Celebrity Orders 10 More River Ships, Opens 2028 Cruises for Bookings

Celebrity Cruises has announced that they have ordered an additional 10 river cruise ships and have opened for bookings river cruises in 2028.

These 10 new river ships will give Celebrity River Cruises a total of 20 vessels by 2031. The cruise line’s first river ship, Celebrity Compass, just had the piece of steel cut marking the start of construction on these new ships.

This new order will make Celebrity River Cruises one of the largest European river cruise operators.

River cruises in 2028 have opened for bookings. The cruise line’s inaugural season in 2027 sold out in just six minutes when they opened for bookings this past fall.

The 2028 season includes 163 sailings to over 50 destinations in Europe. This includes cruises on the Rhine and Danube rivers.

Highlights of the 2028 Season

• Lower Danube: 6 new cruises that feature an overnight in Bucharest and passage through the Iron Gates gorge
• Dutch Tulip Season: Sailings in Holland to the Keukenhof Gardens, Kinderdijk’s 18th-century windmills and charming riverside towns 
• Expanded Christmas markets season: New cruises between Basel and Amsterdam with visits to Mainz, Strasbourg and Heidelberg
• 24 new ports

The cruise line will debut in 2027 with three ships, Celebrity Compass, Celebrity Seeker and Celebrity Wanderer. Celebrity Roamer and Celebrity Boundless will join the fleet in 2028.

Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group, parent company of Celebrity Cruises. gave the following statement:

“Guest demand for Celebrity River Cruises has exceeded our expectations, and expanding the fleet allows us to bring this highly anticipated experience to even more travelers.

“Whether guests already love the Celebrity experience or are discovering it for the first time, they now have new ways to enjoy it along some of Europe’s most iconic rivers. With Celebrity’s expansion into river, we’re strengthening our connected vacation ecosystem, offering more choice, more access, and more reasons for guests to stay with us — turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations.”

Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises, added:

“Our inaugural 2027 Celebrity River Cruises season sold out in under six minutes – a testament to how much guests value the unmatched hospitality and service Celebrity delivers.

“To meet this extraordinary demand, we’re thrilled to open 2028 sailings featuring 80% more European destinations, five ships, and more than 160 itineraries. There are now more ways than ever to experience Europe’s rivers The Celebrity Way.”