Riverside Luxury Cruises Opens 2028 Season With New Riverside Mahler

October 17, 2026 — Riverside Luxury Cruises has opened bookings for its 2028 river season, headlined by the debut of a new ship, Riverside Mahler, in May 2028. Guests who book any 2028 sailing before June 30, 2027, get 18% off the cruise fare.

The 2028 season

Sailings run from early spring through late December and last from three to 23 nights. The line is also adding expert-led theme cruises. No fares were published.

Ship	2028 plans
Riverside Mahler (new)	Debuts May 2028; summer sailings between the Rhine and Danube via the Main-Danube Canal, linking Germany, Austria and Hungary with Amsterdam and Basel; Lower Danube in September; Rhine in October; Christmas sailings on the Danube
Riverside Debussy	Spring tulip cruises in the Netherlands and Belgium from March; Lower Danube; new 9- and 10-night Amsterdam–Basel trips including the Moselle in early summer; Christmas markets on the Rhine
Riverside Mozart	Upper and Lower Danube; new 7-night Vienna–Budapest itinerary with the Wachau Valley and a new Hungarian port
Riverside Ravel	Rhône and Saône in France

Departures through the Main-Danube Canal grow to 12 in 2028, up from four in 2026 and two in 2027.

What it means for airline travelers

The 18% early-booking discount ends June 30, 2027 and applies to all suite categories and package types.
Many itineraries are one-way (Amsterdam–Basel, Vienna–Budapest), so plan open-jaw flights: into one city and home from the other. Amsterdam (AMS), Basel (BSL), Vienna (VIE) and Budapest (BUD) all have airports.
Arrive a day early for any European river embarkation; river ships sail on fixed schedules and cannot wait for a missed connection.
No change to interline or travel-industry cruise rates was mentioned.