Saga is to expand its river cruise business with four new ships to capitalise on “the growing popularity of river cruising”.

The ships – part of Saga’s “wider strategic growth plan” – will join the two existing river vessels, Spirit of the Rhine and Spirit of the Danube, and be operated as part of the wider cruise business under CEO Nigel Blanks.

The four new ships will be called Spirit of the Moselle, Spirit of the Main, Spirit of the Elbe and Spirit of the Rhône.

They will operate across each river, with the first due to enter service in May 2023 and the others following each year thereafter, Saga confirmed.

‘An exciting step’ for Saga

Blanks said: “We are so excited about the opportunity to expand our fleet of river ships to keep up with the ever-growing demand for luxury boutique river cruising.

“The announcement of four new ships is the exciting next step in expanding our wider cruise offer. It builds on the success of Spirit of the Rhine and Spirit of the Danube, which were launched this weekend and on our award-winning ocean cruise offer.

“These new ships will enable us to offer an even greater range of boutique experiences to guests looking to travel on the waterways throughout Europe.”

Spirit of the Rhine and Spirit of the Danube were named in a ceremony on 19 March in Arnhem, with the latter embarking on its inaugural seven-day Dutch and Belgian Waterways cruise on 21 March.