a healthy base of customers and cruisers already. So, it's just introducing them to a new product and they're gonna have to try new things.

Mikkel (16:33)

I think another point of this is I wonder if they talk to the tourism offices in these locations. I can't imagine they didn't. over tourism is a concern. And as I briefly mentioned before, these rivers are getting crowded. So I wonder if going to Germany's Gäuboden Festival is an effort to disperse some of this traffic, so to speak. Now, it is further away from the river than Munich is and Munich's not even on the river. So it should be interesting to see where this happens and again, it's during such a specific small amount of time during August, so do they kind of recreate their own version of this festival to have it go a little longer? I don't know. TBD. These are all questions that are gonna be really interesting to see the answers to as time goes on.

Lastly, the Lower Danube cruise, think it's really interesting. Not as many European river cruises that are targeting the American market go to the Lower Danube, but it is one that even we've had our eyes on. I know that big names, Viking and Ama do the Lower Danube and also Riverside Luxury Cruises, one of our favorite gems of a river cruise line does the Lower Danube. So they are doing six sailings and there's going to be an overnight land stay in Bucharest and one of the highlights of this cruise is going through these very famous Iron Gates in a gorge passage on the Danube.

Dan (18:02)

So keep in mind we don't know the shore excursion structure how that's gonna be run or anything like that so TBD on what that looks like and how it resembles other river cruises and how they do it. Celebrity maybe shaking up that and how they handle excursions so we're really excited to learn more about that also.

Mikkel (18:23)

Right, and so the pricing, we've noticed, starts at around $3,100 for these seven-night cruises. And they go up to a little over $6,000 per person. Does that include shore excursions? Most river cruise lines include at least one excursion per port.

But AmaWaterways includes many other options too. So where is Celebrity going to fall on that spectrum?

Dan (18:52)

It'd definitely be interesting to see because candidly with ocean there's a lot of surprises and upcharges. Are they going to bring that to river also?

Mikkel (19:01)

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. What is that price going to include besides the taxes and fees, the port charges, and of course, your river cruise, which typically includes some sort of alcohol, you know, beer and wine during lunch and dinner. Is it going to include those martinis I'm looking forward to? You know, the specialty dining. Are they going to have a specialty dining restaurant that hasn't been announced within those eight onboard restaurant, venues, and bars? To be determined.

This is making me think of who Celebrity River Cruises is for because the price is always a factor when people hear small ship cruising. They see dollar signs, which isn't necessarily true. Again, the pricing could be $3,000 to $6,000 plus for the suites and such per person. But you know, I think it could be suited for the Celebrity loyalists in the Captain's Club because they are honoring Captain's Club. Considering, you know, also things like a big cruise line can offer 75 % off the second guest on some sailings, which they do on ocean, and I see that they're doing on river as well when we looked up the pricing.

Dan (20:15)

I think it's also best suited for travelers that are new to river cruising, they want to try something new, but they want something and familiar, right? So Celebrity will probably offer that.

I would imagine the transition from ocean to river will be pretty seamless, and like we some old favorites as far as restaurants and bars, so your Celebrity loyalist will probably feel quite at home.

Mikkel (20:39)

I think also on the training side, if you go to book with your travel agent or if you call Celebrity directly, I should hope that some of that great customer service is going to cross over into their river cruise line because I can't imagine that they're not going to thread that needle all the way through. Whereas if it's somebody that's new to small ship cruising in general, like a brand new cruise line entering the river market, they might have some other hiccups, but I would hope that Celebrity really is focusing on that on the back end as well.

Dan (21:11)

That's a good point. So, just a note of caution, everything won't be buttoned up for their first year, maybe even the first two years. So if you're expecting a well-oiled machine, you might want to think about a brand that's more well-established or

Mikkel (21:16)

Mm-hmm.

Dan (21:26)

a cruise line that's more well-established because there will be bumps in the road as they train their staff or just get accustomed to cruising.

Mikkel (21:35)

And luckily, we have an incredible podcast that you are listening to right now, Small Ship Cruise Talk, where we talk about plenty of other river cruise line options as well that you can book for next week and sail next week too. So definitely check out our other episodes. We talk about AmaWaterways. We talk about Viking. We talk about Riverside Luxury Cruises. So other names as well. We're going on some interesting river cruises this year.

And, you know, we love Celebrity too. So like Dan said, it might not be appealing for you or ideal if you don't want to be some of the first people on board. You might want to wait until 2028 or even later. But let's keep an eye on that. It also could not be great for you if you're on a budget, a really small budget. Everybody's on a budget, right? It could be $10,000 per person or it could be $3,000 per person.

We've noticed that the pricing does not say anything about including flights. So it should be interesting to see how they're going to compete with those companies that offer air packages like Viking and AmaWaterways. Maybe they're not going to offer it at all. We don't know.

Dan (22:47)

Yeah, that’s a really good point.

So, final thoughts. We've seen a lot of strong and early demand, some really aggressive fleet growth.

Mikkel (22:49)

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Dan (22:59)

Like, they are committing to river cruising, from what we can tell, right? And it seems like 2027, they're dipping their toes into it, but I would imagine they're gonna stagger it out. Listen to

Mikkel (23:01)

Yeah.

Dan (23:12)

what the guests have to say, really monitor and pivot throughout and build their operational skills and then really jump into it in 2028.

Mikkel (23:23)

Yeah, they're really great about listening to guest feedback. If there's anything that stands out when we're in press conferences for Celebrity Cruises, it's that they really lean into what their guests are saying and these suggestions and ideas and requests that they're giving them. And I can only imagine that's going to be the same case for river cruising.

Also, I'm really excited for Celebrity to be entering river cruising because I think it's only going to be wonderful exposure for small ship cruising, which is going to be a domino effect. People that go on these river cruises are then going to wonder, "Well, what other small ship cruises can I go on?" It's really going to open the door to this whole new audience. With that comes over tourism and concerns for sustainability.

A big name like Celebrity should be investing in those studies and the environmental impact. You know, I remember when we went to Alaska with Celebrity, and they had given a lot of money to the Port of Ketchikan to help the salmon locks that are there to help the salmon spawning and the ecosystem there. So that's just kind of one example of how a big cruise line can make a positive impact in the areas it visits. So I hope that that happens with Celebrity. But this is a big deal. There's no doubt about that.

And we are excited to see the news that comes out over the next year and moving on from that and what's to come. And we are thankful for this exciting time in small ship cruising.

Dan (25:05)

Yeah, we're really excited and truly, if you've loved Celebrity on ocean, then you're probably gonna love it when they enter the rivers. It's gonna be really interesting time.

Mikkel (25:18)

Yep, for sure. River cruising just got a lot more interesting.

Dan (25:21)

Mm,mm yep, yep.

Mikkel (25:23)

Be sure to subscribe to our channel if you want future updates and more information about small ship cruising, such as this. Share this with a friend— that really makes a big difference in our show and lets us make more great episodes like this. So we appreciate you and we will speak to you next time.

Until then...

Dan (25:44)

Until then, keep cruising.