Jazz, Crime Cruises and 325 Sailings: VIVA’s 2028 River Plan

VIVA Cruises has unveiled its 2028 river season for its tenth anniversary: 325 sailings across seven ships on the Rhine, Main, Moselle, Danube and Douro, plus German canals and Baltic coast itineraries. The line promotes 320 shore excursions across 13 river regions.

Several ships get new routes. Viva Moments joins the Danube fleet after renovations in 2027 with seven-night Passau–Vienna–Budapest sailings, and Viva Enjoy runs 22 seven-night round trips from Vienna with Regensburg added as a turnaround port. Viva Two offers new five-night Danube cruises linking Passau, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava.

Viva One’s Moselle round trips from Düsseldorf rise from 10 to 15 departures, and it adds four-night Rhine cruises in November and December calling at Bonn, Mainz and Koblenz. Viva Ruby gets a new 10-night route from Basel via Nancy in France to Düsseldorf. The themed list includes Jazz Cruises with pianist Frank Muschalle, seven Crime Cruises, culinary sailings and Masters of Wine cruises.

The announcement gave no prices or general on-sale date, but it did include a promotion: cruises booked between October 15 and November 15, 2026 receive a complimentary upgrade to the next higher cabin category. That makes the next few weeks the window to watch for travelers eyeing a 2028 river holiday.

Sources: Cruise Industry News