Luxury river cruise line AmaWaterways’ CEO Catherine Powell said the cruise line saw a 28% year-on-year increase in UK bookings from January to April this year, fuelled in part by growth in the solo and multigenerational markets.
She said the increase in the first four months of 2026 followed AmaWaterways’ ‘best ever year’ in 2025, and its best every January.
The UK is the cruise line’s third largest market, after the US and Canada.
Sales to Colombia, where AmaWaterways operates two ships, have been particularly strong, with bookings up 106% year-on-year, said Catherine.
“We see that our UK guests also especially love France, and if you look at the Rhone this year it’s up over 100%.”
Catherine pointed out that the river cruise season is also getting longer, with lines operating ‘almost year-round’. This February, which is low season, AmaWaterways had 150% more capacity than in February 2025.
To increase the appeal of its itineraries during the winter, the cruise line launched a City Escapes programme last November, giving guests longer to explore key cities.
Catherine said the launch of Celebrity Cruises’ river programme would stimulate demand for river cruising among its existing clientele, to the benefit of other cruise lines. “There is no way Celebrity will have enough capacity to fulfil that demand,” she added.
AmaWaterways is significantly increasing its own capacity, with eight new ships joining its fleet by 2030, including AmaMaya this August, which will be sailing on the Mekong between Vietnam and Cambodia, and AmaNubia, which will launch in Egypt on the Nile in September.
UK & Ireland Managing Director Jamie Loizou said AmaWaterways, which recently rebranded to help differentiate itself from other luxury cruise lines by switching the focus from the facilities and amenities on its ships to its emotional connection with guests, is ‘well-placed to capture the demand that is being driven’.
He said river cruise growth is ‘on a steep trajectory’, adding: “Future demand is only going in one direction at the moment.”
Two trends AmaWaterways has noted are growth in multigenerational families and solo travellers.
“We are not going for the family market as such, what we are seeing are grandparents and their grown up children and teenage grandchildren travelling together,” said Jamie, who pointed out that AmaWaterways European ships have some interconnecting cabins.
Its solo travellers are getting younger and younger, said Catherine, especially females holidaying alone. The cruise line has leaned into this, especially on Christmas and New Year cruises, where it is also seeing growth.
“We are saying, if this is a time when you are alone, you can come and spend Christmas or New Year with your AmaWaterways family. This is something we are seeing traction on.”
