River Empress

4.8/5 |

A 2010 Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Poll "Top Small Cruise Ship." Entered service in 2001; Refurbished in 2010; 361’ x 37.5’; 67 staterooms; 134-passenger capacity; European officers and crew; 7- to 14-night cruises in the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia along the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers.

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Onboard Features

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Ship Destinations

River Empress visits these amazing destinations. Click to view sailings.

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Featured Sailings

Ratings & Reviews

Overall Experience
Ship Staff
Dining/Food
Entertainment
Activities
Staterooms
Itinerary/Ports
Value

Another successful vegan travelling experience

| The Rhine: Basel to Amsterdam
We are vegan and had the best accommodations by the chef, dining room manager, "V", and our waiter, Daniel. The food was excellent, the beds were comfortable, and the shower pressure and temperature were awesome.

Exquisite Rhine

| Rhine, embarked in Zurich, sailed Basil to Amsterdam.
Staff was amazing, saw to every need & want. I so enjoyed the ease of accessing the dining room, lounge, helpful reception & cruise manager. The complimentary self-service laundry was most convenient, just like home! It was wonderful to have fantastic guest lecturer on board as well as extremely helpful & accommodating travel agents on this sailing. The nightly piano player was very entertaining. Brendan knew all my favorites. Trip ended with 2 wonderful days in Amsterdam at historical Sofitel’s The Grand, amazing property & room.

Terrific Charter

| The Rhine from Basel. Switzerland to Amsterdam.
It was a trip of a lifetime with many interesting excursions, art and culture. the entertainment on board was terrific. The food and its presentation exemplary. The staff catered to our every request and were helpful beyond the call of duty. Friendly, clean and attractive surroundings added to the experience. I recommend this ship and its crew to anyone who wants an adventure par excellence.

Uniworld Jewish Heritage Cruise

| Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands
I enjoyed the cruise and would recommend it.

European Jewels cruise

| Amsterdam/Koln/Heidelburg/Nuremburg/Passau/Vienna/Budapest
Ship staff was excellent. Special entertainment events were excellent, while daily on-board music was competent but uninteresting.

Jewish heritage and cultural tours

| Rhine river
I loved the tours and Dr. Watson’s commentaries, Food was delicious and service was excellent!

Terrific Trip!

| Amsterdam to Basel then on to Lake Lucern
Just a wonderful time!!!

Fun cruise with Jewish Heritage additions

| Strasbourg, Breisach, Speyer, Frankfurt, Oberwesel, Cologne, Arnhem, Harlingen, Amsterdam
The ship wasn't able to meet us in Basel because of a lock keepers' strike, so they bused us to Strasbourg to meet the ship. The next day, we sailed to Breisach and people had a choice of going to Basel by bus to do the planned excursions there or exploring Breisach (with a guide in the morning); we chose Breisach and it was great! The timing (including Yom Kippur and Succoth) was a little unfortunate for a Jewish Heritage cruise because a few things (like the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam) were not available for tours because of the holiday, but the ship did what they could to provide alternatives. I'd avoid the High Holidays if I was booking this trip again. I appreciated the ship's providing challah, wine, and candles for do-it-yourself Shabbat services and for them inviting everyone to join us. The staff was excellent and helpful. If you NEED unrestricted Internet access, you'll need to use your cell phone (either with a local SIM/eSIM or through your home carrier's international plan); the ship's wifi blocks access to streaming sites and VPNs to spread out the available bandwidth to more people.

Great Trip

| Amsterdam
Meet new friends, saw wonderful places.

Basel to Amsterdam

| Various towns/cities in France and Germany
My one regret that this particular cruise had few singles on board. Otherwise this was a most enjoyable vacation with an organization that goes all out to accommodate the wishes of it's passengers. The level of attention to all aspects of the cruise is truly outstanding.
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