river cruises

Explora Journeys Is Launching Luxury River Cruises: What It Means for Your 2027–2028 Plans

by Pamela Fierro
September 24, 2026September 24, 2026

By Pamela Fierro, Founder, Owner and Lead Advisor, Coastwise Travel

The short version: Explora Journeys, the ultra-luxury ocean brand owned by MSC Group, has signed a letter of intent with Dutch shipbuilder Den Breejen Shipyard to build its first European river ships. Sales are expected to open in 2027. Ship sizes, rivers, and launch dates have not been announced. If you’re planning a river cruise for 2027, my advice is not to wait: the top suites on established luxury lines are selling now.

This week brought some of the most interesting river cruise news I’ve seen in a while. Explora Journeys, the ultra-luxury ocean line owned by MSC Group, announced that it’s moving onto Europe’s rivers. The line has signed a letter of intent with Dutch shipbuilder Den Breejen Shipyard to construct its first river ships, with bookings expected to open in 2027.

As someone who helps travelers plan European river cruises every day, here’s my take on why this matters, and what it does and doesn’t change for anyone dreaming of the Danube, Rhine or Seine.

How to Choose the Right River Cruise

by Pamela Fierro
August 16, 2026August 16, 2026

Quick answer: Coastwise Travel helps you choose the right river cruise by pairing you with a expert advisor who has personally sailed and toured nearly every major river cruise line, acting as your dedicated advocate for every detail (flights, hotels, transfers, excursions), and cutting through the noise of internet opinions to give you advice based on you— not on what worked for a stranger on social media.

Choosing the Right River Cruise

There are approximately four thousand opinions on the internet about which river cruise line is “the best.” Ask ten people in a Facebook travel group and you’ll get eleven answers, three of them contradictory, and at least one from someone who has never actually been on a river cruise but has strong feelings anyway.

What It Really Means to Travel Well on a River Cruise

by Pamela Fierro
June 24, 2026

There’s one thing our happiest clients all have in common — and it has nothing to do with which ship they cruised on.

It isn’t the stateroom they chose, the cruise line they booked, or even the destination. We’ve sent clients down the Danube and along the Rhine. We’ve booked them on Tauck, AMAWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Viking, Riverside Luxury Cruises and other companies you’ve never even heard of. We’ve watched them fall in love with Budapest at golden hour and stand speechless on deck as Cologne came into view.

Across every sailing, every itinerary, every client — the ones who come home the most transformed share exactly one thing.

They arrived with nothing left to manage.