It’s not been too long since we told you about a major cruise operator, Viking River Cruises, making a move into the world of ocean cruising. Now we’ve got some news of a company making moves in the opposite direction, as Cruise & Maritime Voyages has announced a new river cruising arm.

All of the Signature River Cruises sailings will take place on the Vienna I, a ship that was built in 2006 and was recently operated by Viking River Cruises, showing its quality. There will be a range of 7 and 14 day itineraries to choose from across the Danube and Rhine rivers. Some itineraries will focus entirely on the Rhine, while the 14-day voyages include both rivers.

The Vienna I is a ‘Premium Plus’ ship, meaning she offers a higher standard of cruising that stands out above many other offerings currently available to book. The cruises are offered in May and June of 2014, presumably as a first step to see how popular they are before expanding the number of dates available.

Speaking as someone who looks at both the worlds of ocean and river cruising, I think it’s a smart move by Cruise & Maritime Voyages to be looking into this market. The river cruise industry is one of the fastest-growing in travel, if not the fastest, and the Rhine and Danube rivers both offer fantastic ports to explore.

We’ve seen it before with Fred.\ River Cruises (not a typo, that backslash is part of the name). I wouldn’t be surprised if more ocean cruise lines made the move into river cruising. The competition will be fierce when you already have established brands like Viking and AMA, but if ocean cruisers are looking to rivers for the first time, they’re likely to go with a recognisable name.

Would you book one of these Signature River Cruises? Which ocean cruise line would you like to see offering river voyages? Let us know in the comments.

By Ian Lewis
Google