Trafalgar will seek to crack the family market when it launches its first wave of new-build river cruise ships in 2028

Speaking to Cruise Trade News at the launch of the line’s inaugural vessel, Trafalgar Verity, in Amsterdam on Friday (10 April), the company’s vice president, river cruise, Damien O’Connor laid out the firm’s plans to establish itself in a crowded marketplace.

He said: “There are two markets that are really important to us. One is solo travellers, the other is multi-generation families. We’re never going to be adults-only but we don’t want to flood our ships with kids either. We want a product that caters to all ages.

“One of the things we will be doing is offering a kids’ concierge, so not only will mum and dad get a call to plan their experience, but we’ll also organise a time to speak to the kids too to help them plan their itinerary.”

The weekend marked the launch of the touring company’s new river cruise division, with Trafalgar Verity and Trafalgar Reverie – both of which are chartered from sister brand Uniworld Boutique River Cruises – offering nine- and seven-day itineraries on the Rhine and Danube respectively. The line will then launch three Europe-based new-build ships in 2028 – including one Douro vessel – with more slated for 2029.

When asked why the river cruise sector has failed to attract more families, O’Connor said operators aren’t helped by the limited space onboard. “Every inch of the vessel is either for revenue or it has a technical purpose,” he added.

“We don’t need to put a kids’ club onboard because children aren’t travelling year-round. We’re looking at creating multi-purpose lounges that can turn into child-friendly environments for when families are on board. We will also introduce more connecting cabins, because on a river cruise ship you can’t put a rollout bed on the floor. Verity has eight connecting cabins, we’re looking at increasing that for the new builds.”

O’Connor also revealed that the line will join other river cruise operators in targeting the solo travel market. “Touring attracts a lot of solo travellers, and we want to establish a similar programme on board. Our new-build ships will have dedicated solo cabins and there’ll be no supplements.”

 “We want our ships to have their own story”

Trafalgar Harmonie, which will sail its final Uniworld season this December, will undergo renovation in the new year before joining the Trafalgar fleet next spring. The line’s first new-build ships are scheduled for 2028.

While details on the new-builds are yet to be confirmed, O’Connor said the new ships will be larger than Verity and Reverie and will have their own unique identity.

“We’re currently defining the design intent for the new builds,” he said. “One of Uniworld’s USPs is that no two ships are the same and it works really well for them. We want to go down that route.

“We want our ships to have their own story and we definitely won’t be going down the route of having ‘copy and paste’ ships. We’re ambitious but we never want to be ‘Viking’ ambitious. We’ll never have 100 ships in the water.”

O’Connor joined Trafalgar eight months ago having helped Celebrity Cruises launch its river cruise offering last year.