How to find the best price, perks when booking a cruise
Find the cruise that works for your budget with these tips.
Problem Solved
Expansive open decks, onboard butler service and 24-hour dining.
Those are just a few of the features guests will find on Celebrity Cruises’ first-ever river ships when they set sail in 2027. The cruise line revealed new details about the ships, named Celebrity Compass and Celebrity Seeker, on Sept. 3.
“Celebrity River Cruises ships will be the most innovative on the river, with a patent-pending industry-leading design that offers more space to vacation while bringing guests even closer to destinations,” Laura Hodges Bethge, the cruise line’s president, said in a news release. “With about half of our guests having experienced or intending to take a river cruise, we know guests are going to love sailing Europe’s Rhine and Danube rivers The Celebrity Way on our fleet of elevated, cutting-edge ships.”
Here’s what travelers should know.
When will Celebrity River Cruises launch?
Celebrity’s first river cruises will launch in August 2027.
What can guests expect onboard?
Celebrity’s river ships will bring the style of its beloved Edge Series ocean ships to smaller waterways in Europe.
Familiar features will include the Magic Edge cantilevered dining pods – Edge Series ships feature the iconic Magic Carpet, a multi-use space that seems to float over open water – and Infinite Verandas. The river vessels’ Skylight Infinite Balcony Suites, for example, will feature the retractable windows that transform part of the cabin into a balcony, along with a ceiling window.
The ships will have five stateroom categories, all with king beds and complimentary mini bars. Suite guests will also have on-demand butler service, along with other perks such as laundry service included with the fare and and priority shore excursion booking. Guests can dine and drink at eight restaurants and bars – including staples like Celebrity’s Sunset Bar and the European-inspired Café Al Bacio – with all-day dining that the cruise line bills as “the only 24/7 meal options on the river.”
Open-air decks will offer 360-degree views of the scenery, and guests can relax in an infinity plunge pool between stops.
Where will Celebrity River Cruises sail?
The river sailings will kick off with 33 seven-night cruises along the Danube and Rhine Rivers. “From private wine tastings in Austria to thermal baths in Budapest, or cycling the riverbanks of the Danube, every experience is designed to bring out what is rare, real, and remarkable,” the cruise line said in the release. “Guests will see Budapest lit by night, sail the Wachau Valley, and discover hidden gems that feel like their own.”
Captain’s Club loyalty perks will apply on river sailings – with “new and different rewards” – and guests can also book pre-and-post-cruise stays starting early next year. Priority booking access is currently sold out, but travelers can sign up for updates on the public on-sale date via the cruise line’s website.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
