A long-standing member of the cruise community, Celebrity Cruises is best known for luxury experiences. They run lines all around the world, though the company is most closely associated with the Caribbean, which is where Celebrity got started. Since then, they have expanded with options to cover Europe, Australia, the Mediterranean, Asia, Mexico, and more. Now, the company is looking at leaving the open ocean behind and is heading inland.
River cruises are big business. Using Europe as an example, a cruise down one of many legendary rivers can allow you to experience a large number of cities and countries in a short period of time. As such, it only makes sense for that to be Celebrity's next expansion plan. With the recent announcement of Celebrity River Cruises, that is close to becoming a reality.
While there are few details at this point, what has been announced is that the new brand is currently scheduled to launch in 2027. At first, the focus will be Europe, which does have a long history of excellent river cruise tours. A number of companies have been running those European river cruises for years, That includes the likes of Viking Cruises, American Cruise Lines, and Riverside Luxury Cruises. If Europe works out for Celebrity, it's not hard to imagine them expanding their river portfolio.
Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Chandris Group as a means of expanding into the Caribbean. In 1997, Royal Caribbean bought Celebrity from Chandris and has continued to operate it as a separate line ever since. The announcement of Celebrity River Cruises represents one of the biggest leaps forward for the line since since Chandris sold it nearly 30 years ago.