Uniworld will restart itineraries in Italy and France next month with the first sailing from Italy departing on 20 June, which will also see the debut of new “super ship” La Venezia.

The line’s cruises in France will resume a week later on 27 June when Bon Voyage will restart operations, followed by Joie de Vivre on 4 July and Catherine on 11 July.

Uniworld’s chief executive Ellen Bettridge said: “We’ve been waiting for this moment and are beyond thrilled to be back on the rivers, welcoming back our loyal guests on four of our most beautiful super ships this summer.”

Chris Townson, Uniworld’s UK and Ireland managing director, added: “We’re very hopeful that Italy and France will be on the government’s green list at some point in June, so that we can finally welcome UK travellers back to our ships.”

CroisiEurope plans a “gradual” resumption of its river, canal and ocean cruises, starting with the relaunch of river cruises on the Douro in Portugal from 7 June.

The brand’s voyages on the French canals will resume from 2 July while ocean cruises will restart on 10 June.

John Fair, UK sales director for CroisiEurope, said: “We know that our guests are desperate to get back onboard so I’m sure they will be as excited as we are about our planned restart.

“The entire CroisiEurope team has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this restart and we can’t wait for our guests to once again experience the wonderful service, gastronomy, culture and itineraries for which we are renowned.

“Having successfully operated a number of cruises last year and with the introduction of even stricter health protocols, our guests can be assured warm welcome back onboard and a safe and enjoyable cruise.”