Riverside Luxury Cruises is the new kid on Europe’s waterways, but a conversation with VP Marketing & Communications Harrison Liu suggests the company has the ingredients required for a successful river cruise recipe.
A key element is the hardware, of course, and Riverside’s parent company The Seaside Collection got that covered when it purchased the fleet of five Crystal River ships when Crystal Cruises declared bankruptcy in 2022. Two of them were subsequently leased to Uniworld.
The Crystal ships were among the most expensive river ships ever built and had only a couple of years in service when the pandemic struck, followed by the company’s collapse. They’re still considered among the very best vessels travelling on Europe’s rivers.
Another critical ingredient is leaders who understand luxury hospitality. At this level, a river ship is essentially a floating luxury boutique hotel, carrying high expectations for service and cuisine. The new owners of the Crystal River fleet are Gregor and Anouchka Gerlach, second-generation operators of The Seaside Collection, an intriguing and eclectic group of twelve hotels in Germany, Spain and on the Maldives.
Their father, Hamburg businessman Theo Gerlach, built his first hotel after struggling to find accommodations that met his demands of design, cuisine and service. The Seaside Collection now includes the Grand Hotel Residencia, the only member of the Leading Hotels of the World on Gran Canaria, and the Maldives resort Finolhu. A look through the collection, including several in Germany, reveals a mix of historic and modern properties, each with a unique expression of their location.
Following in their father’s footsteps as Hamburg residents with a great affinity to the water and ships, Gregor and Anouchka had the idea that, in addition to hotels in cities and on the sea, of also putting hotels on Europe’s rivers.
The Riverside Ravel. (Photo Credit: Riverside Luxury Cruises)
Riverside Luxury Cruises is the result. Sailing for just over a year now, the company is operating three ships on the Rhône, Rhine and Danube – the double-wide Riverside Mozart, Riverside Ravel and Riverside Debussy. And Liu says the ships are managed with the same philosophy as the hotels of the Seaside Collection. “Simply making guests happy.”
He says Riverside makes guests happy by offering the “best hardware on the waterways.” There are just 55 suites (110 guests) on Ravel and Debussy, 86 (172 guests) on the spacious Mozart. The ships boast the largest average size of suites, largest space to guest ratio and two crew members to every four guests. All suites feature king-size beds, a luxurious anomaly in river cruising.
Liu, who has worked with Atlas Ocean Voyages, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Group and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, says The Riverside Luxury Cruises product is ready to compete.
“We believe can deliver the service and experience that is up to Crystal standards. We love Viking. We love AmaWaterways. They made river cruising a household name. We believe we can do even better,” he said.
Fine dining is a big part of the European river cruise experience. (Photo Credit: Riverside Luxury Cruises)
Early validation for Riverside’s high expectations came when the line won the ‘Best Dining’ award in the Cruise Critic 2023 U.S. Editors’ Pick Awards in river cruising. Cruise Critic wrote: “In its first year sailing, Riverside Luxury Cruises proved that it’s a powerhouse with its food and wine on Europe’s rivers. Meals are locally inspired, with luxury ingredients and techniques, and beautiful execution.”
In a recent story published in Afar, veteran cruise journalist Jeri Clausing describes a week spent on Riverside Debussy, cruising the Rhine and Main Rivers.
“By all appearances, Riverside is committed to not just competing, but excelling across all aspects of luxury river cruising,” Clausing wrote, adding she agreed with a frequent luxury ocean and river cruising guest that the cuisine was the best they had ever had on a ship.
Jennifer Holboth is CEO of Riverside Luxury Cruises. (Photo Credit: Riverside Luxury Cruises)
One thing Riverside Luxury Cruises didn’t get when it bought the Crystal River fleet was its client list. That went to A&K, which bought Crystal’s ocean vessels. So Riverside CEO and former long-time Globus family of brands executive Jennifer Halboth and her team have had to start from scratch in sourcing customers. As the line just completed its first year of sailing, there is some attractive pricing to be found for this level of product.
Peter Ouzounov is ready to assist Canadian travel advisors interested in learning more about Riverside Luxury Cruises. (Photo Credit: riv)
Canadian travel advisors now have local support in the form of Peter Ouzounov, director of sales and key accounts for Canada. He is in charge of attracting Canadian travel advisors and consumers to the newly-launched European river cruise line. Ouzounov brings more than 13 years of experience to the role, with most of his career also spent at the Globus family of brands, including with Avalon Waterways. He can be reached by phone at (778) 994-1833.
Liu says former Crystal guests are a great place for advisors looking to start selling Riverside. He says the target audience is 45+ with 150K of household income, or retired people with a million dollars in assets. He says Riverside is in the middle of creating an education platform for advisors.
“We’re so new we’re behind the booking window curve,” says Liu. “We need to get the brand noticed. But we know there’s a viable market for the product we’re offering. And once people have tried us, they tend to be very loyal to cruise brands.”
The Riverside Mozart river cruise ship (Photo Credit: Werney Beyer)
Riverside Cruises Fast Facts:
· Cruise lengths range from three to 14 days and many can be combined.
· Multiple shore excursions are offered at each port and can be pre-booked from home.
· 100% suite accommodations with king size beds.
· Ground transfers from select airports are part of the package. Riverside Cruises does not yet have an air program.
· Butler service for every guest includes offering recommendations, booking reservations, packing/unpacking, serving hors d’oeuvres or meals in the suite, and more.
A Riverside Luxury Cruises suite. (Photo Credit: Riverside Luxury Cruises)
Riverside’s three ships offer distinct experiences:
Riverside Mozart: This spacious double-wide ship cruises the Danube from Budapest to Passau. It’s size enables it to offer four different restaurants, a spa with separate steam and sauna facilities for men and women, a gym, outdoor track and counter-current lap pool.
Riverside Ravel: With bright clean lines and a modern feel, the ship cruises on France’s Rhône and Saone rivers, between Avignon and Lyon. Cuisine and wines are matched to the regions travelled.
Riverside Debussy: Mostly operating on the Rhine and Main, the Riverside Debussy is a luxury resort on water. Chefs tailor their cuisine and wine pairings to the traditions of the area. At breakfast, the bread is fresh-baked and the jams prepared in the galley.
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