Product director Will Sarson confirmed both Radiance-class vessels will carry up to 178 passengers, launch in 2027 and 2028, before revealing the ships' structure will be largely similar to sister ship Riviera Radiance which is hosting a mix of travel agents and trade media on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary, this week.
Sarson said: "The structure will be the same. They'll each have their own personality but there will be some subtle differences elsewhere."
Speaking to TTG, chief executive Phil Hullah explained why now is "a great time to invest" even though the escorted touring and river cruise specialist, like many travel firms, had experienced "a challenging two or three months" ahead of the Budget announcement.
"Our numbers have held up remarkably well," he said. "It has been a challenging two or three months. We've had to work hard and you'll have seen the level of promotion going on in the marketplace. It has been difficult but our trading has been strong, particularly in river cruise which is very encouraging.
"This Budget has been looming for so long. It will be good to get past that level of uncertainty. I'm hopeful our customers will want to travel [post-Budget]. I think it's a great time to invest. You've got to build for the long term."
He added: "We're very committed and we believe we've got a positive future."
Chief operating officer Robin Shaw added: "Sometimes I look at river cruise and see that today it is where ocean cruise was 20 years ago. The river cruise season used to be 1 April to 31 October but now the shoulder seasons are growing and people are taking advantage of that."
Shaw added that Riviera expects to carry 5,300 passengers on its river ships during the upcoming festive season. "That didn't happen pre-Covid. Back then we would operate one or two [festive] cruises," he continued.
Celebrity River Cruises is one of three operators launching on European rivers in the coming years. Despite the first ship not touching the water for another 18 months, Celebrity bosses confirmed last week some features from its ocean-going vessels would be transferred across to the river product.
When asked whether Celebrity's entry into the market had impacted how Riviera will design its ships going forward, Shaw said it had encouraged the company to "think a little bit more outside the box than we might have otherwise done".
"Ultimately the customer benefits because we're all in this to grow the river cruise market," he explained. "It's fair to say that we're looking at other options and other designs in this space as well."
Hullah admitted Riviera had seen initial drawings of what Celebrity River Cruises ship could look like when they start launching in 2027, but added: "I don't think we're saying 'crikey, we've missed a trick here'. We're very confident in what we're doing.
"We want to focus on our brand and our fundamentals and we're innovating quite boldly on that."
