New River Cruise Ships coming
I was checking the Tauck website today for the new Seine holiday cruise and whether the 2026 dates were available yet. In the process I discovered they are having 2 new ships built for the Seine and the Rhone for 2026. The data on the website is a bit garbled but it looks like both will only have 5 cabin categories - mostly 300 sqft suites on the Diamond deck plus a couple of 225 sqfts, all 225 sqft cabins on the Ruby deck and mostly 150 sqft cabins on the Emerald.
As I said, the info on the website is a bit confused so I sense the final design hasn't been locked down yet. Interesting that they look to be getting rid of the triangular cabins at the front of each deck. It kind of feels like the way they went with the Douro's Andorinha's cabins. As a bit of a nerd wrt river cruises, I'm looking forward to seeing how these ships are going to be designed.
Comments
Thanks for the update. Nothing wrong with being a nerd
I made a reservation yesterday for the Seine Xmas markets Dec. 2026. The cat 1 cabins have been redesigned and are listed at 180 sq. ft.
I thought I could find more about about the new boats on the Scylla website but couldn't find anything. The Tauck site has the most info including the cabin categories and layouts at least for the as yet, un-named(?) new Seine and new Rhône boats (could actually be named "New Seine" and "New Rhône) which should be ready sometime in 2026: https://www.tauck.com/ships/ms-new-seine? Among the differences Claudia mentioned, they don't have any loft cabins and I didn't see any mention of "Arthurs"
Elsewhere I found these statements,
"Scylla plans to launch a total of 12 new riverboats by the end of 2028."
"We have big growth plans for river cruises and are very proud to be launching a total of 12 newbuild ships by the end of 2028. PORTO MIRANTE, Scylla’s brand-new ship for the Douro River, is the first of these newbuilds – and will be followed by VIVA ENJOY in November. This development underlines our positive direction and our commitment to river cruising”, says Scylla CEO, Arno Reitsma."
(Note the VIVA boats are operated by Scylla under their own VIVA Travel brand.)
Scylla also continues to refurbish and modernize their fleet.
"MS Swiss Pearl: A 135-meter long ship that was refurbished in 2023/2024 and has space for 133 guests"
"MS Swiss Splendor: A 135-meter long ship that was built in 2013 and will be renovated in 2024"
p.s. the Scylla website has a short video that shows what is done during a total refurb- everything is ripped out and they start building the interior from scratch!
In correspondence unrelated to this topic, Tauck briefly mentioned a new ship specifically for the Seine holiday cruise. I think it was meant more of an enticement—fine with me—to book the new cruise, which I subsequently did. Little details other than the dining venues will be the same. Additional information will be provided at a later date as plans are finalized.
I believe the ships' monikers of 'The Seine' and 'The Rhône' are temporary placeholders—conjecture on my part.
I—I'm sure like others—received an e-mail regarding Tauck's two new ships for 2026. The only definitive detail offered was that the Category One (1) cabins will be 180 sq. ft. More details will follow on their website.
They will also be having a ship naming contest which I think will be fun and plan to participate in.
This is a piece of the email I got:
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They are completely custom-designed to meet our highest standards of comfort, spaciousness, and elegance.
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80% of cabins are 225 square feet or larger with larger cabins and more suites than other riverboats of the same size and no more than 130 guests on board.
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New 180-square-foot Category 1 cabins offer roomier cabins and bathrooms with no single supplement, as always.
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Thoughtfully reimagined communal and outdoor spaces are perfect for soaking in the beauty of these two spectacular rivers.
I also searched the website for specifications, and they will have “Arthur’s”, the alternate dining venue.
They also have a five foot draft versus a four foot draft on the other boats. That I thought a bit odd because a deeper draft could cause problems in the dry season.
I got the email too and was glad they clarified that the Category 1 cabins were going to be larger. Hopefully more like the Category 2 on the Andorinha which has a much better bathroom and cabin storage layout.
My email had a link to submit suggested names.
I submitted my three (3) entries but spent much too much time thinking about them. I purposely ignored Tauck's examples because I didn't wish to taint my thinking. Just my luck that one of my names partially matched one of the examples. I stayed with it...I never win anything anyway.
Years ago Tauck ran a contest to name what became the Switzerland: Europe's Crown Jewel tour. They gave some fairly specific guidance for what they were looking for in a name- which I faithfully followed. Tauck's chosen name met none of their criteria!!
I glanced at their ideas but had already decided on mine. I'm so happy to see some new ships being developed. Already looking a tour options.