FROM LEFT: Disney Cruise Line’s Very Merrytime; Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ decorations on board Seven Seas Explorer; American Cruise Lines paddlewheeler on the Mississippi; Seabourn festivities
I get to spend New Year’s Eve with people in the thick of the local celebrations – and once the festivities are over, there’s the rest of the river cruise to enjoy
MOST MAGICAL TIME What started for me as a love of river cruising over Christmas has expanded into a love of river cruising over New Year as well. Why not? I get to spend New Year’s Eve with people instead of my TV, plus I’m in the thick of the local celebrations. And once the festivities are over, there’s the rest of the river cruise to enjoy. On this Tui Isla cruise, that meant another six wonderful days to see in the start of the year. On board we enjoyed good food, friendly service and fun quizzes, plus shows with, unusually for a river ship, a three-strong entertainment team. Ashore it was chilly, but the pay-off came in seeing places without the crowds. There were no queues for canal rides in Ghent, we didn’t need to pre-book a table for dinner in Cologne on December 31, and even Amsterdam, where the cruise ended, was quieter than usual. Then there was the additional bonus
on a very chilly January 1 of watching brave souls jump into a pool set up in the main square in Dutch city Nijmegen. A bizarre New Year’s Day ritual, no doubt, made even stranger by the fact that the MC running the show was dressed in a Roman toga. Thanks to my shaky grasp of the Dutch language, I never quite worked out why.
44 October 2025
REVELRY BY RIVER Tui River Cruises has more festive sailings lined up this year, including a one-week Festive Fairy Tale round-trip cruise from Cologne on Tui Skyla, departing December 23. It’s followed immediately by a one-week New Year on the Rhine cruise from Cologne to Frankfurt, including an overnight stay in Cologne for the fireworks and New Year’s Day in Nijmegen. Prices start from £1,434 and £1,514 respectively, including flights, transfers, drinks with meals and tips, and the two can be bolted together for a 14-night festive extravaganza. There are plenty more festive river
trips for clients to consider, including Travelmarvel’s first cruise over Christmas. The seven-night sailing, from Budapest to Nuremberg, departs on December 22 and calls in at Vienna, Passau and Regensburg, and is in Durnstein and Melk on Christmas Day. It’s priced from £1,795 including flights, drinks with lunch and dinner and tips. Viva Cruises’ 2025 festive sailings
are full, but 2026 is on sale. Options include a seven-night Europe’s Sleigh cruise round-trip from Passau departing December 21, which will be in Budapest and Esztergom in Hungary on Christmas Day. From £2,775 including drinks, tips and Wi-Fi.
travelweekly.co.uk/cruise
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