Disney amps up its river cruises

While Disney is expanding its river cruise offerings once again, one option will let passengers get a sneak peek of its next oceangoing cruise ship, Disney Wish, being built in Germany.

Adventures by Disney, the tour operator that partners with AmaWaterways to provide European river cruise vacations, had its first river cruises in 2016 on the Danube River. It now has voyages on four European rivers: the Danube, Rhine, Rhône and Seine. For 2021, it's offering 30 cruises on the four rivers, three more than in 2020.

Nine of the 30 will be adults-only, including Oktoberfest sailings on the Danube and Food & Wine sailings on the Rhine.

For 2021, Disney has cut back on both its Rhône and Seine sailings by one, but added two more Rhine and four more Danube options.

That includes doubling down on Christmas Market Danube sailings by having an east-to-west and west-to-east itinerary at the same time on two different ships.

For all Rhine River sailings, passengers will have the added-cost option to book a tour of the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, where the fifth Disney Cruise Line (DCL) ship, Disney Wish, is under construction. The vessel is set to be handed over in December 2021 and make its way to Port Canaveral, Fla., to begin sailing in January 2022 from the port's revamped Disney terminal.

It's the first new cruise ship for DCL since Disney Fantasy debuted in 2012, and is the first of three new ships, with the other two unnamed vessels also to be constructed at Meyer-Werft and debut in 2022 and 2023.

Rhine River cruises visit Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands on either AmaMora or AmaSiena. Danube cruises visit Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary on either AmaLea or AmaViola. Rhône cruises travel the south of France in Provence on board the AmaCello while Seine River cruises venture from Paris to Le Havre on the northern coast on the AmaLyra.

The seven-night voyages are on ships with 144- to 156-passenger capacity based on double occupancy. Some of the ships that have been built since Disney began offering the river cruises have specially constructed adjoining staterooms in an effort to accommodate larger traveling families. Most stops along the voyages feature two or three guided tours as well as the option to explore by bicycle.